I have been living abroad last 7 years and remember this forum having loads of jobs advertised
Now there are none
Are they hiding somewhere?
Shocked to see one local, Moody Newcastle,truck company paying £11 an hour!
Amazing that selling burgers in McBuckets pays almost the same.
Time to move down to the Midlands I think.
MichaelAllington:
I have been living abroad last 7 years and remember this forum having loads of jobs advertised
Now there are none
Are they hiding somewhere?
Shocked to see one local, Moody Newcastle,truck company paying £11 an hour!
Amazing that selling burgers in McBuckets pays almost the same.
Time to move down to the Midlands I think.
Wages are static at best, even here in the Midlands. Nobody has any money to spend as it’s all going on the mortgage and the energy bills and so we aren’t moving stuff that folk aren’t buying. It’s only going to get worse too. Interest rates will be going up by another 0.5% next week and the cold spell is far from over.
If you are looking for work try all of the agencies in your area. As said above there just isnt the spending power those days, so much less need for transport. The driver shortage was the sort of thing that Boris would dream up.
MichaelAllington:
I have been living abroad last 7 years and remember this forum having loads of jobs advertised
Now there are none
Are they hiding somewhere?
Shocked to see one local, Moody Newcastle,truck company paying £11 an hour!
Amazing that selling burgers in McBuckets pays almost the same.
Time to move down to the Midlands I think.
I’m assuming you live in Newcastle , unless your a single bloke do you really want to move your wife / kids 100,s of miles from there jobs , friends , schools , your/ wife’s families , a simple visit assuming your families are in Newcastle is a long old treck / expensive in fuel , what if you need a baby sitter , grandparents arnt just round the corner , can you buy the equivalent house in the midlands you can in Newcastle
I don’t think it’s as simple as I’m moving to the midlands , my family is in Bristol mostly , it’s a days track to visit , lots of Londoners relocated to Grantham , cheaper houses , but loads have gone back as miss family / friends / London
I’d have a real think before I decided to do it
I did the same sort off thing in 2000, I shut my business down and coming from Norfolk there wasn’t many job opportunities unless you want to be a tramper and I was sick of that sort of work, so I moved to the Midlands.
The job opportunities was so much better and 20 years later I am still here. It’s far better pay and the cost of living about the same.
At the moment the jobs front is very quiet since Christmas, it could be a very difficult year.
Harry Monk:
Wages are static at best, even here in the Midlands. Nobody has any money to spend as it’s all going on the mortgage and the energy bills and so we aren’t moving stuff that folk aren’t buying. It’s only going to get worse too. Interest rates will be going up by another 0.5% next week and the cold spell is far from over.
Plus transport companies are spending way more on diesel so what littel room there might have been to up wages has been eaten away several times over (diesel is up what, 70% compared to 1 year ago) If anything it’s a small miracle there hasn’t been a tsunami of mass business closures in the sector
alamcculloch:
If you are looking for work try all of the agencies in your area. As said above there just isnt the spending power those days, so much less need for transport. The driver shortage was the sort of thing that Boris would dream up.
Biggest problem is agency work has fell off the cliff at the moment.
End of 2021 when there was a mini boom and a bit of a driver shortage, alot of the blue chip companies caught a cold because they relied too much on agency drivers so they have recruited more full-time drivers.
With a slump in the economy and firms got a higher percentage of their own drivers it is hitting both the agencies and traction hauliers very hard.
I have been on agency for about 13 years and earned a very good living out off it, as the rates of pay was always alot higher than a core driver but now they are the same.
I have just gone over onto the books at the high street chain I worked for when I was full-time agency, because as the rates are the same there is no point having the hassle of agency work.
So if you have to, try agency but you be far better finding full-time.
ETS:
[Plus transport companies are spending way more on diesel so what littel room there might have been to up wages has been eaten away several times over (diesel is up what, 70% compared to 1 year ago) If anything it’s a small miracle there hasn’t been a tsunami of mass business closures in the sector
What planet are you living on?
It’s quite easy to check fuel prices on here.
