As owner drivers traction is everything right? If your wheels arnt turning your not earning. Even if you charge demurrage, it still isn’t ideal.
I arrived here in Scarborough at 19:30 last night ready for an early morning tip this morning. My curtains have been pulled since 7:15 this morning (they don’t start until 7:30)
It is now 9:20 and they haven’t even started me. The load is booked in so they knew I was coming but still have to “clear some space”… I have bus engines and axles and cages full of parts on a double deck trailer.
They go on break at 10:00 as well for 15 mins. Luckily I am re loading here for Guildford but I won’t be out of here before 2pm today taking into account their lunch break as well and waiting for contents paperwork to be verified and drawn up.
So that’s pretty much 7 hours of my day gone before I’ve even turned a wheel. So the truck will earn £300 -350 today (rough guess i dont know the rates) without getting tipped at the other end and even re loading somewhere else and setting me up for tomorrow.
There is about 4 forklifts around the yard as well all doing their own thing mind but still, 20 mins max with 4 of them clearing a double decker!!
I could even jump on the spare one as well and crack on myself, I could tip myself in less than an hour but no thats just to easy. Insurance, company policy and all the bull ■■■■ that comes with transport.
How do you make it work? Do you have agreements with your customers of a reasonable turn around time for both of you? Are you allowed to assist with unloading, using their forks etc?
I’m not saying “I’m here so everyone stop what you are doing and tip me” but as an owner driver, situations like this simply cant work can it? It’s just no good. I could never make it work if I went on my own.
Yesterday was a good day, started Guildford, load to Worcester, re load Brum and down to Sussex to tip all In a day. But what the truck earnt then has all gone to ■■■■ today. And it’s all a knock on effect as tomorrow I will still have to tip and re load for somewhere else… On a Friday.
And don’t even get me started on making plans in the week if you think you are going to get home. It’s my girlfriends birthday and I thought excellent I’ll be home by 6pm today to take her out for a meal. What an idiot for even thinking that would be possible!!!
That’s Plaxtons for you mate. I went in there a few weeks ago with one pallet, the lad was sat on his forklift literally 10ft away and wouldn’t take it off for 15 mins until his break was over. It would have taken him 10 seconds!
To look at it on the other hand is your not wasting any fuel as you have a reload from the same place so zero dead milage is always a good thing!
If for instance you had a contract that kept you in clients yard for 7 hours, you would price to take this into account.
Some waiting around is just how the job is. I have a daily income target but am more interested in the figures for the week.
This is the exact reason I gave up uk work, too much tipping reloading and was constantly getting in a rage at the cavalier attitude to work so many places have.
All the while your losing ££££.
Funny how no matter what’s got to be done in some of these smaller places, come 5pm they come alive ready for the off at 5.30.
Plenty off places in Europe the same but as your only tipping loading 2-3 times a week it’s a bit more bearable.
Was in booker’s one night and there was 5 wagons waiting well over an hour for there paperwork.
The lady explained that they only had one person too check it all off.
I said great so 5 wagons are stood out there with drivers wages paid and some out of hours now because bookers are too tight to shell out another £6 an hour for a minimum wage slave.
i agree 7 hrs is a bit extreme, but as an owner driver somedays im glad of a bit of waiting time cos i like to work about 2/3 days ahead of myself so theres always phone calls to be made, loads to find, maintainence to arrange and a host of other things needing attended to and a couple of hours waiting gives you a chance to get on with that other work. so its a case of rough with the smooth as regards waiting time with me. sods law says its the days your behind schedule or in a hurry thats when you will get held up, nature of the job im afraid
On cobblefret you got waiting time after 3 hours but say you do two localish jobs where you wait 2 hours each time that’s four hours gone. That’s another job or at least a few hours up the road.
I know you can’t expect every lorry to be turned round in 20 minutes every load but how many hours per day are wasted per day by lorry drivers sitting waiting to be tipped and loaded excessively long times and there is never no leeway if the driver is late.
Ok so I got out of there just before 1pm in the end. That’s still nearly 6 hours. I know it’s the nature of the job but it must be so frustrating when you know you could probably earn another £400 extra a week at least if every load was dealt with in a reasonable time frame. That’s transport I suppose.