Hi guys/gals,
After working on a ‘zero hour’ contract for the last 18 months or so, I’ve recently secured a permanent full-time job with Maritime. I’m now based at Hams Hall near Birmingham as a tramper.
Anybody else work for them or have worked for them on here? What are people’s opinions of them?
Cheers!
LJ. 
Do a search on here mate, plenty of info. Just be prepared to give up your life for them.
Tramping then…
Good luck mate, you can earn good money(that’s why we bother) good kit, easy work.
I’ll c u soon.
Good luck with the job…
I’d be interested to know what you make of it. I’ve heard several conflicting reports on Maritime ranging from “good kit ,very easy job” to “where’s my life gone?..Oh yes, it’s in a in a steel box with wheels that says ‘Maritime’ on the side.”
Keep us posted on your progress.
Silver_Surfer:
Tramping then…
Huh?? 
Thereal-john:
Good luck mate, you can earn good money(that’s why we bother) good kit, easy work.
I’ll c u soon.
Thanks! Yeah, that seems to be what most people say! 
Which depot you based out of?
Truckulent:
Good luck with the job…
Thanks!
Truckulent:
I’d be interested to know what you make of it. I’ve heard several conflicting reports on Maritime ranging from “good kit ,very easy job” to “where’s my life gone?..Oh yes, it’s in a in a steel box with wheels that says ‘Maritime’ on the side.”Keep us posted on your progress.
Yes, I will let you know how it goes. So far it’s been ok. Not brilliant, due to having to cab-hop atm and they didn’t pay me my bonus for 3 ADR jobs I done in weeks 1 and 2 (they’ve paid it now though! ) and yesterday while I was waiting at a job to get tipped I phoned the manager to point out that I’m missing one night out payment and 2 hours overtime (1 from last week and 1 from week before). He told me to mark it down on the timesheet I handed in yesterday and he’ll look at it on Monday. So, hopefully I’ll get what I’m owed but I don’t think it’s gives a good impression to a new starter when the company can’t get the wages/bonuses/expenses right! Time will tell I guess. It will be better when I get my uniform as well, but at the moment I’m still wearing my own clothes. This coming week will be my 4th.
Personally, I don’t mind doing long hours in the week and even the odd bit of weekend work, as I’m a single chap with no kids or commitments. Good, eh? 
What depot are you based out of?
I had twelve weeks on for Maritime out of Northampton on nights, then days, I liked the job, the planners there were ok with me anyway, I wanted to tramp, but they are trying to do away with the trampers there, If I hadn’t been offered my current job on the tankers, I would still be there, but probably at a depot where I could tramp. I cannot fault the kit, new trucks all with fridge, microwave and the hi top Scanias with the coffee maker too. I never did get my uniform yet. The job is only what you make it. do what you can, stick to the law and be prepared to say " sorry can’t do that due to the drivers regs" and you will be ok, and take a book, tablet, computer cos you will spend some time waiting to tip or load. enjoy.
Sapper
sapper:
take a book, tablet, computer cos you will spend some time waiting to tip or load. enjoy.
Cheers mate.
Oh yes! I’ve already encountered places where they keep you there for half the day just to tip one container! 
Mind you, like you say, the job is what you make it. I really don’t mind (in fact I quite enjoy) waiting around for hours to get tipped/loaded when I’m getting paid for it. And I’ve already learned not to get stressed and simply tell any planners that I can’t legally do something they want if it’s not actualy legal for me to do so. So far I haven’t had any ‘run-ins’ with any planners or managers, but I’m guessing it will happen one day… 
LJA:
Silver_Surfer:
Tramping then…Huh??
The post above was saying you need to give up your life for them, like most tramping jobs…
Silver_Surfer:
LJA:
Silver_Surfer:
Tramping then…Huh??
The post above was saying you need to give up your life for them, like most tramping jobs…
Right. Well, I don’t reckon it’s all that bad as I will usually have my weekends off. The last company I was tramping for was a 24/7 operation 365 days a year!
You have moved back up from Cornwall then? Or a long commute?
Hope all goes well for you.
LJA:
Silver_Surfer:
LJA:
Silver_Surfer:
Tramping then…Huh??
The post above was saying you need to give up your life for them, like most tramping jobs…
Right. Well, I don’t reckon it’s all that bad as I will usually have my weekends off. The last company I was tramping for was a 24/7 operation 365 days a year!
You’re pretty lucky up there. The depot down here does a load of Tosco ■■■■■ and you’d get a message come up on that incab screen saying they need to cover 25 shifts over the weekend at Tosco. That wasn’t a problem for anyone who wanted to volunteer but after being out all week not many drivers did so then came the punchline to their message…“If we fail to get the required number of volunteers then we will rosta drivers in to work.” Yeah ok, you’ve been away all week and we still ain’t allowed time at home to do what we want…hence the comment about giving your life to them.
mikeshe:
You’re pretty lucky up there. The depot down here does a load of Tosco [zb] and you’d get a message come up on that incab screen saying they need to cover 25 shifts over the weekend at Tosco. That wasn’t a problem for anyone who wanted to volunteer but after being out all week not many drivers did so then came the punchline to their message…“If we fail to get the required number of volunteers then we will rosta drivers in to work.” Yeah ok, you’ve been away all week and we still ain’t allowed time at home to do what we want…hence the comment about giving your life to them.
