Apprentice Diaries – First Week

The Apprentice Diaries – Week One

Hi all

My name is Stuart Govier and I am one of the new Apprentice Drivers here at GDL. My first week has been a truly awesome experience if also a bit daunting

Monday was our induction day, learning about the company, its ethos and history as well as an insight into what we can expect from our training and our new roles once we get to 12 weeks.

Tuesday was down to business, getting our heads around our timetable and completing paperwork before moving to the depot for the rest of the week

Wednesday was interesting to say the least. Up at 3am to be in work for 5am, to be introduced to my partner driver Terry then off to our first milk collection near Totnes. Once we picked this up it needed to be at a small dairy in Salcombe before 7am.

I asked the owner of the dairy what they produced and he seemed a bit surprised that I didn’t know about them and disappeared to get a couple of samples. He returned with two tubs of ice cream and handed a tub to each of us. So there I am at 7am on my first day on the road eating a tub of delicious fresh chocolate ice cream. As we were about to set off Terry handed me his tub as he couldn’t eat it.

The rest of the week was spent learning about how the milk is collected, meeting farmers and delivering the milk to the dairies. I didn’t realise how complex the transport of milk from farm to dairy is and look forward to learning more when I get back to the depot next week after our theory and hazard perception tests are done.

I have learned a lot in my first week and am really looking forward to learning more as the weeks go by.

Stu