I was tipping at travis Perkins rdc this morning and noticed on my paperwork there was a note that my company had written saying there were fines if late.
How’s it come to that? You get fined for speeding, get fined for breaking the law, and the companies fine each other if the driver is a bit late. It’s pathetic.
But for as long as haulage companies roll over and take it then it won’t change. When this fining thing got brought in every single haulage company should have just got together and said well sod your load then we won’t bring it if we get fined for being stuck in traffic because someone else has crashed. Then if no haulage company would deliver their stuff then they would be screwed as they wouldn’t got products into their stores for people to buy.
I was on time by the way. I’m just saying I think it’s pathetic.
Couldn’t agree more mate. Greedy haulage companies in their incessant quest for everyone else’s work have brought this upon themselves. If, as you correctly say, they had the balls to tell these idiots to ■■■■ off it would be nipped in the bud.
It seems to becoming much more common over the last 20 years or so. It’s all about just-in-time deliveries and reducing stock to the bare minimum.
Back in the olden days it used to be the other way around. Demurrage was the charge that a haulier would make for being delayed. It came from shipping originally and then BR took it up too.
Had a good few weeks of this on night trunks I’ve been doing… got to be at collection point by a certain time or the company get fined, and have to be at delivery points with the loads by a certain time or they get fined again… thing that really bugs me is when I get to collection point on time, I’m usually hanging about for up to 4 hours!
My company gets huge fines from one particular company for being late, I always check the computer readings on their tank capacity when I arrive, if they still have stocks enough to make one batch of product, if the tanks are empty it’s about a grand.
Not fined, but we do some jobs which have to arrive at the stated time 15 mins either way, we get given a guide start time but luckily they still treat us as grown ups so start at a time to suit, me? i always prefer to be early so time for a pee and a coffee en route and if i’m still early i’ll have me break before i go in.
What’s the problem with complying with your customer’s wishes, servicing the customer keeps in good jobs, win win.
If a haulier sees fit to work for a customer that can levy a fine for non-compliance with whatever criteria are laid down then that’s its decision, just as it is the haulier’s responsibility to cover those fines. The driver need not worry about it as long as he does his best. I can never understand why drivers concern themselves with stuff like this. I wonder if they try to involve themselves in things like how much the tyre firm charges or what the leasing cost for the trailers is?
There is nothing wrong with complying with a customers requirement. But I don’t think any haulier is late for fun and I think fines for it are over the top and disproportionate way of dealing with it. I think every haulier tries to be on time with fines or not, but things out of our control mean we are sometimes late. So I just find them a bit pathetic.
I always start 15 minutes early, then what happens throughout the day-Happens- I’ve done my bit.
We usually get up to half an hour to tip at the depots, but some places take 45-60+ minutes, slow Forkies, generally messing about, then we reload all the empties so most drops take over 30 minutes, Hey Ho, takes as long as it takes.
Talking about Forkies, as most people on here probably know, I don’t hold much respect for them, had one today, nearly wiped out my n/s curtain rail, just managed to miss the actual rail but he Mullered the Rubber Pelmet, must have have had his dose of ■■■■■■■■■■■■ Pills this morning [emoji57].
used to deal with these when I worked at stobs, as part of Coca cola, OTIF failure, On Time In Full, fines were bounced around like sweets at school… Morrisons would fail a load because 1 tin of Coca Cola had a slight dent…
Santa:
Demurrage was the charge that a haulier would make for being delayed. It came from shipping originally and then BR took it up too.
When I first started at the sea (in wooden boats with men of iron) we loaded a cargo in what used to be the Felixstowe dock for discharge on the Thames by Canvey Island but when we arrived couldn’t discharge the cargo due to adverse weather conditions. We laid at anchor at Gravesend for just over six weeks and on demurrage after the first three days, never earned so much before in my life for doing nowt. 75 ton of rockets bound for Israel on a ship called the Taupo, but they missed their six day war by a longshot …
Juddian:
What’s the problem with complying with your customer’s wishes, servicing the customer keeps in good jobs, win win.
Absolutely no problem at all Juddian. It does however need to cut both ways; when the haulier turns up on time is it not too much to expect a sensible turnaround time? There can be no excuse whatsoever for an on time driver to spend in excess of 4 or 5 hours tipping tat that he/she got there precisely on time. It’s all well and good for these Co’s to issue fines, but the flip side MUST be that they also pay demmurage for late tipping or loading.
