I posted on here a couple of weeks ago about having a go at changing my employer.( What would you do?)
I had today off as a holiday & went to 14 employers with HGV’S within a 20 mile radius.
2 were willing to give me a job, 7 gave me an application form, the rest were not interested.
The two willing to give me a job the rates of pay were in my mind low £6.25 for 9 hrs £6.75 after that!
I started driving wagons in 1989 with a local private company delivering their own goods I started on £4.50 for 9 hrs, time and a half after that. Double time for Sunday. After 6 months I got another rate increase, that was on the old class 3.
Why have we got so far behind in the pay stakes? Is it the lack of unions, or are some willing to work long hours for hardly nothing.
I think I will be stopping where I am for a while as my hourly rate is good just not much O/T.
The likes of Stobarts and ND ain’t helped, cutting the arse of each other just to get a contract and expecting people to work for low wages once they get it
selby newcomer:
The likes of Stobarts and ND ain’t helped, cutting the arse of each other just to get a contract and expecting people to work for low wages once they get it
I don’t work for low wages. But I suppose you know best.
selby newcomer:
The likes of Stobarts and ND ain’t helped, cutting the arse of each other just to get a contract and expecting people to work for low wages once they get it
Just like thousands of businesses in all different industries!
If they get the right amount of staff, of the right quality and with what they consider to be acceptable levels of staff turnover etc, then the wage is right surely?
selby newcomer:
The likes of Stobarts and ND ain’t helped, cutting the arse of each other just to get a contract and expecting people to work for low wages once they get it
Just like thousands of businesses in all different industries!
If they get the right amount of staff, of the right quality and with what they consider to be acceptable levels of staff turnover etc, then the wage is right surely?
For the profit margin, probably. Not necessarily for the workforce.
Just as the companies have undercut each other, so too have drivers, by accepting to work for lower and lower wages.
The effect of which has meant that drivers now face the prospect of minimum wage. Many seem quite happy to work for this sum.
The main issue is drivers don’t stick together. They probably never will again. A sad state of affairs.
selby newcomer:
The likes of Stobarts and ND ain’t helped, cutting the arse of each other just to get a contract and expecting people to work for low wages once they get it
I don’t work for low wages. But I suppose you know best.
Never said I knew best, just gave my opinion, but if your trying to tell me the likes of said companies battling each other for contracts hasn’t helped to drive down wages your mad
daf1691:
I posted on here a couple of weeks ago about having a go at changing my employer.( What would you do?)
I had today off as a holiday & went to 14 employers with HGV’S within a 20 mile radius.
2 were willing to give me a job, 7 gave me an application form, the rest were not interested.
The two willing to give me a job the rates of pay were in my mind low £6.25 for 9 hrs £6.75 after that!
I started driving wagons in 1989 with a local private company delivering their own goods I started on £4.50 for 9 hrs, time and a half after that. Double time for Sunday. After 6 months I got another rate increase, that was on the old class 3.
Why have we got so far behind in the pay stakes? Is it the lack of unions, or are some willing to work long hours for hardly nothing.
I think I will be stopping where I am for a while as my hourly rate is good just not much O/T.
You have have clearly broken Mike 68’s golden rule No1, never drive trucks that are run for profit.
Low wages big profits, when wages are as low as they’ll go or be accepted then prices rise or labour is imported at the lowest rate.
May be low to our society, but to others the rates are perfectly acceptable compared to what they earned in other economies. In fact they are usually so much better in comparison that they tell all their mates and they come too.
When that supply of cheap labour runs dry, they then encourage other basket case economies to join the ‘club/Eurozone’ which then provides another stream of low wage workers to keep costs down and profits up! Vicious circle I’m afraid and it will only continue in this way for the foreseeable!
So there you have it in my opinion.
Accept and make do or as some say ‘if you can’t hack it change career’! You know it makes sense!
selby newcomer:
The likes of Stobarts and ND ain’t helped, cutting the arse of each other just to get a contract and expecting people to work for low wages once they get it
Just like thousands of businesses in all different industries!
