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
