Juddian:
Being treated courteously with respect and as a responsible adult goes a hell of a long way,
And being courteous, respectful and a responsible adult goes a hell of a long way too, it’s not difficult to understand why so many on here are dissatisfied with their ‘lot’.
Too many drivers seem to think they are owed everything without actually having to give anything.
Absolutely, that goes without saying, it’s always a two way street.
edit.
attn Heisenberrg.
80% turnover you might as well be 100% bloody agency, someone upstairs needs to earn their mega salary, they really should be asking questions as to what the hell is going on there.
I was being conservative as well…it could be more than 80 %…
The problem is that the guys in the office are too busy putting out fires all day to think in the long term. I’ve been there 3 years and for the last 2 years no one has ever told me who my line manager is.
The only line manager I had was sacked for assault on a member of staff…
I know it sounds ridiculous but frankly It’s not really my problem, I am more than happy driving and not getting involved with the problems they have in the office.
That’s what makes trucking a good job, feel sorry for the youngsters who have ambitions though.
Andrejs:
This is you coutrcountry,company management,union fault.They not check people for language knowledge before give him job.If company sacked 1 person because he not understand language that another 10 will try learn and learn.In Germany if people not speak good that not easy found job .
The irony is strong in this one. .
I can follow Andrejs just fine - in fact, I’ve come to enjoy interpreting his posts which are not quite idiomatic English, but still very good.
And like he says, whose fault is it really? If employers want or need English, there’s plenty of English speakers around to hire.
Andrejs:
This is you coutrcountry,company management,union fault.They not check people for language knowledge before give him job.If company sacked 1 person because he not understand language that another 10 will try learn and learn.In Germany if people not speak good that not easy found job .
The irony is strong in this one. .
I can follow Andrejs just fine - in fact, I’ve come to enjoy interpreting his posts which are not quite idiomatic English, but still very good.
And like he says, whose fault is it really? If employers want or need English, there’s plenty of English speakers around to hire.
Same here, find his posts enjoyable, informative, unbiased, well written, not spam, not trolling… everything the troll fondler isn’t.
How easy would it be for any of us Brits who are monoglots - to get a job driving a truck in Germany I wonder?
The strongest objection a lot of people deemed “Anti Immigration” hold is that “It’s not a two way street as it should be”.
Freedom of Movement = everyone comes to Britain to work, but Brits would be paid less elsewhere in the EU, so they don’t bother going there. In those few countries where a driver’s pay is higher than the UK - then the standards for entry to live and work in that country - is strangely a lot more stringent than in other poorer-paying countries… I wonder why?
Double standard.
We’re best off out of it all.
I would have been quite happy being paid 3500 Euros per month working/living in Germany, especially now that Euros are worth more now and all.
F–k the EU. It’s a double standard that makes us Brits pay at both ends. We’re best off out of it. I’m not a Bregretter then!
Your both missing the point.
A point that will be undrstood by those who deal with foreign drivers of uk vehicles on a daily basis (try and explain to an EE who doesn’t understand basic English, to go around the building to bay 4, reverse onto it when it’s clear, and take his delivery notes to the office…), or drivers who have been at a location where all the warehouse staff are foreign, and speak little or no English. Like Yorkshire Repak just last week.
Things tend to find their own level, if companies whose work involves absolute communication can’t be bothered to invest in people with good spoken and written English, then they presumably must be prepared for the sometimes costly consequences of things that go badly wrong due to misunderstandings and incompetence.
Lots of companies jumped on the cheap as chips employee pidgin English no problem bandwagon, many have found to their cost that cheap wages wasn’t the only criteria.
Juddian:
Albion, that’s one of the things that makes my job good (of course there are always minor gripes, lorry drivers innit ), we’re assumed to be competent until we prove otherwise.
I find out what my job is for the following day, i’m given the official start time, this mainly for the benefit of night loading staff, but they confirm the delivery time (we always try to be punctual, some jobs we really do have to arrive on time stated) and i start at the time which suits me, which means early enough to clean the vehicle if needed or to fix any bulbs or other jobs and to allow me some leeway on the road for problems.
