Attitude and selfishness?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

Breaker One-Nine:
I’m basing this accusation on many many comments thoughout this forum where you will quote some law, regulation or directive

I’ve heard of too many good drivers getting sacked because they ran bent, got caught and to cover the companies back got hung out to dry, is it worth it?

Breaker One-Nine:
I went out on a two day trip the other day, was a real short notice thing and someone was out in my lorry so had to take a real scapper in the yard. I had nothing with me at all! No maps, phone chargers, Sat-Nav, Food, Clothes or Bedding. Slept on the bunk with my coat around me. How many of you would do that? I didn’t want to but I got on with it as the load needed to get there. Wasn’t plesant but at the same time it wasn’t gonna kill me.

At this time of year sleeping in a relic of a truck with no bedding there is a real danger of hyperthermia. Even if you sleep with the engine running all nite would you be fully rested and safe to drive in the morning?

It’s clear from you posts you have little regard for yourself and your employer has even less.
If an accident did occur and you was unable to work dp you think your employer see you right or replace you with another mug willing to run bent?

22

I can’t be doing with lazy gits who preach the rule book 24/7. park in the services so they get a meal voucher when more appropriate parking is available.

If i was sent out in a scrapper then i wouldn’t be too keen to do the boss a favour as it would be quite clear he dosn’t give a toss about me.
However, every job i do gets 100% dedication.

23

I’m basing this accusation on many many comments thoughout this forum where you will quote some law, regulation or directive in order not to do what your boss requests you to do.

can you post some links to hese posts?

the only ones I can remember seeing are the ones where the boss has instructed a driver to do a certain thing and the driver has pointed out that what is asked is illegal.
your attitude that " the load must get there whatever" is one that has haunted this industry for years. and has always been put forward as a reason for accepting any crap that the boss throws at us.
Be honest, how many of us pull loads that are a matter of life and death?
the laws are there for a reason, never ever expect a boss to stand up in court and state that “my driver was doing what i asked him to do, blame me and put the points on my licence”.
it’s also worth noting that your post contains the phrase “you lot” , I presume that you are not one of us then, a professional driver?

Or do you consider yourself a “PROPER DRIVER”?

you were born too late, you would have gone down well in the Pony Express

As regards your 2 day trip with
no sat nav… I don’t have one
no maps… always one in my bag
no bedding… use digs
no food… use cafes
a real scrapper… safe and legal, whats the problem.
if not legal etc you shouldn’t have taken it.
do you want a medal for doing what drivers used to do as a matter of course?

just out of interest , how long have you been driving?

24

this all depends on the company and the way i get treated by the company doesnt matter if they are big or small, usually the smaller companies are alot better. im not a complainer about what i drive really because most of the time the gear is alright though a recent job i did with a company i got a shabby l reg volvo which wasnt in the best of ways, the company know how bad that motor is and i even told them but they still wanted me to come back and i still went ahead and did the job.

its when you get taken for a ride though by folk, another agency job another small company, was meant to have an overnighter to slough (its possible) so 2 days away right brilliant thats fine for me even if the motor isnt brilliant (p reg scanny 94d 220) anyway get to the place get the motor drive away get to manchester area and i get a call from the boss, yes your going to oxford on friday to pick up stuff for us, oh am i now? (this was on a wednesday btw) i couldnt exactly turn around and say no i cant do that. never have been back to him though as his wages are a joke aswell, for those 4 days i was away if you take parking and night out money away i barely made £150, i got paid 6 hours for spending 20 odd hours in oxford services and i had to fight to be paid that, he wasnt gonna pay me.

then are other companies, who treat me well and are nice from the first words spoken to me, who i will pretty much bend over backwards while running legal to help them out. think the biggest company who have treated me nice are palmer and harvey once got taken off a delivery run to do a trunk up to inverness in a spanking new merc axor (it had good seats not the crappy ones they come with) that was a nice painless easy day and i even helped unload the double decker while i was up there in inverness just to waste time.

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i see you had a bunk hey breaker one nine ,luxury quite a few of us on here used to use a board across the bonnet, air wipers ha ha no power steering need i go on so dont come on here telling what we will not do until you have done a bit yourself

26

Ever driven a wagon that was 21 years old Breaker? No? I have. I will do what my boss needs me to do, within the rules as laid down. If he’s willing to cough up for all the fines I’ll get, plus cover loss of earnings for 5 years should I lose my licence, then I’ll do more.
Yes, I’ve stretched things in the past, it’s getting harder to do that now and not get caught out. A day out in a 7.5, then an overnight run in a sprinter, then a run the next day in the 7.5 after 2 hours kip? Been there, done that…

27

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin.

