Maybe folk should be looking towards the cheap Eastern European labour that has come into the country for dragging wages down and not lads who want to bling the company’s motor. Me personally would only bling a truck if it was my own and I was an owner driver. We have got 3 at our place who are or have bought light bars, alloy wheels etc and don’t think anything of splashing out £100+ a month on cleaning products where they are out polishing the V8 Scania every night when the card is pulled or when they are on a bay at an RDC.
I’d rather spend my wages on stuff that is beneficial to me or my family and not the gaffers motor but each to their own I suppose. I don’t agree with what they’re doing nor does it effect me so leave them to it.
Here are my job requirements in order:
- The minimum wage I’d accept, i.e. Minimum take home pay.
- Type of work.
- Shift patterns, I don’t do regular weekends.
- The truck.
As far as 4 is concerned, if 1,2 and 3 are on par, I’d take a standard Volvo over a blinged up Iveco (as I spend most of the time driving it), but if the money was far more to drive a standard Iveco than a blinged up Volvo, I’d suffer the Iveco 
Never had a problem keeping the motor clean and tidy and washed.
Has a little hoover and some polish for the cab I did live in it after all.
Washed it and even gave the wheels the odd polish.
Used to work for a guy who insisted his wagons were washed with a sponge.
Some of them are a bit OTT was talking to a haulier who was on about a wagon costing close to £50k with paint and bling bars etc.
It wasn’t his but his mates and his drivers loved to take it to shows on their days off.
Bit to much for me that I’d be worried sick I scratched it or someone ran into it.
On the other side of the coin I was once instructed to wash a minor Royals car and that of his police bodyguard.
I tried to inform him that I was de greasing trailers.
I was to ■■■■■■ pack that ■■■■■■ in NOW and get those ■■■■■■ cars washed.
Tell you what a yard broom and trailer wash doesn’t half make a mess of some nice Audi paint.
The big smile on my face as a police SGT saw his pension disappear was worth the lie down in the guardroom.
If this is what floats your boat then carry on I say…
switchlogic:
Each to their own eh? What harm does it do any of you?
Of course it effects everybody else.
What hope have those of us wanting to see wage increases in this industry got if guys are willing to overlook a crappy wage because the gaffers invested in some fairy lights & chrome on the motor?
Maybe the OP’s ex-employer already paid an OK wage - in which case bling is fair game, but I cannot stomach seeing companies pay thousands & thousands on blinged up motors whilst the drivers sit on £8ph. Stanian Transport on T/P are a good example, hundreds & thousands on posh high powered Volvos with expensive paint jobs but the drivers paid not much more than the living wage. It’s outrageous in my eyes.
rob22888:
switchlogic:
Each to their own eh? What harm does it do any of you?Of course it effects everybody else.
What hope have those of us wanting to see wage increases in this industry got if guys are willing to overlook a crappy wage because the gaffers invested in some fairy lights & chrome on the motor?
Maybe the OP’s ex-employer already paid an OK wage - in which case bling is fair game, but I cannot stomach seeing companies pay thousands & thousands on blinged up motors whilst the drivers sit on £8ph. Stanian Transport on T/P are a good example, hundreds & thousands on posh high powered Volvos with expensive paint jobs but the drivers paid not much more than the living wage. It’s outrageous in my eyes.
Lots and lots, most likely more, are on a crappy wage with fleet trucks. Decent trucks doesn’t necessarily equal bad pay. In fact some are lucky enough to drive flash trucks and be paid well over average
switchlogic:
rob22888:
switchlogic:
Each to their own eh? What harm does it do any of you?Of course it effects everybody else.
What hope have those of us wanting to see wage increases in this industry got if guys are willing to overlook a crappy wage because the gaffers invested in some fairy lights & chrome on the motor?
Maybe the OP’s ex-employer already paid an OK wage - in which case bling is fair game, but I cannot stomach seeing companies pay thousands & thousands on blinged up motors whilst the drivers sit on £8ph. Stanian Transport on T/P are a good example, hundreds & thousands on posh high powered Volvos with expensive paint jobs but the drivers paid not much more than the living wage. It’s outrageous in my eyes.
Well I left a job with a bog standard white daf to a job with a blinged up Volvo for a bit more money.
It doesn’t always mean less money and I know a lot of firms with poor trucks that pay poor wages.
My personally I like extras fitted to a truck not too much though,I think a set of alloys and a top light bar are normally enough,also I hate seeing the cheap tat stuck to trucks from the “All ride” brand, now they do make some rubbish.Lots and lots, most likely more, are on a crappy wage with fleet trucks. Decent trucks doesn’t necessarily equal bad pay. In fact some are lucky enough to drive flash trucks and be paid well over average
My post wasn’t to knock anyone who wants to do up there trucks or anyone who wants to spend spare time polishing and stuff.