Diesel is up a little over 10% on a year ago.
Was £1.157, now £1.28 (both plus vat)
r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic? … source=app
Fuel Price Week begin --/–
Thanks for all the advice.
I will register with all the local agencies
I guess we will all have to weather the storm
till it picks up again.
I wonder if MPs salaries have also reduced
and maybe they will lay 20% of them off 
We’ve had a couple of abnormal years where work never stopped and now things are back to normal post Xmas. People seem to have forgotten this is what it used to be like before 2020.
stu675:
What planet are you living on?
It’s quite easy to check fuel prices on here.
Diesel is up a little over 10% on a year ago.
Was £1.157, now £1.28 (both plus vat)
I was talking regular price, no idea about the ‘‘card’’ price. I might be wrong in my recollection, I remember diesel was around £1.10-1.20 early last year then the ‘‘special operation’’ happened and it went to £2+ for many months only recently dropping to £1.60-1.70. Also adblue is double price still
I keep getting emails to cover some odd agency shifts across the river in Essex - from agencies I’ve never signed up with, nor ever had an interest in working for “The wrong side of the river” and all.
There have been a few job recruitment (actual full time jobs) around in Kent, but they’ve been filled mainly from within, with drivers being transferred from other lower-paying firms, or perhaps the shifting worker decided the new venue would be easier to get to work at then their outgoing employers?
What I have found is odd though - is this disparity between workers in the transport industry compared to other unionized industries, such as the NHS or Public Sector workforces…
Isn’t it time to consider fixed shifts (around the clock 24/7 start times) rather than all this “Any five from seven” lark which has discouraged me away from full time work for some years now…?
Isn’t it time to consider a “working full time week” to be 36-45 hours rather than the 48-60 hours which seems the norm in the transport industry, some time since?
Rather than create two jobs of 60 hours per week, why not create three jobs for 40 hours per week, same wages exactly, but less taxes paid by the three workers in question, less commute costs working less shifts per week, and of course the ultimate dream of only having to spend 3-4 days holiday taking 3-4 day weeks off, rather than spending 5-6 days (out of 26 days holiday+BH) to do that?
“Better conditions” won’t happen - unless your employer is benevolent enough to provide them, AND of course workers actually pop the idea into Gaffer’s head that such a thing would be worth rather more to the indivudual would-be recruit than a hefty pay rise of what NHS workers and others are asking for - which only keeps the wolf from the door for ONE ROLLING YEAR don’t forget…
“Better conditions” is worth to chase more than “Better pay” I’d humbly suggest…
If “Better FT conditions” can’t be got however, then “Better pay” will just have to suffice in the meantime.
" It is better to be loved than feared, when ruling as a prince - but if one cannot achieve “Loved”, then “Feared” will have to do. "
N.Machiavelli
Conor:
We’ve had a couple of abnormal years where work never stopped and now things are back to normal post Xmas. People seem to have forgotten this is what it used to be like before 2020.
Exactly this, things aren’t that bad just gone back to pre pandemic levels.
MichaelAllington:
Thanks for all the advice.
I will register with all the local agencies
I guess we will all have to weather the storm
till it picks up again.
I wonder if MPs salaries have also reduced
and maybe they will lay 20% of them off
Quite a few of them do get laid off every 5 years or so.
ETS:
stu675:
What planet are you living on?
It’s quite easy to check fuel prices on here.
Diesel is up a little over 10% on a year ago.
Was £1.157, now £1.28 (both plus vat)I was talking regular price, no idea about the ‘‘card’’ price. I might be wrong in my recollection, I remember diesel was around £1.10-1.20 early last year then the ‘‘special operation’’ happened and it went to £2+ for many months only recently dropping to £1.60-1.70. Also adblue is double price still
Double post
ETS:
stu675:
What planet are you living on?
It’s quite easy to check fuel prices on here.
Diesel is up a little over 10% on a year ago.
