Respect is two way. Show me some, and I will show you lots. End of story.
dont cut bonus or O/T rate then expect thesame level of commitment
dont cut night rate and expect the driver to rock up at 0400hr
macplaxton:
Best way to motivate me is cold hard cash.
That might work in the short term but even if the money is brilliant you will soon find your drivers losing interest if you treat them like dirt.
Paul
i have a name. when you ring me, use it. don’t call me by my “callsign” (staff number)
if i tell youu i cant get from bristol to gatwick in an hour, believe me.
get my wages right. it’s not rocket science, you just need to put the same amount of money in my bank once a month.
don’t blame me for mistakes made by the office, like keeping a customer waiting for 4 hours, and only giving me the job when it’s already 3 hours overdue
remember when if do a bit extra to get you out of a hole, and repay the favour should the time come
i guess you could probaly just paraphrase all that with the word “respect” as has been mentioned above
Well as well as paying a realistic wage and paying the driver fully and providing suitable kit for the type of work, they should respect drivers and has been said speak to them the same as they expect to be spoken to, also some degree of loyalty from employers wouldn’t be asking too much either as most employers seem to expect some from their employees
And this culture of trying to claw back as much from drivers such as loss of bonuses and vehicle damage ect needs changing too,
I am quite lucky, I do get treated like a human, but I would like some back up,
If I ring and say the customer wants me to do this, don’t just say “do the best you can” and then complain because i broke something or got stuck,
ring the poxy customer up and tell them I can’t do what they want,
Also I would like the right to just drive off from a delivery if the pople there treat me like ■■■■
Owen
toby1234abc:
While waiting at the Isle of Grain or Thamesport,they give all the drivers pagers,it will beep when they want you to go in the port,that way you have time to have a cuppa or eat in the cafe,and not stand around like a muppet waiting,why dont more firms use a beeper system at RDC`s.
What a cracking idea 
Within my current 5 yrs of employment, I’ve had no accidents, no driving convictions, no tachograph infringements, no disciplinaries and also have an excellent timekeeping record. So to say I get a TAD ■■■■■■ off when I get pulled for being slightly under their percentage rate for cruise control usage would be a massive understatement… 
The greed that technology has brought into our industry, has me looking for alternatives after 25 yrs on the road… 
papermonkey:
toby1234abc:
While waiting at the Isle of Grain or Thamesport,they give all the drivers pagers,it will beep when they want you to go in the port,that way you have time to have a cuppa or eat in the cafe,and not stand around like a muppet waiting,why dont more firms use a beeper system at RDC`s.What a cracking idea
Boots at Nottingham have done it for years.
Ken.
When speccing new vehicles, listen to what the drivers say. Just because it’s cheaper, and comes with a jacket and tie for the boss doesn’t mean it wont be a heap of junk.
Quinny:
papermonkey:
toby1234abc:
While waiting at the Isle of Grain or Thamesport,they give all the drivers pagers,it will beep when they want you to go in the port,that way you have time to have a cuppa or eat in the cafe,and not stand around like a muppet waiting,why dont more firms use a beeper system at RDC`s.What a cracking idea
Boots at Nottingham have done it for years.
Ken.
Also Aldi or Lidl, whichever it is at Newton Aycliffe have it too
…
For all those that have said “Show me some respect and I will show you heaps in return”.
Try showing respect in the first place, why does someone else have to make the effort first?
If you want to give a driver a bollocking for a small mistake or misjudgement, make sure your house is in order first. Remember drivers are on the front line and can see the mistakes made by management, probably better than the other way round.
Drivers and management should be a team to keep the business going, not a do what I tell you relationship.
DadsRetired:
For all those that have said “Show me some respect and I will show you heaps in return”.Try showing respect in the first place, why does someone else have to make the effort first?
Firstly, I am a part time agency driver, I run my own agri-contracting business through the summer and drive LGVs, to keep the cashflow going throught the winter (and when the agency is stuck through the summer if I’m free) I am self motivated anyway and always do any job to the best of my ability.
Personally I am always polite even when faced with a complete airosol. Only time I have ever come close to losing it was with a shunter from another depot who was covering a week for one of their drivers. He started ranting about agency drivers and accused me of nearly hitting his mirrors on a bay the night before when I wasn’t even working, what really wound me up was the stupid [zb] wouldn’t bloody listen and just kept going on…and on.
