I was in a large factory this morning. A driver turned up that got me thinking again about something that I had done for a while. Drivers and the clothes they wear. Now I do like clothes and spend too much money on them but you don’t have to spend much to look smart. This driver turned up in flip flops and bright orange shorts, to be promptly told to put on some boots. Now I don’t know if his company supply uniform but for many office jobs for instance you wouldn’t get uniform yet would still be expected to come to work smartly dressed. We are the main image for the companies we work for yet the state I see a lot of drivers in you wouldn’t think so. Companies put a lot of money into the trucks and the image only for it to be undone when some loon thinks a vest top, bright orange shorts and flip flops is acceptable to wear to work. I even saw one old fat driver ■■■■■■■ the other day.
Love or hate Stobart I think this is one keys to their success. The drivers are smartly dressed (most of the time) with a smart uniform, even if it is a bit bright, that matches the companies trucks and image. It looks good when dealing with customers. I don’t like shorts but I suppose a smart pair are just about acceptable.
If I ran a transport company I’d be such a tyrant! But then in this economic climate companies need to be on top of everything to give them the edge, and drivers need to help them by being smart. If two trucks are in a customers yard and one driver is smartly dressed and one in bright shorts and flip flops which company would you think about for your next contract. We need to take a bit of responsibility for our appearance.
I personally think you have a cheek, those flip flops were not cheap and do you know just how difficult it is to get shorts in that colour (it took me ages)
As rants go that’s about 6/10. No insults to any patic person so thats good.
I work on car transporters and do wear shorts when its hot but they match the rest of the kit i have. never work without boots though jus find them better than flipflops or trainers.
I dress in company shirt but dont think it matters> if image mattered the disgraceful toilets and drivers waiting areas would be better kept. its all about control. Like school uniforms you loose your individuality and are on the slippery slope to conformoty and all that entails. The “customers” as you would have it are probably in their villas or on their yachts somewhere without a care in the world for what you are wearing and if you think it matters what you wear with regards to obtaining future business you are living in cloud cockoo land
I think its you that posts the videos and Ive tried leaving a comment but couldnt, Heres my oppurtunity, keep it up they are very entertaining.
Is your post a wind up, maybe not but the Stobart image thing is about controlling large staff numbers nothing else.
Just sitting in an industrial estate and saw a truck driver look I haven’t seen for years cowboy boots black jeans with a massive buckle beard and boufont hair like something out of convoy
oldsid:
I dress in company shirt but dont think it matters> if image mattered the disgraceful toilets and drivers waiting areas would be better kept. its all about control. Like school uniforms you loose your individuality and are on the slippery slope to conformoty and all that entails. The “customers” as you would have it are probably in their villas or on their yachts somewhere without a care in the world for what you are wearing and if you think it matters what you wear with regards to obtaining future business you are living in cloud cockoo land
I think its you that posts the videos and Ive tried leaving a comment but couldnt, Heres my oppurtunity, keep it up they are very entertaining.
Is your post a wind up, maybe not but the Stobart image thing is about controlling large staff numbers nothing else.
Of course it’s about control, and a company that controls it’s image down to the drivers clothes is a company in control, and customers want a company in control. The owners of customers may well be off at their villa and if that’s the case they probably don’t make transport buying decisions, the annoying jobs worth manager will that shouts and anyone without a high viz. Like it or not image matters, otherwise we’d all be driving round in plain white trucks. It matters even more in the food industry where I do a lot of work. It’s not a wind up I’m deadly serious.
Oh and the drivers waiting rooms being a disgraceful mess is often down to the drivers that wrecked them in the first place. Again drivers just not caring
Oh and thanks for the nice comments about the videos.
Wheel Nut:
I don’t like uniforms, in the sense they are all the same.
I much prefer the tidy casual look that you see on the continent. I remember you mentioning Dutch truck drivers recently,
they also manage to look professional in casual clothes
I agree with this. For myself I don’t like uniforms either. I wear casual clothes all the time and like to think I look smart. They are always clean. Dark jeans and polos or shirts. It’s really not hard to look tidy.
Oh yes and young dutch drivers dressed in G Star clothes
I agree with Switch. For many customers the driver is virtually the only person they see from a supplier. Even though that driver may well work for a third party he is associated with that product.
When I was placing a contract for the delivery of goods from my warehouse, then the appearance of the drivers would be one of many factors to take into account. It never happened to me, but I can imagine the scenario where the salesman is in the middle of his presentation when one of his drivers arrives outside in a beat up old truck wearing bermuda shorts and a hawiian shirt. It would not go down too well.