We’re tracked but no one tells you which route to use and the thought of some oik in the office calling and asking why one has stopped is just preposterous, i’ve used some right weird routes when the various usual ones have been rammed…we have live traffic on the satnavs so can scan the whole country before we leave and constantly during the journey…and never once has anyone questioned my route choice or asked why a job took so long, anything like that.
So long as the customer is happy (customer is King here), the load delivered correctly and safely, and we bring back the lorry in one piece we’re left to do the job as best we can.
Being treated courteously with respect and as a responsible adult goes a hell of a long way, anyone with any sense wants a number like that to last forever so it’s natural to do your best and to go that extra mile to ensure it does last.
The man who knocks every driver going, what the hell are you driving a truck for you can’t be driving that long with what you come out with, its all well known.
Maybe you would be better mixing with your own type of people who dress in mankey overalls and drive white little vans and are on call for when fridges break down, I think I read somewhere that you drove fridges or was it fixing them can’t remember, just for the record do you carry a spare pair of overalls with you. Lots and lots of HGV drivers are qualified in lots of trades in this game and some are lot higher than a fridge repair man
the nodding donkey:
Your both missing the point.
A point that will be undrstood by those who deal with foreign drivers of uk vehicles on a daily basis (try and explain to an EE who doesn’t understand basic English, to go around the building to bay 4, reverse onto it when it’s clear, and take his delivery notes to the office…), or drivers who have been at a location where all the warehouse staff are foreign, and speak little or no English. Like Yorkshire Repak just last week.
I really don’t see this being a major issue… I’ve got a few languages… so I can usually get myself understood. Certain words like free are pretty much international or very similar in many languages. Paperwork / Papier. Bay x 4 fingers or Quattro or quatre…
It’s not Jonnie who’s got linguistics issues - that’s a British thing. Saw a young woman at an RDC, driver walks up… mumbles something, young lady asked: “Which language do you want to speak?” She was Polish…one of the best questions I ever heard from a young attendant at an RDC.
I have never been big on languages, I can communicate well enough in my own so as not to bother too much about speaking another one. We did Latin at the school I attended and to be honest, it has never really been much use to me. It sort of put me off learning another especially when everyone now speaks English. I do like to hear people speak another language though tbh, I find it particularly nice, especially when softly spoken by an attractive foreign female. The Pope I believe speaks seven languages fluently and it hasn’t done him any harm, so they do have a use in certain circumstances.
UKtramp:
I have never been big on languages, I can communicate well enough in my own so as not to bother too much about speaking another one. We did Latin at the school I attended and to be honest, it has never really been much use to me. It sort of put me off learning another especially when everyone now speaks English. I do like to hear people speak another language though tbh, I find it particularly nice, especially when softly spoken by an attractive foreign female. The Pope I believe speaks seven languages fluently and it hasn’t done him any harm, so they do have a use in certain circumstances.
Latin is a good base, gives you a bridge into many languages… especially Rumanian, Italian & Spanish…
If you just learn greetings and numbers you’re off to a good start. I’ve started learning Polish & Lithuanian. Apparently my pronunciation is very good. Once I’ve mastered those… gonna start learning English
I know the whole if you work and live in a foreign country you should learn the language mantra and I agree.
But British folk in general really let themselves down in learning other languages.
I’m happy to embrace a foreign tongue and have a little bit of Spanish in me. No where near fluent but enough to get by in tourist related shenanigans.
What’s amazing is how quickly one learns when in the country, a recent week in Calpe (posh hotel, fork me it was expensive but worth it). Learning by immersion is a great way to learn another language combined with the usual methods.
Yanking me own chain a bit but apparently I’m quite a cunning linguist according to a Romanian lady I encountered once, course she may just have been blowing smoke up me bum, but that was extra.
Dipper_Dave:
I know the whole if you work and live in a foreign country you should learn the language mantra and I agree.
But British folk in general really let themselves down in learning other languages.
I’m happy to embrace a foreign tongue and have a little bit of Spanish in me. No where near fluent but enough to get by in tourist related shenanigans.
