Following the busiest January so-called “Quiet Season” ever on agency - I’m wondering how other fellow truckers out there are getting on with their workloads?
These boards seem to have been rather quiet of late, so I’m thinking “is it because we are ALL working flat out?”
I even got a text from an agency I’ve already resigned from - “Do you want to work at Sainsburys Dartford?”
That’s the sort of thing I might have previously expected to get in November rather than March…
Also, is “Self-Employment” starting to go out-of-fashion as a consequence of “Brexit Fears”, that is - “Where will the UK’s revenues come from if future governments cannot actually get away with raising taxes, but instead concentrate on closing loopholes”…
…Alternatively, we can just grab that £39bn with both hands (instead of our own arses!) and not bother to change the tax system THIS year at least…?
Got a nice tax rebate this week as well, - just in time to pay the big winter fuel bills with that hit my doormat this morning. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
Busy , not done great distance this week but been bombing about the SE and midlands , went up to Newmarket with full load today and now near Bournemouth ready for morning
Busier than a wringer out for a one armed window cleaner!
But what tickes me off is when my depot is busy they have us chasing our ■■■■■■■■ off. But when it eases off, we get sent to another depot to chase our ■■■■■■■■ off there.
I haven’t so much as sat in a truck for at least three years. Having had a phone call and two emails from my local Driver Hire branch (Stockport), I would have to conclude busy; desperately, desperately, busy.
Have to buck the trend here, quiet in the east Midlands, I’m getting texts offering me work at £11 per hour PAYE whereas I was working for £12-£13 over the Winter.
One text even said “We can pay £11 per hour to drivers who are XPO assessed”. Yeah, righto then.
When I go back to work in September, post-Brexit and the DCPC, hopefully the haulage industry will have bucked its ideas up a bit.
manic, this is our busy time of year but even more so than usual. Works out great as you graft away in winter then get plenty of time for a holiday in summer when it’s quieter.
This week is my quietest week so far this year, but still booking 400 quids worth. It seems my willingness to work 12-15 hour shifts, weekends, and perm nights - has finally getting around to paying off.
f— knows what it’ll be like Easter week, when I might well pick up my first 6-shift spread of the year.
Mind you, Easter is rather late this year. The Grand National has been and gone before Palm Sunday!
Elsewhere, I notice foreign trucks parked all down the sliproads at MSAs now, every night…
What happens to THAT lot once Brexit is done?
If these depots being built all around the Midlands are anything to go by - I might jump to the conclusion that “post-Brexit” we’ll see continental trucks coming here - forced to drive rather further inland than they did previously, and who knows? - They might even end up buying some of our retail diesel whilst tramping around the country!
After a while, I would expect the foreign yards to start scaling back their “runs to Grande Bretagne”, which will create even more work for us local folk to “go get it ourselves”…
When I was in the MIdlands before xmas and just after there was a load of very very well paying work. But the guys there now tell me work is thin on the ground. Not surprising with DHL/JLR scaling back.
Came back to the glorious South and thought I’d struck lucky with the same firm and same agency. But at induction was told I wasn’t good enough to do the same job I’d done before. And the agency have said they are not paying as they agreed.
Now working for a different supermarket through the same agency. And a fair amount of work (at a lower rate - £13ltd mon-fri days and no overtime rate! - weekends slightly better). But interestingly they have not uploaded any of my shifts onto their online portal. So I am genuinely worried I won’t be getting paid for them. So not good for me here.
I will be speaking to the bloke tomorrow - as the Friday assessment/induction was meant to be paid tomorrow as was the saturday shift. The agency have been in the news for having to take the shares of the stock market. And I have an awful feeling I could be in trouble here. I hope I’m wrong - and I’ll be asking the other agency guys tomorrow if they have the same problems.
Brexit isn’t going to happen. Anyone who can’t see that now is daft. Since the democratic vote there has been a mass campaign of far and it’s worked. Those who thought their voice mattered will soon find out it was ignored as it inconvenienced those more rich and powerful.
The game’s on it’s arse around here (Merseyside) not picked up since Christmas
Just a smattering of the usual shyster agency chancers advertising decent work that doesn’t actually exist
I suspect one very large supermarket chain is in serious financial difficulties and is in
a desperate fight to ■■■■■ it’s overhead in the face of German competition with a far lower cost base and business model
Brexit? Dunno but I’m hearing from several different industries that customers have delayed or put off altogether from large purchases such as home improvement and furniture
The Abyss beckons
We normally have a quiet start to the year. Not so this year, and very busy now doing pre-Brexit stocking up. Supermarkets are rightly/wrongly putting extra buffer stocks in place. That may mean a quiet April/May though as stocks are used rather than more stuff brought over.
