I used to work for Richard Long does that count Rob ? 
Mine never phone me at home or out on the road, never question me if I say I need a break and Iām never expected to go over 9 hrs and if they do want me to they ask very politely indeed, but then i work for a well known supermarket !!
DSV/Warehouse one, I did a few months agency work for them. Only time I heard from them was when I called in to let them know I had finished the run, was either given one more job on the drive back or told to come back.
Since the agency days, Iām now in Air Freight worked for a small firm running out the cargo center at MAN. ā ā ā ā ā ā ā nightmare, only small the place, 3 artics, 3 18tonners, handfull of 7.5ton and one or 2 vans. Text messages, phone calls to make sure Iāve got the text for an extra job etc etc. Moved onto another firm, I would say smaller fleetwise, but had a depot in south manchester and a depot at Birmingham Airport given run sheet, would not here a peep out of them, and was never given any extra jobs when I phoned in at the end of the run, just head back. And the odd time I did a night run, everyone went home at 18:00 no night supervisor or ā ā ā ā all.
My lot leave me alone. I only get phone calls when absolutely necessary. Never chased, job takes as long as it takes. Some days are 6 hours and some are 15. What the driver says usually goes
I bet that well known Greek God donāt get a mention.
Best avoided, lol
Pretty much left alone@ Sawyers to get on with job,
maybe a phonecall every now and again from ācustomer servicesā asking what time you reckon youāll be at tip.
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Big Truck:
Pretty much left alone@ Sawyers to get on with job,
maybe a phonecall every now and again from ācustomer servicesā asking what time you reckon youāll be at tip.Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
You werenāt the Sawyers driver I seen in Italy about 4 weeks ago near lake Como were you ?
bald bloke:
Big Truck:
Pretty much left alone@ Sawyers to get on with job,
maybe a phonecall every now and again from ācustomer servicesā asking what time you reckon youāll be at tip.Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
You werenāt the Sawyers driver I seen in Italy about 4 weeks ago near lake Como were you ?
Jāsus BB,
couldnāt go that far,
Portsmouth be as far South as wife would allow!!![emoji41]
Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
Big Truck:
bald bloke:
Big Truck:
Pretty much left alone@ Sawyers to get on with job,
maybe a phonecall every now and again from ācustomer servicesā asking what time you reckon youāll be at tip.Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
You werenāt the Sawyers driver I seen in Italy about 4 weeks ago near lake Como were you ?
Jāsus BB,
couldnāt go that far,
Portsmouth be as far South as wife would allow!!![emoji41]Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
Fair enough, itās just that I seen one heading towards a mountain pass that was scary just doing it in the car and was wondering if he made it ok.
If someone has been working full time for a company for a fair amount of time & they still get harassed by phone I think you need to take a look at yourself first to be honest.
Iāve built up a rapport with my āplannersā (I hate that word), they know iāll inform them if theres anything they need to know, so thus my cab phone hardly ever rings. If it does, itās always so they can pass on some information or inform me of a change of plans - not to chase me.
Donāt forget that āplannersā at for-profit transport firms are usually getting their ears chewed all day by customers, we just need to to keep them updated so they can offer answers. It takes literally 20 seconds to phone and say āIāve arrived at x place, there is a long queue itāll be a few hoursā. Whatās the drama? Play the game & exaggerate your estimated turn around times & youāll never hear from them.
If you donāt want any phone calls, you need to work for a non-profit transport set up like a supermarket.
I do get calls but its rare. Because I do multidrop it makes it harder for them to keep track, plus we get a lot of jobs that have set tip times. If Iām going to miss a time, I phone the office and let them deal with it. Normally they donāt but least Iāve covered my arse by phoning it in.
bald bloke:
Big Truck:
bald bloke:
Big Truck:
Pretty much left alone@ Sawyers to get on with job,
maybe a phonecall every now and again from ācustomer servicesā asking what time you reckon youāll be at tip.Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
You werenāt the Sawyers driver I seen in Italy about 4 weeks ago near lake Como were you ?