I don’t have a problem with companies writing lateness fines into the contracts as it encourages hauliers to prioritise them a bit, it’s fair enough, but hauliers should be returning the compliment with a clause of £50ph+ demurrage from 90 minutes after the booking time.
Promptness should be a two way street.
Instead however, hauliers will agree to cop massive fines for being late but do absolutely nothing when they fulfil their obligation but then have their wagon parked up for 2/3/4 hours being tipped
Juddian:
What’s the problem with complying with your customer’s wishes, servicing the customer keeps in good jobs, win win.
Absolutely no problem at all Juddian. It does however need to cut both ways; when the haulier turns up on time is it not too much to expect a sensible turnaround time? There can be no excuse whatsoever for an on time driver to spend in excess of 4 or 5 hours tipping tat that he/she got there precisely on time. It’s all well and good for these Co’s to issue fines, but the flip side MUST be that they also pay demmurage for late tipping or loading.
What annoys me is when you show up on time, but then get stuck waiting for hours whilst they tip other guys who are late/early.
Can’t argue with the B&M Speke system. 45 minute window, turn up inside it and you are on a bay & tipped prompt, turn up outside it and you get told to bugger off.
Juddian:
What’s the problem with complying with your customer’s wishes, servicing the customer keeps in good jobs, win win.
Absolutely no problem at all Juddian. It does however need to cut both ways; when the haulier turns up on time is it not too much to expect a sensible turnaround time? There can be no excuse whatsoever for an on time driver to spend in excess of 4 or 5 hours tipping tat that he/she got there precisely on time. It’s all well and good for these Co’s to issue fines, but the flip side MUST be that they also pay demmurage for late tipping or loading.
What annoys me is when you show up on time, but then get stuck waiting for hours whilst they tip other guys who are late/early.
Can’t argue with the B&M Speke system. 45 minute window, turn up inside it and you are on a bay & tipped prompt, turn up outside it and you get told to bugger off.
I agree. Turn up more than half an hour early, get turned away, if you within the half hour window then there’s no messing about, straight on a bay and you’ve barely even time to get a 45 minute break in for a full load and then your gone. Very efficient there, and it works. So why everywhere can’t do that it beats me.
I also agree with the above about where haulage companies should return the favour of fining when we turn up on time but then are sat there for 5 hours.
All down to the contracts negociated by the supplier/customer/haulage companies. If a haulier agrees to deliver within a certain time window then they should expect some more of penalty for failing to do so. If a tip takes too long then a penalty should be paid too. If there is no contractual obligation to do any of these then ‘tough ■■■■■■■’. No one is obliged to work for anyone if they don’t like the conditions offered. Hauliers should look closely at all jobs snd accept/reject them after looking at all the conditions.
Notwithstanding all of the above, if someone wants to say that for example the big supermarkets have too much power and once contracts are in position squeeze smaller contractors, well, yes they probably do.
Olog Hai:
If a haulier sees fit to work for a customer that can levy a fine for non-compliance with whatever criteria are laid down then that’s its decision, just as it is the haulier’s responsibility to cover those fines. The driver need not worry about it as long as he does his best. I can never understand why drivers concern themselves with stuff like this. I wonder if they try to involve themselves in things like how much the tyre firm charges or what the leasing cost for the trailers is?
That’s a fair point
But it becomes a drivers problem when they are put under considerable pressure
To get a load somewhere on time.
I know the response to the company should be it gets there when it gets there, but still there are rules about payments to drivers shouldn’t put them under pressure to break the law, maybe there should be one stating tranport contracts shouldn’t do the same.
And then of course we have the you got to get it there, and turn up and find out nobody’s interested in unloading the truck, so why the big panic?
Olog Hai:
If a haulier sees fit to work for a customer that can levy a fine for non-compliance with whatever criteria are laid down then that’s its decision, just as it is the haulier’s responsibility to cover those fines. The driver need not worry about it as long as he does his best. I can never understand why drivers concern themselves with stuff like this. I wonder if they try to involve themselves in things like how much the tyre firm charges or what the leasing cost for the trailers is?
That’s a fair point
But it becomes a drivers problem when they are put under considerable pressure
To get a load somewhere on time.
I know the response to the company should be it gets there when it gets there, but still there are rules about payments to drivers shouldn’t put them under pressure to break the law, maybe there should be one stating tranport contracts shouldn’t do the same.
And then of course we have the you got to get it there, and turn up and find out nobody’s interested in unloading the truck, so why the big panic?
And how long will it be before we see some of these fines being taken out of the drivers wages when the company deems it to be the drivers fault!
