Meet Simon Dewan, Transport Planner

The long Easter weekend is always a popular time for DIY enthusiasts, who view the four days off as the ideal time to tackle that project and fill a skip. But for TJ, 2019 has been a bumper year, with 123 skip deliveries made on Thursday for use over the bank holiday weekend. Thursday and Friday also saw another 150+ skip movements for exchanges and pick ups, which replenished skip stock for the coming week.

Meet Simon Dewan, Transport Planner, who’s worked for TJ for nearly four years. Prior to that Simon held a logistics management role within a well-known global home furnishing retailer. Simon was responsible for managing home deliveries in the London and South East areas, a role that enabled him to hone his organisational and management skills. These skills are now being put to good use within his role at TJ and are facilitating the smooth running of the operational team that he is part of.

What does your role involve?

My role is to manage and track the movements of the vehicles and drivers to ensure that all deliveries and collections are taking place as and when they should be, that drivers are happy with the tasks being asked of them, helping them in any way we can, such as locating rural destinations and ensuring that they’re taking their breaks at the required times. I also have the responsibility of making sure that the process is efficient and profitable. I constantly monitor the flow of jobs and move things around if drivers get delayed or get ahead of schedule to make it all run in the most efficient way possible.

We have 33 dedicated waste drivers/vehicles in total, which we monitor and control with the help of two tracking systems. There are 20 skip lorries, which are used for delivering and collecting skips, six roll-on/roll-off lorries used for transporting the larger commercial waste containers, five artic waste lorries which are used for transporting processed waste from our recycling facilities after the sorting has been completed. Finally, we have two 7.5 tonne vehicles that are used for waste clearances, office recycling and confidential waste collections.

What are the biggest challenges of your role?

Managing drivers takes a lot of time, as I constantly have to be aware of their hours, rest breaks etc to ensure we are compliant with health and safety. We receive a high volume of phone calls into the team as well which can take up a lot of time. I’m always mindful of operations being cost effective and to do that everything needs to run smoothly.

What are the most rewarding elements of your role?

The most rewarding elements are also my two highest priorities – a happy workforce and happy customers! I know I’ve done my job well when all the drivers go home happy and relaxed. This past weekend was incredibly rewarding as we successfully delivered all 123 booked skips on Thursday, which meant happy customers. It was also a win for TJ as we smashed our 100-skip target by 23%!

What’s your top work achievement?

Developing a more interactive working relationship with the drivers. I’m approachable and act as a kind of role model for them which enables them to do their jobs effectively and feel valued as well.

Can you talk me through the skip hire process?

It starts with customers making enquiries over the phone or booking through our website. The operational team will then manage the booking via our bespoke automated system – keeping the customer updated at every stage of their order via email and SMS. The skip will be delivered to the customer and their DIY journey or construction project begins. The customer can opt for a 4-day hire period at a reduced rate, or for a period of between 10 and 14 days, after which time collection will be arranged.

What areas does TJ provide skips to?

If you can imagine a semicircle starting from New Milton in the south, up to Andover, over to Guildford and down to Worthing, that is our core area. This includes areas such as the New Forest, Southampton, Fareham,  Eastleigh, Winchester, Alton, Godalming, Liphook, Haslemere, Arundel, Chichester, Yapton, Waterlooville and Portsmouth.

What are skips most often used for?

They are most commonly used for domestic projects such as house and garden clearance, and construction or commercial building projects. But we also have queries as to whether our skips can be filled with other things such as boats and caravans! People may want to dispose of their unwanted vehicles by dismantling them and putting them in a skip. We allow this as if it can be recycled, we will endeavour to recycle it!

What do you enjoy about working for TJ?

There are many good things about working here – I enjoy the job itself, the hours are good, the company is flexible and allows you work/life balance. I work with a great team and it’s a happy workplace. The training given is fantastic – I’m currently doing a Level 5 CMI Management course with PETA Training, so I’m learning a lot and it will be a great addition to my CV. TJ are investing in me and this makes me feel truly valued.

Find out more about our skip hire and get a quote today!