Hahahaha delusion of grandeur hahahaha
I used the ‘I’ as a general term for a good skilled driver, there are plenty out there.
I have lots of skills buddy, plenty of license’s too. I choose to turn work down for 2 reasons:
Crap employers
Crap pay
As for a reference, employers are only allowed to give a true reference and that can include bad time keeping through to being a thieving knob.
nsmith1180:
See I think you, and Honked, are the ones who should quit the business. Because you haven’t got a clue. Honked has delusions of grandur and you seem to think it’s every employers bounded duty to give you everything you ever wanted.If I am going to spend out half a month’s salary just to get you on a truck, I want you there for a reasonable term. That’s logical and that’s fair to both parties. Especially as employers are no longer allowed to give a proper reference, we can either give a good reference or no reference, which means that even asking your current employer for a reference wouldn’t tell me of you are incompetent or not.
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You can give a bad reference. However if you can’t back it up, you lay yourself open to legal action from the worker you have given the reference to.
I have a reference sheet here from a company requesting a reference for an ex employee. It has tick boxes ranging from ‘Very Good’ to ‘Very Poor’.
I have an assessment tomorrow with them. I`d be interested in 4 on 4 off on days. Anyone know what to expect on the assessment or have some info about the wages or the job in Manchester?
fuser84:
I have an assessment tomorrow with them. I`d be interested in 4 on 4 off on days. Anyone know what to expect on the assessment or have some info about the wages or the job in Manchester?
AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
I got offered a start with them last year, at the same time another job I had applied for came up. I wanted to get into the tanker game and was quite keen to start but this other job came up and it was just around the corner from my house, so reluctantly I phoned Abbey and declined their offer. However, a very good mate of mine fancied it and took my place.
He absolutely hates the place. As another poster correctly stated; They take around £900 off you if you leave within the first 12 months plus DCPC. An HOUR a day is taken off for breaks. Night out money is £20. You end up with a knackered stinking 11 plate DAF if you work out of Liverpool or Trafford Park. The pay is absolutely terrible and you are forever being ■■■■■■ about with tank washes etc.
Check out the reviews for the place online…very bad indeed 
Turns out that I dodged a bullet 
nsmith1180:
See I think you, and Honked, are the ones who should quit the business. Because you haven’t got a clue. Honked has delusions of grandur and you seem to think it’s every employers bounded duty to give you everything you ever wanted.If I am going to spend out half a month’s salary just to get you on a truck, I want you there for a reasonable term. That’s logical and that’s fair to both parties. Especially as employers are no longer allowed to give a proper reference, we can either give a good reference or no reference, which means that even asking your current employer for a reference wouldn’t tell me of you are incompetent or not.
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Bullshine. You can provide a reference that is as good or bad as you feel is appropriate - provided it is factual.
Your earlier comment about employing a 5 day a week tramper on £25k a year and the penny-pinching recovery of PPE costs etc speaks volumes about your attitude to drivers, and as a consequence reflects directly on the calibre of drivers you are likely to be able to recruit.
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Jesus Christ, god help us all!!!
You mean to tell me that their are drivers that stupid that they truly believe you can be forced to repay costs a company has incurred through training!!!
Tell me can these men tie their own laces! Before anyone starts, yes Iv binned off a tanker job (not abbey) that tried just that! A few threatening letters telling me they were going to take me to court, hahahaa yes really - and make me into a criminal force bankruptcy on me and all sorts - my wallet stayed ■■■■ and after I gave them a nice little love letter back informing them of there lies & veiled threats I got a letter telling me, “in this instance we will waive any monies owed” - moral of the story if your being held hostage in this way - get your balls out your ■■■■■ and it might just benefit us all!
dbk23:
Jesus Christ, god help us all!!!You mean to tell me that their are drivers that stupid that they truly believe you can be forced to repay costs a company has incurred through training!!!
Tell me can these men tie their own laces! Before anyone starts, yes Iv binned off a tanker job (not abbey) that tried just that! A few threatening letters telling me they were going to take me to court, hahahaa yes really - and make me into a criminal force bankruptcy on me and all sorts - my wallet stayed [zb] and after I gave them a nice little love letter back informing them of there lies & veiled threats I got a letter telling me, “in this instance we will waive any monies owed” - moral of the story if your being held hostage in this way - get your balls out your ■■■■■ and it might just benefit us all!
