A bit of honesty?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
61

kjw21:

mickyblue:
Why is it that there are so many “footballer” drivers who think they should be getting over £500 a week? I cannot believe that some people on here think £450 take home is crap?

I think it depends on whether you are below £450 looking up or above it looking down.

I agree that £450 take home is ok but I’d balance that view with how many hours etc to get that £450.

Ill also agree that the job isn’t rocket science - but why should that mean crap pay? If that unskilled work makes a profit off the effort (or lack off) of that unskilled worker then said worker should get a reasonable reward.

What job in this industry would you class as “skilled”? Tbh I can only think of fitters. That’s not belittling drivers, just going from the majorities view of what is a skilled job.

exactly. as usual, most people too stupid to look at the bigger picture.

62

alamcculloch:
What qualifications are there for the middle classes ?I wonder if its a module that counts towards the DCPC.?Most middle class people that I have met have a middle class set of parents.

I’ve no idea; I was replying in kind to the poster who made the assumption that the job you did defined the social class to which you belong. something I don’t personally agree with.

63

Let’s ask the obvious questions

(1) Why do toilet cleaners and shelf stackers get more money than some drivers in some areas these days?
Capitalist answer - More available drivers than bods prepared to stack shelves and clean toilets…

(2) Why do drivers put up with this crap?
Because working class pride says they are better off earning £7ph than possibly risk getting sacked for the cheek of asking 4x4-toting guvnor for a rise - seeing as he’s had a good year and all!

Fear and greed. Fear about losing a job that’s clearly so cushy, everyone is perceived to want it… I thought it was “crap and low paid”■■?
Greed because somehow taking home £350pw gives some the pride of not needing top-ups, whereas part time higher rate hours get you the same takehome pay in half the time… Nope, that’s scrounging apparently!
Ahh… If only a takehome of £350 per week meant total financial independance! It won’t even pay a rent or mortgage in today’s Britain, (including like-4-like up north!) so don’t kid yourself this is anything but a crap wage.

Last time I looked, pride was one of the seven deadly sins…
On the other hand, ‘being able to count’ isn’t the same as saying “Hey, I’M a big eater at the original tree of knowledge, and was first out past the flaming sword that turns every which way”…

:question: Who do you respect more on the other side of the bed? :question:
A 30 year-old ex-■■■■■■ girl or an 18 year old virgin who’s just jacked it in at the convent?

64

If you make money without taking it from someone else, you are upper class.
If you make money by taking it from those below you, you are middle class.
If you make money by taking it from those above you, you are working class.

Being middle class in today’s world isn’t much different from being a crook of course - it is only what’s legal and what’s not, in turn decided by other middle class public figures for whom “Atheist Creep” has long since washed over them, and rinsed out most of the scruples most of us would refer to as “common decency”.

The sensible middle-class person keeps their head down, and perhaps even pretends to be working class, because of the amount of time they choose not to spend at home.

The upper class don’t need to meet the ordinary folk, since they make money without interacting with anyone. This is totally unlike the other two classes which are totally dependent upon each other.

Those middle class people that aspire for upper classhood are usually missing this subtle point - a lifestyle change is required which is not what most people think! “Making more connections” is going in completely the wrong direction. No, I’m not talking “pull the ladder up” - I’m saying that the true upper class person relys on NO ONE to get by. The middle class employer is stumped without someone underneath them to exploit, and the working class bod is fooled into being a mere serf for someone who in turn is one, rather than two steps above them. They’ll keep them down whilst pretending to aspire to the same dreams of overall advancement in life…

Those that have succeeded of course get known as “eccentric” because the rest of the world can’t and won’t understand.
Sure, I’m working class, but at least I don’t kid myself that I’ll climb - simply because for people like me, the entire middle section must be skipped if I am ever to get ahead of them. I’m not a people person, so won’t ever make it via that route.

65

TonyS:
Don’t like the money you earn driving? Go and find something else to do.

A sensible answer +1
I don’t want to clean toilets or stack shelves if I did I would
Life is what u make it

66

Winseer, why all that jealousy and frustration?? More than ones do you keep mentioning these bosses with big 4x4, Big houses etc.
Are you frustrated that you can not be up with them there?
Many of them had the balls to stick their neck out, and put all what they had at risk.
You didn’t, you decided that you would play it safe and just be an employee.

I’m always glad when my Boss bys a new Porsche, and even happier when he buys one for his wife and kids too.
Why?..because it means that the Business is still making money, that he still has interest to make money.
Which of course means that I probably still have a regular income in the years to come.

When the old man (the Gaffer) was running the Business, he always had top of the range BMW 7 series, run them for 3 years and bought a new one.
One morning we came in work, and there was a brand new Saab Turbo where normally the BMW was.
That time I think we had 300-400 employees and everybody ■■■■ theirselves until we found out later that week, that he bought it because he liked the shape.
We thought business was going down the drain and he had downgraded.

I’ve never looked up to these people, we had a Business at home, and I know how things can turn.
I’m an employee and sleep every night, my parent where employers and had many a sleepless night worrying about the Business.
If somebody start and runs a Business, successful or not, they have my respect, if they be successful good to them, and if they reap the fruits of their hard work and investment even better.

And the thing is easy: if an employer doesn’t pay you enough, leave him, go somewhere better, do something else, but moaning on here doesn’t help.
If the Mountain doesn’t come to Mozes, Mozes have to go to the mountain!

67

Winseer:
Ahh… If only a takehome of £350 per week meant total financial independance! It won’t even pay a rent or mortgage in today’s Britain, (including like-4-like up north!) so don’t kid yourself this is anything but a crap wage.

