Carryfast:
.If interest rates were to rise
This will happen at some point in the next 1-2 years, when the USA raises their interest rate. The reason interest rates hit 15% in the early 1990s is because Germany raised their interest rate to pay for re-unification. No matter how difficult it is for some folk to believe, we are a piddly little country and we have no choice but to follow more powerful players.
When the dcpc comes in August, there will be a shortage of LGV drivers. Then the hauliers will have to demand better rates to attract younger blokes to come into the haulage industry,then drivers wages should increase, as in the days when the HGV licence came in.
Dave the Renegade:
When the dcpc comes in August, there will be a shortage of LGV drivers. Then the hauliers will have to demand better rates to attract younger blokes to come into the haulage industry,then drivers wages should increase, as in the days when the HGV licence came in.
It would be nice to think so but I just can’t see it happening myself, paying higher wages will always take second place to finding more immigrant labour.
Dave the Renegade:
When the dcpc comes in August, there will be a shortage of LGV drivers. Then the hauliers will have to demand better rates to attract younger blokes to come into the haulage industry,then drivers wages should increase, as in the days when the HGV licence came in.
i dont think it will make a difference to be honest
stevieboy308:
sonofjamie:
What we need is minimum rates - NOT minimum wages.I said to loads of people at the time the minimum wage was introduced that it was all a big con and would give employers a “target” rate that they could pay regardless of skills/training/education/qualifications required to do the job.
I argued that at the time the NMW was introduced, ALL pay rates for every job should have been set and set as being the minimum rate for that job and could only increase - NOT be decreased.
What we see now is a race to the bottom!!!
that would be totally unworkable, surely?
who sets the rates? how do they determine the rates? how many different jobs are there? how many different jobs are there under the same heading? can you imagine the fallout as x thinks they should be on more than y. can you imagine the bureaucracy and cost? why shouldn’t rates go down?
trucknet’s much loved ‘race to the bottom’ phrase, is part and parcel of capitalism and nothing new as some seem to like to make out. do you have a problem with the race to the bottom when you’re buying something?
Job evaluation has been around since the days of your old pal Baggie Maggie. It has been used not just in the Public Sector but in many Private Businesses too.
Jobs are graded on various elements like, qualifications/skills required, physical/mental requirements, etc. The means to evaluate every job in the UK are already there - it would not cost a fortune - there just isn’t the political will to do it. It would be easy to set up an independent body who would set the minimum rates.
There used to be minimum mileage rates in countries across Europe (Holland is just one example) where it was illegal for a haulage company to charge below that rate. I remember speaking to an English Owner/Driver in Hull who told me why he ran a Dutch truck for P&O Holland rather than the Hull P&O because he was guaranteed better rates from the Dutch side. Thanks to Baggie Maggie, Britain had started it’s love affair with Neoliberal Free-market Capitalism and it was now dog-eat-dog and the last man standing (Eddie Stobart) takes the lot!
The reason for the “much loved phrase” as you call it, is probably because some of us here have the insight/foresight to see that that is precisely what it is - a race to the bottom for us, and a disproportionately large slice of the cake for those who sit at the top.
As for “Do I have a problem . . .” - Yes, I certainly do. I don’t appreciate that I can only buy a TV now that has more than likely been manufactured in some hell-hole of a workplace where workers are on a pittance and treated like dog-■■■■ and for some the only escape is to jump off the factory roof (as happens in a number of these far east factories).
So frankly, you can shove your free-market capitalism up your exhaust pipe, it’s high time that the people who actually create the wealth in this country - i.e. the workers - were able to get their fair share of the cake.
RANT OVER
big boots:
Dave the Renegade:
When the dcpc comes in August, there will be a shortage of LGV drivers. Then the hauliers will have to demand better rates to attract younger blokes to come into the haulage industry,then drivers wages should increase, as in the days when the HGV licence came in.i dont think it will make a difference to be honest
I was driving when the HGV licence came in. Most firms paid 60% more overnight because a lot of drivers couldn’t pass the medical. The same will happen when the DCPC comes in, a lot aren’t bothering to do it.
Cheers Dave.
sonofjamie:
As for “Do I have a problem . . .” - Yes, I certainly do. I don’t appreciate that I can only buy a TV now that has more than likely been manufactured in some hell-hole of a workplace and for some the only escape is to jump off the factory roof (as happens in a number of these far east factories).So frankly, you can shove your free-market capitalism up your exhaust pipe,
To be fair that was also how many people viewed working in our own factories during the days when we still had some work and the unions were actually doing their job keeping our wages ahead of price increases.In my case luckily I didn’t bother trying to jump off the factory roof because I didn’t think it was high enough. 
Dave the Renegade:
big boots:
Dave the Renegade:
When the dcpc comes in August, there will be a shortage of LGV drivers. Then the hauliers will have to demand better rates to attract younger blokes to come into the haulage industry,then drivers wages should increase, as in the days when the HGV licence came in.i dont think it will make a difference to be honest
I was driving when the HGV licence came in. Most firms paid 60% more overnight because a lot of drivers couldn’t pass the medical. The same will happen when the DCPC comes in, a lot aren’t bothering to do it.
Cheers Dave.
If you have a full time job, you’ve probably already been put through dcpc on firm’s time.
If you are agency, you’ve gotta pay for it yourself, or sign into some contract that’ll have you do so many weeks on low rates at some supermarket, etc.
It seems to me that there will be a shortage of agency drivers come October-December run-up to Christmas this year, as the very drivers who have decided “not to fork out” or “cannot be arsed” will be coming from agency ranks rather than full timer ranks. Even right now, in January 2014, there seems to be a lot more work around than in the past two Januaries. 
