In my couple of years in this profession, I had wondered why truck drivers don’t have a dedicated trade union, with the power of ASLEF or the RMT to fight for better pay and conditions?
shugg:
Are you still with Wincanton , if you are you must have a very good hourly rate after 7 years .
Not anymore, I was only a temp for 3 months, they did offer me to carry on but I turned them down because I’d lined up another job on class 1 which they didn’t want to offer me.
Braveheart1984:
In my couple of years in this profession, I had wondered why truck drivers don’t have a dedicated trade union, with the power of ASLEF or the RMT to fight for better pay and conditions?
Because they wont stick together and if peter wont take £7.50 per hr then they will ask paul who will
Or Pawel, who will do it for NMW!
Strange how we don’t get anyone on here bragging:
“Hah! I’ve bounced a full timer out of his cushy job by offering to replace him for £8.50ph instead of the £10ph the incumbent is on! - Power to the competetive undercutter!”
It would be difficult to imagine said displaced driver not smacking someone in the mouth on the way out the gate for the last time eh? 
Who are these people that’ll snap up a C1 job for £7-8ph?
Presumably they are people who currently have no full-time job, or one that pays less than £7-£8ph?
Braveheart1984:
In my couple of years in this profession, I had wondered why truck drivers don’t have a dedicated trade union, with the power of ASLEF or the RMT to fight for better pay and conditions?
I think the main reason is lack of unity and the fact that you need that to cause the chaos that the above unions do when their members take industrial action.
The other point might be the lack of “follow like sheep mentality” of years gone by.
Braveheart1984:
In my couple of years in this profession, I had wondered why truck drivers don’t have a dedicated trade union, with the power of ASLEF or the RMT to fight for better pay and conditions?
Not all truck drivers are particularly bothered about the state of the pay & conditions on offer, thats why.
So long as they can get the hours & nights out in to make up for the poor hourly rate, whilst holding the keys to a flash motor with fairy lights & living the dream of a ‘real trucker’ - they are happy.
rob22888:
Braveheart1984:
In my couple of years in this profession, I had wondered why truck drivers don’t have a dedicated trade union, with the power of ASLEF or the RMT to fight for better pay and conditions?Not all truck drivers are particularly bothered about the state of the pay & conditions on offer, thats why.
So long as they can get the hours & nights out in to make up for the poor hourly rate, whilst holding the keys to a flash motor with fairy lights & living the dream of a ‘real trucker’ - they are happy.
That sadly is about the way it is. I was talking to a James Irlam driver some years ago and he seemed content to have a new lorry in preference to a pay rise.
I suppose if you spend a lot of time living in your cab - the idea of a decent wagon appeals.
There’s a lot of people in my neighbourhood who look like they’ve got 4x4s parked outside their 2-up-2-down houses where the outstanding motor finance is higher than the outstanding mortgage! 
As one of the posters above sensibly says, in evaluating how happy you are with your job you have to consider more than the hourly rate. I’m fortunate enough that for what I do (trunking Merc Sprinters up and down the country at night) I think I’m fairly well rewarded (after attendance bonus, night allowance, production bonus) I come out with approx £11.50-12 per hour. But there are other non-monetary benefits which make me think I’m quite lucky:
- I’ve been working for the Company for 12 years and it’s one of the largest, well-established in its sector so there’s job security.
- The job is very easy apart from a few winter nights when the weather is ropey, driving approx 400 miles each night, same places every night, all motorway driving, nice modern vehicles with cruise control.
- I’ve not incurred the cost of having to get an LGV licence, CPC and ongoing costs.
- I’m just left to get on with it as they know I never take the p*ss.
- It’s an 8 minute drive to and from work.
- I can be up after 7hrs sleep at 11AM, pick my son up from nursery and spend all afternoon with him, not to mention saving a fortune on childcare (this saving is probably worth an extra £4 per hour on my wages!)
I sometimes consider gaining an LGV licence and driving bigger things at night for slightly more money, but I doubt I’d find a job that fits in so perfectly with home life, I think jobs like mine are out there, you just have to be fortunate enough to find them.
Braveheart1984:
In my couple of years in this profession, I had wondered why truck drivers don’t have a dedicated trade union, with the power of ASLEF or the RMT to fight for better pay and conditions?
Because most of the wa’'ers work for a new Scania or Daf and like putting one over on the rest that try to improve conditions