As there are a lot of comments regarding drivers who are working in England from Europe, let’s have an experiment.
When you are parked up, or are having a break and you see a foreign truck, approach the driver.
Strike up a friendly conversation, and take a note of the following :
1, Where is the truck registered.
2, Where is the trailer registered.
3, What nationality is the driver.
4, What is he/she paid, ( a bit personal, but explain it is research).
5, How long is the driver in the U.K. for.
6, What is the average wage in their home country.
Try it when you are parked up for an overnight stay or a 45 on the services.
It will be interesting to see the results on here, and in my opinion is a good source of information from the European drivers, as well as forging relationships between British and European drivers.
Take time to ask the questions, and you will get the answers.
This fixation with ‘foreign’ drivers is starting to worry me!!!
Are there any Class One drivers on here out of work because these ‘foreign’ drivers have ‘stolen’ all the jobs??
It’s the same as when people degenerate Eastern European drivers for wearing shell suits and white socks. Has anyone ever thought that perhaps these guys can’t afford posh working boots and snazzy uniforms like some of you guys??
To be honest, it is a wonder no one has accused me of being ‘foreign’! I have sallow skin that tans as soon as the sun comes out… I wear darkly tinted glasses (that many think are sunglasses) and have worn only shorts for the last 8 weeks… with flip flops on unless I have to get in the back of the trailer, but then, hey, I am very comfortable when I am driving.
I have had some very strange looks but do I care■■? Is this the face of concern■■? Not a bit of it!!!
It tickles me when I see all these guys sweating their nuts off in this present weather all dressed up in their nice smart uniform trousers and smart shirts. How long does it take to get dressed each morning, chaps??
I have met and got along very well with drivers from other European countries whe I lived there, the Hungarians and Polish were the friendliest and earned a pittance, but on every occassion when we parted they nearly alway gave a momento, usualy a bottle of wine from the box under the trailer.
Ask yourself how they look at British drivers in the country they call home
I never experienced any animosity from any of them when driving on the continent, you all seem to be paranoid abotu the poor guys, who would probably rather be home with their families.
TheBear:
This fixation with ‘foreign’ drivers is starting to worry me!!!
Are there any Class One drivers on here out of work because these ‘foreign’ drivers have ‘stolen’ all the jobs??
It’s the same as when people degenerate Eastern European drivers for wearing shell suits and white socks. Has anyone ever thought that perhaps these guys can’t afford posh working boots and snazzy uniforms like some of you guys??
To be honest, it is a wonder no one has accused me of being ‘foreign’! I have sallow skin that tans as soon as the sun comes out… I wear darkly tinted glasses (that many think are sunglasses) and have worn only shorts for the last 8 weeks… with flip flops on unless I have to get in the back of the trailer, but then, hey, I am very comfortable when I am driving.
I have had some very strange looks but do I care■■? Is this the face of concern■■? Not a bit of it!!!
It tickles me when I see all these guys sweating their nuts off in this present weather all dressed up in their nice smart uniform trousers and smart shirts. How long does it take to get dressed each morning, chaps??
I agree 100% a driver is a driver is a driver!!!
Now a cook is diferent! I have traveled the world and no one I know cooks a Yorkshire pud like my gran did!!!
Pat Hasler:
you all seem to be paranoid about the poor guys,
Its not paranoia about the “poor guys” its paranoia about them doing the job for as you say a pittance which will eventually result in British drivers being put out of work when their boss can get someone to do it for a “pittance”.
Sorry Pat i`m the least bit xenophobic but i do feel that jobs will be lost i am an economic migrant to this country myself but i get paid the same as any other trucker in this country certainly not less ( than some).
well put jammymut. i have posted on here numerous times stating im not racist, but the truth of the matter is- im not doing european work any more because my old boss decided to use (exploit) eastern european drivers. im not out of work, i changed jobs. vince, you defend these people because youve been and see how they live,there the same as you or i, just born in a different country. i understand that and respect it. but i dont like having to change jobs because my old ones now being done on the cheap. what are your thoughts on it vince and bear? should we just roll over and let it happen? or be accused of being a bigot or racist because we dont agree?
These posts are going the same way as most of the others, when foreign, blah blah, exploit, blah blah, dont know what your talking about, blah blah.
I bet there were big scaremongering stories in the Hamburger Zeitung when I was based in the Hamburg Container Terminal there, living in a truck, pulling containers from the docks and delivering all over Germany, Sometimes I would be away for 14 weeks at a time, putting German Drivers out of work!
I dont have any problem with someone trying to improve his wages. If a Pole or a Bulgarian is prepared to work away from home for weeks on end.
A lot of the posts on Trucknet are by drivers refusing to work more than 50 hours and expect to get paid for more.
You laugh at me because, I am different.
I laugh at you because you are all the same
Wheel Nut:
I dont have any problem with someone trying to improve his wages. If a Pole or a Bulgarian is prepared to work away from home for weeks on end.
So if you are handed your P45 and the boss says to you this weekend when you finish he can get someone (for example from another country) to do your job for 1/2 what he pays you your ok with that■■?..
You could always go home to your other half and tell her you feel sorry for the new Eastern European driver your boss has got and explain to her he has got to feed his family too.
As usual things like this are put down to Japanese whispers and no-one believes a word they hear but believe me its happening and its happening RIGHT NOW.