Well exactly! Ive never known money to be paid back for training. Not saying it doesnt happen. Ive just never heard of it. People get trained to do jobs in all sorts of industries all over the place, you dont hear of this happening. Why transport? I smell bullshine.
cheekymonkey:
dbk23:
Jesus Christ, god help us all!!!You mean to tell me that their are drivers that stupid that they truly believe you can be forced to repay costs a company has incurred through training!!!
Tell me can these men tie their own laces! Before anyone starts, yes Iv binned off a tanker job (not abbey) that tried just that! A few threatening letters telling me they were going to take me to court, hahahaa yes really - and make me into a criminal force bankruptcy on me and all sorts - my wallet stayed [zb] and after I gave them a nice little love letter back informing them of there lies & veiled threats I got a letter telling me, “in this instance we will waive any monies owed” - moral of the story if your being held hostage in this way - get your balls out your ■■■■■ and it might just benefit us all!
Well exactly! I
ve never known money to be paid back for training. Not saying it doesnt happen. Ive just never heard of it. People get trained to do jobs in all sorts of industries all over the place, you dont hear of this happening. Why transport? I smell bullshine.
Sadly it isn’t bullshine, it’s very real. What is sad is the fact there are drivers with no backbone to stand up and tell them to go ■■■■ themselves. No wonder the industry is ■■■■■■ & we’re getting screwed over. What you allow will continue people need to wise up.
dbk23:
cheekymonkey:
dbk23:
Jesus Christ, god help us all!!!You mean to tell me that their are drivers that stupid that they truly believe you can be forced to repay costs a company has incurred through training!!!
Tell me can these men tie their own laces! Before anyone starts, yes Iv binned off a tanker job (not abbey) that tried just that! A few threatening letters telling me they were going to take me to court, hahahaa yes really - and make me into a criminal force bankruptcy on me and all sorts - my wallet stayed [zb] and after I gave them a nice little love letter back informing them of there lies & veiled threats I got a letter telling me, “in this instance we will waive any monies owed” - moral of the story if your being held hostage in this way - get your balls out your ■■■■■ and it might just benefit us all!
Well exactly! I
ve never known money to be paid back for training. Not saying it doesnt happen. Ive just never heard of it. People get trained to do jobs in all sorts of industries all over the place, you dont hear of this happening. Why transport? I smell bullshine.Sadly it isn’t bullshine, it’s very real. What is sad is the fact there are drivers with no backbone to stand up and tell them to go [zb] themselves. No wonder the industry is [zb] & we’re getting screwed over. What you allow will continue people need to wise up.
It happens in a lot of industries but where it gets blurred is training that is “required” and training that is “beneficial”.
I do not see who they can charge for tanker training as it is a requirement under health and safety that the employer ensures that the employee is fully trained to use all equipment that they use in their role.
If I worked there and wanted to do a first aid course but I didn’t require it for my role or for them to meet their cover levels and they agreed to pay they would be entitled to reclaim as it was for my benefit. This should also be on a sliding scale reducing over time from completion.
With Abbey you sign a contract agreeing to pay back training/DCPC costs if you leave at any time prior to 12 months employment.
The question is, would any driver have the backbone to chase them through the courts to get the money back?
I think we all know the answer to that one sadly… 
However, there is an easier option; DON’T WORK FOR CACK FIRMS IN THE FIRST PLACE 
the maoster:
Juddian:
though getting the at the time must have BS kitemark (good wheeze that one Claude, kerching) must have quadrupled the paperwork.Ah, the good old British Standard scam that was so prevalent in the late 80’s and early 90’s and shortly thereafter fizzled away into obscurity!
I have it on very good authority that the Co that was the main driver for this in the first place was I.C.I. It turns out that one of the directors of ICI was also on the board of The British Standards Institute and obviously recognised a money making scam when he saw one.The whole pointlessness of the exercise was highlighted when my employer (Brian Rosier) who along with Youngs and Prestons was the main haulier of ICI packaged goods in Europe point blank refused to partake in their hoop jumping and was granted a dispensation in order to carry on hauling their tat! Prior to that the threat was “if you ain’t accredited you no longer carry our goods”.
