Fuming this morning/advise needed

ok got to work last night and talking to someone they suggested i was supposed to put the tacho back as it was company policy as they use the tacho to pay the agency which i am despite haveing an itemised time sheet with every job on it. Rang into the office and spoke to one of the traffic managers/back of office and was told under no circumstance was i to alter the tacho as it would result in me being under or over paid. I was told that all time sheets and forms had to be done in bst for the entire shift.

when allocated a unit i called again and was given a job that wasnt loaded as they were waiting for 12 pallets and turned out not to be even planned for 2.5 hours later. Called into the main office and told them and was told “you will have to wait until its ready” 2 hours later its ready to be taken 4 hours away. On arrival at the destination im told i have a loaded trailer with pallets for 2 different destinations the first was 4 hours away second being over an hour from where i needed to finish as the unit was needed there and my car was there.

On leaving i called the main office as instructed as we have to confirm we are leaving and they have the correct trailor number etc, Told them silly sally the sat nav was saying my first drop was 4 hours away and i would be tight on time and was told see how you get on.

Flew down the motorway with the truck as fast as it would go on the limiter which they have set to 53 however, when turned onto the m20 from the m25 i had 2 hours working time left as i dont have any reduced daily rests left I heard a discusstion between the person on the phone and one of the traffic managers/ back of office culminating with the back office bod saying tell him to just do it with added explitives. Guy on the phone came back to me and said they want you to try and bang it in please mate.

40 min later im about 20 mins from the first drop still. Pulled into a layby and called the main office. Told them i only had a hour and 20 mins left confirmed the time i started and the time i had to be finished by again it was all british summer time. Was told to come to the main site and drop the trailor which was 10 min away so just had time to do that and get back to the satelight depo.

Get to the yard and park the trailer up un dropped and dash to the office. I give them the paperwork for the load and told to take an empty trailor back with me. go back out to the yard drop the origonal trailor start picking up another one and because i was rushing i forgot to raise the susspenstion and missed the pin ended up hitting the front of the fridge with the metal bar thing the suzzies connect to as i was rushing because its an hour back to the other depo meaning i have less than 10 min to drop and pick up the trailors . Shunter came over agreed that the fridge was still working and not leaking but i would have to tell them in the office. I told him of course i would but i would finish picking up the trailor and make it all safe. 1 min later after putting the dog clip in and winding the legs I called into the office as time was getting on and was told the shunter had already told them and could i take pics and come to the office which i did. I went to the office and was told to come through to fill in some forms i said i was more than happy to but i would have to take my card out as i was going to end up over my time.

This is where all hell breaks loose. First issue was they suddenly thought i had to finish at 9:50 gmt not bst. when I said i was told by (insert office bods name) not to alter the tacho and do everything in bst I was told there was a memo gicen out to all drivers that started at the main depot saying we had to put the tacho back an hour with instructions. I pointed out that i had specificaly asked at the other depot what i was supposed to do and was told to ring the main office they called me a liar that the other office would of known this and when i said i had called the main office and reiterated what i was told they tried to tell me i hadnt and when i showed them the time stamped call from my phone they said i should of known to do it.

They then proceded to scream at me that they had a truck stuck there that needed to be at the other depot i pointed out the conversations i had with them at three different times with time stamps to prove it. they then made a fuss about the time stamps being in gmt time and why had i changed my phone time and not the tacho I pointed out my phone auto updated the time. They then said that they knew nothing about the first two calls as that would of been the night shift and said i hadnt told them about being out of hours i had just told them i couldnt make the drops. The lady i had spoken to was sat right there so i said to her when i called in didnt i say that i had 1h20 of working time left as i could only do a 13 she lied and said no i had only said i had to be finished by 9:50 which she assumed was gmt.

They continued to complain that they had a truck stuck and i said well i need a lift back to the other office as well as my car is there. To which i was told tough you will have to walk. Our policy is no passengers at any time. So i ended up having to call a friend to come pick me up and take me to my car.


This is not the first issue i have had with these people. the one a few weeks ago i was tricked into going over my 15 hours (told to keep going when i was on an industrial estate and could stop then when i couldnt stop and i was over my 15 hours was told well keep going we dont let our drivers stop on the side of the road and that if i did stop i would be banned as it would be considered gross misconduct) when i got back to the office 3 other drivers had gone over as well.

