I want to specialize

[juddian]

Rob K:

Juddian:

Rob K:

Juddian:

Rob K:

Juddian:
I as good trannie!? drivers are already in short supply and thats only going to get worse, .

Why do people keep trotting out this bull [zb]? Show me hard evidence of this alleged “driver shortage” and I’ll show you a liar. (hmm that phrase doesn’t really work there but you get the idea I’m sure )

You an out of work transporter driver looking for work?

No thought not.

What’s your point?

If i’m spouting bull carp you presumably know different, in my post i stated that there is a shortage of good transporter drivers, that is true and it is only going to get worse.

If you know different, please enlighten us.

I thought you were talking about a “shortage of drivers” in general, not just for transporters. In any case I don’t believe there’s a shortage of transporter drivers either. The problem is (imho) that the money for transporter work has been cut right back to the bone and quite simply drivers aren’t prepared to do that amount of graft for peanuts. Transporter work isn’t something I’ve done but an old agency mate of mine is on for a local company here in Leeds doing the car auctions and I went out with him one day. Suffice to say the job should be advertised as “Experienced contortionist required with C+E licence”. The money he’s on is utter garbage for the amount of graft involved but like many people these days he’s up to his eyes in debt and needs all the money he can get.

In summary : plenty of good experienced drivers about but no-one is prepared to pay what they’re worth.

Some car auction work is very poorly paid, several reasons, one of which is that they don’t do the hours that the new car carrier drivers do…thats not to say it doesn’t have its own difficulties.

It is not in the same league terms and conditions wise as the new car industry.

One of the reasons for the shortage of good transporter drivers is the training and drop out costs, those companies who do train have a heavy drop out rate and its always been like that because the job is a complete shock to the system, some take to it like a duck to water, but the vast majority don’t an most drop out shortly after training or within a year.

It costs thousands to train a driver properly, the new trained driver WILL have damage in their early days its inevitable, there’s more cost, it will also take them anything from 12 months to several years to become fully competent and up to speed.

Some companies have been actively trying to recruit previous staff with inducement offered, such as reinstatement on previous lucrative terms and conditions where new drivers requiring training will be on another not so good contract.

The money is still there to be earned on the better players, with very few excepetions its always been a high productivity and hard work job and if you earn £45k+ i assure you that you will have paid for every penny of that with long hours of blood sweat and hard graft.

I disagree with the generalisation that no one is prepared to pay what someone is worth, the truth of the matter is that those companies who do pay well are very selective in their recruitment and you will never see the good jobs advertised and why should they, in industries like car transport a drivers reputation and work record is everything.

[andrew_s]

m22942:
sounds like another one who wants a posh shiney f###ing scania

no it doesnt-it sounds like someone that is young and enthusiastic-you sound like a miserable old ■■■■■■■■

[bluenose]

Before you decide what you to specialise in, you need to get some class 1 experience, the more experienced you get the more you’ll realise you can’t change the way people see us truck drivers & more you’ll see your enthusiasm and youth ebb away, but good luck any way.

[juddian]

bluenose:
Before you decide what you to specialise in, you need to get some class 1 experience, the more experienced you get the more you’ll realise you can’t change the way people see us truck drivers & more you’ll see your enthusiasm and youth ebb away, but good luck any way.

I always thought that it would be better to get some experience before specialising, but i know several really good transporter drivers who went straight onto them shortly after passing their tests with minimal other experience, often ex squaddies…artic transporters with peaks too in those days…

[albion1971]

Sorry to go off topic but I am so surprised what you say about it costing thousands to train a driver.Either the training must be very expensive or suddenly there must be a lot more to learn.
As I said I only drove transporters for a short period but it was artics which I thought took far more expertise than the types of vehicles most companies use now.My training took about 2 hours and then I was left to get on with the job and I never damaged any vehicles.I did know one guy that took the roof off a renault though.
Just curious what you have to learn now compared to a few years ago?

[juddian]

Albion the artics took some getting used to on the road, but generally were extremely simple to load and operate, indeed under 15 minute full load/unloads were not unheard off.

The modern 11/12 car carrier has more levers and air locks than you could shake a stick at, the usualy requirement now is 2 weeks training and more if required, its a very second rate outfit that won’t be in business long that does a one or half day training session now.
The combinations and load configurations and fiddling about to make everything fit and not foul each other or ironwork when turning are endless.

Remember in the days of the artic transporters most loads were cars and all cars were of a fairly standard height and shape, everything is different and much larger now, so many mixed loads of cars MPVs vans 4x4s etc.

Car tie down securing has changed completely now and not for the better and there’s more than enough paperwork and hand held PDA’s to learn too.

