MEET THE TRAINERS

MEET JASON ELEY

DAF now has Dealer Driver Trainers based across the country to help hand over new and used vehicles and we thought it would be good to get to know some of them a little bit better! In this edition we talk to Jason Eley, who is DAF Dealer Driver Trainer for Chassis Cab DAF, who have dealer locations in Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds and Cambridge.

Q: When did you first join Chassis Cab and what was your first job there?

A: I started working with Chassis Cab in May 2019 and was appointed as the Driver Trainer, but soon found I was fully immersed into parts of a sales administration role too.

Q: What did you want to be when you were at school?

A: I was not sure what I wanted to do after leaving school so opted for college where I studied art for two years and gained a Diploma in Art & Design. Then I went straight into the building game and became a roof tiler.

Q: When did you take your HGV licence?

A: My licence came in two parts: I passed my Class 2 Rigid in 1998 and my Class 1 Artic in 1999.

Q: What do enjoy most about your role?

A: I enjoy the whole role, from checking in newly delivered vehicles, planning their build schedules, delivering them to customers and teaching them the finer points of getting the best from their new machine. I also try to instil a little patience and road etiquette into the driver’s working day, so we all feel a little safer out there.

Q: Do you have a top tip for a driver getting his new DAF?

A: Top tip: With the new vehicles now having so much technology within, I often tell a new driver that “You have to be patient, you can’t send an email without opening windows”. Trucks now are exactly the same: you have to wait for it to open up fully before asking it to do anything.

Q: What car do you currently drive and if money was no object, what would you have?

A: I am easy to please in this sense. I currently have a great company van which is a very important tool for the job but if I were to treat myself, it would be something sporty with two seats, so I could knock the roof back and head off to southern France or Italy.

Q: What other responsibilities do you have within your role at Chassis Cab

A: I work within our admin team, processing vehicles from start to finish. We work very closely with the sales, parts and workshop people to make sure everything is going smoothly which, in recent times (due to the pandemic and component shortages), has been a huge challenge.

Q: If you weren’t doing this, what would your ideal job be?

A: I have just returned from a lovely holiday in Venice and was lucky enough to use their Classic Mahogany Riva Limousine water taxis and quite frankly, I thought it was the best and most satisfying little job I had ever seen. Amazing surroundings, beautiful boats, everybody on the canals knew one another, it just looked and felt like a lovely little calm way of life. You never know…

Jason flying his uncle’s single engine plane over Saint Tropez.

Jay’s approach to life is philosophical, saying he tries to appreciate most of what comes his way, and his approach to challenges is that they make you stronger, more determined, and more focused. His family is a big deal to him, and he appreciates how they all work hard to have nice things, and to enjoy the small pleasures of holidays around Europe and seeing all it has to offer. Jay likes to garden and has started to appreciate the garden even more. He jokes that he is perhaps now approaching an age when he will turn into one of those old boys who potters around pruning and making sure the veg is coming along nicely! He remains ambitious, and with a long way to go before retirement, his aim is to continue to improve at what he does, fine tuning the art of driving and maybe becoming a big name in the world of DAF Dealer Driver Trainers. We think he already is!