I feel i have 2 options E-mail the traffic manager if i can find out who it is and point out to him all the carrying on and the fact that drivers are being encouraged / tricked into breaking the law and was he aware of this as im sure other parties would be intrested.

second option is to go to the other parties and complain/let them know. however i am reluctent to do this as it has the potential to drop other drivers in the sticky stuff

what should i do.

Grow a pair and drop them right in it Ff’s
That name on the licence is yours not theirs , if you get stopped by DVSA or a CVU police officer you’re in deep dodo
If your 15 hours is up it’s up end off

blue estate:
Grow a pair and drop them right in it Ff’s
That name on the licence is yours not theirs , if you get stopped by DVSA or a CVU police officer you’re in deep dodo
If your 15 hours is up it’s up end off

Exactly, I was on it when he said they called him a liar, then screamed at him (that bit would have put me right over the edge btw :imp: ). and saw him stranded, then revealed he had been tricked into going over his time the previous week.
I reckon the guy in question needs a thick lip to calm him down, then drop them in it as you say.
I’ve never been into ‘‘reporting’’ but even I’d make an exception with this shower.
Name and shame the tossers on here into the bargain. :grimacing:

Christ I thought my lot were bad. :smiley:

cooper1203:
ok got to work last night and talking to someone they suggested i was supposed to put the tacho back as it was company policy as they use the tacho to pay the agency which i am despite haveing an itemised time sheet with every job on it. Rang into the office and spoke to one of the traffic managers/back of office and was told under no circumstance was i to alter the tacho as it would result in me being under or over paid. I was told that all time sheets and forms had to be done in bst for the entire shift.

It doesn’t matter. The local time displayed on the tacho, which is the one you alter when the clocks go forward/backwards is not what gets recorded on the card unless you’re in the UK and its between October when we put the clocks back and April when we go to BST. No matter what country you’re in, what time zone you’re in, whether it’s in summer time or not, the tachograph records the time in UTC which is the same as GMT in order to prevent all this confusion and that is what the tacho analysis software reads when calculating your hours. So if you pulled your card at 21:00 going on your watch on Friday when we were still on BST the event was recorded as happening at 20:00 UTC.

robroy:

blue estate:
Grow a pair and drop them right in it Ff’s
That name on the licence is yours not theirs , if you get stopped by DVSA or a CVU police officer you’re in deep dodo
If your 15 hours is up it’s up end off

Exactly, I was on it when he said they called him a liar, then screamed at him (that bit would have put me right over the edge btw :imp: ). and saw him stranded, then revealed he had been tricked into going over his time the previous week.
I reckon the guy in question needs a thick lip to calm him down, then drop them in it as you say.
I’ve never been into ‘‘reporting’’ but even I’d make an exception with this shower.
Name and shame the tossers on here into the bargain. :grimacing:

Christ I thought my lot were bad. :smiley:

Glad to be out of this ■■■■, really annoys me the way some companies treat their drivers. I wouldnt have been so polite to them.

Yorkshire Tramper:

robroy:

blue estate:
Grow a pair and drop them right in it Ff’s
That name on the licence is yours not theirs , if you get stopped by DVSA or a CVU police officer you’re in deep dodo
If your 15 hours is up it’s up end off

Exactly, I was on it when he said they called him a liar, then screamed at him (that bit would have put me right over the edge btw :imp: ). and saw him stranded, then revealed he had been tricked into going over his time the previous week.
I reckon the guy in question needs a thick lip to calm him down, then drop them in it as you say.
I’ve never been into ‘‘reporting’’ but even I’d make an exception with this shower.
Name and shame the tossers on here into the bargain. :grimacing:

Christ I thought my lot were bad. :smiley:

Glad to be out of this [zb], really annoys me the way some companies treat their drivers. I wouldnt have been so polite to them.

keys chucked at desk jockey with great force

There’s only one person at fault here that’s you for allowing yourself to be treated like that, your being taken for a mug and by the sounds of it you are one

Third option of throw the keys at them and say see ya later, I won’t be back.
I don’t know your personal circumstances mate but why on earth do people put up with this crap.

justpassing:
There’s only one person at fault here that’s you for allowing yourself to be treated like that, your being taken for a mug and by the sounds of it you are one

I have to say that I agree with this. Never, ever rush about. It gets there when it gets there. If the place is being run by idiots that couldn’t organise a root in a brothel, it’s their lookout, not yours.

md1987:
Third option of throw the keys at them and say see ya later, I won’t be back.

