Hey boys, I now the situation same as here. I have driven for more as 30 years,thereafter I swiched to the workshop for my last days. Today you have to sit behind the wheel trembling and thinking that it can cost you more as it earns.
You have to do that and you may not that otherwise your permit is in danger and your wallet too.
And I was’t and still not a driver who looked at the tachy or other stupid rules. My last years were hauling cement for a concrete yard with opened loading and offloading bays around the clock, which made money and on a building trade price.
The youth looks at the cab and thinking of sitting behind the wheel and driving, but there is a lot more to…
Days they never have known as roping and sheeting,opening tilts and so on,so they don’t know what is working,AND times have changed lots. We didn’t have to be a home in time to get the kids from school or join the wife to the gynaecologist,and don’t speak about the suggestions to give men maternity leave !!! where are we gowing 
I have known the good days,only a few hours sleep,cold cabs,breakdowns etc…
My last had a Fuller and nobody could give me a replacement with a Fuller,so I had to stop. 
AND if you do 10h in the yard at the same wage,as a driver has to do more as 15h for it, you will think twice to return to…
Cheers of an old fasioned guy Eric,
Hey Saviem I agree with you,and it will never be change for us. The east has enough low pay workers for ages.
And years ago if there weren’t east men,they killed here each other. one day hauliers came and went and broke the prices. It even came worse here as agricultural farmer sbought lorries for own us and in between time came looking in our works. The commissioner told the rate and they took it without looking and we could stay home or do it for he same rate. We can write books about it, even a tractor does hauling here AND driving on CHERRY. And now they want to stop it, after years they are battling with hauliers on short distance and tipper or earthwork hauliers.
Cheers Eric,
Thank you everyone for all your observations and comments. They are all very much appreciated. Just to pick up on a couple of replies. Yes, we do charge waiting time or demurrage after a couple of hours waiting to tip or load, but with some flexibility depending on the circumstances of the delay. In truth. demurrage is not always the answer because long delays have a knock-on effect and can cause problems for getting to the next job, upsetting customers, drivers running out of time etc. Everything has a timed delivery or collection these days.
Saviem is absolutely correct as usual, the rates are rock bottom and no-one in their right mind would want to do the job with all this hassle for the returns we get. As a manager I was on more money 24 years ago with Spillers Milling than I am today, (actual salary with nothing factored in for 20 years of inflation) so its not just drivers wages that have stagnated its the entire transport industry. I made a decision to return to my roots of hire and reward haulage 24 years ago, so I’ve no regrets about that.
Despite the trials of yesterday two or three drivers really got stuck in for me and we got through all of our work. They will of course get a bonus payment at the end of the week. There are still some decent lads (and lassies because we have one) in this industry but it is getting harder to find them.
Quote Saviem.
Quarries, and their corporate owners…let me regale you with a little tale from my past…A major Midland Quarry owner decided to divest himself of the burden of running his own lorries, across all his operations…
Adeal was struck with a major manufacturer, and financier…His drivers were offered redundancy, (the minimum possible), or the “gateway” to their own business, the purchase of a chassis cab, suited to the Quarry owners work, plus the bodywork…and “work” at the discresion of the Quarry owner! And at his rate…
Shall we examin the mechanics of the job?..Manufacturer supplies chassis against a “fleet” order @ 20% discount off list. The supplying Dealership gets a figure, (modest), for pdi, and delivery, plus a nominal cash amount for supply, The Quarry owner receives an additional 2.5% rebate against list price for taking X number of chassis. The same system applies for the bodywork supplier…
Then of course comes the financier…and of course Mr Quarry owner receives a rebate against the rate charged to the prospective…“Contract Haulier”…Good business eh!!! No wonder Contract Hauliers look so worried…and if they do not…I refer to my above paragraphs on Business Training…IT IS A SCANDAL…but it carries on…and on…and on…
Ditto for this area and many others John.
Cheers Dave.
gingerfold:
Thank you everyone for all your observations and comments. They are all very much appreciated. Just to pick up on a couple of replies. Yes, we do charge waiting time or demurrage after a couple of hours waiting to tip or load, but with some flexibility depending on the circumstances of the delay. In truth. demurrage is not always the answer because long delays have a knock-on effect and can cause problems for getting to the next job, upsetting customers, drivers running out of time etc. Everything has a timed delivery or collection these days.
