Seen on Trucknet many times people moaning about wages and companies, slating them for not being £20 per hour up to 39 hours, 51 weeks paid holiday a year and sick pay for the other 1, I wont do this, I wont do that etc etc.
Lets face it that is what you deserve isnt it for for doing 7/10 of ***k all, braying the motor coz its not you diesel, sat with the clutch down at traffic lights coz its not your clutch, not cleaning the cab coz its not your cab, want 4 weeks paid holiday a year for being even less productive than you usually are, so that means twice as much costs for those 4 weeks but the vehicle still has to work at the same rate while you are off but has to pay another driver, so for example your wage is £500 per week, your on holiday so I have to pay another driver to drive it, he wants £500 per week aswell so its now £1000 wages for that week an extra £2000 per year for you to take a holiday. Haulage has always been harsh, brash and abusive, I have been involved since the 80s, if you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen. I run my own company, fact is people will always want a low cost lifestyle but want maximum wages. The two cant and will never work together. If you want high wages then the cost of the product will rise to cover the costs of wages, simple mathematics really think about it, everybody wants a piece of pie, for example we manufacture very little in the uk now so the majority has to be imported, by the time the manufacturer (usually India or China, very very low wages), Freight forwarder, export tax, shipper, import tax, VAT, (each and every stage is subject to VAT in the UK), so sorting of the goods + VAT, warehouse storage + VAT, distribution + VAT, the haulier + VAT. Everybody has put a percentage on the price + VAT and it escalates because each personnel/company has to have a maximum percentage to cover wages, costs and over heads, VAT and still make a profit.
If you want maximum wages start your own business and then see the margins for profit. How well could you do? could you even make your own wage per week and cover your overheads? and still turn a profit? dont forget the tax man!!! oh and the VAT man and your diesel and your ad blue and your vehicle repayments and your road tax and your insurance and your depreciation and your servicing and the tyre you have just kerbed or the rachet strap you have just run over and blown a tyre. Unless your name is Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys or Asda you will struggle as these are the companies that dictate to the government the cost of living, these companies aswell as the fuel companies run the country. How much has your shopping and fuel gone up in the past 12 months? these are the crooks. The government needs your money. The only way they can achieve this is to increase the cost of living to raise taxes on profit and VAT as raising taxes directly would cause a revolt and put them out of power at the next election. Eastern communities have a lower cost of living and standard so wages are not as high as UK, but the actual cost of living is relatively the same. If you research the price of fuel for example for all of Europe we are middle of the road really, some countries are more expensive some are less. I love trucks, the life they have given me, the lifestyle, the freedom and always will do, I spoke to a chap the other day and he said "you must have some balls to drive one of those, I struggle with a car" Its not often granted that you hear of that sort of respect from other road users but it felt good to hear that people still do have respect for truck drivers and they do not feel they could cope with driving such a large vehicle. Point is if you dont like driving trucks dont do it and if you moan that you can earn more money stacking shelves at a supermarket or the hours dont suit you then go and stack shelves. Simple.
Be thankful you have a job at these knackered times due to a greedy government (they are all the same) and greedy staff of all trades.
I`m proud to drive a truck and I love it.
love it +1 
I love driving a truck, but seriously, why do it for less than someone sweeping or mopping a cafe floor?
Where’s the respect in that?
I’ve heard people say " not sure how you got that in there " or " how do you get that in half the places " or, more common " you live in that all week? " …
Yes, I say, it goes in there, or it goes in half the places or yes, I LIVE in that all week, but not for £6.20 per hour I bloody don’t 
I know it’s terrible isn’t it, them scruffy drivers wanting time off, and pay. All the while driving your trucks fast to get there in the times you set to make you more cash. The scumbags. I would make them pay for their own fuel for starters, it’s them that use it after all, and the tyres, they are not cheap. And they won’t respect you either, only keeping them in work out of the kindness of your heart as you will be running at a loss. We need more bosses like you.
To the OP, if you don’t like the responsibilities of employing people legally then its simple…get yourself out of business!
At the end of the day, you know the wages before taking to job so you can’t really twine they’re low. It’s better than nothing. Everyone wants a payrise but after being unemployed for 3 months and a kid on the way I was happy for any hourly rate to be honest, quite happy still with it. I earn a comfortable living and I’m glad and grateful Ive got a job. I owe my boss a lot in takin me on over the many other applicants. My opinion, my choice,
Love driving trucks, over the moon when I finally got my class one and £8p/h I’m on now is better than my class 2 rate of £7 p/h and better than my unemployed wage of £ jack ■■■■ per hour.
Ok, come on, own up - who peed on the OP`s cornflakes this morning ■■ 
Oh that’ll be why there was milk in my bottle. 
Oh how I love nights out on industrial estates
But people would rather be unemployed then take a £7 an hour job, that’s sad.
This old saying get’s my goat
why do it for less than someone sweeping or mopping a cafe floor?
