bazstan009:
Fifteens are fine by me, some weeks could use one more. Last thing i want is to be forced to kick my heels for another couple of hours, get on get it done!
There will always be what the operator/owner driver wants against what the company driver wants.
If any form of road transport couldn’t make more use of an increase in the driving time limit together with offsetting that with a cut in the total day to 12 hours then that seems to point to a productivety issue in the industry assuming productivety is based on the usual tonne/mile of freight shifted figure.
Productivity has nothing to do with it, yes we could shut down the economy in a couple of days, but holding the people who pay the bills to ransom is a bad idea.
If you want somebody to help you then you don’t walk in the room and kick them in the nuts!
Driver’s hours are long, so we get them legislated down to a reasonable level. Companies need more drivers, so short term wages go up, but there’s still a shortage of drivers, so they bring them in from Eastern Europe or the Far East, all of a sudden the drivers that kicked off are not such a valuable commodity and wages drop. It is supply and demand.
So be careful what you wish for, it may come true and if it does, it will have unintended consequences…
Of the drivrrs who do max hours no more than 9hours or 10 twice a week is driving a bit of otber work but say in the case of a box jockey they could be fesably be sitting round doing nothing for 5 hours of the day so hardly exhausting work.
The nature of general haulage and tramping realy means long hours and missing out on social life at times.
If you want regular hours lorry driving get a job working for a builders merchant or a skip lorfy you cant have it all ways.
Carryfast:
If any form of road transport couldn’t make more use of an increase in the driving time limit together with offsetting that with a cut in the total day to 12 hours then that seems to point to a productivety issue in the industry assuming productivety is based on the usual tonne/mile of freight shifted figure.
There may well be productivity issues but these are not going to be rectified by shortening the duty hours, i seldom max drive time but most days max duty.
The regulations are a compromise and apply euro wide to a diverse industry, reaching a consensus on here would be a challenge.
I hope that there are no bosses reading this they must be laughing all the way to the bank knowing that you all want to keep working every hour there is, if you are lucky you may get a pay cut to get a new truck. Sooner hours come down the better true it will be less pay but most are no better of however much they earn, you can have someone working 40 hours on NMW but they still have same as driver working 80 hours
But are you any better off? A lot of people think that higher wages mean a better life but does it, as long as you have got what you need why work more hours for a better house, phone, tv, car most times it only means more bills. Last week I worked 27 hours at £9.50 but I can live on that and so could others if they planned there spending better.
I would do 15hrs every day if my bed was behind the seat, however when doing 15hrs then going home I’m lucky if I get 4.5 hrs sleep, with a potential 15 hr day to follow that, how can this be safe?
When at base it should be a MINIMUM 12 hrs off, although I wouldn’t be too happy at my start time being pushed back by potentially 9hrs over the week.
So I don’t know what the answer is.
I’m on day rate so a 12hr maximum day suits me fine!
mac12:
But are you any better off? A lot of people think that higher wages mean a better life but does it, as long as you have got what you need why work more hours for a better house, phone, tv, car most times it only means more bills. Last week I worked 27 hours at £9.50 but I can live on that and so could others if they planned there spending better.
And that is my point!
Nobody forces you to work long hours!
You go to work and put in all kinds of hours, to earn more money to buy more of the stuff you get paid to haul around, so you’re giving most of it back to your boss or their customer!
newmercman:
It is and always has been the case that you will put in long hours as a lorry driver, nobody holds a gun to your head, if you don’t like long hours, don’t drive a lorry. If you want to be a lorry driver, expect to work long hours. Simple really!
But if people think like that - or like the “MTFU” comments earlier in the thread - nothing will ever change. Not wages, not hours … nothing. I know that the hours are long and the money’s a bit grim, and I put up with it because I like driving lorries and have done for the last fifteen years. But I won’t work fifteen hour days if I can avoid it (it’s why I do nights now). And I can see why it’s difficult to attract new drivers into the industry: reasonably enough, people in the 21st Century don’t want to be spending over half their lives at work, and why should they?
This industry will never change as long as there are members of the Wooden Lorry Club banging on and on about how in their day they were expected to drive for four days without a break and all in a Scammell with metal seats and no heater and how we modern drivers whould just put up with long hours and no money. I bet the suits in the industry sometimes read this sort of stuff and rub their hands and think “cheers, lads”.
Yes I get that, but you choose to be a lorry driver, so you accept the conditions.
Trying to change it is like saying they should lower the standards required to being a football player on mega bucks, because we want to be football players.
A bad analagy, especially as I’m a Spurs fan and I could probably get straight in the team on my current level of talent
newmercman:
Yes I get that, but you choose to be a lorry driver, so you accept the conditions.
I don’t thnk that’s necessarily true. Granted, nothing will change quickly, but eventually, if enough people make a stink about working long hours and it becomes difficult to recruit lorry drivers, things will change. Certainly things will never change if we all say “ah well, there it is. Another £300 in the bank for a 75 hour week. Still, that’s lorry driving for you.”
Signed,wouldn’t of in the past,but I just think these days I want to go home,8 hrs would be enough for me.
Think there should be option to continue if you want,I don’t want to do 13/14/15 hrs anymore,but wouldn’t want to stops the lads who do,that’s there choice
For those the company drivers that feel hard done by why not apply pressure on your employer. Don’t see why a reduction in earning capacity has to be imposed on those that don’t want it.
bazstan009:
For those the company drivers that feel hard done by why not apply pressure on your employer. Don’t see why a reduction in earning capacity has to be imposed on those that don’t want it.
Someone working overtime is different to companies knowing that drivers can work 80 hours per week so planning that amount. I work for agencies because I can chose how many hours I work or even if I work.
newmercman:
Yes I get that, but you choose to be a lorry driver, so you accept the conditions.
I don’t thnk that’s necessarily true. Granted, nothing will change quickly, but eventually, if enough people make a stink about working long hours and it becomes difficult to recruit lorry drivers, things will change. Certainly things will never change if we all say “ah well, there it is. Another £300 in the bank for a 75 hour week. Still, that’s lorry driving for you.”
It won’t be difficult to recruit drivers, they will ship them in from somewhere.
Instead of signing a petition because you don’t like long hours, why not choose a job where you aren’t maxing your hours week after week. There are jobs out there like builders merchants or pallet network stuff where you only do 9 or 10hrs a day Max. I chose pallet network because I wasn’t interested in long hours. Plenty of others don’t mind the long hours, so who am I to disagree with them.
like loaves 
THICK CUT! 
