Ever heard of annualised hours or salary,any 5 from 7■■ Used to be the trend. Nothing extra for overtime or weekends and the only guaranteed day off,apart from rest periods, was Xmas day.
Once again this has degenerated in to an argument among drivers.
My original post was to relay the news about another company being TUPE’D over to a general haulage company with the drivers being given the option of take it or leave it.
No redundancy option either.
I will no longer post on this subject.
So some of you seem happy with this race to the bottom of pay and conditions. This time Downtons have the contract, but when it comes up for renewal and they have to make savings or somebody else gets in at a lower price, where are those savings coming from that time?
And what about your own jobs?
Some of you seem happy with your terms and conditions, such as extra money for weekend work. But what happens when weekend work at basic money becomes standard practice, because haulage is 24/7 operation and the only way to get the work is to compete with those that are paying basic straight through?
Sorry to the new Downtons drivers, looks like a good deal for you gone bad.
BUT
Other posters are right. It will happen with greater regularity because of certain companies out there that work on the idea of buying the business a cheap as they can, just to keep the wagons moving. It doesn’t matter if the contract doesn’t pay enough because they will make it up with models and iPhone apps.
It will not stop happening until the big boys get together, or the Government, and put a minimum price on logistics.
So its a fact of life, to those of you who are bemoaning the change in the way the industry works. You can either accept it and carry on, or keep moaning about it and feel hard done by when it is your turn.
i think it gets to a point where service starts to suffer…then companies realise cheapest is not always best.
If I were to suggest that the downslide began to happen with deregulation, would everyone think I was being a stupid old idiot?
what`s deregulation 
tivvy:
Don’t shoot the messenger. I don’t work for them!!
The sad thing is I’m now retired and a lot of you probably don’t know or don’t remember when things were getting better. Trucks got better,no roping/sheeting and above all terms and conditions were won over years of negotiations on both sides.The companies didn’t just hand the money out!!
Good companies ran social clubs,christmas parties for the families etc.
In my day you had to start on general haulage with companies that were always on the edge and allowing dodgy log books. There were no agencies then.
After a while you worked your way up to better conditions and if you were lucky enough you got into a national name company.
The trend in recent years is profit before anything else. 24/7 working with no extra money for weekends etc.
This is what has been lost and to shrug your shoulders in jealousy and say they deserve it just because others are getting less is not the way to improve the lot of the driver. We all started out on low wages.
Sure in a lot of companies a lot of drivers work the system but that is not the fault of the driver.
The main problem is cutthroat competition and drivers from europe willing to accept any work at any price to keep a job.
No manufacturer running it’s own fleet can compete with return loads etc. and make it pay hence the outsourcing.
To put down your fellow drivers is despicable.
+1 with bells on.
I was offered a job interview with Indesit but i didn’t turn up. The management who phoned me to ask me to come in got funny when i said i couldn’t make it at that time and tried to put me off by saying
Manager: You do know we are in Northampton and i can see your coming from Peterborough.
Me: Yes i know where you are
Manager: You know where we are then?
Me: Yes your next door to where i work in Raunds
Manager: Oh ok…what other time can you make it:
Me: well when i finish work ( muttering under my breath the word ■■■)
Manager: Ok see you then
Lucky for me i am loving it where i am working £400 - £450 a week and i am home by midday. However the management at Indeist put me off going there as they sound a right bunch of dodgy gits
if the indesit drivers don’t like it, then don’t go.
we got tuped to another company years ago, the lads were up in arms about it. it was very political. a prodestant firm had bought a catholic firm. some lads didn’t go, some stayed and loved it. we went from running bent as [zb] to 98% legal overnight.
mickyblue:
I was offered a job interview with Indesit but i didn’t turn up. The management who phoned me to ask me to come in got funny when i said i couldn’t make it at that time and tried to put me off by sayingManager: You do know we are in Northampton and i can see your coming from Peterborough.
Me: Yes i know where you are
Manager: You know where we are then?