Some years ago i was loading at one of the rental sites alongside Heathrow runway one night when an artic transporter pulled in.
This poor sod was on his first day out alone, he’d had one days training on a 3 deck artic (simple enough till you got a mixed load) and hadn’t a clue poor bloke, he was an old school general haulage driver.

By rights i shouldn’t have helped him out because the company involved deserved the thousand of pounds of damage that he would have done solely due to their lack of training negligence, but we don’t work like that do we, he was just one of us like any poor bugger.

[saaamon]

m22942:
sounds like another one who wants a posh shiney f###ing scania

Nice trucks though arent they… Work hard and your boss mite buy you one

[albion1971]

Ok Juddian thanks for the insight.Very interesting.Yes you are correct it did not take too long to load although I always took my time especially up top with no barriers!!
So is this modern technology better? Everything seems to get far more complicated these days and I often wonder if the advantages are worth it.I suppose H&E has a big part to play now.
When I drove petrol tankers in the 80’s the H&E was nearly non existent but driving aircraft refuellers less than one year ago was a different world.I wonder how I survived back then when I look back.

[rob_k]

Juddian:
Some car auction work is very poorly paid, several reasons, one of which is that they don’t do the hours that the new car carrier drivers do…thats not to say it doesn’t have its own difficulties.

It is not in the same league terms and conditions wise as the new car industry.

On the contrary. Last time I spoke to him (admittedly over a year ago) he was on £9.50/hr on class 1 which is well above the average full timer rate in Leeds I can tell you. I recall a discussion on here about ECM(?) wanting drivers some time ago and iirc the money being talked about was also £9.50/hr with nights out and OT on top. I’m sure there are some dead mans shoes transporter jobs that pay good money but in the main the money:graft ratio isn’t anywhere near as good as your posts seem to suggest and that’s why these companies can’t get any drivers. Up the money into double figures and I’m sure they’d be able to entice a lot of the experienced old hands back that left the industry when the rates when south.

[juddian]

albion1971:
So is this modern technology better? Everything seems to get far more complicated these days and I often wonder if the advantages are worth it.I suppose H&E has a big part to play now.

Thats a loaded question Albion…

Its down to efficiency now, i loved my 3 deck van carrier artic transporter, but they became inceasingly difficult to load economically as car increased in size especially height.
You see a good number of 3 deckers running round now with the peak cut off and ofetn enough they’ve only got 5 or 6 cars on due to the shapes involved.

Yes they are technologically advanced but they haven’t gone down the computerised route of those Lohr Mark Fives which Toleman used to run in the late 80’s…indeed thise bodies are still being used today by some operators but without the computer control and altered consdierably.

They can carry a good sized mix of 11 cars and MPVs, in the right 6 axle configuration 7 x Range Rovers, or 3 x LWB hi top Sprinter Vans, etc…thats some good piece of design but obviously only as good as the bloke operating it.

They do have an Achilles Heel though, stability.
Everyone must have noticed just how many transporters have gone over in the last few years, its not just getting the load on its trying to get the weights right so you don’t end up with the tail wagging the dog.
That can only come with well specified and maintained kit and quality training of quality staff in the first place, which brings us full circle.

[juddian]

Rob K:

Juddian:
Some car auction work is very poorly paid, several reasons, one of which is that they don’t do the hours that the new car carrier drivers do…thats not to say it doesn’t have its own difficulties.

It is not in the same league terms and conditions wise as the new car industry.

On the contrary. Last time I spoke to him (admittedly over a year ago) he was on £9.50/hr on class 1 which is well above the average full timer rate in Leeds I can tell you. I recall a discussion on here about ECM(?) wanting drivers some time ago and iirc the money being talked about was also £9.50/hr with nights out and OT on top. I’m sure there are some dead mans shoes transporter jobs that pay good money but in the main the money:graft ratio isn’t anywhere near as good as your posts seem to suggest and that’s why these companies can’t get any drivers. Up the money into double figures and I’m sure they’d be able to entice a lot of the experienced old hands back that left the industry when the rates when south.

ECM pay better than that.

Other than that you know more about the industry than i do, so i’ll leave you to it.

Cheers.

[chester1]

Find something you like before you decide to specialize .and try not be a slag for the money and going for something you wont like for a little more money. car transporters and tanks aint a lot of fun tho there are exeptions. and they don’t pay any more than a good quality general haulier where you may get a bit more variety and a better specked truck .above all try to enjoy your experances

[doubleq]

How about Steel ( Can be drity and darn right hazardous )

But be learnt quickly by a bright student.

de 2xQ