If he gets asked back it will confirm once and for all that there is a driver shortage.
I would say the office are sick of nursemaiding this ■■■■ at every turn.
He’s phoned the office more times in one shift than I have in two years.
Find a new career mate, trucking is not for you.

Yea, need to grow a pair.
Also may be worth investing in a call recording app.

I presume this is Tesco. Although, I could be wrong. Usually their office staff are promoted from the warehouse and know ■■■■ all about driver regs.

It is you who decides what time you finish. It is also you who is responsible.
I remember once finishing at like 14:52 working time. That is the only time I have been within 1 hour of going over my time.
I knew it was going to be tight when I accepted the job but I was not expecting the extra traffic and someone trying to break into my trailer. But I was prepared to pull over if needed and phone them up saying I can not drive anymore, company policy or not.

You never want to make a habit of getting infringements. I haven’t had one in a fairly long time.
I also never rush. This is a big one. Just do not do it. It is also a tough mindset to get into if your used to rushing. But, just learn to relax, it takes as long as it takes. I can not really stress enough how important this is. Because it is only a matter of time before another mistake happens due to you rushing.

In my 5+ years of driving a HGV I have only clipped a fence and knocked over a bollard. Both when I was quite new at driving due to me rushing. Even now, I often get out and look while reversing. Because it is not worth the extra hassle of hitting something.

But as for your options… Find another job.
I can tell you what I would do though.
I would ask to speak to the operator licence holder for the depot. Hopefully you can speak to him and explain that the traffic office are knowingly pushing drivers to going over their tacho hours. He/She if they have any sense will give a ■■■■ because it will be them who get the bollocking.

But again… this is an issue it seems of you not saying no. If I was the operator holder the first thing I’d ask you is “Why did you not tell them that your going to go over your hours!?”
“They told me to” Is not a great answer.

Sorry is this is a bit harsh but I can tell you now the DVLA do not accept “THEY MADE ME DO IT” as a good excuse. Even if they did. It is your ■■■ on the line, so ultimately you need to take responsibility.

God it drives me mad reading this ■■■■.
I hope you learnt a good lesson on that shift cooper, do not under any circumstances rush for anyone…

Next lesson is do not let anybody speak to you like that, the 2nd a voice gets raised or any kind of abuse starts its all over as far as I’m concerned, & depending on my mood will result in either me just chucking the keys on the table and not saying a word and walking out, or completely losing the plot with them ( becomes more likely the longer the shift).

Now what I would do is speak to the agency & tell them the exact reason why you will not be returning to the place in the future…

Don’t dwell on it to long though as transport is full of ■■■■■■■ like that & you need to show your teeth straight away or get walked all over (not easy sometimes on agency).

isaac hunt:

md1987:
Third option of throw the keys at them and say see ya later, I won’t be back.

If he gets asked back it will confirm once and for all that there is a driver shortage.
I would say the office are sick of nursemaiding this [zb] at every turn.
He’s phoned the office more times in one shift than I have in two years.
Find a new career mate, trucking is not for you.

That’s a bit harsh, he’s just a agency driver that is stuck in the middle of office politics, seen it a 1000 times, management ■■■■ scared to take on the fulltimers so they take it out on the agency drivers that they think will just roll over and take it.

Oh dear I have clearly ruffled a feather as someone has decided to post on all my resent posts dear dear I must remember to loose sleep

adam277:
Yea, need to grow a pair.
Also may be worth investing in a call recording app.

I presume this is Tesco. Although, I could be wrong. Usually their office staff are promoted from the warehouse and know [zb] all about driver regs.

Much as I could attribute this attitude to a certain ex Hays fixture at Snodland from years ago, this does not sound like Tesco because they do not send vehicles four hours away from Snodland. The only factor which might fit is the recycling depot which is about two miles away, but I have never heard of drivers starting work from there.

cav551:

adam277:
Yea, need to grow a pair.
Also may be worth investing in a call recording app.

