Comment from Maritime in the current Commercial Motor mag saying that there is no driver shortage, but a shortage of polished drivers. Contradicting the first paragraph of the article; in which the writer states there is a UK driver shortage. We all know there are some who give the profession a bad name, but there is a sizeable majority who are experienced, professional and courteous drivers, I include myself amongst them, and so take exception to being told otherwise by some stuffed shirt.
Has anybody else read between the lines in recent articles and comments from Maritime recently about the quality of the average UK driver, and how they don’t satisfy the high standards they require? When the reality is that anybody with any sense would not touch them with a barge pole.
I really wish somebody, perhaps the writer of the article even, could of contested this statement that the standard of driver available in the UK is not of sufficient standard for their company. Even their own MD complains about ‘driver churn’. What he means is drivers leaving after lasting a couple of weeks of Dickensian work hours and pay, and odious office staff.
Prior to them taking over Roadways, the Manchester Depot had been training some of their drivers to Advanced Driver standard. When Maritime took over, within two months 80% of Roadways drivers had left, and nearly 100% of the office staff too.
Could they all be sub-standard? Sorry to drone…but we can’t just let pompous pricks make comments like this with no reply.
Answer for boss who can’t find decent drivers, and this applies to employers who still think there’s a never ending supply of A1 drivers out there just itching to work all hours God sends for you whilst you treat them like naughty children.
Pay them properly respect them value them treat them like the important members of your company that they are, not like a bunch of kids as you race to dumb the job down, miraculously you have no driver shortage polished or otherwise, and they’ll bend over backwards to look after your customers.
Course the driver has to earn that respect too, by not taking sickies, doing the job properly to the best of their ability, looking after the customer and the kit, being presentable and polite.
Companies invariably get the standard of staff they deserve, and vice versa.
Janos:
Comment from Maritime in the current Commercial Motor mag saying that there is no driver shortage, but a shortage of polished drivers. Contradicting the first paragraph of the article; in which the writer states there is a UK driver shortage. We all know there are some who give the profession a bad name, but there is a sizeable majority who are experienced, professional and courteous drivers, I include myself amongst them, and so take exception to being told otherwise by some stuffed shirt.
Has anybody else read between the lines in recent articles and comments from Maritime recently about the quality of the average UK driver, and how they don’t satisfy the high standards they require? When the reality is that anybody with any sense would not touch them with a barge pole.
I really wish somebody, perhaps the writer of the article even, could of contested this statement that the standard of driver available in the UK is not of sufficient standard for their company. Even their own MD complains about ‘driver churn’. What he means is drivers leaving after lasting a couple of weeks of Dickensian work hours and pay, and odious office staff.
Prior to them taking over Roadways, the Manchester Depot had been training some of their drivers to Advanced Driver standard. When Maritime took over, within two months 80% of Roadways drivers had left, and nearly 100% of the office staff too.
Could they all be sub-standard? Sorry to drone…but we can’t just let pompous pricks make comments like this with no reply.
Great post.
Not much we can do about it though other than point blank refuse to work for such showers of ■■■■.
Let them have the dross.
Get yourself a good number and don’t worry about it.
My gaffer reckons there isn’t really a driver shortage as such. Just a shortage of certain types of drivers. He can get anyone to come in and do a trunk or go tramping. But he can’t get guys like myself who do the pallet network multi drop stuff whatsoever. Cant even get agency to do it. So much so, us multi drop drivers are getting what he says, ‘a substantial wage rise’ next week to stop us leaving. He knows we can walk out of there and right into something easier, with more money tomorrow, and he can’t replace us. I only hope his interpretation of substantial is the same as ours.[emoji3]
damoq:
My gaffer reckons there isn’t really a driver shortage as such. Just a shortage of certain types of drivers. He can get anyone to come in and do a trunk or go tramping. But he can’t get guys like myself who do the pallet network multi drop stuff whatsoever. Cant even get agency to do it. So much so, us multi drop drivers are getting what he says, ‘a substantial wage rise’ next week to stop us leaving. He knows we can walk out of there and right into something easier, with more money tomorrow, and he can’t replace us. I only hope his interpretation of substantial is the same as ours.[emoji3]
Had a pallet delivery from DW Clark to my house recently, the driver ex forces as it turns out just getting some experience apparently, was a bloody hero and delivered the oil tank bang on where we needed it in the garden nothing was too much trouble.