What’s amazing is how quickly one learns when in the country, a recent week in Calpe (posh hotel, fork me it was expensive but worth it). Learning by immersion is a great way to learn another language combined with the usual methods.
Yanking me own chain a bit but apparently I’m quite a cunning linguist according to a Romanian lady I encountered once, course she may just have been blowing smoke up me bum, but that was extra.
I know Calpe very well Dave, I used to live in Moraira which is the next town along. A lot of lost souls in Calpe, German, Dutch & English are there. I certainly sampled the foreign delights that was readily on offer.
Juddian:
Things tend to find their own level, if companies whose work involves absolute communication can’t be bothered to invest in people with good spoken and written English, then they presumably must be prepared for the sometimes costly consequences of things that go badly wrong due to misunderstandings and incompetence.
Lots of companies jumped on the cheap as chips employee pidgin English no problem bandwagon, many have found to their cost that cheap wages wasn’t the only criteria.
Theres little requirement to speak foreign languages on the European side of haulage, quite a few places around Germany and Belgium state that a basic understanding of English, German or French by a driver is needed for them to be permitted on site, this is due to the safety notices and loading / unloading procedures being available in those languages, as well as emergency announcements being made.
English is spoken by many of the companies we deliver to and collect from in Eastern Europe, as is the case with those in Western Europe.
Dipper_Dave:
I know the whole if you work and live in a foreign country you should learn the language mantra and I agree.
But British folk in general really let themselves down in learning other languages.
I’m happy to embrace a foreign tongue and have a little bit of Spanish in me. No where near fluent but enough to get by in tourist related shenanigans.
What’s amazing is how quickly one learns when in the country, a recent week in Calpe (posh hotel, fork me it was expensive but worth it). Learning by immersion is a great way to learn another language combined with the usual methods.
Yanking me own chain a bit but apparently I’m quite a cunning linguist according to a Romanian lady I encountered once, course she may just have been blowing smoke up me bum, but that was extra.
I know Calpe very well Dave, I used to live in Moraira which is the next town along. A lot of lost souls in Calpe, German, Dutch & English are there. I certainly sampled the foreign delights that was readily on offer.
Blimey I know Moraira quite well also, and Javea, Denia etc.
Me old man lived there for 20 years, I used to visit regular.
My kids went to an english college in Javea, I lived in Moraira for 3 years, I may actually know your old man as all the ex pats drank in the beach club, shopping at pepe la sal. Good days whilst it all lasted.
i find the following phrase works well enough if constantly repeated at whatever ■■■■ fails to comprehend you anywhere abroad…speak english…we won twice…get someone who speaks english…ENGLISH!!! sooner or later someone who speaks english will appear, though to be fair in my respect,anytime someone dont speak english to me,its always been easier getting through to them that im not english.im scottish and have the same attitude and regard towards england as them.hey presto,now they can speak a little more english than 2 mins ago…this is particulary helpfull when trying to get directions or extract your ■■■ from being the focal point of the plod of whatever country youve been pulled in when they are trying to do you for misdemeanours various.
dieseldog999:
i find the following phrase works well enough if constantly repeated at whatever ■■■■ fails to comprehend you anywhere abroad…speak english…we won twice…get someone who speaks english…ENGLISH!!! sooner or later someone who speaks english will appear, though to be fair in my respect,anytime someone dont speak english to me,its always been easier getting through to them that im not english.im scottish and have the same attitude and regard towards england as them.hey presto,now they can speak a little more english than 2 mins ago…this is particulary helpfull when trying to get directions or extract your ■■■ from being the focal point of the plod of whatever country youve been pulled in when they are trying to do you for misdemeanours various.
I quite agree, as far as I am concerned if they can’t be bothered to learn English or speak Latin then I am not prepared to speak to them, I would always insist that they get an interpreter as I am not going to keep repeating myself. This works well for me and saves me the time and effort in learning a language. If everyone spoke English it would make life so much simpler.
you might as well be 100% bloody agency, someone upstairs needs to earn their mega salary, they really should be asking questions as to what the hell is going on there.
), we’re assumed to be competent until we prove otherwise.