Well i called in get my run for tomorrow and it seems that Fowler Welch have bought Fieldings
So it’s now official
I will post more details after i go to work tomorrow and let everyone know, i hope they dont plan on making me redundant so fingers crossed please
Phil
Good , glad to hear your not out of a job. Just wonder Y a refrigerated compnay would buy a non refrigerated company ?
It does seem strange i’ll find out more tomorrow.
Fowlers and celciua first have only just merged also i think
routier:
Good , glad to hear your not out of a job. Just wonder Y a refrigerated compnay would buy a non refrigerated company ?
expand or die (capitalism)
maybe what they have bought is not the ragsiders but the location
so the they will just put fridges in the yard as opposed to curtainsiders
it wont need a change of o licence as far as i am aware
Rueben Fielding did a massive amount of “food” work, their consilidation work will fit in with FW, both supply the same end users, they both consilidate for the manufacturers,its a good fit, its the reason Pete Osbourne / Innov@te were also looking at it.
RF were basically a good company, trying to do what their customer wanted, but they bent the rules, and “Ms Bell” came down very hard on them.
Why think about getting the boot is beyond me, they have bought a company that is successful, they will carry it on, as it is, with a few fine tweaks here and there, prehaps even improve it.
A busy driver is a “safe” driver, your jobs safe !!!
hitch:
maybe what they have bought is not the ragsiders but the location
so the they will just put fridges in the yard as opposed to curtainsiders
it wont need a change of o licence as far as i am aware
What O Licence ? RF Fieldings no longer have one so FW will have to apply for one to operate in the North West.
West Hallam Ram:
RF were basically a good company, trying to do what their customer wanted, but they bent the rules, and “Ms Bell” came down very hard on them.
They are not the first and certainly wont be the last, firms will deny it but every firm that I subcontracted to yrs ago broke the rules at some stage. #
Difference being if you get caught or not!
There comes a situation when you are either forced to (customer demands) or simply have to( eg make ends meet).
The traffic office and traffic commissioners arent interested. I often read that by breaking the law, its unfair play to the competition and that you have an unfair advantage! I dont see them saying that to the thousands of foreign hauliers who come here and do exactly the same thing and its those companies who have set the standards upon which hauliers in this country are trying to keep up with.
What a load of twoddle, other hauliers (mainly foreign haulage companies) set the targets and goals, companies in this country have to try and keep with them to stay in business. Its not by choice. Its a case of sink or swim.
And at the end of the day a Haulage Business is a Business like any other and its aim is making money and being both profItable and successful.
I fail to see why haulage companies should be dictated to as to the limits they can work, other businesses arent. Other businesses arent penalised in trying to compete!
I hope FW keep RF Fieldings going and wish them all the best. Would you happen to know if the directors of fieldings will still be employed or retained in some form of employment ?
Just got in from my four day shift and the story is as follows:
We have all been re-employed by FW and a continous basis i.e. our contract moves to them from Fieldings.
As far as i know all the Exec’s are standing down but i have not been off told that.
They have allready starting to replace the fleet, all the units are slowly being replaced by short term lease scanias. A good 15 have gone in a matter of one week. We (drivers) assume untill they buy in there own merc’s or scanias as that is what FW fleet seems to be.
All the MHE has been replaced by bran-spankin-new FLT’s
The buildings have not been re-branded yet but you can tell that is only a matter of days away.
Managed to get a sneak look at the minutes from a managers meeting and found some interesting stuff in that. Fieldings did’nt have any first aid kits in there wharehouse what so ever. They allways refused to pay for stealtoe cap boots but that has changed also.
Basicly everything appauling about Fieldings seems to be changing for the good with FW. HS, trucks and work seems to be better all in the space of a week.
Phil
Spacemonkeypg:
All the MHE has been replaced by bran-spankin-new FLT’sHS, trucks and work seems to be better all in the space of a week.
Phil
Sorry for my naivety, whats MHE /HS ? FLT (Fork Lift Truck ?)
Glad to hear its improving and your future is secure. Did you TUPE accross to FW or is RF Fielding being closed completely and the company disolved with Companies House , so therefore no transfer.
We Tupe to FW Fieldings went into administration on friday morning and FW bought it at 4pm so obviously prre-planned
MHE is manual handeling equipment i.e. powered pallet trucks, FLT fork lifts and HS is health and safety sorry for the confusion
wewll i hope they pay you more than they used to pay the poor sods in spalding!!! and you dont get the 20 year old clever git on the transport desk!!!