I presume this is Tesco. Although, I could be wrong. Usually their office staff are promoted from the warehouse and know [zb] all about driver regs.

Much as I could attribute this attitude to a certain ex Hays fixture at Snodland from years ago, this does not sound like Tesco because they do not send vehicles four hours away from Snodland. The only factor which might fit is the recycling depot which is about two miles away, but I have never heard of drivers starting work from there.

no its not tesco havent worked there since april

cooper1203:
Oh dear I have clearly ruffled a feather as someone has decided to post on all my resent posts dear dear I must remember to loose sleep

Mate …bit of advice do not bother your arse for one second over what anybody says to you on here that is negative, it matters not a jot…end of.

Your priority is sorting out your work life, and tbf there has been a bit of good advice given to you, if you take it you will have a much better state of mind in your job.

What I would say is this…
Never respond to pressure put on you,.they ALL try it on, but they will only push you to however much YOU allow them to.
Chances are they have been used to a lot of ‘‘yes men’’ with no self respect,…

If they scream at you :open_mouth: …let them see you are having none of it, the screamer is a jumped up little ■■■■ in an office job, with ideas above his station not God almighty,.he has discovered that drivers allow him to speak to them like ■■■■…you show him you ain’t one of them. :bulb:

As for going over your time because of their planning…see above.

If you leave that job for another, or tell the agency you ain’t going back there, make sure you set the parameters from day 1,.and nip any of the crap you mention in the last job that comes up in the new one, in the bud.

Good advice, take it or leave it.

Some drivers need the work, and with no smoke about their work, as some always say no smoke without fire, so not always an easy call, however the right call has been clearly stated by some of the experienced drivers with job security and ease to get work, but regardless they are right.

Luckily you dented a tailer by rushing around, imagine if for some reason you dropped the trailer killing someone, forgot the clip, and pin hadnt sat correctly etc…
this job if you ■■■■ up, unlike most others, can easily carry a jail sentence, and guilt for the rest of your life, easily kill someone’s parents, grandparents… or child !

Just because you wanted to please people that can lie and blame you for everything if needed…

you’ve experienced it now, imagine if it involved a serious RTA … would they help you or blame you solely for it.

For me, so far some transport offices look after you, and those do favours for, but only once proven over a period, and not all the time, or natural human behaviour means there expectation grows, similar to dogs, if given too many treats,they become disobedient… lol

Dont do jobs that make you need to rush around… as you could end up with all the time in the world, sat in a prison for it…
plus the drives never as good when rushing as it is when relaxing, can make a good job ■■■■, and a bad job good… just by changing that one part…
Quality of life is important, who wants bad quality… and most things rushed are this, or create this.

hope you work out what you want to do from others advice, but make your own choice, and what you take from it, sounds like a crap place/position to be in…

Best advice I can give on this subject is that it is very easy to become intimidated by these idiots telling you to hurry up and putting you under pressure, it is very easy to become flustered and worried that they might think you are a rubbish driver if you cannot complete their requests. You have to understand that some drivers just accept the way they get spoken to and are yes men. You do not want to become one of these, just stay calm and tell them that they are asking the impossible of you and you cannot work this way. Not only will they respect you more but they will know you are a better driver than the numptys they get away with talking to like this. It isn’t you that is at fault, it is the industry in general, it gets easier the more you say no. Your life will get better at the same time. Stick with it buddy it is just a case of conditioning yourself and not being a doormat.

cooper1203:
ok got to work last night and talking to someone they suggested i was supposed to put the tacho back as it was company policy as they use the tacho to pay the agency which i am despite haveing an itemised time sheet with every job on it. Rang into the office and spoke to one of the traffic managers/back of office and was told under no circumstance was i to alter the tacho as it would result in me being under or over paid. I was told that all time sheets and forms had to be done in bst for the entire shift.

when allocated a unit i called again and was given a job that wasnt loaded as they were waiting for 12 pallets and turned out not to be even planned for 2.5 hours later. Called into the main office and told them and was told “you will have to wait until its ready” 2 hours later its ready to be taken 4 hours away. On arrival at the destination im told i have a loaded trailer with pallets for 2 different destinations the first was 4 hours away second being over an hour from where i needed to finish as the unit was needed there and my car was there.

