route driver

Exide Technologies

A typical day at work involved lifting over 200 batteries between 35-100lbs. It was very common to be splashed by sulphuric acid or have hazardous material laying in the work area. During my employment with Exide I learned how to properly fill out Dangerous Goods documentation and conduct monthly inventory procedures. I also learned having a corporate office to satellite branch business model can be counter-productive and frustrating.

Most of our daily tasks were expected to be completed in a way I would only describe as illogical, the cause was often corporate personnel with no experience in operations dictating procedure. This would cause an "us vs. them" mentality across the branches, effectively subduing any employee taking pride in their work.

 Exide's business model is comparable to a Walmart in the sense it's based on pure product volume which can only survive if operational costs are low, unfortunately resulting in little consideration for yearly wage increases, recreational budgeting, green waste disposal, and overall employee morale.

The people working within the branch were all honest, hardworking people. My time spent in the company was often fun and insightful with the immediate staff. I hope one day they can move on to a more morally motivated employer and abandon the cold mechanical grip of this "global industry leader".

At the London warehouse, ( which doesn't exist anymore), batteries arrived up to 3 x weekly, all just black case. The product had to then be sorted and set up for labeling. Product was first volt checked then labeled to customer specs, and then picked to orders and set up for shipping. All employees handling product needed to be TDG certified.
No comment on upper Canadian management
My co-workers were hard working and dedicated to doing their jobs to the best of their ability, all of which was aimed at customer service.
Hardest part of the job was the day to day slugging. it was not a question of being able to lift 50-60 lbs. at a  time, but rather being able to do it 500+ times today, and then come back tomorrow and do it again and again. 
Best part of the job was the staff at London, superb!, They made my job as manager appear so easy. Second best part ? the customers!
They seemed always ready to thank you for doing that extra bit for them.
Rotation of product had to be strictly enforced to keep write downs to a minimum.

It all started off with a recommendation from my friend, who actually worked at Exide Technologies at the time. Following that, I went through several interviews and they were pretty accommodating on the dates and times as well. I managed to get the job I wanted, and from there on I worked with the company for (Five Years) it was eventful, to say the least, various factors played throughout my time there. All in all, I don't regret the time spent working for this company and all the hurdles that came along with the job, because it only made me better at adapting to different situations.

Reconcile previous day bank statement, scan A/P and freight Invoices, match,verify with PO check in JDE system whether goods delivered, code it, request cheque issue statement and process for payment. Resolve any discrepancies. Log in Vendors system and download weekly reports match and rectify them resolve issues with transportation company. Learned J D Edwards accounting software. Hardest part "Per-suing small TC drivers to make sure to submit all support documents for expediting payment, since they travel a lot misplace supporting Invoices". Liked overall work environment.

Fairly easy work for decent pay. Had a couple challenging employees that eventually weeded themselves out. Work was more consistent when I had first started. Due to poor sales, this branch was not included in the restructuring after the company was sold and closed down. The 2 drivers who I worked with not only delivered their orders in a timely manner but also helped me process orders when we'd have a large drop in our queue. 

Typical day of work was to verify and respond to emails, telephone and voice mails, enter orders, order products from our US warehouse, set up new account, process credit card payment, back up shipping and receiving, reception and invoicing
I learned to ask lots of question.  Co-workers were great
The hardest part of the job was the training. Needed to pull out information from most people to get information to get the work done. The most enjoyable part of the job was the co-workers and sales representative

Managed a national network of 3rd party contractors providing preventative maintenance and on call service to several national accounts. 
Restructured internal administrative process. 
Developed and implemented a program to hire and train in house service technicians. Established operating and capital budgets for an national service operation utilizing internal technicians.

Large contracts to supply truck loads of automotive, farm and marine batteries. Physical inventory of parts and inputting of same. Travelling to other branches to cover other branch coordinator vacations. Having access to other branches to perform jobs out of Ottawa office.

Great warehouse staff, but both head offices leave something to be desired. A typical day in the warehouse was tedious and very repetitive. Delivery driving was the best, especially my out of town runs.

I really enjoyed working for Exide, it gives me immense knowledge about distribution business. Overall enable me to handle core business functions and learn various operations functions though my stay was only for short period of time.

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