Lucky for me, I have to pay only one rent monthly, so even if my rent is slightly over my weekly pay, I still have three weekly salaries to pay other bills and put some food on my table… Have to say that flat + bills averaging in around 1/3 of my income in such simply job as truck driving is, well, believe or not, but Britain is one of the best countries of which I lived (or my friends do) so far. It is nothing unusual - also in many Western European countries - that for working couple, one monthly salary is used for the rent exclusively…

Apart from that I fully agree with you: truck driving is not the elite proffession, almost everyone can become a truck driver. Yes, it costs a lot of money but obviously not as much as to create a shortage of workforce in this field. And I’ve been stocking shelves in my life, I’ve been also cleaning (portable) toilets, I was doing other dull jobs, and I tell you one: I would rather drive a truck for 6.50 per hour than work in Tesco for 7.50 - because driving is fun, you are on your own, you can see places, you can listen to your music, every day brings new challenges etc etc etc. Money is not everything.

And since I am not the only one, and then there is plenty of this who thinks that driving a truck is somehow nobilitating and make them feel better, therefore is much more people who want to drive than trucks to be driven - and here your economy comes in.

(for the record: I am NOT driving trucks for 6.50 per hour now, I am driving vans for more, but if I had no other choice, I would accept such job if that was current running rate for everyone around).

68

caledoniandream:
Winseer, why all that jealousy and frustration?? More than ones do you keep mentioning these bosses with big 4x4, Big houses etc.
Are you frustrated that you can not be up with them there?

I see nothing wrong with bosses driving BMW’s as long, as their employees are paid fairly. When I worked in McLellan’s, I was cheated on my overtime, bosses tried to use “we can’t afford to pay you overtime” as an excuse while new cars and exotic holidays for boss and his sons was a regular occurence, and I worked there only 5 months or so.

Finally they went busted, but of course it does not harmed them while I had to get my money (together with that overtime they cheated me on) through Employment Tribunal and I was paid from the protection fund (i forgot the name of it now) - in other words - you all paid through your taxes so I can have back money that mr McLellan and co. stole from me (Mods, you don’t have to delete, this is not an accussation but statement of facts, I can forward you a scan of the Employed Tribunal ruling if you want).

When I worked for Hebrides Haulage, my boss was driving car of similar value to my old Nissan Primera I had back there… But we were always paid up to the last pence, on time, the trucks were mainainet properly and even the oldest ones were in roadwhorthy condition (something that could not be said about half of the fleet in McLellan’s).

Being boss and company owner is not only about sipping cream from the top. It is also about resposibility. If I am just a worker, I slam the doors at the end of my shift and go home. If you are boss, you’re responsible for your company, and for fulfilling your obligation to people you employ, all the time. And it’s not just about duties, it’s about simple human honesty and decency.

I have a friends, they run a small production company. This is a second company now, as the first one went busted. They used profits they make on the new company to pay people who suffered from the bankruptcy of their previous company. They didn’t have to by law - it was a limited company, but they felt that this is the right thing to do and they did it. Most of the bosses though would just splash their cash on a new BMW. I think this is the difference Wisneer have in mind. Simply human decency and honesty, nothing more.

69

orys:

Winseer:
Ahh… If only a takehome of £350 per week meant total financial independance! It won’t even pay a rent or mortgage in today’s Britain, (including like-4-like up north!) so don’t kid yourself this is anything but a crap wage.

Lucky for me, I have to pay only one rent monthly, so even if my rent is slightly over my weekly pay, I still have three weekly salaries to pay other bills and put some food on my table… Have to say that flat + bills averaging in around 1/3 of my income in such simply job as truck driving is, well, believe or not, but Britain is one of the best countries of which I lived (or my friends do) so far. It is nothing unusual - also in many Western European countries - that for working couple, one monthly salary is used for the rent exclusively…

Apart from that I fully agree with you: truck driving is not the elite proffession, almost everyone can become a truck driver. Yes, it costs a lot of money but obviously not as much as to create a shortage of workforce in this field. And I’ve been stocking shelves in my life, I’ve been also cleaning (portable) toilets, I was doing other dull jobs, and I tell you one: I would rather drive a truck for 6.50 per hour than work in Tesco for 7.50 - because driving is fun, you are on your own, you can see places, you can listen to your music, every day brings new challenges etc etc etc. Money is not everything.

And since I am not the only one, and then there is plenty of this who thinks that driving a truck is somehow nobilitating and make them feel better, therefore is much more people who want to drive than trucks to be driven - and here your economy comes in.

(for the record: I am NOT driving trucks for 6.50 per hour now, I am driving vans for more, but if I had no other choice, I would accept such job if that was current running rate for everyone around).

Since you seem to be part of the problem and not the solution could I suggest you keep driving your van!

btw even though some trades earn a slightly higher income here we pay out a higher % of that income for accomodation, infact we pay the highest for accomodation in Western Europe.

70

jamdoms:
Since you seem to be part of the problem and not the solution could I suggest you keep driving your van!

I shall be driving what I please, thank you very much :slight_smile:

71

oman5:

kjw21:

mickyblue:
Why is it that there are so many “footballer” drivers who think they should be getting over £500 a week? I cannot believe that some people on here think £450 take home is crap?

I think it depends on whether you are below £450 looking up or above it looking down.

I agree that £450 take home is ok but I’d balance that view with how many hours etc to get that £450.

Ill also agree that the job isn’t rocket science - but why should that mean crap pay? If that unskilled work makes a profit off the effort (or lack off) of that unskilled worker then said worker should get a reasonable reward.

What job in this industry would you class as “skilled”? Tbh I can only think of fitters. That’s not belittling drivers, just going from the majorities view of what is a skilled job.

exactly. as usual, most people too stupid to look at the bigger picture.

Say 10 hour days to get that £450