A few years ago I used to work general haulage. There was me, and 2 other 18 ton drivers. One did the same as me and one was on network/ local stuff.

I used to do London alot, and always left here about 1-2 am. I’d do my London stuff and get back in the yard about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. That suited me and as I saw it, I had done a days work.

Very often, the boss would ask me to ‘nip’ into town for a pick up, bearing in mind this is the busy time of day for traffic and the load was never ready anyway.

All that would be fine, except for the fact that the network / local guy ALWAYS made sure he finished at 3pm after a 6am start and was on the same pay as me, yet the other general haulage driver was never asked and as it turned out was getting £25 a week more in wages for the same job as me.

So you tell me, where’s fair in that situation and was I wrong for saying no??

As he’s now gone bust, and is now employed by another firm, I’ll tell you who it was. DL White Haulage of Brigg.

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Breaker One-Nine:
After being a member of this forum for a short while now, checking in whenever I can, I cannot help feeling that many of the drivers here,and the views expressed are probably representitive of the wider driving community that you lot are all out for yourselves and yourselves only.

I don’t think I am a representative of the whole driving community, I am me and no-one else.

Breaker One-Nine:
I’m basing this accusation on many many comments thoughout this forum where you will quote some law, regulation or directive in order not to do what your boss requests you to do.

I will try to help my boss out as much I can but I WILL do it within the law, he didn’t pay for my licence and he certainly wont pay me if I am not driving cos I have been banned

Breaker One-Nine:
Have you ever thought about just getting on with it and getting the job done? Instead of finding some way of getting out of work? Doing an extra load or shift when things are busy? Staying on helping with loading, tipping or shunting? The way I look at it is my pay comes from the loads that we collect and deliver. If we don’t do the loads then where does our pay come from?

Yes I have thought about it and if I am somewhere else I will not tip off the card, no way, in our yard if my hours are up then I might help them but will not expect to get paid as It is over my hours, but I would expect the next day to have a few minutes/hours back (if they don’t give them to me I just take them)

Breaker One-Nine:
Basically I apply what John Fitzgerald Kennedy said in his inagural address to my working life. I look to see what I can do for my company as I know my firm will pay me for the work I do. I also take great pride in my work.

I do get paid for what I do, I don’t work for nought and never will, thats a sad day when that happens.

Breaker One-Nine:
If you look at what you are going to do as opposed to what you are not going to do then things might start to improve.
I went out on a two day trip the other day, was a real short notice thing and someone was out in my lorry so had to take a real scapper in the yard. I had nothing with me at all! No maps, phone chargers, Sat-Nav, Food, Clothes or Bedding. Slept on the bunk with my coat around me. How many of you would do that? I didn’t want to but I got on with it as the load needed to get there. Wasn’t plesant but at the same time it wasn’t gonna kill me. You lot cannot park up without being in a service area next to toilets,showers and 24hour shops.

I hardly ever park in a MSA unless carrying high value (you never get this on reefers, well I haven’t yet) I am more than happy to park in a layby or industrial estate and use a mates house for a shower (there aren’t many places I go to without me knowing someone that will come and pick me up, let me use their shower and then drop me back if I ask them to.) or wait until I get going in the morning and use the services. My boss doesn’t mind if I drive for 10 minutes then show a break for 20 minutes and get a shower as it saves him 20 odd quid for the sake of a 20 minute break.

Breaker One-Nine:
All I’m saying is that in order to get this country off its ■■■ and back on to its feet we need a major attitude adjustment. Look at what you can do as opposed to what you won’t do.

So if everyone ran bent this country would get off its knees? WTF are you on about, this country/industry is on its knees because of all the unfair competition from across the water and the government dealing with it too late.

Oh and by the way, my boss likes my attitude, if it’s legal I will help him to the ends of the earth, if it’s illegal he knows what response he will get and nine times out of ten he asks me to see what my reaction will be as it is usually sarcastic and puts a smile on his face… I don’t mind doing nights out at short notice and my boss doesn’t mind, if he asks me to do it at short notice that I nip home and grab my gear, either in a works van or take the wagon on the way out.