Made me feel a bit inferior to be honest as a weekend supermarket jockey who when asked to do stray further than the tail lift responds with ‘this is as far as I go’
damoq:
But he can’t get guys like myself who do the pallet network multi drop stuff whatsoever. Cant even get agency to do it. So much so, us multi drop drivers are getting what he says, ‘a substantial wage rise’ next week to stop us leaving. He knows we can walk out of there and right into something easier, with more money tomorrow, and he can’t replace us. I only hope his interpretation of substantial is the same as ours.[emoji3]
Is it sad that I actually don’t mind that kind of work? When I’ve done it on agency at CJE in Hull its been start at 7.30-8am, potter around Hull in a little 17 tonner and do 6/8 drops, sit and have some dinner in a cafe, pick up phone, do a few collections, return and tip and go home by 5.30.
Mark1203:
Being pretty new to the industry myself out of curiosity, What is the definition of a “quality driver”?
Can get from A to B without getting lost and going 50 miles out of their way, without walloping through fuel and without damaging the vehicle or the load - you’d be amazed how many cannot manage that simple task. If there’s an issue they can usually sort them out without having to ring the office to ask what to do, in other words as I’ve been called before, a low maintenance driver. Common sense, a modicum of intelligence and being able to think for yourself is by far the biggest separator between drivers. I’ll give an example.
We used to do a run to Wales and do two deliveries a mile up the road from each other. It was commonplace to get to the first one and them be too busy to accept you for an hour. Because we didn’t have a booking time for the second drop, there were only half a dozen pallecons for the first and we had to pass the first drop on the way back I just used to tell them I’d go on to my second drop and be back in an hour or so. I’d go to the second drop, they’d take off the first drops pallecons, tip me, reload the ones they’d taken off then I’d go back and tip the 6 pallecons. I remember being in the traffic office once and one of the company drivers who had been there over 20 years was on the phone. The traffic supervisor said to listen to this and put it on speaker phone. The driver had the same run as I’ve just talked about and was saying there was a delay at the first drop and asking what he should do. After the call the traffic supervisor put down the phone and said this guy was always ringing in several times a day asking what to do even though he’d been there donkeys years. I said I’d been doing what he told the driver to for the 10 years I’d been driving there on agency and I didn’t see any point phoning in.
Its stuff like that which defines you as a quality driver. You’d think it was the kind of thing that every driver should just do as its simple common sense but you would be surprised at just how many drivers need to be remote controlled from the office for every little bloody thing and be told what to do in situations where the solution is staring them straight in the face.
damoq:
But he can’t get guys like myself who do the pallet network multi drop stuff whatsoever. Cant even get agency to do it. So much so, us multi drop drivers are getting what he says, ‘a substantial wage rise’ next week to stop us leaving. He knows we can walk out of there and right into something easier, with more money tomorrow, and he can’t replace us. I only hope his interpretation of substantial is the same as ours.[emoji3]
Is it sad that I actually don’t mind that kind of work? When I’ve done it on agency at CJE in Hull its been start at 7.30-8am, potter around Hull in a little 17 tonner and do 6/8 drops, sit and have some dinner in a cafe, pick up phone, do a few collections, return and tip and go home by 5.30.
It’s not sad. I enjoy it too. I’ve being doing a run from Glasgow to Normanton and back every 2nd Sunday, and it has made me realise that trundling up and down a motorway isn’t really for me. Its funny how that I grew up going away for the week with my dad during school holidays and decided that’s what i wanted to do cos i loved it so much. But now i don’t know if i could hack doing it for a living. I’m quite happy to stick to my multi drop thank you.
Mark1203:
Being pretty new to the industry myself out of curiosity, What is the definition of a “quality driver”?
The mere fact you asked this question sets you apart from the herd already.
As for the answer, it differs entirely upon which job you are trying to be quality at. For me personally, it boils down to one simple thing that is applicable across every single sector:
A quality driver, is one that works smarter, not harder
If you can do that, then everything employers look for, low maintenance drivers like Conor said, ones that don’t smash the kit up, ones that are good on fuel, ones that don’t constantly lose paperwork and number plates, and even being a “yes man”(within reason) comes easy.
Sadly in some surprising places, companies where you wouldn’t think it could happen, increasingly the new breed (and don’t they breed) of management can’t understand nor cope with self sufficient or competent drivers who don’t need them to hold their hands or be programmed as you would a robot, so lowest common denominator rules apply, the good people have to be dumbed down to the level of the most hopeless.
Incredible, sad, tragic even to see it happen, the first clue its going that way is when ‘‘debrief’’ appears on or is now called so instead of your daily work sheet/record