Extra revenue for warehouses, ’ plus a little extra for transport as goods will be moved in, and then out, to final destination rather than delivered direct.
There’s enough other threads to comment on ups/downs but there is a definite “B-word” effect.
We are reasonable quiet.
To be honest I’m loving it doing on average 9 10 hours a day finishing a decent time home most nights.
Been like this since the new year.
Most other drivers are hate it saying not getting in enough hours and need more hours nights out.
There welcome to it.
Franglais:
We normally have a quiet start to the year. Not so this year, and very busy now doing pre-Brexit stocking up. Supermarkets are rightly/wrongly putting extra buffer stocks in place. That may mean a quiet April/May though as stocks are used rather than more stuff brought over.
Extra revenue for warehouses, ’ plus a little extra for transport as goods will be moved in, and then out, to final destination rather than delivered direct.
There’s enough other threads to comment on ups/downs but there is a definite “B-word” effect.
Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
About the same as us really. We are defo busier than this time last year and a proportion of it is stockpiling supplies I’d guess - there’s regular drops thst we drop EU stuff off to that would have say half a trailer full but have been having full trailer loads for a bit for example. Usually they moan “where am I going to put it drive, weve got no room” or that kind of thing.
sammym:
When I was in the MIdlands before xmas and just after there was a load of very very well paying work. But the guys there now tell me work is thin on the ground. Not surprising with DHL/JLR scaling back.
Came back to the glorious South and thought I’d struck lucky with the same firm and same agency. But at induction was told I wasn’t good enough to do the same job I’d done before. And the agency have said they are not paying as they agreed.
Now working for a different supermarket through the same agency. And a fair amount of work (at a lower rate - £13ltd mon-fri days and no overtime rate! - weekends slightly better). But interestingly they have not uploaded any of my shifts onto their online portal. So I am genuinely worried I won’t be getting paid for them. So not good for me here.
I will be speaking to the bloke tomorrow - as the Friday assessment/induction was meant to be paid tomorrow as was the saturday shift. The agency have been in the news for having to take the shares of the stock market. And I have an awful feeling I could be in trouble here. I hope I’m wrong - and I’ll be asking the other agency guys tomorrow if they have the same problems.
Brexit isn’t going to happen. Anyone who can’t see that now is daft. Since the democratic vote there has been a mass campaign of far and it’s worked. Those who thought their voice mattered will soon find out it was ignored as it inconvenienced those more rich and powerful.
I said from Day 1 it wouldn’t happen.
We were busyish in Jan, quietish Feb but March is looking too busy!
Busy. This week has been quiet in so much that its been short runs the agency drivers been getting and its the first week I’ve not had a full week and been sat at home when I wanted to work but I’m already booked for next week. Struggling to think when the last time it was quiet which is some feat given I only work for one client for the agency. Worked out I’ve done 500 hours more than last year, mostly for ending up on days somehow for most of the last 9 months so doing more hours a day too.
bigdave789:
Dunno but I’m hearing from several different industries that customers have delayed or put off altogether from large purchases such as home improvement and furniture
No idea where you’re hearing that from. If they’re putting off home improvement purchases it certainly isn’t new kitchens they’re putting off.
I always get all the work I want. (Agency). I do the job nobody wants…Multi-drop palletwork!!
I actually prefer it to the boring slog down the road and back. I start at 7-30am, finish about tea-time and never struggle for work because nobody wants to do this stuff! They really struggle to get drivers, so Im appreciated as well! I know its not for everybody, but they insist we take proper breaks and dont mind if we dont get all the calls off. Just do your best type of thing. Yeah, its ok.
Harry Monk:
Have to buck the trend here, quiet in the east Midlands, I’m getting texts offering me work at £11 per hour PAYE whereas I was working for £12-£13 over the Winter.
One text even said “We can pay £11 per hour to drivers who are XPO assessed”. Yeah, righto then.
When I go back to work in September, post-Brexit and the DCPC, hopefully the haulage industry will have bucked its ideas up a bit.
- just in time to pay the big winter fuel bills with that hit my doormat this morning. 