29

Well I must say the responses to this are exactly what I’d expect from a forum aimed at British drivers! There is no get up and go in the UK anymore. All I ever hear is drivers finding excuses, mostly pathetic ones, not to do the work they are given. I’m English but work for an Irish company. Have never worked for a British company or for that matter a legal one and never want to. Just because you boys running from RDC to RDC cant stay awake for a couple of hours at a time doesn’t mean none of us can. I can quite happily do Italy to Liverpool in one hit and still be more awake than most UK drivers after a 9 hour shift. A lot of you seem to think you risk your licence if you go 10 mins over, take it from me, thats certainly not true. I get paid well and I love my job. Ireland is a richer country than the UK now if you go by GDP. Amazing when you consider where they were 20 years ago and all because they have the get up and go to do it. Great Britain was once the most powerful nation on earth which built the biggest empire the world has ever seen and saved the World in 2 world wars and now we are just a bunch of moaners.

This is not me trying to wind people up, just my views, not intrested in angry responses.

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so he is that stupid . Some people never cease to amaze me . Puts it on break while he is tipping too ill bet . No wonder the job is getting worse

31

switchlogic:
Well I must say the responses to this are exactly what I’d expect from a forum aimed at British drivers! There is no get up and go in the UK anymore. All I ever hear is drivers finding excuses, mostly pathetic ones, not to do the work they are given. I’m English but work for an Irish company. Have never worked for a British company or for that matter a legal one and never want to. Just because you boys running from RDC to RDC cant stay awake for a couple of hours at a time doesn’t mean none of us can. I can quite happily do Italy to Liverpool in one hit and still be more awake than most UK drivers after a 9 hour shift. A lot of you seem to think you risk your licence if you go 10 mins over, take it from me, thats certainly not true. I get paid well and I love my job. Ireland is a richer country than the UK now if you go by GDP. Amazing when you consider where they were 20 years ago and all because they have the get up and go to do it. Great Britain was once the most powerful nation on earth which built the biggest empire the world has ever seen and saved the World in 2 world wars and now we are just a bunch of moaners.

This is not me trying to wind people up, just my views, not intrested in angry responses.

Here we go - another ridiculous generalisation about british truck drivers, this time from a guy who’s never actually worked in the british haulage industry!

It’s not worth getting angry about - it’s just laughable.

:unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

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switchlogic:
Well I must say the responses to this are exactly what I’d expect from a forum aimed at British drivers! There is no get up and go in the UK anymore. All I ever hear is drivers finding excuses, mostly pathetic ones, not to do the work they are given. I’m English but work for an Irish company. Have never worked for a British company or for that matter a legal one and never want to. Just because you boys running from RDC to RDC cant stay awake for a couple of hours at a time doesn’t mean none of us can. I can quite happily do Italy to Liverpool in one hit and still be more awake than most UK drivers after a 9 hour shift. A lot of you seem to think you risk your licence if you go 10 mins over, take it from me, thats certainly not true. I get paid well and I love my job. Ireland is a richer country than the UK now if you go by GDP. Amazing when you consider where they were 20 years ago and all because they have the get up and go to do it. Great Britain was once the most powerful nation on earth which built the biggest empire the world has ever seen and saved the World in 2 world wars and now we are just a bunch of moaners.

This is not me trying to wind people up, just my views, not intrested in angry responses.

seriously whats the point in doing liverpool to italy in one hit? i would do it if i could stay awake but i know i couldnt do that many miles and stay perfectly awake and aware of what is around me. also your losing out on pay if you do it in one hit.

oh and i value you my licence (even though it feels quite worthless right now)

33

If people are happy to run bent then leave them to it.
Lets see how happy they look at a ministry checkpoint or if they have an accident and the driving history is looked at to get a profile on the driver.
Yes they do this.

Me I’ll stick to the law as the law is on my side is there to protect me from being exploited by unscrupulous Bosses .
I also have a mortgage to pay and a family to support so losing my licence for a string of working time or driving time offences isn’t going to go down well.

If people look down because I follow the law then they can come and tell me what they think and give me an opportunity to at least laugh at them and tell them to ■■■■ off.

