As I’m sure you can imagine with a coverage area only restricted by the coast line of the British Isles, with so many sites we support, best laid plans can soon go out the window. We always aim to respond to any callouts ASAP, which can results on regularly having to adjust our plans from hour to hour during the day, because of this we aim to offer a high standard of phone support as well. It would be a waste of your time and money just to arrive on site to confirm an issue or just flick a switch. This obviously helps our customers as it reduces their down time and keeps their costs down. There is no additional charge for any phone support to our sites. Our aim is to increase the knowledge of the staff on site so they can become more confident and self-sufficient.
As I’m sure anyone who spends a large amount of time on the road will understand, the seemingly ever increasing amount of road works and other traffic delays soon become the bain of your life. Luckily Leisure Centres always tend to open early in the mornings allowing me to get on the road early to miss the rush hour traffic. I normally aim to be on the road between 0500 and 0630 depending on the plan for the day. Unfortunately this doesn’t normally end up with me getting home between 1300 and 1430 like a normal shift people may do.
Here is an example of an average day as a JAK Engineer.
I start by leaving me home in the midlands at 0500. Main task for the day is to start servicing sites in Peterborough. When we have works around the same area more than 2 hours away we will regularly overnight at a local hotel to cut down on travel etc.
The night before a callout was requested to as site not far from our offices in Lincolnshire, so my plan was to go there first then on to Peterborough. Not really what you would call on the way but needs must.
Arrive at site around 0730 having stopped for a coffee on the way. As always we report to the duty manager to confirm the problems they seem to be having. Luckily it hadn’t been reported as an intermittent fault. Intermittent is the worse word you want to hear on a callout as you can always be sure it won’t go wrong whilst you’re there.
As it turns out the issue was just a split pump diaphragm. We aim to carry a large amount of parts and spares on our van to allow us to fix problems with one visit. While it is good to find the problem we respect our customers want the issue fixing ASAP. So with the diaphragm replaced and the rest of the system checked over, get my sheets signed off by the duty manager and it’s back on the road.
Looking at the plan for the rest of the week I could do with picking up some parts from our office so as it was local I headed there. Arrived at the office to the tired looking faces of the girl’s just starting work at 0900. “All right for some”!
Spend about an hour at the office tidying up a few loose ends and topping up spares in the van. By now it’s 1030 and time to head to Peterborough. Fingers crossed the traffic is kind and it should take just over an hour.
Not long after leaving the office, I had a call from a customer having issues with their dosing pump. The issue sounded like quite a simple fix so rather than arrange to visit, I found a layby and called him back to talk him through it.
A 20-minute conversation and a stop for a bite of lunch, sees me arrive at Peterborough at 1215. When on site to carry out a service we always discuss with the duty manager if there have been any issues recently so I can look out for anything while going through checks etc. All of our servicing is carried out as manufactures instructions and recorded via a tick box method.
By 1700 I have got the first of the 3 sites in Peterborough serviced. Due to hotel availability I was staying about 25 minutes outside the town. With the joys of rush hour traffic, I arrive about 1800. Just in time for a wash then find some food before most likely falling asleep watching the TV.
That is a pretty hassle free day compared to some. With this type of work, it is very much a case of you have some good days and some bad days. If you prefer an office job or clocking on clocking off shift work, being a service engineer on the road isn’t for you, but if you like being out on the road seeing new places and having every day being a little bit different and challenging like I do, it’s a great job.
JAK can offer you numerous different services, from call out to consultations, from servicing to training, JAK can help with it all. Why not give us a call and be a part of our JAK engineer’s diary.
