Ryder, a leading independent provider of commercial vehicle contract hire, rental and maintenance services across the UK, is continuing with the expansion of its Devizes, Wiltshire operation and creating more local employment opportunities within its FleetCare business.
The FleetCare division plays a vital role in maintaining Ryder’s 20,000 leased trucks and trailers by managing and overseeing Ryder’s 380-strong network of approved third-party maintenance providers.
Ryder is now recruiting for a further four Fleet Maintenance Engineers to join its FleetCare team based at Devizes. Interestingly these new positions are office-based, so ideal for HGV-qualified technicians who are looking to hang up their overalls, says Ryder.
“We are looking for people with experience gained either within an HGV shop floor environment, or HGV roadside assistance role, who are perhaps at a stage in their career where they no longer want to crawl underneath a vehicle, but would like to put their experience and knowledge to use in an office-based role,” says James McDonald, Ryder Senior Central Operations Manager.
Successful candidates must have a City & Guilds apprenticeship or NVQ/SNVQ level 3 in HGV Mechanical Repair, be computer literate and possess the ability to understand financial and technical data to an advanced standard.
“Our Fleet Maintenance Engineers play an important role in the FleetCare team as they help manage the work carried out by our third party maintenance providers to ensure it is necessary and the costs are accurate, so that we can meet the expectations of our customers,” adds McDonald.
The role involves interpreting information to ascertain the root cause of any damage and why repairs are needed, providing advice and support to Ryder’s HGV Maintenance Controllers and National Breakdown Service colleagues.
“It’s a great career-path role as it can act as a springboard into supervisory or managerial positions, and employees benefit from our new Competency Framework introduced during 2020, that identifies and puts a plan in place to address training and development needs,” says McDonald.
He adds that it is an exciting time to join the Ryder Devizes operation as it is investing in new, state-of-the-art IT to support the development of the maintenance workflow for the company’s whole FleetCare division.
Ryder is a long-standing member of the business community in Devizes and has a great team spirit. In addition to being an important local employer – the FleetCare team currently stands at 112 following a successful recruitment drive last summer – the company has also supported many local charities over the years. Ryder’s Charity of the year in 2020 was Julia’s House children’s hospices. Even with many employees working from home due to social distancing, the Ryder Devizes team still raised £500 for the charity as part of teambuilding and dress down Friday initiatives.
Tony Roebuck, Ryder External and Mobile Operations Director, adds: “Ryder is continually investing in the skills and capabilities of our people to improve the 24/7 service support we provide to keep our customers’ fleets running reliably, efficiently and safely. Devizes is a strategically important operation for Ryder and we are delighted to be growing the team further still.”