Yeah, fair point mate. 
I will just have to see how I get on during the next few months. Although I don’t have kids to look after or a missus moaning about not seeing me, I do still like to have a life outside of work! So hopefully I will be able to ‘help out’ by doing the odd the shift on Saturdays and that will not only give me a few extra £’s in my pocket, it should keep them happy as well. As long as they don’t expect it every week!
dar1976:
You have moved back up from Cornwall then? Or a long commute?
Yes I moved mate. I moved out of my flat in St Austell, put all my stuff into storage with Pickfords and moved in with my Mom at her bungalow in Stratford-upon-Avon (sleeping on the sofa).
You missed the ‘clue’ of my new location underneath my avatar picture?
dar1976:
Hope all goes well for you.
Cheers! So far so good.
Was it any good and are you still there ? Was thinking of giving it a try
Davidgeorgebrittain:
Was it any good and are you still there ? Was thinking of giving it a try
Hiya chap. Sorry I didn’t answer but I haven’t been active on the forum all this year! 
I’m no longer there at Maritime. I lasted until just before Christmas of last year when I finally had enough of it.
After being there many months, I still didn’t have all my uniform (not 1 single shirt!), every week I was missing either overtime or ADR bonuses, and they kept putting me down for a delivery somewhere on a Friday which meant running back in on Saturday morning without asking me first! (I eventually worked out that you must phone the office on Monday and tell them NOT to put you down to do this). How ■■■■ stupid is that!!? But the last straw for me was when I was pulling a curtainsider out of the Northampton depot…I was getting it loaded near Kegworth but ran out of my 15 hour day and had to park up at the services near there with just minutes to spare. Having told the office what I was doing, I planned to get my 9 hour rest in and set off in the morning to get the trailer to the depot for them (which I had originally planned to do on the day but got held up for about 4-5 hours before finally getting it loaded). The office should’ve told me they really needed that trailer that night and to uncouple then drop it for another driver to collect, but they didn’t. So, at around 2:30am I was woken up by someone knocking on my door! I was absolutely shattered and that was the last thing I needed! I hit the roof when I spoke with the office in the morning and when I eventually arrived at the depot that afternoon, I was called into the office by an area manager who asked me what had happened the night before. So, I don’t know if anyone got a bollocking for it, but I put my notice in and left a week later. It was silly things like this that happened every single week as well as the fact that I was cab-hopping all the time that I just couldn’t take anymore. Oh, and that week I decided to leave I had to cab-hop twice in that week!! That really annoyed me as I found out they knew I wouldn’t be using the truck all that week but didn’t tell me until the Wednesday. If they had told me on the Monday, I wouldn’t have kitted it out with all my stuff, just a bit for the few days instead. 
It’s a real shame as the kit is good, the work is easy, you get to stay at all the depots around the country where most of them have decent facilities and don’t have to doss in laybys, all the guys I worked alongside there were decent friendly chaps and I earned decent money. Maybe it’s changed now and they’re a bit more organised I don’t know.
Is the money good for tramping looking at Southampton? pm if you wish
Cheers
LJA:
Davidgeorgebrittain:
Was it any good and are you still there ? Was thinking of giving it a tryHiya chap. Sorry I didn’t answer but I haven’t been active on the forum all this year!
I’m no longer there at Maritime. I lasted until just before Christmas of last year when I finally had enough of it.After being there many months, I still didn’t have all my uniform (not 1 single shirt!), every week I was missing either overtime or ADR bonuses, and they kept putting me down for a delivery somewhere on a Friday which meant running back in on Saturday morning without asking me first! (I eventually worked out that you must phone the office on Monday and tell them NOT to put you down to do this). How ■■■■ stupid is that!!? But the last straw for me was when I was pulling a curtainsider out of the Northampton depot…I was getting it loaded near Kegworth but ran out of my 15 hour day and had to park up at the services near there with just minutes to spare. Having told the office what I was doing, I planned to get my 9 hour rest in and set off in the morning to get the trailer to the depot for them (which I had originally planned to do on the day but got held up for about 4-5 hours before finally getting it loaded). The office should’ve told me they really needed that trailer that night and to uncouple then drop it for another driver to collect, but they didn’t. So, at around 2:30am I was woken up by someone knocking on my door! I was absolutely shattered and that was the last thing I needed! I hit the roof when I spoke with the office in the morning and when I eventually arrived at the depot that afternoon, I was called into the office by an area manager who asked me what had happened the night before. So, I don’t know if anyone got a bollocking for it, but I put my notice in and left a week later. It was silly things like this that happened every single week as well as the fact that I was cab-hopping all the time that I just couldn’t take anymore. Oh, and that week I decided to leave I had to cab-hop twice in that week!! That really annoyed me as I found out they knew I wouldn’t be using the truck all that week but didn’t tell me until the Wednesday. If they had told me on the Monday, I wouldn’t have kitted it out with all my stuff, just a bit for the few days instead.
It’s a real shame as the kit is good, the work is easy, you get to stay at all the depots around the country where most of them have decent facilities and don’t have to doss in laybys, all the guys I worked alongside there were decent friendly chaps and I earned decent money. Maybe it’s changed now and they’re a bit more organised I don’t know.
Unlikely, sounds very similar to how it was when I was there in 2010