threewheelsonmywagon:
That makes me wonder why the likes of Reed Bored-all have a dedicated recruitment phone line…
Because there’s so much free space on their shiny white trucks, they have to fill it with something:lol:
stupidn00b:
This week Ive had 6 texts messages from agencies (4 of which ive never worked for with or signed onto) offering very good rates ( £14ph PAYE mon=fri days was best offer) and had 2 phone calls off previous agencies i have worked for
What area are you in? That sounds a pretty good rate to me too.
seth 70:
Theres no driver shortage,theres a good driver shortage though,the good drivers work for good firms who pay good money
Not this one again! So what, in your opinion, is a “good” driver, or even a good firm? I’ve seen plenty drivers working for good firms pulling stunts you would expect from rank amateurs.
sapper:
Pat Hasler, there is no exam to sit, it is 7 hours per module to a total of 35 hours of usually mind numbing drivel by people who know [zb], with the exception of Diesel Dave and any other genuine trainers on here
WRONG!
Module 1,2,3 and 4 are all tests on the initial DCPC!
BillyHunt:
Well if companies are struggling for drivers & having to pay better rates because of the DCPC then they have nobody to blame but themselves. Loads on here blame drivers for leaving it to the last minute but the companies have known it was coming and have been too tight to do anything, now they are paying for it, and long may it last. Lack of investment in the type of apprenticeships that stobarts provide will cost some firms plenty & will send some over the edge.
Biggest driver requirement for Xmas will be Supermarkets and food industry if rates go up so will prices in the shops. Supermarket bosses will rock up to Downing St and say their hard-pressed customers can’t withstand food price increases and it will be problem solved as there’ll be any DCPC trainer with an HGV entitlement suddenly looking for work.
This is a lot more plausible than people realise as politically it’s an easy option the only downside is embarassment for VOSA.
NewLad:
sapper:
Pat Hasler, there is no exam to sit, it is 7 hours per module to a total of 35 hours of usually mind numbing drivel by people who know [zb], with the exception of Diesel Dave and any other genuine trainers on hereWRONG!
Module 1,2,3 and 4 are all tests on the initial DCPC!
Oh, that’s good news at least we can quickly get new drivers into the industry. 
BillyHunt:
seth 70:
Theres no driver shortage,theres a good driver shortage though,the good drivers work for good firms who pay good moneyNot this one again! So what, in your opinion, is a “good” driver, or even a good firm? I’ve seen plenty drivers working for good firms pulling stunts you would expect from rank amateurs.
Here we go again .silly bollox wanting a argument ,i said what i mean…thats why you get numtys driving sheds ,working every hour god sends and looking like tramps on the job, 
BillyHunt:
Not this one again! So what, in your opinion, is a “good” driver,
Can get from A to B without getting lost, bending the motor or damaging the load, doesn’t wallop through fuel and isn’t constantly on the phone asking how to do every little thing because they use their common sense to sort out problems.
Might sound ridiculous but you’d be surprised just how few lorry drivers are capable of doing all of the above. I was at a place on agency once and witnessed a driver who had been at a firm for 20 years phoning the TM when he was at a regular drop with two pallets where they said they couldn’t tip him for a couple of hours to ask if he should go to the one just half a mile up the road where you didn’t need to be booked in and then come back and deliver the last two pallets. The TM looked at me in disbelief. After the TM put the phone down he asked what would I do. Told him I’d done that loads of times and just not bothered telling him. Apparently the guy was always on the phone asking him stupid crap like that.
Good firm? One I’m at. Well maintained motors, decent work uniform, given runs with realistic time expectations - Howden to Lockerbie truckstop on nights, swap trailers and back to yard is scheduled for 10hrs 45m for example but if you go over that they still pay the extra, paid a decent rate.
Own Account Driver:
Biggest driver requirement for Xmas will be Supermarkets and food industry if rates go up so will prices in the shops. Supermarket bosses will rock up to Downing St and say their hard-pressed customers can’t withstand food price increases and it will be problem solved as there’ll be any DCPC trainer with an HGV entitlement suddenly looking for work.This is a lot more plausible than people realise as politically it’s an easy option the only downside is embarassment for VOSA.
I’m sorry but this isn’t true, even a big increase in drivers wages will make very little difference to the price of food in supermarkets. The value of one load delivered to a supermarket is many tens of thousands of pounds (think what it costs to fill a trolley). Even say an extra £100 to deliver it will have a small effect on the average shopping bill. This is probably why big supermarkets seem to pay their drivers quite well, they can’t afford not to. Just my two penneth 
Supermarkets drop more slop down the side of the dock leveller, smash more jars, and skip more perishables - than they’ll ever spend on drivers.
Notice how much the loading bay stinks to high heaven when you go there?
No wonder they’ve all got endemic rats… 
seth 70:
BillyHunt:
seth 70:
Theres no driver shortage,theres a good driver shortage though,the good drivers work for good firms who pay good moneyNot this one again! So what, in your opinion, is a “good” driver, or even a good firm? I’ve seen plenty drivers working for good firms pulling stunts you would expect from rank amateurs.