Was £1.157, now £1.28 (both plus vat)I was talking regular price, no idea about the ‘‘card’’ price. I might be wrong in my recollection, I remember diesel was around £1.10-1.20 early last year then the ‘‘special operation’’ happened and it went to £2+ for many months only recently dropping to £1.60-1.70. Also adblue is double price still
It wasn’t.
He’s just posted the price this time last year.
Try 1.50
It’s also fairly easy to google what the price was this time last year.
Gavv8:
Conor:
We’ve had a couple of abnormal years where work never stopped and now things are back to normal post Xmas. People seem to have forgotten this is what it used to be like before 2020.Exactly this, things aren’t that bad just gone back to pre pandemic levels.
You guys are correct as it’s seems others have short memories and have forgotten about the usual timeline of agency work. Those unusual years have put me in a good position to do nowt, in fact until I looked at the weather forecast (brassic) I was going to consider asking the resident expert where are the best places to go in Benidorm while I await the phone calls from the agency
According to this here graph statista.com/statistics/299 … d-kingdom/
it was £1.50 last January indeed then goes to £1.73 in March peaking at £1.96 in June and July down to 1.8 in Sep
Last time it Was £1.20 was in Jan '21 so I stand corrected. However my point still remains that the price is way up compared to ‘‘old times’’ ie. 2020 pre-pandemic and has been quite volatile during 2022
peirre:
Gavv8:
Conor:
We’ve had a couple of abnormal years where work never stopped and now things are back to normal post Xmas. People seem to have forgotten this is what it used to be like before 2020.Exactly this, things aren’t that bad just gone back to pre pandemic levels.
You guys are correct as it’s seems others have short memories and have forgotten about the usual timeline of agency work. Those unusual years have put me in a good position to do nowt, in fact until I looked at the weather forecast (brassic) I was going to consider asking the resident expert where are the best places to go in Benidorm while I await the phone calls from the agency[/quoteee
All that money you’ve earnt , it wasn’t long ago you were complaining about your crap pay rises compared to every one else , I also fail to wsee how you earnt all this money as you said you were on pay parity with the employed drivers , the same drivers who are now earning a weeks wage whereas your earning £0 , and using your saving to live
Don’t bother asking for my help as you live on a different planet to me , I’m out working & not using my savings , the common sense thing to do , where’s you think it makes sense to sit on your ■■■ for months earning £0 & telling everyone how wonderful & how it’s just how agency work is
I told you many a time agency work was not for me , I’m employed now so don’t involve me in your agency how brilliant it is , as in my experience it’s crap , tell your stories of holiday pay / sick pay / gold plated pension to the idiots who believe it it certainly wasn’t my experience of agency
I’m well out of it , I’ll stick to my lesser paid employed job thanks , holiday pay , sick pay , cpc paid for , medical paid for , uniform , £80 k death in service benefit etc etc ,
Anyway I thought you were going to a carnival in Portugal !!! Run out of money !!!
I somehow knew that you couldn’t resist responding.
FYI I’m hardly spending money like Viv Richardson, and the cost of living for me is minuscule, I’m not doing 250 miles to/from work a week so the fuel saving is good,
I have no mortgage, no dog, no wife and kids to keep, just a couple of nights out at Spoons a week, so I just have utilities, beer and food to buy which are covered by my modest pension each month from my previous employer, so I’m hardly going to spend 1000’s in such a short period of time, so I’m pretty much set being comfortable at home.
FYI Carnival in Portugal isn’t until 15th (I’m out there 15th-23rd), so besides the cost of a return ryanair flight between Manchester and Lisbon (with no luggage) on those dates, parking my car at Manchester airport, and a hire car for the week from Lisbon (for €29 - yes you read it correctly) I have a bed in my mates house for free, so the misc costs of the PT side even if I take them out for dinner is covered by the money I have stashed away in my Portuguese bank account.
As I’ve been told Friday that there is no work next week I was considering going away at the last minute to warmer places but I’m informed that southern Spain is brassic atm so I’ll scratch that it’s warmer here in my gaff without the heating on, and I don’t fancy going to the canaries due to the flight times.
Btw did you get your money from your JSA claim yet?