From the driver’s point of view I have always been grateful to any employer who is willing to provide me with work clothes, so that I can save mine for when I am not working - if they launder them as well (or pay for it) then that’s a bonus.
I really hate the way drivers from a certain geographical area all dress the same, I mean whoever thought it was OK to wear cheap plastic LIDL flipflops with dirty grey or black socks was a good look? the very few times i catch the ferry to dear old blighty they seem to congregate together and it looks like they are in a competition to find the dirtiest member of the poorest bulgarian sports team award. tracksuit bottoms look good on an athlete and even better on a fit young lady with the top rolled slightly down so you can see where to park your bike, but not on a stinking sweaty romanian with a weeks growth, no odour control, no idea what a shower is and wearing said flipflops and socks
jeans are cheap nowadays aren’t they? a fiver in tesco or asda. polo shirts can be picked up for as little as 2 for a fiver so there’s no excuse
Your right there WBIS. With clothes so cheap there is no excuse. My dad is opposite of me and has no interest in clothes but looks smart everyday in a polo and jeans, which is a whole outfit for under £20.
If we want to be treated like professionals then it’s high time we acted like them.
Flip flops/sandals with manky socks, tracksuit/jogging bottoms with singlet tucked in and Hitler youth haircuts - i wonder who we might be talking about??
Personally so long as the driver and his clthes are clean Im not too fussed, but Im definitely a shorts n t shirt driver, certainly in the summer down here.
If companys want to uniform drivers then they should supply sufficient clothing for them to wear clean everyday - in my case that could mean up to 30 t shirts / trousers/ shorts etc… I doubt any company would do that.
And yes the wife does moan about the size of the laundry bag when i get home!
Uniforms don’t make a scruffy person non scruffy. You can’t polish a turd so a slob will always be a slob regardless of the attire. A uniform may look more presentable when it is perfectly clean, ironed and wore correctly. But give it to a scruffy lard arse and it’s covered in half his dinner, wrinkled to ■■■■ and his arse crack is permanently shown.
Someone who can wear a clean uniform and look after his appearance will usually do the same with his own clothes. There’s no excuse for being permanently scruffy, we do get mucked up from time to time but that’s why we carry far more clean clothes than we actually need.
maurice:
Uniforms don’t make a scruffy person non scruffy. You can’t polish a turd so a slob will always be a slob regardless of the attire. A uniform may look more presentable when it is perfectly clean, ironed and wore correctly. But give it to a scruffy lard arse and it’s covered in half his dinner, wrinkled to [zb] and his arse crack is permanently shown.
Someone who can wear a clean uniform and look after his appearance will usually do the same with his own clothes. There’s no excuse for being permanently scruffy, we do get mucked up from time to time but that’s why we carry far more clean clothes than we actually need.
welshboyinspain:
I really hate the way drivers from a certain geographical area all dress the same, I mean whoever thought it was OK to wear cheap plastic LIDL flipflops with dirty grey or black socks was a good look? the very few times i catch the ferry to dear old blighty they seem to congregate together and it looks like they are in a competition to find the dirtiest member of the poorest bulgarian sports team award. tracksuit bottoms look good on an athlete and even better on a fit young lady with the top rolled slightly down so you can see where to park your bike, but not on a stinking sweaty romanian with a weeks growth, no odour control, no idea what a shower is and wearing said flipflops and socks
jeans are cheap nowadays aren’t they? a fiver in tesco or asda. polo shirts can be picked up for as little as 2 for a fiver so there’s no excuse
I think the Tracksuit Bottoms come with the Visa application.
We have a company uniform and I’m grateful for it. I don’t want to wear my personal clothes to work.
Rightly or wrongly I have found that if you are not clean and presentable, office and unloading staff tend tend to think you are a bit of an idiot and treat you as such.
kr79:
Just sitting in an industrial estate and saw a truck driver look I haven’t seen for years cowboy boots black jeans with a massive buckle beard and boufont hair like something out of convoy
Is he in a Quayside truck? People call him buffalo bill
switchlogic:
Your right there WBIS. With clothes so cheap there is no excuse. My dad is opposite of me and has no interest in clothes but looks smart everyday in a polo and jeans, which is a whole outfit for under £20.
If we want to be treated like professionals then it’s high time we acted like them.
Are you setting up as the “Gok Wan” of truckers here Luke?
kr79:
Just sitting in an industrial estate and saw a truck driver look I haven’t seen for years cowboy boots black jeans with a massive buckle beard and boufont hair like something out of convoy
Is he in a Quayside truck? People call him buffalo bill
Interesting. A rant about appearance eh. This coming from the same person that has an out of control forest growing on his dial and isn’t familiar with the words “shaver”, “razor” or “beard trimmer”.