Me: Yes your next door to where i work in Raunds
Manager: Oh ok…what other time can you make it:
Me: well when i finish work ( muttering under my breath the word ■■■)
Manager: Ok see you thenLucky for me i am loving it where i am working £400 - £450 a week and i am home by midday. However the management at Indeist put me off going there as they sound a right bunch of dodgy gits
As this is a slightly different subject I will answer this.
Firstly as you are a class 2 driver I assume you were applying for a position on the home delivery 7.5 tonners??
There are 2 transport offices at Indesit and the Class 1 artics are completely separate. It’s only the bulk delivery that is going over to Downtons.
It seems to me the manager was asking the perfectly reasonable question to make sure you understood you lived around 20mls away and you could get in to work ok and on time.
He then asked what other time you could get in. What’s wrong with that??
In my opinion you passed up a good opportunity as although the work is hard,delivering and installing machines to home addresses, they earn the same as class 1 and with the overtime you would have been on a much higher rate than you are with Wisemans(I presume) 
Going off topic slightly,but still concerning Downtons.
Not sure what the connection with Downtons and Pet’s at Home is,they are Downtons motors,but do Downtons just supply the motors or the whole operation?I’m sure someone on here will know.
When I started agency work when I first retired 9 years ago,I offered to work weekends and bank holidays,just two shifts a week.
I was gobsmacked at getting £16 per hour for Sundays back then!
There is always weekend work as you can see their motors going down the road on Saturday afternoons for tipping Sunday.
But even then some of their own drivers were taking the ■■■■.
I was asked if I wanted to work full time after doing two drops,Stockton on Tees and Gateshead,and load back out of Ripon which I found an easy days work.
The T/M told me their drivers would have had a night out on that job!
Bear in mind this was 9 years ago,don’t know what it’s like now.
tivvy:
mickyblue:
I was offered a job interview with Indesit but i didn’t turn up. The management who phoned me to ask me to come in got funny when i said i couldn’t make it at that time and tried to put me off by sayingManager: You do know we are in Northampton and i can see your coming from Peterborough.
Me: Yes i know where you are
Manager: You know where we are then?
Me: Yes your next door to where i work in Raunds
Manager: Oh ok…what other time can you make it:
Me: well when i finish work ( muttering under my breath the word ■■■)
Manager: Ok see you thenLucky for me i am loving it where i am working £400 - £450 a week and i am home by midday. However the management at Indeist put me off going there as they sound a right bunch of dodgy gits
As this is a slightly different subject I will answer this.
Firstly as you are a class 2 driver I assume you were applying for a position on the home delivery 7.5 tonners??
There are 2 transport offices at Indesit and the Class 1 artics are completely separate. It’s only the bulk delivery that is going over to Downtons.
It seems to me the manager was asking the perfectly reasonable question to make sure you understood you lived around 20mls away and you could get in to work ok and on time.
He then asked what other time you could get in. What’s wrong with that??
In my opinion you passed up a good opportunity as although the work is hard,delivering and installing machines to home addresses, they earn the same as class 1 and with the overtime you would have been on a much higher rate than you are with Wisemans(I presume)
I find it hard to explain in text what i am on about, but i am on about his attitude over the phone rather to what he asked. I was also going for the job which was advertised for Class 2 not the 7.5t job
bestbooties:
Not sure what the connection with Downtons and Pet’s at Home is,they are Downtons motors,but do Downtons just supply the motors or the whole operation?I’m sure someone on here will know.
All the deliveries are done at night when the stores are closed, circa 4 stores a night.
Downtons supply the unit and driver but TP Niven does the Scottish stores.
Stan
Ah they run a handful of 10 tonners among the home delivery fleet for the smaller trade runs to shops etc, so you would have needed the licence for that,but, you would have found yourself being trained up to install machines/cookers as a matter of course.
You would also be issued with a barrow for dropping the machines off at the side of the road.
You would still come under the home delivery side.
As I said hard work but they get paid for it