If they get the right amount of staff, of the right quality and with what they consider to be acceptable levels of staff turnover etc, then the wage is right surely?
For the profit margin, probably. Not necessarily for the workforce.
Just as the companies have undercut each other, so too have drivers, by accepting to work for lower and lower wages.
The effect of which has meant that drivers now face the prospect of minimum wage. Many seem quite happy to work for this sum.
The main issue is drivers don’t stick together. They probably never will again. A sad state of affairs.
But the point of business is to make a profit.
Are you telling me this never used to happen? Businesses are in competition with other businesses, with price being a key factor to compete on. Do you shop about at car insurance renewal time etc? Or is that different when it’s about saving you money?!! People can’t have it both ways. People are individuals, with their own set of circumstances and preferences, a good deal for one may be a bad deal for another, don’t we have the right to make our own minds up?
There’s a massive difference between someone working for minimum wage and someone who’s happy to do it. I’ve never heard of anyone to be happy about working for minimum wage.
Just what exactly do you mean by drivers sticking together? It’s a phrase thrown around here all the time, usually when a driver is coming across a bit - you lot are all a bit thick, I’ve got the answer, we should stick together. But I’ve never heard the full run down on what that entails. Are you going to pay a % of your good wage to allow someone to stay at home and not take a low paying job? What about a shelf stacker, are are you going to offer to pay them so don’t carry out their planned training and take a low paid job that would improve their life?
They’re in a downhill race to see who can offer the lowest price for a Driver.
SatNavs are to blame.
They show cheap Jonny Foreigner which way to go.
.
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This is the biggest cause of reduced driver wages, the agency owners still drive around in Range Rovers and have plush offices. The logistics companies love the agencies fighting each other for work as the hourly rates tumble. The poor guy doing the work through the agency is on less and less money.
The logistics companies mirror the drop from what they would pay to near agency rates to save a few quid and Bingo reduced wages for all. I freelance to a few companies but wonder how long my charge rates will last.
They’re in a downhill race to see who can offer the lowest price for a Driver.
SatNavs are to blame.
They show cheap Jonny Foreigner which way to go.
.
.
This is the biggest cause of reduced driver wages, the agency owners still drive around in Range Rovers and have plush offices. The logistics companies love the agencies fighting each other for work as the hourly rates tumble. The poor guy doing the work through the agency is on less and less money.
The logistics companies mirror the drop from what they would pay to near agency rates to save a few quid and Bingo reduced wages for all. I freelance to a few companies but wonder how long my charge rates will last.
I don’t see it that it’s agencies fault, all I’d say is that agencies speed up the rise and fall of wages, so they track the supply and demand ratio much more closely.
Did people slate agencies around 2005, when you could leave full time employment, get a whacking pay rise, with a choice of where you worked? And don’t forget, they paid as little as they could then too!
Where is all this happening? Rates are going up from what i can see. Nobody can get enough drivers so they are all throwing money at them. Less than £10 an hour is fatal. I am doing a one off dayshift on containers today and i was offered 10 hour minimum at night rates (i am a backshift driver)
Sign of the times I think. I worked for a couple of well known firms over the years that employed their own drivers, good wages, perks, pension, etc… but they all eventually contracted the work out.
There’s plenty of class one work where I now live paying the NMW of £6.19ph and most other hauliers (including the one I’m on for) are paying a daily rate with night out money… I’m quite happy with what I earn but it’s still slighty less than what I took home a few years back.
Ok, so we’re in recession but the rates weren’t going anywhere long before the ■■■■ hit the fan, some of these big companies must have been rubbing their hands! Greedy Tesco are a prime example, increasing the prices of certain goods by a massive 50% and blaming it on the recession, yet they made record profits . Greedy Stobarts have the same ethos as Tesco, they want to gobble up all the work for themselves which keeps the haulage rates down low. The agencies are advetising rates of between £9 to £11ph but whether there’s enough work there for you is another question so it looks like £6.19 an hour like it or lump it.