On leaving i called the main office as instructed as we have to confirm we are leaving and they have the correct trailor number etc, Told them silly sally the sat nav was saying my first drop was 4 hours away and i would be tight on time and was told see how you get on.

Flew down the motorway with the truck as fast as it would go on the limiter which they have set to 53 however, when turned onto the m20 from the m25 i had 2 hours working time left as i dont have any reduced daily rests left I heard a discusstion between the person on the phone and one of the traffic managers/ back of office culminating with the back office bod saying tell him to just do it with added explitives. Guy on the phone came back to me and said they want you to try and bang it in please mate.

40 min later im about 20 mins from the first drop still. Pulled into a layby and called the main office. Told them i only had a hour and 20 mins left confirmed the time i started and the time i had to be finished by again it was all british summer time. Was told to come to the main site and drop the trailor which was 10 min away so just had time to do that and get back to the satelight depo.

Get to the yard and park the trailer up un dropped and dash to the office. I give them the paperwork for the load and told to take an empty trailor back with me. go back out to the yard drop the origonal trailor start picking up another one and because i was rushing i forgot to raise the susspenstion and missed the pin ended up hitting the front of the fridge with the metal bar thing the suzzies connect to as i was rushing because its an hour back to the other depo meaning i have less than 10 min to drop and pick up the trailors . Shunter came over agreed that the fridge was still working and not leaking but i would have to tell them in the office. I told him of course i would but i would finish picking up the trailor and make it all safe. 1 min later after putting the dog clip in and winding the legs I called into the office as time was getting on and was told the shunter had already told them and could i take pics and come to the office which i did. I went to the office and was told to come through to fill in some forms i said i was more than happy to but i would have to take my card out as i was going to end up over my time.

This is where all hell breaks loose. First issue was they suddenly thought i had to finish at 9:50 gmt not bst. when I said i was told by (insert office bods name) not to alter the tacho and do everything in bst I was told there was a memo gicen out to all drivers that started at the main depot saying we had to put the tacho back an hour with instructions. I pointed out that i had specificaly asked at the other depot what i was supposed to do and was told to ring the main office they called me a liar that the other office would of known this and when i said i had called the main office and reiterated what i was told they tried to tell me i hadnt and when i showed them the time stamped call from my phone they said i should of known to do it.

They then proceded to scream at me that they had a truck stuck there that needed to be at the other depot i pointed out the conversations i had with them at three different times with time stamps to prove it. they then made a fuss about the time stamps being in gmt time and why had i changed my phone time and not the tacho I pointed out my phone auto updated the time. They then said that they knew nothing about the first two calls as that would of been the night shift and said i hadnt told them about being out of hours i had just told them i couldnt make the drops. The lady i had spoken to was sat right there so i said to her when i called in didnt i say that i had 1h20 of working time left as i could only do a 13 she lied and said no i had only said i had to be finished by 9:50 which she assumed was gmt.

They continued to complain that they had a truck stuck and i said well i need a lift back to the other office as well as my car is there. To which i was told tough you will have to walk. Our policy is no passengers at any time. So i ended up having to call a friend to come pick me up and take me to my car.


This is not the first issue i have had with these people. the one a few weeks ago i was tricked into going over my 15 hours (told to keep going when i was on an industrial estate and could stop then when i couldnt stop and i was over my 15 hours was told well keep going we dont let our drivers stop on the side of the road and that if i did stop i would be banned as it would be considered gross misconduct) when i got back to the office 3 other drivers had gone over as well.

I feel i have 2 options E-mail the traffic manager if i can find out who it is and point out to him all the carrying on and the fact that drivers are being encouraged / tricked into breaking the law and was he aware of this as im sure other parties would be intrested.

second option is to go to the other parties and complain/let them know. however i am reluctent to do this as it has the potential to drop other drivers in the sticky stuff

what should i do.

It’s just part of the job , I often make it back with mins to spare , 15 hrs , 11/12 pm , admittedly I only do 3 days , as you do the job you’ll realise scrabbling to get back is the norm , don’t stress about it , I did & eventually I ended up with all sorts of health issues
Just accept it as part of the job & take it for what it is , chill , tomorrow is another day