Like Jonboy says i too am NOT racist my sons Godmother is a Sikh we had a very hard time getting the Church of England to accept it but they did in the end so please dont call me a racist ( thats not aimed at you Wheel Nut just anyone who decides to make this in to a racist post)…
Like Niall said lets just try and get some facts about it i`m not on the road at the minute but for those of you who are just ask the questions he mentioned and try to get the truth or at least some facts about it, or you can all just sit back and let it happen then one day say maybe i should have been more interested in it after all.
WN if there was that much of a difference for the Germans and you working over there then i think the Eastern Europeans would be working there would`nt they or maybe they just dont allow it like we do■■?.
Niall:
1, Where is the truck registered.
2, Where is the trailer registered.
3, What nationality is the driver.
4, What is he/she paid, ( a bit personal, but explain it is research).
5, How long is the driver in the U.K. for.
6, What is the average wage in their home country.
Ooh! I like these sort of questions…so here goes…
1,Belgium (that’s why it’s got Belgian plates!)
2,See above
3,British (or European)
4,Mind your own business!
5,As little as possible!
6,Not enough. And a lot less than most UK drivers are on now!!!
Niall:
1, Where is the truck registered.
2, Where is the trailer registered.
3, What nationality is the driver.
4, What is he/she paid, ( a bit personal, but explain it is research).
5, How long is the driver in the U.K. for.
6, What is the average wage in their home country.
kitkat:
and what if they don’t speak english niall
and you don’t speak there lingo
won’t be much of a conversation really
That’s never a problem, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with ‘foreign’ drivers when neither of us shared a common language, where there’s a will there’s a way.
good let johnny foreigner have it . it lets us agency boys off the hook next we will ask those irish chappies about speedlimiters hello paddy thats a fast motor
i know 70 drivers at least who used to do european work. approx 40 double man drivers who were on around £600 per week. estonian drivers were brought in to do the work. the double man teams were split up and put on the uk earning around 30% less. its not a fable… i can supply fone numbers of drivers if needed who lost out. its all fine and dandy sitting here on our pcs saying its ok, its no problem. when it happens to any of you it isnt pleasant. ONCE AGAIN ILL SAY… I DONT BLAME THE EASTERN EUROPEAN DRIVERS. there trying to earn a living the same as you or i, but if they work for uk companies they should get uk wages… not be exploited to earn the companies a quick buck. if any of this sounds racist i`m sorry, i dont know how else to type it.
So if you are handed your P45 and the boss says to you this weekend when you finish he can get someone (for example from another country) to do your job for 1/2 what he pays you your ok with that■■?..
thats illegal he cannot get shot of you without a reason and then employ someone else the next day.
there is supposed to be a driver shortage in the uk,they talk of training crim’s to driver on release from prison,young drivers schemes.
but at the end of the day no ones intrested in working themsevles into the ground for a pittance a week.
where are these companys supposed to get there drivers from come next year to cover work
if these companys can get drivers from the eu that are willing to work away from home for weeks on end instead of some winging driver from the uk that wants to be home everynight and paid£30k per year for the privelege. i now where i would look .
JONBOY@RH:
i know 70 drivers at least who used to do european work. approx 40 double man drivers who were on around £600 per week. estonian drivers were brought in to do the work. the double man teams were split up and put on the uk earning around 30% less. its not a fable… i can supply fone numbers of drivers if needed who lost out. its all fine and dandy sitting here on our pcs saying its ok, its no problem. when it happens to any of you it isnt pleasant. ONCE AGAIN ILL SAY… I DONT BLAME THE EASTERN EUROPEAN DRIVERS. there trying to earn a living the same as you or i, but if they work for uk companies they should get uk wages… not be exploited to earn the companies a quick buck. if any of this sounds racist i`m sorry, i dont know how else to type it.
RH,
The same thing happened in the Merchant Navy. Certain companies wouldn’t pay crews overtime money and as a result had no choice but to employ Cape Verde’s, Filipinos and Spaniards. After a while they decided that all their crew would be from these cheaper wage countries so they stopped signing British sailors on. Then other companies followed suit. Shipping companies were then black listed by the Unions so they simply flagged out, putting a once London or Liverpool registered ship under the Bahamas flag with Nassau as the new home port. The Deep-sea companies were the first to do it but by the late 80s and early 90s the coastal companies started to follow suite. If you find any British flagged ship now it WILL NOT have any British seamen on it, perhaps a British captain close to retirement but on the whole it will be a full Polish crew or Polish officers and Filipino sailors. There is a certain shipping company from Hull who have a petrol station chain as well as a shipping company who’s 7 ships are all Hull registered but there isn’t a single British officer or Seaman there, all Russians, Poles and Estonians. But now I’ll get to the point, these seamen are paid the ‘British wage’ alright, but as they’re foreign the company has to pay no NI contribution so over a period of time they’re making a massive profit. So a Polish seaman on a British ship takes home the same money, but the company pay far less out and I want to know if they can get away with the same with land based employees? Because if they can, a Pole might earn the same as us, but the company will save alot of money and want to employ him instead of you or me. Lets also not forget that Poland for example is a massive exporter of labour like the Phillipines, most Polish seamen have never set foot on a Polish ship, they’re trained solely for export to work on foreign ships. Its not hard to imagine the same happening with trucks. Its all very well them coming here, I dont mind, so long as there is no financial benefit to a company to employ them over me.