Here we go again .silly bollox wanting a argument ,i said what i mean…thats why you get numtys driving sheds ,working every hour god sends and looking like tramps on the job,
Calm down trappy, I’m asking a simple question that comes up all the time. Ask 100 drivers what they think is a good driver & you’ll get 100 different answers. I’ve seen plenty good drivers at, what I would consider, crap companies when there through agency. Not paid what they are worth but reluctant to move elsewhere for their own reasons. Likewise I’ve seen some right tools showing, we will call it poor judgement, while working for so called good firms with large shiny fleets. Every driver has done things they aren’t exactly proud of on the roads.
Conor:
Might sound ridiculous but you’d be surprised just how few lorry drivers are capable of doing all of the above. I was at a place on agency once and witnessed a driver who had been at a firm for 20 years phoning the TM when he was at a regular drop with two pallets where they said they couldn’t tip him for a couple of hours to ask if he should go to the one just half a mile up the road where you didn’t need to be booked in and then come back and deliver the last two pallets. The TM looked at me in disbelief. After the TM put the phone down he asked what would I do. Told him I’d done that loads of times and just not bothered telling him. Apparently the guy was always on the phone asking him stupid crap like that.
Drivers do that because in most places the ‘privilege’ of being able to think for yourself has been taken away by that very TM so best be a puppet & collect your pay check at the end of the week. There’s far too much red tape in this job.
BillyHunt:
seth 70:
BillyHunt:
seth 70:
Theres no driver shortage,theres a good driver shortage though,the good drivers work for good firms who pay good moneyNot this one again! So what, in your opinion, is a “good” driver, or even a good firm? I’ve seen plenty drivers working for good firms pulling stunts you would expect from rank amateurs.
Here we go again .silly bollox wanting a argument ,i said what i mean…thats why you get numtys driving sheds ,working every hour god sends and looking like tramps on the job,
Calm down trappy, I’m asking a simple question that comes up all the time. Ask 100 drivers what they think is a good driver & you’ll get 100 different answers. I’ve seen plenty good drivers at, what I would consider, crap companies when there through agency. Not paid what they are worth but reluctant to move elsewhere for their own reasons. Likewise I’ve seen some right tools showing, we will call it poor judgement, while working for so called good firms with large shiny fleets. Every driver has done things they aren’t exactly proud of on the roads.
fair enough your right ,whats a trappy 
Pimpdaddy:
Call me cuckoo but they’re not in demand from where I’m standing, example the agency I’m with upped their rates but cut the hours & in some cases I could do 1 run in 5-6hours (paid& they’d get another driver to do the same-I could do both saving them £££:shock:
I struggle to get a full week & haven’t worked for them for over 3 weeks now, not even a call offering any work.
You either live in Penzance or the Shetland Islands or you’re talking ■■■■■■■■ or you’re not trying hard enough. I reckon the latter.
Doc Hollyday:
Own Account Driver:
Biggest driver requirement for Xmas will be Supermarkets and food industry if rates go up so will prices in the shops. Supermarket bosses will rock up to Downing St and say their hard-pressed customers can’t withstand food price increases and it will be problem solved as there’ll be any DCPC trainer with an HGV entitlement suddenly looking for work.This is a lot more plausible than people realise as politically it’s an easy option the only downside is embarassment for VOSA.
I’m sorry but this isn’t true, even a big increase in drivers wages will make very little difference to the price of food in supermarkets. The value of one load delivered to a supermarket is many tens of thousands of pounds (think what it costs to fill a trolley). Even say an extra £100 to deliver it will have a small effect on the average shopping bill. This is probably why big supermarkets seem to pay their drivers quite well, they can’t afford not to. Just my two penneth
That’s sort of true as far as a trolley dolly goes but it’s more the bigger picture of all the lorry movements and drivers wages from the food coming out of the ground onwards.
I think if it’s a toss up between driver’s wages doubling and dcpc getting scrapped, I know which way I would bet.
green456:
LOL, a bloke in America stating there’s a shortage of drivers in UK
There is no shortage of drivers here mr blinko, however if you read on tinterweb or in a USA rdc you may be daft enough to believe it
I may be in the USA but I am not disconnected from the UK, as I have already said one of my best friends who happens to be the CEO of quite a large UK haulage company has told me there is a shortage and he can’t get drivers, he has blamed it on CPC and as he has lived and breathed transport for over 35 years I believe all he say’s. The whole point of this topic is how hard it is to come by drivers, or did you not notice that ?
Conor:
DCPC, cost to driver, £300 but with the amount rates have gone up you’d recoup that in 6 or 7 weeks max if you are full-time. For the remaining 4 years and 46 weeks you’re quids in.
Yet another reason why drivers don’t want to do it, 300 quid is a lot of money to fork out for most hard working people. If you are required to go on the course your employer should pay and that means thieving agencies too.
Just open up the borders more and let some more east euro drivers cut rates.jobs a goodin
Left hand down!:
you’re talking ■■■■■■■■ or you’re not trying hard enough. I reckon the latter.
■■■■, I knew I was doing something wrong, note to self-MUST TRY HARDER:shock:
nearly there:
Just open up the borders more and let some more east euro drivers cut rates.jobs a goodin
+1. I believe borders are already open to eastern euros, all they need to do is advertise in the various languages in the the respective countries, ‘jobs a goodin’
Employers might be a bit more willing to take on newbies if they had more confidence that the training was slightly better especially the lack of it when it comes to the regulations
Had initial dcpc theory module 2 been a test on the regulations instead of the farce it is at the moment then that would have helped
Just look at the number of posts from newbies with questions on the regulations … that surely shows that something is amiss