Where’s the respect in that?
So your saying that person who works hard to bring in a few quid for their family shouldn’t get any respect?. At the end of the day your a lorry driver and their an cleaner, both are different jobs. Why should a lorry driver get more respect then a cleaner?. The same goes for me, why should i get more respect then a cleaner because i am a police officer?
people that work by the hour have [zb]ed up this industry.
i agree with most of what the OP has said, but what is this word “coz”?
i also don’t believe he runs his own business though, as some of the tax he refers to was abolished in 1985.
mickyblue:
But people would rather be unemployed then take a £7 an hour job, that’s sad.This old saying get’s my goat
why do it for less than someone sweeping or mopping a cafe floor?
Where’s the respect in that?
So your saying that person who works hard to bring in a few quid for their family shouldn’t get any respect?. At the end of the day your a lorry driver and their an cleaner, both are different jobs. Why should a lorry driver get more respect then a cleaner?. The same goes for me, why should i get more respect then a cleaner because i am a police officer?
Because the last time I checked it’s not that hard (and nor do you need any qualifications) to mop floors or stack shelves. In the grand scheme of things Professional Driving is up the scale from these two other job roles.
However, I admire those who will do these jobs to support their families. Just not my cup of tea
The bottom line is that we live in a free market economy and the value of labour is dictated by the Law of Supply and Demand. The only total alternative to a free market economy is a command economy, i.e. Communism, where wages are set by central Government.
We could distort the Law of Supply and Demand slightly if we were a heavily unionised industry but we aren’t.
Harry Monk:
The bottom line is that we live in a free market economy and the value of labour is dictated by the Law of Supply and Demand. The only total alternative to a free market economy is a command economy, i.e. Communism, where wages are set by central Government.We could distort the Law of Supply and Demand slightly if we were a heavily unionised industry but we aren’t.
i’m up for a bit of communism.
does that include me communising the wifes sisters?
why do it for less than a policeman?
you don’t need any qualifications, just a brain dead attitude, and an ability to follow orders.
C10HOO:
At the end of the day, you know the wages before taking to job so you can’t really twine they’re low.
Let’s say you’ve been in your current job for 5+ years and considered the wage ok when you started, but every year your boss uses the current economic climate to say “sorry no pay rise again this year” (I’m not saying all are using this excuse but a lot are) so after a few years you would have expected your wages to rise yearly but they haven’t, then is it ok to have a little twine ■■ 
Not so sure that many road warriors would last long stacking shelves, might have to do a bit of graft, gut would get in the way.
No one is any more important than anyone else, in the grand scheme of things we couldn’t do without any section of society, even druggies, criminals, benefit scroungers, ■■■■ 'eads and caravan dwellers have their uses, they keep other sections of society in jobs, form filling if not actually doing something about their antics.
Even steering wheel attendants have their uses, they keep the emergency services busy cleaning up… 
Never thought meself higher up any imaginary pecking order than anyone else, if it paid a reasonable wage and suited me at the time it wouldn’t worry me one bit keeping the streets or the bogs clean, some still take a pride in making the area they are responsible for a place worth visiting.
Pity some who use the bogs were raised by chimps though, how does a human manage to crap over the entire seat, walls, outside the pan, on the floor etc…cave dwellers still scurrying round on all fours?.
As for pay and conditions in the industry, hows about some of the drivers trying a bit harder to make the job pay, unless the company make a profit the job will eventually end.
It would seem we drivers are all in this race to the bottom!
Wages are heading in the direction of the diabolical.
Could it be that we are now expected to allow employers take from our low wages at the bottom so that they can skim the cream from the top?
I for one would like to work to live and not live to work and further enrich those at the top beyond what they deserve, do we really want to be working just to put food in our mouths, pay the rent with no respite in the form of holidays or a dream of a future in which we can do better than the last generation?
We need to get vocal and reply to those who would have us believe different.
I for one ain’t swallowing the ■■■■■■■■! are you?
Here’s an analogy to consider.
There’s two sausage shops next to each other selling identical sausages. Same size, same shape, same ingredients, identical in every way.
One shop has a sign in the window reading “Sausages £2 a lb. Our staff earn £6.20 an hour”
The other one has a reading “Sausages £5 a lb. Our staff earn £15 an hour, have pensions, a subsidised canteen and free healthcare”
Who among us could afford to be principled enough to buy from the second sausage shop?
These things you talk of free health care ext are what separates this country from a third world free for all.
We are a wealthy economy in spite of all we are told but it would seem our priorities are wrong!
And having third world wages and conditions ain’t the way forward unless your already doing alright Jack!
Harry Monk:
We could distort the Law of Supply and Demand slightly if we were a heavily unionised industry but we aren’t.
What about tanker drivers ? They seem to have a good deal for themselves.
Also haven’t seen the OP reply. Is he/she trolling to get a reaction ?