There will of course be many agencies that will attempt to use the sudden upshift in going rates to keep rates static, and grab all the work as client yards scramble around the cheapo outfits.
How long do you think it will take though before the more experienced agency drivers wise-up, and just move to one of the many other agencies who actually react to market forces, instead of burying their heads in the sands, clinging to the by now out-moded “race to the bottom”?
For every worker who has benefitted from the NMW I’ll wager that many more have suffered through it, it now gives a black and white target for crap employers to aim for!
So all these drivers drivers who claim they’re not doing the DCPC… apart from those who can retire what are they going to do instead? What other line of work are they going to magically walk into on comparable money? Or are these the same drivers who earn a grand a week and have had their V8s chipped to 1000hp, I wonder…
Many who post on here will be no worse off driving a Transit. No DCPC required!
the maoster:
For every worker who has benefitted from the NMW I’ll wager that many more have suffered through it, it now gives a black and white target for crap employers to aim for!
I think the TUC knows at worst it’s a government imposed wage cap and at best a guideline all based on the ■■■■■■■■ idea that ‘inflation’ is wage led not price led.However the working class has basically brought it all on itself by believing the government line and calling the unions of the 1970’s ‘militant’. 
Dave the Renegade:
When the dcpc comes in August, there will be a shortage of LGV drivers. Then the hauliers will have to demand better rates to attract younger blokes to come into the haulage industry,then drivers wages should increase, as in the days when the HGV licence came in.
How much has coach driver wages gone up since September
Carryfast:
However the working class has basically brought it all on itself by believing the government line and calling the unions of the 1970’s ‘militant’.
During the miners strike of 84/85 I was told this by a chap who’s opinions I had a LOT of respect for . . .
“Can you imagine a reality that Scargill is actually working for ‘them’, the government”?
It was posed as a hypothetical question, but coming from the bloke who said it, I’m sure it had a much deeper meaning.
Can you imagine a reality where the rest of us think our union leaders were/are militant . . . because that’s EXACTLY what they want us to think?
I might be a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions of conspiracy theories, but I reckon King Arfur, Red Len etc. Did a hell of a lot towards us, Joe Public, shunning the only thing which can protect us !
mac12:
Dave the Renegade:
When the dcpc comes in August, there will be a shortage of LGV drivers. Then the hauliers will have to demand better rates to attract younger blokes to come into the haulage industry,then drivers wages should increase, as in the days when the HGV licence came in.How much has coach driver wages gone up since September
They haven’t, because there is no shortage of coach drivers. Good coach drivers yes, coach drivers no. The reason is probably because seemingly unlike many HGV operators, most if not all coach firms paid for their drivers’ CPCs, just as bus companies (even the small ones) have.
There is a lesson there for any hauliers who might care to moan if the promised driver shortage does indeed come to pass, although I am not sure it will.
The going rate for coach driving with a real coach company, against driving a coach for the likes of Stagecoach or First, is still around the £7.50-£8.00 per hour in the north.
Chas:
Carryfast:
However the working class has basically brought it all on itself by believing the government line and calling the unions of the 1970’s ‘militant’.During the miners strike of 84/85 I was told this by a chap who’s opinions I had a LOT of respect for . . .
“Can you imagine a reality that Scargill is actually working for ‘them’, the government”?
It was posed as a hypothetical question, but coming from the bloke who said it, I’m sure it had a much deeper meaning.
Can you imagine a reality where the rest of us think our union leaders were/are militant . . . because that’s EXACTLY what they want us to think?
I might be a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions of conspiracy theories, but I reckon King Arfur, Red Len etc. Did a hell of a lot towards us, Joe Public, shunning the only thing which can protect us !
I think you’ve got it the wrong way round.Scargill was certainly misguided and not as bright as he should have been in knowing when to hold back ( in the case of keeping Heath in power until something better than Wilson,Callaghan and ultimately Thatcher could be sorted out in the form of a co alition between Powell and Shore ).Then added to that was being blinded by the bs Socialist cause instead of keeping it simple in the form of just concentrating jobs and wages.However history shows that on balance Scargill did more in regards to fighting for British jobs and wages than he did for Socialism.
Whereas in the case of Wilson,Callaghan and Thatcher having done more for the interests of the Global Free Market Economy and Chinese Communism than Mao,all helped by a weak TUC leadership who thought that appeasing the CBI was better than fighting it,then I’d absolutely agree with you.However that weakness in the TUC was arguably just a reflection of the working class rank and file having lost the plot from at least 1979 on.
Olog Hai:
So all these drivers drivers who claim they’re not doing the DCPC… apart from those who can retire what are they going to do instead? What other line of work are they going to magically walk into on comparable money? Or are these the same drivers who earn a grand a week and have had their V8s chipped to 1000hp, I wonder…
There are a hell of a lot of drivers out there who only drive part time in order to be greedy, I mean top up their wages. Some have full time warehouse jobs and then do agency work at weekends, others are retired and again, only cherry pick the shifts they like or pay the highest premiums. These are the drivers who will not be taking their dcpc and believe it or not they will leave a massive gap to be filled. granted there are lots of foreigners but most employers give them a wide berth after the destruction caused by the last lot so there is a vacuum that needs filling, how it will be filled is anybody’s guess but I for one will be upping the rates at the first opportunity.
As for the grand a week thing, I’ve already thrown down the gauntlet on that one, I can prove it is possible, who will bet me a grand I’m lying?