Was just more an observation of we need to attract new blood in to this industry but surely better wages or conditions must be better than light bars or a set of air horns.
Crikey it’s just one hauler who made a comment to a truck customiser not a new industry wide incentive.
It might even sink in one day to some of you that wages are low because job rates are nibbled to the bone …
Fleet Spec? What is that exactly? I remember the first generation FH’s could be bought with N Trim. That is the last nasty trim level I can remember even being available in a distance truck and next to nobody specced that twenty odd years ago.
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
I’d rather spend my wages on stuff that is beneficial to me
Such as Whiskey, cigars and wild wild wimmin’ 
Kerragy:
Fleet Spec? What is that exactly? I remember the first generation FH’s could be bought with N Trim. That is the last nasty trim level I remember can even being available in a distance truck and next to nobody specced that twenty odd years ago.
It’s a bit of a running joke to Irish truck drivers, the ‘beano’ (English) obsession with ‘poverty spec’ trucks. They still exist. Was only this week thinking about the amount of full time trampers I see with a massive coolbox strapped to the passenger seat because the boss won’t fork out for a fitted fridge. Which would probably add a handful of pennies to the monthly finance payment.
I think it’s something that has crept in over the last 10-15 years.
Before that if you got a globetrotter or a space cab it was a top spec motor where a fleet lorry would be a flat roof or a fl10.
Then they started offering the big cab as the driver shortage of early 2000s kicked in but to keep costs down didn’t fit all the goodies.
As switch says though how much extra on the payments would a built in fridge and microwave really cost extra.
At least for trampers they are little touches that make life in the cab a bit easier.
Things like this would be much more use than a Kelsa bar for many drivers.
Mine’s fleet spec…
It’s got A/C an auto box, electric windows and mirrors. Can’t think of owt else I need fer day work.
If the money was ‘right’ a driver could buy their own one day. After all it’s their money that’s buying the bling.
Honestly !
Then there was the Irlams driver when they used to ran out of Normanton who…
Spent over £200 on wheel trims on his new DAF, only for the traffic office to reassign the motor to another depot, shiny bits an all.
Larf? I nearly bought a round of drinks.
Concretejim:
On your second point, ship captains are totally different. They do there shift, step out the door, and step into another craft either a day or weeks or months later. They dont have “there own” which there in charge of at all times.You sure about that ? I’ve been on this ship since October 14, previous one was 2 years. In the past I’ve had three ships for over five years a piece and that is not unusual in this game.
kr79:
I think it’s something that has crept in over the last 10-15 years.
Before that if you got a globetrotter or a space cab it was a top spec motor where a fleet lorry would be a flat roof or a fl10.
Then they started offering the big cab as the driver shortage of early 2000s kicked in but to keep costs down didn’t fit all the goodies.
As switch says though how much extra on the payments would a built in fridge and microwave really cost extra.
At least for trampers they are little touches that make life in the cab a bit easier.
Things like this would be much more use than a Kelsa bar for many drivers.
That’s actually a very good point indeed. Many more big fleets are using big cab units these days. This will annoy some but if I was looking for a tramping job a fitted fridge would be high up on my list of must haves. I like to eat well and those coolboxes are never as good as a fitted one. In my current lorry it even has a freezer, it’s fantastic to be able carry frozen yoghurt and fruit juice lollies in the summer. All Virginia trucks have fridges and all Bull lorries that he’s bought new have too, it really is the least an employer can do for trampers
kr79:
Was just more an observation of we need to attract new blood in to this industry but surely better wages or conditions must be better than light bars or a set of air horns.
I made the point in my previous post that there seems to be some weird stereotyping going on in which ‘customising’ can only mean all the pointless cosmetic junk and that wages are everything.When we’ve all got our own personal ideas regards the perfect truck and it’s not all about the money it’s also the type of work. 
Personally I like the understated look and things that make the driving and general living with truck more enjoyable EG: fridge, microwave, bigger engine and so on.
The the curry house curtains and LED light boards and the bed frame bolted to the front look totally ridiculous to me but I understand taste is also a personal thing and driving such vehicles for lower pay because of such things would not be something I would consider
The thing I do like is the pride, you never seem to see them dirty with steps missing and great dents in the back of the cab the driver is well turned out and knows what he/she is doing surely better to run the firm that way would make economic sense, you keep you’re drivers costs are kept to a minimum and happy drivers are more productive.