jessicas dad:
i think it depends on the company… reason being everybody from the bottom up has to answer to someone and everybody is looking for somebody else to blame nowadays, stobarts, maritime, wincanton, downtons the list is endlist all look to blame the driver and as they say [zb] rolls downhill. its not always fair the said driver was just trying to use his head and work things a bit better for himself and his employer but it’s bit him on the arse.
i find nowadays just do what you are told, sometimes it’s soul destroying and heartbreaking knowing something is wrong but if you do as they say no matter what they cant blame you. my firm are terrible for trying to blame the driver for everything… perfect example crane tracks at work have yellow lines you arent meant to cross, so it snows covers the line and crane hits a lorry, drivers fault he crossed a line he couldnt see.
even if its the most stupid thing just do it as your told and cover your own arse.
yep thats what i was told ,do it the stobart way and youll have no problems, do it different and you wont be round long.
in a way i can see it,but like the other day got to batleys,huddersfield,few trucks in yard and few on road so went and did drop in huddersfield , one in elland, then went back to batleys , now ill just sit in the que like the rest.
but make sure you phone them to inform them of the queue and await further instruction.
you see i work for a company you REALLY have to cover your arse.
Now Now JD. You cannot use that naughty word on here. get it Zb,d . before I get Rikki on the case. If I used a zb word like that you,d soon jump in with your blue zb pencil. which you need shoving up your rrrs – sideways! Hat-- Coat–Dog-- I,ll pre-mod meself
Now Now JD. You cannot use that naughty word on here. get it Zb,d . before I get Rikki on the case. If I used a zb word like that you,d soon jump in with your blue zb pencil. which you need shoving up your rrrs – sideways! Hat-- Coat–Dog-- I,ll pre-mod meself
rikki’s not here … arse arse arse arse and arse again
ady1:
thanks for the replies, then end result of my hypothetical day was 2 weeks suspension and the sack[not me ill add].
the main reason i asked was i wanted to know what its really like out there, is everywhere the same.
ive been happy enough in my job, no one bothers me,just get on with job, but whats happened could of so easily been me, ive done job my way 100,s of times and its always worked out,but by whats happened you feel you walking on thin ice, mistake,think for yourself and it goes wrong your gone.
makes you think dosnt it nice chap being sacked,really thrown me,not sure its the job for me anymore
Hi ady1, thanks for the ultimate clarification.
If it were the conduct issue alone, and somebody were dismissed for that reason, the status of the boss’ instructions would be absolutely key as to whether the dismissal could be regarded as fair.
I’m afraid that the capability issue pretty much decided itself, but the boss does have a whole range of responses available to him in the circumstances you described. I know of a Esso tanker driver who rolled a tanker on a clear dry day in very light traffic and lost 35,000 liters of diesel fuel. The clean-up and recovery bill was astronomical, but the guy kept his job simply because the boss decided not to dismiss.
IMHO, there’s a lot to be learned from this case for both bosses and drivers.
One obvious lesson is that employees need clear unambiguous instructions, preferably forming part of the written employment contract so that each side knows what is expected.
That tends to stop either side from moving the goalposts.
Yet another reason to work as an owner driver.If you don’t lose your licence for wiping out the tree and the lampost you’re not going to suspend and sack yourself.But most owner drivers would’nt be doing multi drop anyway.
fella at my place hit a bridge then knocked down a wall within 3 weeks.But they kept him on because he had a clean sheet previously stretching back a few years his truck always earnt.I think it,s a case of “depends on?”
fuse:
Ady1 I would sack YOU, you are only the driver, you do not do as you please
That would be perfectly OK, provided that you’d made that instruction clear in the first place, cos it simply won’t wash if you try to move existing goalposts.
Of course, once you’ve taken the possibly short-sighted view that all the other times that the driver had used his initiative and got the jobs done quickly don’t count for anything, do you honestly think it’s ok to move the goalposts and sack him on another day just because the job didn’t go so well?
Look at the reverse argument… you’re the driver, you usually do well for your boss by using your initiative, but then your boss sacks you for… errr… using your initiative.
How would you feel about that ?
You may be the boss, and you’d have my unconditional respect for that, but being the boss doesn’t automatically make it that whatever you say is correct. That’s why we have Employment Tribunals.
I quite often go in to work and have 3 or 4 first drops I ask my bioss which first drop to do first and never get a reply , he thinkis its sarcasm but its not.
But if a customer phones and complains he says why didnt you do that one first in this case its ALWAYS the driver to blame.
Unless your boss said go A B C go down this road etc he cant do jack ■■■■■■ let him sack you then go to the tribunal and mention your lack of training in optimising directional distribution.
I know that someone will soon put me right.I am one of those “old ■■■■■” who knows ■■■-all – But.-- When a trailer, or container, is loaded for a number of drops at different locations,it used to be that the pallets for the last drop would be on the headboard, and so on back to the tailboard end, on which would/should be the pallets for the first drop. The paper-work given to the driver would/should, indicate the order in which the deliveries were to be made. If the trailer has not been loaded in the correct sequence, and he gets to his first delivery point and finds that the pallets on the arse end, are not the ones for that customer, then the fault lies squarely back at base.So far so good.
If a driver chooses to “pick and mix” the order in which he decides, for whatever reason to , to do the deliveries, as seems to be what happened in this “hypothetical” case, then he could well decide to do what should have been the last drop first, (where he would be relying on the delivery point FLT driver getting the pallets off without causing damage to the pallets for the next drop,-- (or in the case of a container being asked to take off, and then reload the pallets which are burying his pallets in, which I could not see happening)–, and then continue on his merry way, with next to no weight on the drive axle, and maybe 20ton on the back half of the trailer, which would have the effect of making it swing about like a big conker, which would mean that his vehicle was in a dangerous condition.
If he then got into any sort of difficulty while he was trying to get into his delivery point, then in my view, it would be his fault. The cost of putting it all right would be down to him. He would be on his way, with his p45 in his pocket, asap.
Feel free to shoot me down. I am now off out for a 10 mile walk to the Haweswater Hotel, where I will have a couple of pints, then head back home.