As agency,
I will do my best for you and your customers, if necessary I will go the extra bit to get the job done, change bulbs, repair suzies if necessary and just generally do what it takes to get the job done (even help out in the warehouse).
What I ask, no expect, is to be treated with respect and for it to be taken as a given that I will do any job to the best of my ability.
If it’s my first shift for your company, do not expect me to know you company’s organisation/procedures from the start, EVERY company/depot has its own peculiarities.
I’m never knowingly given the same run twice 
so don’t expect me to do it in the same time as the guy who does it every day the rest of the year.
Give me clear, CORRECT directions, especially if its in the middle of [zb] Manchester 
.
If I ask, its because I don’t know or am not sure (see ‘company peculiarities’) and want to do the job right, I am NOT being a pain/needing my hand held.
I take a pride in being fuel efficient but this sometimes has to be compromised to meet the schedule YOU OR YOUR PLANNER set, so don’t blame me.
I expect cleanish, well maintained and LEGAL kit, the last two are mandatory or I will defect it, report it to you and if necessary walk out the gate. In return I will leave your unit fuelled up and at least as clean as got it.
On behalf of most drivers 
I work to live not live to work, I have a life away from driving your wagons, please respect that.
FedEx appear, to me as an outsider, to have it pretty much spot on, and this is reflected in the atmosphere at every depot/hub I’ve been to. If I ever needed/wanted to go full time they’d be the first to get my CV.
scaniason:
Firstly, let’s put the wages to one side - if you don’t pay me a living wage, I won’t be there, so let’s start by assuming that the money is OK.After that, it mainly comes down to respect - both ways. If you want me to do a job to the best of my abilities, which is how I tend to operate anyway, don’t ‘tell’ me, ask me, Please & Thank You also go a really long way. In return, I’ll treat everybody else with the same respect and politeness, and go that extra bit to get the job done, and done well. Treating people well doesn’t cost anything - something some people don’t understand.
I’ve always done the best I can at whatever I try, so this isn’t such a big problem for me, as I tend to find I get treated fairly well as a result of the way I work. Having said that, if I started getting told, and a [zb] attitude, it would slowly start to erode away at me, and I would be looking for a new job fairly soon.
Gary
I agree with this as well!
Seems to be that most of us want to be heard when we speak and not ignored along with having the information we need to do the job as best we can. All too often in this industry it’s a case of shoving a driver the keys and notes then expecting them to know everything else from their own font of knowledge. Great if you have been somewhere before but for every delivery point I have been to there was a first time.
Muckaway:
If a driver does the firm a favour in some way (in my case a temporary change of job during a staff shortage), don’t return that favour by ■■■■■■■■ on them from a great height.
Yes! I have an example of that, i agreed to work a saturday (previous firm) driving rigids because no one else would and knew they were in the ■■■■, couldnt get back on friday but still would of been able get back to the yard on saturday well before i needed to start with plenty of time left on my card to do the required saturday work but still got thrown a ■■■■ load of abuse down the phone on friday night despite being told it was unlikely id get back anyway!
With regards to “getting the best from drivers”, well i think the firm i work for now hits the nail square on the head, we’re respected at all times, left alone to get the job done, if it takes longer than normal thats fine these things happen (aslong as its not every day of course), but if it gets done earlier than expected we’re thanked for it. The tracker does get monitered but i’ve not once been questioned about which way ive gone, why ive stopped, where i’ve parked, nothing. But you dare take the ■■■■ out of them and you’ll wish you hadnt!
Dont take it out on driver if the cause of problem was not the drivers fault…
I’d be very much happy with a LAW saying any driver that does over night stays in truck that the truck should be equiped with microwave, coffee machine and fridge i don’t think its right that bulk of company’s don’t pay meal allowance’s when we have no access to heat a decent meal up and have brew when some places dont have facility’s or too over priced and end up spending half wages just to live in truck to work.
waynedl:
Quinny:
papermonkey:
toby1234abc:
While waiting at the Isle of Grain or Thamesport,they give all the drivers pagers,it will beep when they want you to go in the port,that way you have time to have a cuppa or eat in the cafe,and not stand around like a muppet waiting,why dont more firms use a beeper system at RDC`s.What a cracking idea
Boots at Nottingham have done it for years.
Ken.
Also Aldi or Lidl, whichever it is at Newton Aycliffe have it too
Cowley BMW have this & have had it for years
Lidl is at Newton Aycliffe btw