I’ve just done exactly the same maoster - told the main customer to shove their UKAS accredited ISO, and they came back with, OK, it might no be necessary then!
Juddian:
Jingle Jon:
This whole issue of paying companies back for training - or for uniforms / PPE, is completely wrong imo. If the company stipulates it - they should stand the cost.That i agree with, a good company should be very sure of the applicant before employing them in the first place and thats why good TM’s get paid the big bucks to cherry pick and get it right, you won’t get in where i am if you’re a here today gone tomorrow job flitter or without a very decent checkable CV.
Training does cost a lot, especially on specialist work, though mentoring is making a return at enlightened places which helps new starters have some confidence when going out on their own the first few months if they are running with someone tasked with looking after them and if not then that someone is always available on the phone to help them if they have an issue, its different ringing a work colleague to involving the trainer if you have an issue, the colleague can tell you if you’re being a pillock where the trainer has to be more ‘official’.
Those extensive training cost pale into insignificance compared to the results of ■■■■ ups, and no matter how much some players try to instill this one size fits all ■■■■■■■■, everyone learns at different rates.
Course if they’re doing the job on the cheap, then they’re going to attract people who only want to be trained up and then bugger off to better pastures soon as the payback time has expired
We have a clause to repay training costs and it’s never been enforced. Where it would be is if someone came to us in and decided to leave more or less after training - I’m not here to help them get another job.
cheekymonkey:
dbk23:
Jesus Christ, god help us all!!!You mean to tell me that their are drivers that stupid that they truly believe you can be forced to repay costs a company has incurred through training!!!
Tell me can these men tie their own laces! Before anyone starts, yes Iv binned off a tanker job (not abbey) that tried just that! A few threatening letters telling me they were going to take me to court, hahahaa yes really - and make me into a criminal force bankruptcy on me and all sorts - my wallet stayed [zb] and after I gave them a nice little love letter back informing them of there lies & veiled threats I got a letter telling me, “in this instance we will waive any monies owed” - moral of the story if your being held hostage in this way - get your balls out your ■■■■■ and it might just benefit us all!
Well exactly! I
ve never known money to be paid back for training. Not saying it doesnt happen. Ive just never heard of it. People get trained to do jobs in all sorts of industries all over the place, you dont hear of this happening. Why transport? I smell bullshine.
Actually a lot of sectors do. I spend time on an employment forum and a regular question is, do I have to pay back training costs and the answer is yes if you signed a contract with a repayment clause in it.
If you don’t have a contract, then no, you won’t be paying.
If you don’t like the clause, then don’t sign it and take a different job.
kcrussell25:
It happens in a lot of industries but where it gets blurred is training that is “required” and training that is “beneficial”.I do not see who they can charge for tanker training as it is a requirement under health and safety that the employer ensures that the employee is fully trained to use all equipment that they use in their role.
If I worked there and wanted to do a first aid course but I didn’t require it for my role or for them to meet their cover levels and they agreed to pay they would be entitled to reclaim as it was for my benefit. This should also be on a sliding scale reducing over time from completion.
Yes, generally a sliding scale along the lines of, leave within 6 months, pay 100% back, leave with a year pay 50%, something along those lines and that is if you leave, not if you are fired.
nsmith1180:
If I am going to spend out half a month’s salary just to get you on a truck, I want you there for a reasonable term. That’s logical and that’s fair to both parties. Especially as employers are no longer allowed to give a proper reference, we can either give a good reference or no reference, which means that even asking your current employer for a reference wouldn’t tell me of you are incompetent or not.Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk
Why do you need to spend ‘half a months salary’? I’ve seen one of your wagons - and respectfully it’s doesn’t look that specialized work tbh. It was a nice looking Renault and I’d be happy to drive it - but apart from a driving licence I don’t see what other qualifications you’d need. It didn’t even have adr plates!
In terms of PPE - as an agency driver I have my own. If you want me to wear your branded high viz then that’s your problem. Mine are clean and don’t have any company names on them. Same goes for my boots - they are clean and do the job. I’d object massively if I were told I had to use yours and then you wanted to charge me for it.