Update on the situation for anyone who is interested
All the scabby trucks have now gone and been replaced by new or nearly new toplines. The trailors are being replaced also. I have to give it to FW they are fast movers and moving in the right direction… The grapevine told me that we are all gioing on training for the new DIGTAC, which they are dipping into there pockets for £38…
The best grapevine news i was told all week was that the traffic er operators, or co-ordinator thingy people ( those that tell you where your going next) 
are going to FW head office in spalding for personality training.
How to co-operate with a driver because FW apparent policy is the driver is king as he is the face of the company 
Filled out my new uniform sheet also and we get BASEBALL caps 
no bats though 
nice one spacemonkey, looks like things are on the up for you then 
keep us up to date,it would be nice to hear about companies doing the right thing for there drivers for a change…
first: all which shines isn’t Gold
second:keep a eye on you can’t see,as i don’t believe that they don’t cook with water too.
sah last day’s when Company’s got overtaken by other how many Jobs are lost.
In that Case blow there a lot of Sugar in there Ax,to be not on the list,if it’s alowed to say it that way
Driver is king my arse
good luck with i hope it all goes well…
davey driver dosent seem to have a good word to say about them though.
jessicas dad:
good luck with i hope it all goes well…davey driver dosent seem to have a good word to say about them though.
Having been away since 7th May I’ve not seen this thread until I was told about this Quote 
Davey Driver actually has a number of good words to say about Fowler Welch, its unfortunate that like most other Drivers on this site I only post about the Bad things 
Although I can only speak about the Depot I’m based at in Gateshead, I’m quite happy there 
I started on July 3rd Last year and of course the company has both good and bad faults.
Bad Faults
The Depot has more drivers than trucks, so starting at 6pm there are times I have to sit and wait for a Motor, I would prefer to be in and collect keys and paperwork then straight out, rather than sitting around the canteen for hours, there are times management think they are doing you a favour by getting your load collected, maybe thats genuine, who knows? But again you could be sitting around in the canteen for 2 hrs like last night 
whereas if I went for my own load and it was not ready I would at least have some sort of idea how long it will be.
At the same time I can personally see the reasons that there are less trucks than drivers, why should they have a fleet of motors sitting in the yard for 9 or 11 hrs costing them money 
Wages are below average, £6.27ph for first 8 hrs regardless of whether your day shift or night shift,
Good Points
Chris Kilsby is a fair enough manager as far as my dealings are concerned with him, he does try to accomodate any changes you require to your shift, for example, If I need an early finish which I know I can get doing Livingston instead of Spalding, he’s more than happy for drivers to swap, providing they both agree to the change.
Having injured the Ligaments in my Right Ankle in February, Chris was most helpful in getting me to the Hospital and then Home afterwards, half pay was paid for the 5 weeks I lost, more than I could say for the Total Disaster Group when I suffered a Back injury.
I have never been asked to “Rush” with a load, Chris is well aware that I’m happy to stick to speed limits even if it takes longer costing more in hourly pay, the company policy of “Do the Job Legally” is maintained,
Going back to the Sitting around in the Canteen, there has never been a request to me to explain why I had to sit so long, at the end of the day the job was completed legally and on time so there was no hassle, It just bugs me sitting around not knowing how long for.
Motors are all decent and modern, defects are repaired providing they are reported, Personal Protection gear has never been refused, uniform is decent quality.
Wages? Your guaranteed 10hrs minimum per day even though most of it is sitting at collection or delivery points.
Phone Calls to the Truck are minimal and I’m basically left to get on with the job allocated without constant interruptions, whether its straight to Spalding or calling in for a couple of collections on my way.
So as you can see above, yes Davey Driver does have some good things to say about his employers 
I Can only base this on my personal experience, I aint done, nor do I want to do Tramping again, so I dont know what the trampers put up with.
fair enough.
Spacemonkeypg:
Well i called in get my run for tomorrow and it seems that Fowler Welch have bought FieldingsSo it’s now official
I will post more details after i go to work tomorrow and let everyone know, i hope they dont plan on making me redundant so fingers crossed please
Phil
Interesting discussion at our depot on Friday Morning Phil, can you shed any light?
It appears the rumours say that Fieldings Drivers are paid £7.19ph when delivering Bananas to Morrisons but part of fieldings contract was that the driver had to assist with splitting the load down.
Where the conflict now appears is that the Gateshead Depot are running into Morrisons Stockton & Stockport with extra loads and the drivers are being told they now have to split the load down, but, as they are only paid £6.27 ph they are saying its not part of their contract, Morrisons however, are saying, assist or take away?
It does not affect me personally as I never touch the bananas but needless to say its got the drivers up in arms who do deliver them