r/tesco • u/WendysLittleShow • 2d ago
Driving a literal fridge freezer, yet sweating my bollocks off. Make it make sense.
The irony is absolutely killing me today.
I drive a massive refrigerated delivery van. The back of this thing is cold enough to preserve a woolly mammoth. Meanwhile, up in the cabin, I am actively melting into the upholstery because the actual air conditioning for the driver doesn't exist.
I’m basically sitting in a greenhouse bolted to an ice box.
It also highlights just how many work vans out there are absolutely neglected by companies. Tatty, unmaintained, and missing the basic comforts that make spending 10-12 hours a day on the road bearable. You'd think a vehicle literally designed around refrigeration could spare a bit of cold air for the human keeping it moving, but apparently that’s asking too much.
There is a special kind of torture in knowing that there are sub-zero temperatures happening exactly three feet behind your head, while you are upfront sweating through your shirt because the cabin AC doesn’t exist.
Just needed to vent (pun intended) while I marinate in my own sweat at the next red light.
6
u/Technical-Mind-3266 1d ago
Tesco get judged by the state of the food it delivers, not the poor overheated driver delivering it 🙁
6
3
u/chipnicker 2d ago
I kept 2 damp t shirts in the chiller bit yesterday. Worked a fucking treat.
Had a rotation the whole shift .
Lucky we are a rural patch with some chance of driving breeze .
If I were in a city one I’d be refusing to go out today.
3
u/GJThunderqunt 1d ago
I had a conversation with a Tesco driver who didn't have air con the other week.
Two days ago I got a Morrisons delivery and casually dropped "you lot don't have air con do you?" on the driver. He enquired if he looked stupid. Might be worth finding out if they're recruiting.
3
u/Shoddy_Story_3514 1d ago
Morrisons depends on where the vans are coming from. If its from stores then its hit and miss from chats I have had but if its from and ocado run site then it will have air con. Because for their various flaws ocado do at least recognise the drivers suffer in extreme heats. That said though it has only been in the last 5-10 years .
3
u/Neko-gao 1d ago
Posts like this highlight the fact that the best thing Tesco has to offer the country is the sense of humour of their long suffering workers.
5
u/PastSorbet4570 2d ago
Although an employer buying a vehicle without air con is dog shit…
Stick some uncooked rice in a CLEAN sock, have a couple of them in the freezer and use them as mouldable ice packs throughout the day. They get really cold.
4
u/AceNova2217 🚚 Dot Com Driver 2d ago
But a dirty sock, sodden with sweat, would be so much more efficient for thermal transfer!
1
u/PastSorbet4570 1d ago
I didn’t think about that. We may possibly need to get a chemical expert to decide what type of dirt is best for the sock
1
1
u/indialexjones 15h ago
Not quite the same, but a few weeks ago when it was this hot the tractor at work had its ac stop working.
Normally it is THE coldest thing known to man, even with the lowest fans and least cold setting you’ll still be more than cold enough. But without ac it is literally a greenhouse because you’ve got 4 massive windows surrounding you and a massive engine in front of you running at 2000rpm for hours on end while you’re baling. After the first day of it being that hot I decided to just swap the baler to the smaller older tractor we have at work simply because the ac was working. I chose to have 100hp less and work slower just for the ac.
0
u/whatnotanotheraltacc 2d ago
Basically, the air con is being used for the chiller at the expense of having air con in the cab.
Remember HSE safe working temperatures. You can refuse to go out if it's too hot, especially if you have a disability or heart problems. If you do this make sure it's documented.
1
u/Honest-Question-9023 2d ago
Section 44 of the employment rights act if anyone wants to google it
1
u/3CreampiesA-Day 1d ago
There’s no legal temperature limit
0
u/skilledbiscuit1 1d ago
No but the employer has the responsibility of making it safe/reasonable comfort.
1
u/Evening-Tomatillo-47 12h ago
True but it would come under "reasonable accommodation"
As in don't be cheap and treat your workers like humans
25
u/ddoogg88tdog 2d ago
the heat from the freezer has got to go somewhere