34

switchlogic:
Well I must say the responses to this are exactly what I’d expect from a forum aimed at British drivers! There is no get up and go in the UK anymore. All I ever hear is drivers finding excuses, mostly pathetic ones, not to do the work they are given. I’m English but work for an Irish company. Have never worked for a British company or for that matter a legal one and never want to. Just because you boys running from RDC to RDC cant stay awake for a couple of hours at a time doesn’t mean none of us can. I can quite happily do Italy to Liverpool in one hit and still be more awake than most UK drivers after a 9 hour shift. A lot of you seem to think you risk your licence if you go 10 mins over, take it from me, thats certainly not true. I get paid well and I love my job. Ireland is a richer country than the UK now if you go by GDP. Amazing when you consider where they were 20 years ago and all because they have the get up and go to do it. Great Britain was once the most powerful nation on earth which built the biggest empire the world has ever seen and saved the World in 2 world wars and now we are just a bunch of moaners.

This is not me trying to wind people up, just my views, not intrested in angry responses.

Star man ! I don’t think the UK is ZBed because wagon drivers won’t run hooky.
As for Eire’s resurgence, I would imagine untold millions from Brussels may have helped ? :confused:

I think UK plc is now reaping the fruits of it’s own stupidity by becoming so enmeshed with the “Cartel” in Brussels who have drowned us in a sea of red tape and BS. Get up and go? It’s probably illeagal now. :imp:

35

Regarding Switchlogic’s comments, I can’t see the point in rushing back to the Emerald Isle as the Irish economy is sh"gged, as they gave a large amount of their “euro” money to the eastern european migrant workforce, who are now leaving in their droves!

And re the WW2 comment, thank god for Uncle Sam if not we would be all driving Kaxors :frowning:

I’d rather drive a “straight” six than a “bent” 8 anyday :sunglasses:

36

Just t clear up -

  1. Should hve been more clear, have not worked ‘directly’ for a British company, did do 3 years on agency in UK picking up the slack and covering shifts employed drivers refused for various daft reasons.

  2. Surely nobody thinks I get paid less for doing it in one hit do they? Its quite the opposite.

  3. Am not saying UK’s problems are down to truck drivers refusing to run bent, just that they are an example of how very few people in UK have any go in them.

  4. The EU has indeed given Ireland a lot of money, but look at Portugal, similar size and population with similar amounts of EU aid but still a very poor country by European standards.

  5. All of Europe has the same rules, it’s just that in UK we are obsessed with the letter of the law.

  6. The Irish economy is struggling but very far from 'sh"gged.

37

I don’t mean offence but you are talking ■■■■■■■■.

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switchlogic:
Just t clear up -

  1. Should hve been more clear, have not worked ‘directly’ for a British company, did do 3 years on agency in UK picking up the slack and covering shifts employed drivers refused for various daft reasons.

Or maybe covering for haulage companies who had loads of work, due to a booming UK economy.

switchlogic:
2. Surely nobody thinks I get paid less for doing it in one hit do they? Its quite the opposite.

No but what you are doing is what gives the Irish haulage industry such a bad name and which is why Irish trucks will get pulled and UK trucks will not.

switchlogic:
3. Am not saying UK’s problems are down to truck drivers refusing to run bent, just that they are an example of how very few people in UK have any go in them.

I think plenty of people have go, in 30 years the economy base of the UK had completely changed, remember this country has also been through a boom time, but not as great as we started from a higher base point than Ireland and it’s easier for a small economy to grow faster than a large one.

switchlogic:
4. The EU has indeed given Ireland a lot of money, but look at Portugal, similar size and population with similar amounts of EU aid but still a very poor country by European standards.

Ireland also got plenty of investment from the US because English is the main language and that so many Americans have this rose tinited view of Ireland

switchlogic:
5. All of Europe has the same rules, it’s just that in UK we are obsessed with the letter of the law.

Don’t we just :unamused:

switchlogic:
6. The Irish economy is struggling but very far from 'sh"gged.

It’s struggling for the same reasons has the rest of the World, to much easy credit leading to rapid growth without the foundations to back it up.

39

A couple of posters citing "daft"reasons for refusng work.
As i posted before, everyone I have seen on here has refused jobs becaue it meant breaking the law.
I suppose the difference is in the choice of descriptions
PROFESSIONAL or COWBOY… CAN’T BE BOTH.

40

Or in the case of my friend Martin who I posted about on the other thread…DEAD.