9.45 on a Sunday night ( rest day ) , can you help us out by working o/t tomorrow , no and in future don’t zb ring me ring the zb agency ,what is it with these idiots , they treat you like ■■■■ then expect you too help them out 
Is it because you are a YES man dozy? Or is it because you work for a bunch of…
Or is it maybe both pal? 
My reaction would have been the same !
Maybe it’s because he is good at his job and they want quality for a change
Nothing unusual I’m afraid.
08:26 today, are you available this morning?..No
09:43 today, what about this evening?..No
dozy:
9.45 on a Sunday night ( rest day ) , can you help us out by working o/t tomorrow , no and in future don’t zb ring me ring the zb agency ,what is it with these idiots , they treat you like [zb] then expect you too help them out
At least you are learning doze, good on yer mate I say, 
‘Treat the basts in the same way they treat you’ has always been my motto,…either well or badly whatever the case may be.
I have experienced both ways in various jobs, and re.acted accordingly.
dozy:
9.45 on a Sunday night ( rest day ) , can you help us out by working o/t tomorrow , no and in future don’t zb ring me ring the zb agency ,what is it with these idiots , they treat you like [zb] then expect you too help them out
Just to play devils advocate- (cos I am in a crap mood)
You turn up Monday, all we got is this short run, pays minimum hours, we had a great run that paid all the bonus’s but we gave that to the agency driver because we couldn’t ask you yesterday if you wanted it.
Look forward to a post from Dozy midweek -
■■■■■■■ agency ■■■■■■, took the step off/ altered my seat/ didn’t roll the straps the way i like them/ changed all my radio presets. (Delete as necessary )
It’s surely better to be paid an “hourly rate” rather than “salaried” then? As a driver who originally came from a background where Overtime was plentiful - I’m having to adjust to the “Salaried” regime where “extra shifts carrying an overtime payment” are as rare as hen’s teeth, whilst calls to work additional hours (unpaid) on the shifts one is already doing - are commonplace. I don’t mind helping out on occasion - but I won’t be a mug who said “yes” once, and then finds themselves being asked all the time! Chopping and changing around shift patterns to cover “dropped agency shifts” and “last-minute sickies” surely is the stuff of agencies, which I thought I’d now left behind me. 
At the other extreme, you have the firm that will plan you for 9 hours exactly 9 hours, which with your hour’s unpaid break taken off - gives you a flat eight for pay purposes every day. A 5-6-5-6 pattern on this shift of course - not only involves you working every other saturday - but your job will be touted as “average 44 hour week” which makes others elsewhere green with envy for such “light” hourage.
Bugger the hours. It’s how many days you have to tie up in a full time job that bothers me.
Tramping has the advantages of less round trips to work (if you live far away, and fuel prices are high) but the disadvantage that the optimum hours (from a driver’s perspective) never seem to apply for some unknown reason. In my mind, a “optimum tramping job” would be
Friday: Start work at 2pm-05:00 saturday morning. Spend 9 hours “overnighting out”.
Saturday: Start work at 2pm again, work until 05:00 sunday morning.
Sunday: Start work at 2pm again, work until 05:00 monday morning.
Monday: Start work at 2pm, pick up a backload on the way back to base, and book off at around 6pm.
So you’ve easily done your 48 hours minimum, done one single round trip to work at distance, get three lots of “night out” money, a Saturday premium payment, a sunday premium payment (and bank holiday monday if that applies!) - and you’re then done for the entire week by teatime monday. The rest of the week is yours, including a lie-in at home on friday.
I’ve yet to meet someone with a shift pattern anything like this, and paying in the mid-£30ks bracket as would seem fair dues here.
The mid-way then?
Who would much rather have 4x12 hour shifts each week, at a premium hourly rate 'cos it’s maxed out for the 48 hour WTD average right from the word go?
NO worries about “being asked to work additional hours”.
NO worries about “short hours”.
NO pressure to “get overtime to make ends meet”.
NO worries about chopping and changing shift patterns all the time.
You know what your job is, know your hours of attendance, know what amount is going to appear in your bank account each month, and most importantly - know where you stand - days, weeks, and even months ahead!
Isn’t it nice to be able to plan your entire year without worrying about “Should I book that bargain cash-no-refund holiday, when I might have my booked holidays shifted around at the last minute?”
A simple slam dunk response when the phone rings …
“Hi can you work an extra shift tomorrow?”
“Sorry mate, I’m at ************* 200+ miles from home, having whisked the wifey away for a last minute romantic/dirty weekend, and I’m not due to drive back till tomorrow pm”
Good manners cost nothing, if you don’t want to speak to them let it go to the answer machine I find things rub along nicely with a bit of give and take on both sides.
If you don’t want to take calls from the company out of hours let them know this.**
On the other hand a bit of what’s reasonable behaviour from both sides makes for a much better working relationship.
The only time we’ll ever be contacted out of hours is if the company is in the mire, then there might be a general text sent out the day before asking for volunteers to help out, in exchange the chances are the OT job you get if you do help out will be a short simple one (we’re salaried anyway and an OT shift pays £■■■ whatever we do).