Let’s see how quickly this post of mines will be removed, banned, censored etc…
When employee start to work in any “new” profession, for example technician of some sorts of primitive things or operator of some sort of things he starts on lower pay rate and over time he goes through training of the operation of that machine or maintenance of those devices and gets pay rise. It can be after 3 month, it can be after 6 month, it can be after a year. He does not get charged for uniform and does not get charged for training - he gets lower pay rate for the first period of his employment…
Now for trucking however there are some albinos and smitties who think that on the top of that he saves couple of quid an hour during this training period he also can take couple of hundred or grand on the top of that…
What these rats actually are doing is getting double the savings - lower hourly or base rate for the first period of time and ALSO the money they try to scam out of employee who happens to drive truck.
And then even on the top of that some of them dare to come onto public forum and talk about how fantastic fair and honest employers they are…
Now whoever managed to read this before this gets removed as pretty much all truth written in this forum, please take notice screenshot or something like that for memories…
This is just another scam only used in trucking industry.
And as the last nail in the coffin of albino and smittie I can say from my own experience that Nationwide Platforms do not charge their drivers for any of the training even if they bail out after few weeks so shut your dirty holes…
(I do not promote Nationwide Platforms, I would not recommend working for them unless you’re a penguin.)
I knew it will better to warm up this topic than starting a new one 
They didn`t mention anything about being on lower pay for two weeks or repaying the training cost on the interview though.
fuser84:
I knew it will better to warm up this topic than starting a new one
…
And what makes you think that they will start the interview with “Hey, we will charge you this much for that and that and basically 1k etc…”
You need to ask for these things and read the paper they want you to sign…
Another trick they pull is they don’t give you contract - paper on your first day, but say you will get in few days later and then few days in they forget about it, you don’t ask about it, and then after few weeks paper shows up and they ask you to sign it and there it is somewhere in 100+ pages which you didn’t bother to read after being there for a weeks already…
With “they” I do not mean Abbeys in this case since I haven’t been with them, but this is what others do. The scheme is the same. Some use 2 contracts or partially sign few pages one day and other pages the other day etc…
kyk:
Let’s see how quickly this post of mines will be removed, banned, censored etc…Now for trucking however there are some albinos and smitties who think that on the top of that he saves couple of quid an hour during this training period he also can take couple of hundred or grand on the top of that…
What these rats actually are doing is getting double the savings - lower hourly or base rate for the first period of time and ALSO the money they try to scam out of employee who happens to drive truck.
And then even on the top of that some of them dare to come onto public forum and talk about how fantastic fair and honest employers they are…
Whatever are you on about dear boy/girl?
Whenever someone joins us, even those under 25s with no experience, they get paid exactly the same rate as everyone else. No idea where you got that idea from.
Secondly, I’ve never charged anyone for either uniform or training, as I said earlier.
And as it is indeed a public forum, so yes I am fair and honest. I’m clear what the job is when people join us, we run legal 99.9% of the time, I’m fair with my customers. And yes, I am proud of my little firm. A lot of haulage firms fail, by some miracle mine hasn’t and it supports 25 staff, not bad for a mere forkie.
albion:
Whatever are you on about dear boy/girl?Whenever someone joins us, even those under 25s with no experience, they get paid exactly the same rate as everyone else. No idea where you got that idea from.
Secondly, I’ve never charged anyone for either uniform or training, as I said earlier.
And as it is indeed a public forum, so yes I am fair and honest. I’m clear what the job is when people join us, we run legal 99.9% of the time, I’m fair with my customers. And yes, I am proud of my little firm. A lot of haulage firms fail, by some miracle mine hasn’t and it supports 25 staff, not bad for a mere forkie.
albion:
We have a clause to repay training costs and it’s never been enforced. Where it would be is if someone came to us in and decided to leave more or less after training - I’m not here to help them get another job.
albion:
Actually a lot of sectors do. I spend time on an employment forum and a regular question is, do I have to pay back training costs and the answer is yes if you signed a contract with a repayment clause in it.If you don’t have a contract, then no, you won’t be paying.
If you don’t like the clause, then don’t sign it and take a different job.