Saviem is absolutely correct as usual, the rates are rock bottom and no-one in their right mind would want to do the job with all this hassle for the returns we get. As a manager I was on more money 24 years ago with Spillers Milling than I am today, (actual salary with nothing factored in for 20 years of inflation) so its not just drivers wages that have stagnated its the entire transport industry. I made a decision to return to my roots of hire and reward haulage 24 years ago, so I’ve no regrets about that.
Despite the trials of yesterday two or three drivers really got stuck in for me and we got through all of our work. They will of course get a bonus payment at the end of the week. There are still some decent lads (and lassies because we have one) in this industry but it is getting harder to find them.
I dearly loved my time in the European based road transport system, but when I had a good look at what the rest of the world was doing, I had a good hard think and knew I had to get out.I could never see it change for the better.
Jeff…
Its not just haulage though if you listen to people from all sorts of jobs the story is the same everything has to be done yesterday the number of people suffering from mental health issues aka stress or as us auld ones knew it nerves is rising all the time. Just take the mobile phone for instance I heard of one haulier who ran a trunk to B.ham from Carlisle and once she new the motor was on the way back phoned the driver every 15mins. same question every time WHERE ARE YOU NOW the driver that told me said he stuck it for three weeks and packed in. Now you wonder what makes somebody do that her phoning constantly wasn’t going to get the motor back any quicker. To sum up PRESSURE we all seem hell bent on racing to the grave. Eddie.
We are doing quite a lot of wide loads at present, with our van ■■■■■■ taking two together, which is quite acceptable to the Police under movement orders. I know it can be an inconvenience to other drivers but the abuse my drivers get is terrible, and other lorry drivers are some of the worst culprits. Why is everybody in such a rush? I get at least one phone call a day from abusive complainers and I’m going to take our telephone number off the vehicles. One very well spoken lady gave me some real bad language and abuse on Monday saying that she had been stuck behind two of my lorries for 50 miles at 50 mph. I explained that she had travelled 50 miles in precisely 60 minutes if her speedo was accurate. If she had travelled at 70 mph for 50 miles it would have taken her 44 minutes. Was 16 minutes going to make such a difference to her day?
Morning all, gingerfold, a classic illustration of just how standards of driving have fallen!
Gears to go, brakes to slow,…the mantra of the current thinking on driving…or…“I will show how I can out idiot Jeremy Clarkson with my driving”!!! Everyone seems capable of going fast forwards…but no one seems to be able to go backwards at all!! Great fun here in the lanes around our farm…particularly when the oncoming “hot hatch” rounds a corner to be confronted by the" green wall" of an oncoming Deere…Depending on the attitude of the now “ditched” driver we pull them out…or not!
Sadly a lot of our fields need to be accesed via the A5, A41,A449, but we know the pull ins, and do our best to get out of the way ,but even with high speed tractors we are in the way…and some drivers reactions, (sadly including many lorry drivers) is less than polite, some verging on apoplectic!
Probably just indicative of the way society has become…sad is it not
Cheerio for now
Hey, I was never against cab phones as I drove, if you needed to Phone you could.
I have known the time without,if you know your work for the coming days Ok but if you had to Phone for everything and else. An example, be in the factory, sorry it’s not allowed to Phone here sorry!!! looking for a cabin, where,it doesn’t work ‘‘■■■■’’,you need to have coins (and coins coins drop in and drop in,it was a bit better with a card. So needed coins for every country to go. But in Britain I used the reverse call,that was better it think, sure for me.
And don’t worry if they ask you where you are too often,replay with “in my cab” 
AND how do you tell your boss where the money has gone, so much on a cell Phone I don’t belief you sorry mate.
Bye Eric,
Hey, the English and dutch are still the most kindly on the way in my view,look at other countries, ask a German driver what he thinks.
OK it isn’t as before I agree. But here in Belgium they look at you like an inhuman. And don’t speak about the cycle tourists I call them terrorists. The way is for them alone. Last I was driving on a small way about 3m wide,so good to do with cyle and lorry. But they had on there side a hard shoulder but wanted to use it,I the ditch side. They drove three wide and don’t give way,do I had to drive in the ditch NO NO. They were approtching with their fists high. But at the last moment if they saw you holded your side,they pushed each other to the right,BUT if had fallen one and under the trailer wheels. It was the trucks fault or cars. BUT I SAY if one had fallen under the trailer "I feel nothing it hurt you■■?
And never stop for them if nothing happens,they hit you in the hospital and smash you windows.
If you are revering everyone tries to come through,and you see them not Always; But if something happens you blunder,here’s the way if you reverse it’s your fault that’s it.
I can write a book if it. And it comes worse and worse were are we going 
Cheers Eric,