I’d detest working at some of these places where the majority of drivers hate the planner and vice versa, you always get the odd ball driver whom if paid a £grand a week to lie in bed would still winge about it, and you get the odd arse planner.
But for me i’ll vote for a bit of give and take every time over the alternative.
** Being unreasonable aggressive bolshy and unhelpful does backfire, even the most laid back company will only allow so many to act like spoiled brats before they take action to sort it out, it’s amusing to stand back and watch apparently grown men acting tough (which usually entails gobbing off round the yard then complete silence in a meeting/discussion with management) when in truth they’re shooting themselves in the foot and are too dumb to see it unfolding.
Juddian:
If you don’t want to take calls from the company out of hours let them know this.**On the other hand a bit of what’s reasonable behaviour from both sides makes for a much better working relationship.
The only time we’ll ever be contacted out of hours is if the company is in the mire, then there might be a general text sent out the day before asking for volunteers to help out, in exchange the chances are the OT job you get if you do help out will be a short simple one (we’re salaried anyway and an OT shift pays £■■■ whatever we do).
I’d detest working at some of these places where the majority of drivers hate the planner and vice versa, you always get the odd ball driver whom if paid a £grand a week to lie in bed would still winge about it, and you get the odd arse planner.
But for me i’ll vote for a bit of give and take every time over the alternative.** Being unreasonable aggressive bolshy and unhelpful does backfire, even the most laid back company will only allow so many to act like spoiled brats before they take action to sort it out, it’s amusing to stand back and watch apparently grown men acting tough (which usually entails gobbing off round the yard then complete silence in a meeting/discussion with management) when in truth they’re shooting themselves in the foot and are too dumb to see it unfolding.
I know what you are saying Juddian. Maybe I come across as being bolshy to some, but in my case bolshiness is displayed (or not) by me in direct proportion to the way the co. treats me.
I worked for a firm for 10 yrs that would rather give and help than take and hinder. I reacted accordingly, and was the model employee and helped out whenever I could, going that extra mile for them and was rewarded for it. When the owner retired and jacked, I got a glowing A1 reference. That co was a ‘‘Team co,’’ .
The one I work for now is not, but my job, and my depot is ok as far as jobs go from my point of view, but the co. is a ‘‘Them and us’’ co.
My depot as I say aint too bad tbf, but the main depot from where directives, policies and rules come from look upon their drivers as a necessary evil (rather than previous co mentioned where you were considered a co. asset) so this time I do my job to the best of my ability, anything extra I will weigh up.
Last week I was asked to do something extra after my Sat am return to base.
To enable me to do it I parked further up the road at a truckstop where I would not have stayed if I was not doing the ‘favour’
I handed my parking ticket in and he took the fiver meal ticket off me 
ok it was only a fiver, but the principle did ■■■■ me, so next time I am asked, I will have ‘something on’ do you get my point?
^^^^ that’s the kind of pettiness that sticks in a drivers throat. Yeah I understand that you were getting paid for the “favour”, but the fact remains that the Co too were getting paid for it also, and if not for your flexibility maybe the “favour” would not have been done, thus resulting in the Co losing revenue.
You can also guarantee that the Co will be claiming tax relief on the full amount of your parking ticket, not the full amount minus £5.
Before anyone starts, it’s my opinion that any Co who prices a job without factoring in things like overnight parking fees, traffic delays, or any of the ■■■■ happens factor are not pricing jobs correctly.
the maoster:
^^^^ that’s the kind of pettiness that sticks in a drivers throat. Yeah I understand that you were getting paid for the “favour”, but the fact remains that the Co too were getting paid for it also, and if not for your flexibility maybe the “favour” would not have been done, thus resulting in the Co losing revenue.You can also guarantee that the Co will be claiming tax relief on the full amount of your parking ticket, not the full amount minus £5.
Before anyone starts, it’s my opinion that any Co who prices a job without factoring in things like overnight parking fees, traffic delays, or any of the [zb] happens factor are not pricing jobs correctly.
Exactly, when will firms realise that pettiness and penny pinching towards their drivers is counter productive, you only reap what you sow.
On the other hand other drivers on my firm are shafted and ■■■■■■ about, but say absolutely ■■■■ all and keep coming back for more…after that is, they have complained about their treatment, but ONLY to other drivers.
I just laugh at them and carry on with my job . 
Yes that simple taking of the £5 meal ticket costs them far more in the long run, there are some idiots behind the desk these days.
How much they could gain by using the three simple words please, thankyou, sorry, asked politiely and properly most lorry drivers worth a light will bend over backwards to help out.
isaac hunt:
Look forward to a post from Dozy midweek -
[zb] agency ■■■■■■, took the step off/ altered my seat/ didn’t roll the straps the way i like them/ changed all my radio presets. (Delete as necessary )
“Altered ‘my’ seat” how ridicules and petty!
I think he should do the shift as he’s got a fine winging his way
tango boy:
I think he should do the shift as he’s got a fine winging his way
Why? What’s he done now?
robroy:
tango boy:
I think he should do the shift as he’s got a fine winging his wayWhy? What’s he done now?
Have you not read the Innovation road thread, he’s gone through a bus only lane