JeffA:
Tried but no chance. They’ve been paying crap money for so long they think 11.50 an hour is an absolute fortune.
Sounds lile our lot - “but we gave you x% in April” which was actually half that because you didn’t give us one last year. Starting from such a low point doesn’t make it good. We probably work for the same company.
JeffA:
Tried but no chance. They’ve been paying crap money for so long they think 11.50 an hour is an absolute fortune.
trevHCS:
Sounds lile our lot - “but we gave you x% in April” which was actually half that because you didn’t give us one last year. Starting from such a low point doesn’t make it good. We probably work for the same company.
If you keep accepting peanuts, they’ll keep giving you them. 
Only got yourselves to blame!
Union and employer,entered negotiations…today.
Apparently.
Just been given a 23.49% pay rise today from £11.09 an hour to £13.70 an hour plus a £3000 bonus. I drive a 26 tonne flatbed steel lorry. We are also lucky enough to get £20.55 an hour over time (time and a half) over 8 hours a day. Overtime is guaranteed and I’m on target to do 60 hours this week. The starts are crazy early, often 3-4am but every day is different and I do love the job. Should bring home £45,000 this year on a Class 2 which to me is pretty good. If our company hadn’t put the wages up this much they would probably have lost 1/3 of their drivers within weeks.
No way will I join a union , I was in them all my years in engineering , all the shop stewards did was look after themselves , the shop steward on
Our machines never started his machine up in all the time I was there , just sat there all night doing sfa , the votes were a ■■■■■■■ joke , the vast majority of hands went up not to strike , and the stewards would say the vote for strike action had been carried unanimously, it was alright for me but not for our dad , family & the union would have them out on strike nearly every week , in winter they’d have the workshop doors held open so the temp never reached a certain level , so everyone went home
Then if your machine broke down you’d book on red card , even though there were 30 identical machines you weren’t allowed to work them , you could sit there all week , imagine if your lorry broke down & even though there were 30 others in the yard you weren’t allowed to drive them , you’d think bloody madness , but here we are with every mad & his dog fawning over unions
■■■■■■■ good luck to you , but They won’t get a penny of my money that’s for sure
ETS:
So with drivers now being more scarce than nuclear physicists if the media/RHA are to be believed, have you tried to negotiate new terms of employment for yourself as in more ££ or better OT rate or anything at all? I hear rumors (bragging) at my place that some drivers have managed to crank up their hourly rates to match what the company pays for agency drivers, another said he’s on double pay for OT (regular OT rate for everyone is 1.25). I’m thinking of going in at end of the month and ask for an hourly rate increase and 50 hours guaranteed pay per week (currently only 32hrs weekly guaranteed) and see if we can meet in the middle else I’m hitting the agency route again. Our wages have fallen behind badly while agency drivers are on £3-4 more per hour than us
You know when you sell a car…
You offer it for a certain price. You expect to get a counter offer. You have an idea in your head what you’d take.
Jobs are no different. They’re punting low. You’re punting high. Give them a ring, have a chat or go for the interview. Tell them what you need. See what happens.
I’ve already posted about a class 2 job I punted high and got nearly what I asked for. It was 5k more than they were offering.
Just like anything else, it depends what you’re bringing to the party. DGSA? ADR? TM CPC? First Aid? DBS? Moffet? FLT? …or maybe you’re “just” a driver?
Lot’s of bits of paper give you lots of bargaining power.
Fizzifish:
Just been given a 23.49% pay rise today from £11.09 an hour to £13.70 an hour plus a £3000 bonus. I drive a 26 tonne flatbed steel lorry. We are also lucky enough to get £20.55 an hour over time (time and a half) over 8 hours a day. Overtime is guaranteed and I’m on target to do 60 hours this week. The starts are crazy early, often 3-4am but every day is different and I do love the job. Should bring home £45,000 this year on a Class 2 which to me is pretty good. If our company hadn’t put the wages up this much they would probably have lost 1/3 of their drivers within weeks.
fish what part of the country are u in
that’s good money for cruising in a 26 ton flat bed on the books
What’s your class 1 drivers on
24% pay rise is nuts
just shows u how much the company was making to begin with. taking the pure ■■■■ for years
They still must be making a profit from the pay rise.
Themoocher:
Fizzifish:
Just been given a 23.49% pay rise today from £11.09 an hour to £13.70 an hour plus a £3000 bonus. I drive a 26 tonne flatbed steel lorry. We are also lucky enough to get £20.55 an hour over time (time and a half) over 8 hours a day. Overtime is guaranteed and I’m on target to do 60 hours this week. The starts are crazy early, often 3-4am but every day is different and I do love the job. Should bring home £45,000 this year on a Class 2 which to me is pretty good. If our company hadn’t put the wages up this much they would probably have lost 1/3 of their drivers within weeks.fish what part of the country are u in
that’s good money for cruising in a 26 ton flat bed on the books
What’s your class 1 drivers on
24% pay rise is nuts
just shows u how much the company was making to begin with. taking the pure ■■■■ for years
They still must be making a profit from the pay rise.
I’m down in the SOUTH WEST in Somerset, to be fair our company has had a record year, record month and record day all in the last 12 months. As you probably know construction has been buoyant and we are known as the fastest growing company with the best service in the industry. They knew that they had to put the wages up and they can afford to with record profits. The artic drivers only get a little more than the rigids. I think they got a 22.75% pay rise to £14.55 an hour.
Yep, got my hours changed to 4 nights a week and off every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Some of the other drivers have changed their own hours accordingly to suit their lifestyle. Seems to be working because there’s never any units sitting in the yard anymore. 10 hour shifts but paid for 12 and overtime rate increased by £5 an hour plus normal rate increased by £2.50 an hour.This was all done by the company themselves to retain the drivers that they have and recruit new drivers. Seems to be working because I have had drivers asking me what the company is like to work for etc and 6 new drivers have started in the last few weeks.
Two pay rises in the last 3 months - Monday to Friday tramping in bed at night - now working out at just under £50k . If I wanted to work weekends and have 2 days off midweek then I could easily break the £50 k but its really not my thing so I’m happy . We’ve been given Snap accounts to use for parking if we want - I’ll use it if I have a valueable load on , I personally try to avoid truckstops as I like the peace and quiet you get elsewhere . Top class kit , dealer maintained, new truck every 3 years- and thats not a bling thing - I like a truck thats looked after and gets what it needs no questions asked . Work that interests me and has a good variety of different loads and destinations little to no RDC type work and some very scenic drives. .
DCPCFML:
Yes. Managed to get a shift rate increase by £20 accepted without much resistance. Gaffer let slip he has work coming out of his ears and companies are so desperate to get their stuff moved he can pretty much name his price and gets the work, so was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of.Strike while the iron is hot.
…Having got any per shift pay rise, the firm are most likely to start planning you for 15 hours every shift, as £20 on a 15 hour shift is a smaller percentage hourly rate increase than £20 on a 10 hour shift…
I’m reluctant to work for “shift rate” - as the planners will have you so close to 15 hours every time - any delay will likely have you run out of time, and of course it is the driver’s fault when “Hey, everyone else can do it - why can’t you?”
Well bugger that. Boot’s on other foot now.
You can get £15ph+ just about everywhere now, so it is all about Hassle-Lite work as far as I’m concerned. The hourly rates - are already sorting themselves out nicely, and it seems I was correct after all in turning down offers of full time, but low hourly rate work as an alternative to continuing on agency…
