Seeing as though one of the constant gripes about transport is the issue of low pay, surely transport must too cheap. When the owners of transport firms win contracts I understand there is a lot of things to consider, its not as simple as supplying a truck/driver and doing the job. There’s also competition from other companies to consider, therefore they get locked into a bidding war. After all costs are considered then hopefully there is a little left over to pay the driver. Will there be a day when firms turn to customers and say that transport is too cheap and rates need to rise,because drivers are demanding a “professional rate” for a “professional job”.
It’s not as simple as supplying a truck/ driver , I’m day hired to other depots , firms , I know the figure ,doesn’t seem a lot to me ,but the fact it continues , they want more drivers on it , means they must be making money / profit or I wouldn’t of thought it would continue
Unfortunately the vast majority of transport jobs are won by price alone.
Rates are rising gradually.
However until there is a real driver shortage, wages won’t affect rates the way the price of diesel does.
Theres always a flip flop or monkey happy to drive for peanuts.
Rates are too low , fuel prices too high, too many prepared too work for next too nowt
My boss would rather we are in the yard washing our lorries then pulling cheap loads.
In most circumstances driving isn’t a skilled job. As long as the stuff gets to it’s destination the customer isn’t normally concerned if the driver was polite, well dressed or turned up in a smart truck. As long as you can move it from A to B that’s all that counts much of the time, and there is always someone who can do it cheaper/quicker. General haulage and more correctly the drivers are a commodity and the transport costs reflect that. We operate in a worldwide market for labour.
Plambert:
We operate in a worldwide market for labour.
Only because the electorate were dumb enough to vote, repeatedly, for their own replacement and in many cases displacement.
Which is doubly stupid when your island castle is surrounded by a decent moat.
mrginge:
My boss would rather we are in the yard washing our lorries then pulling cheap loads.
To be honest in the Gloucester area there are very few opportunities to work lorries, so if he hasn’t got a load for you he will struggle to get one, let alone choose a rate.
Darkside:
mrginge:
My boss would rather we are in the yard washing our lorries then pulling cheap loads.To be honest in the Gloucester area there are very few opportunities to work lorries, so if he hasn’t got a load for you he will struggle to get one, let alone choose a rate.
We have plenty of our own stuff to move so we just clean out the depots of landfill, scrap etc. Lucky for us there is always waste to move from council depots to either landfill (For the double drive units) or incinerators (For the lift axles). I suppose our demo division create waste/scrap for us aswell. So we only do other peoples loads if they pay a good profit, no point going to all these scrap yards for minimum pay considering the ease of picking up punctures.
scotstrucker:
fuel prices too high, too many prepared too work for next too nowt
Fuel is the cheapest its been for 10 years. Plenty of people prepared to work for nowt though as you say.
Conor:
scotstrucker:
fuel prices too high, too many prepared too work for next too nowtFuel is the cheapest its been for 10 years. Plenty of people prepared to work for nowt though as you say.
Some have no choice but to work for next to nowt = minimum wage, just like some drivers have no choice but to work for ■■■■ companies, its not always in the control of the driver to choose were or how much he works for.
The problem with haulage rates is, they fluctuate alongside the price of fuel, so regardless of the cost you will never make any extra money to pay more to the driver.
And yes rates are to cheap, I was told container haulage was in the region of £1.10p a mile a few years ago, when I was getting at least £1.50p a mile for every mile driven, running a peugeot 406 as a taxi.
Just like most other industry it’s a matter of supply and demand, as long as there’s plenty of transport companies fighting for a limited amount of work, and plenty of drivers fighting for a limited amount of jobs, neither transport rates or drivers wages will rise much.
Having said that, even if wages were doubled drivers would still complain they were too low 
Juddian:
Plambert:
We operate in a worldwide market for labour.Only because the electorate were dumb enough to vote, repeatedly, for their own replacement and in many cases displacement.
Which is doubly stupid when your island castle is surrounded by a decent moat.
Nothing to do with that. You need to look at the bigger picture. Whether drivers come from Poland or Portsmouth they both have opportunities to work anywhere. Also, Transport is cheap because the market has overcapacity not just uk, have a gander around the web about overcapacity in shipping.
We all want to see wages rise but don’t forget any increase will be passed on and only so much can be absorbed before prices start to rise. That pay rise you get next month could well be wiped out by price increases in a couple of months.
Juddian:
Plambert:
We operate in a worldwide market for labour.Only because the electorate were dumb enough to vote, repeatedly, for their own replacement and in many cases displacement.
Which is doubly stupid when your island castle is surrounded by a decent moat.
But what use is a moat when the gate house keeper refuses to raise the draw bridge 
Plambert:
Juddian:
Plambert:
We operate in a worldwide market for labour.Only because the electorate were dumb enough to vote, repeatedly, for their own replacement and in many cases displacement.
Which is doubly stupid when your island castle is surrounded by a decent moat.Nothing to do with that. You need to look at the bigger picture. Whether drivers come from Poland or Portsmouth they both have opportunities to work anywhere. Also, Transport is cheap because the market has overcapacity not just uk, have a gander around the web about overcapacity in shipping.
The fact that the labour market is rigged in favour of free movement of ‘cheap labour’ is the point.While it isn’t an issue of over capacity it’s an issue of under demand because wage levels are too low to sustain sufficient spending.In addition to fuel costs being too high to make transport economically viable.Especially road transport because of the combination of road fuel taxation and an already artificially inflated fuel price.
raymundo:
Juddian:
Plambert:
We operate in a worldwide market for labour.Only because the electorate were dumb enough to vote, repeatedly, for their own replacement and in many cases displacement.
Which is doubly stupid when your island castle is surrounded by a decent moat.But what use is a moat when the gate house keeper refuses to raise the draw bridge
Wrong gatekeeper, which the electorate keep re-employing.
Plambert:
Juddian:
Plambert:
We operate in a worldwide market for labour.Only because the electorate were dumb enough to vote, repeatedly, for their own replacement and in many cases displacement.
Which is doubly stupid when your island castle is surrounded by a decent moat.Nothing to do with that. You need to look at the bigger picture. Whether drivers come from Poland or Portsmouth they both have opportunities to work anywhere. Also, Transport is cheap because the market has overcapacity not just uk, have a gander around the web about overcapacity in shipping.
So too many imported workers nothing to do with being in the EU then, which our electorate voted for and will endorse again shortly, nor electing EUphiles to parliament for the last 40 years either.
You’ll be telling me next that the housing shortage and ridiculous unsustainable overvaluing has nothing at all to do with importing some 6 million over the last 2 decades, nor the NHS/schools/benefits crises.