Our drivers are the backbone of our collection weekend teams. They arrange van rental and insurance, pick up the vehicle on Friday afternoon, drive it all day Saturday and most of Sunday, then return it to the rental company. They also act as the “captain” of their crew, making arrangements to meet up with luggers and navigators at the start of each shift.

Driver responsibilities

As driver, you are responsible for the safety of the vehicle, your crew, and anyone around you.  The Long wheelbase panel vans that we use are quite large vehicles; please don’t feel you have to drive the van to the location of every tree.  It is perfectly OK to park up at the entrance to a cul-de-sac or stop at a safe spot in a road and drag the tree(s) to the van.

Although your job is mostly to drive, and we don’t want you to tire yourself out, there’s no problem with you jumping out to help the lugger, especially at locations where there are several trees to collect. Even just opening the van doors so the lugger doesn’t have to do it when they return with a tree can be very helpful.

We ask our drivers to establish communications with their crew(s) and to make arrangements to meet up at the start of each shift.

Equipment

We will provide a set of high-visibility jackets for you and your crew.  We will also provide a placard for you to display in the windscreen, so people can see the vehicle is with the scout group. Please bring, or arrange for one of your crew to bring, a first aid kit and a handsaw.  We have first aid kits in our stores if you need one.

• Waterproof clothing, including waterproof trousers and walking boots or other waterproof footwear
• Gloves suitable for handling prickly trees
• Mobile phone, fully charged, plus USB charging cord and any adapters that could be useful (the vans have USB-C outlets), and a power bank if you have one.
• Water and food for lunch