Jāsus BB,
couldnāt go that far,
Portsmouth be as far South as wife would allow!!![emoji41]Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
Fair enough, itās just that I seen one heading towards a mountain pass that was scary just doing it in the car and was wondering if he made it ok.
Think the Sawyers boys who go to Italy have the cow-hide contract so maybe going to an out of the way tannery.
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In my experience, this sort of chasing is most prevalent at both the large pound a mile types, where they need 3 loads a day to make money, or the small general hauliers on groupage runs, offering 10 customers London to Scotland at Ā£50 each, all under the assumption theyāre getting a dedicated service. Hence all the phone calls as every day is planned to be a perfect day. I avoid both types of companies like the plague
robroy:
Firms ALL try you out when you first start your employment with them, to see how far you will or will not be pushed, l:
Not us, in fact itās the reverse. We usually just have the one drop and virtually never backload. The job is what it is. Some jobs are routine, some are out all week, often run through the job with the drivers beforehand. Smdtimes I ring drivers just so they know I havenāt forgotten them, twenty minutes later the phone goes down and it wasnāt me that kept the conversation going.
There are 2 types of companies to work for, both types I have worked for in the past, (not saying which type I am on now btw) and each brings itās own level of driver co.operation and attitude, which is directly proportional to the way the driver is looked upon and treated.
1ā¦āāTeam companiesāā ā¦Where you are treated like a grown up, looked upon as an important part of the firmā¦an asset in fact, you are not checked up on every 5 mins, the extra mile that you go as a result of being treat that way is amply rewarded by a bit extra on your pay cheque, the type of co. that would rather give you a quid extra than take pennies off you for trivial things.
At the end of the year get a free bar ā ā ā ā up maybe, or in my case a driverās āladās weekendā in Blackpool one year. 
This type comes under the thread subject of ārelaxed companiesā
āāThem and Us companiesāā ā¦Where you are looked upon as a necessary evil, and with suspicion because they always think everybody is out to rip them off.
Where you are constantly watched on a tracker, treat like a schoolboy (unless you nip it in the bud on day1 that is 
) and rang whenever they think you are up to something if you go 2ks off routeā¦or stop for a ā ā ā ā 
. ā¦(.again nip and bud)
Penny pinch your wage (without pre consultation) if you do something they deem wrong, never pay anything they do not have to such as meal vouchers when parking, instead they dock the money off your wageā¦I could go on for ages on this but will spare you the boredom, but you get my drift.
Which firm will get the most work and co.operation out of their drivers, and which firm will not, but instead get a āā ā ā ā ā themāā attitude from their driversā¦not including the āāyes menāā here needless to say.
Ive never worked for one of the larger, multi-depot companies. I daresay I could get used to their way of working, but have no intention of leaving where I am now. (Dunno what the boss thinks tho :question: ) Anyway, where I am the trucks and trailers are maintained by main dealers, so what needs doing is done without any in house penny pinching. No worries there. We typically ship out, with from one to ten drops on, when empty we ring in and get sent a loading list. The list will have pick up addresses, opening hours, and contact phone numbers. So, although itll be in order, we are free to alter it around, and make our own arrangements for āout of hoursā appointments, if the client agrees. Sometimes a few extra miles can save a lot of time. That way the job is smoother, easier both for the company and for us. And we get to plan restaurant stops, within reason. Having done the last collection, or within sight of it, well phone in to say which ferry we want. Normally no pressure or chasing. Relaxed? Yeah. Could do with a little more money, but then who couldnt?! Salaried, so no need to chase hours or overtime. Maybe not a job for everyone, but there are quite a few drivers been here a while now, so I`m not the only one happy with it.
EDIT. And with only a couple of dozen trucks its all first name terms with the office. Any issues can be directed straight to those responsible. They dont always agree with me, but being heard is stress releiving.
Canāt see why our lot would ever ring me as bosses instruction was too make it last 8 hrs a night ( 4o hrs p.w ) as paid 50 and questions would come from up high if you were doing 30 ish hours for your 50 guaranteed .
And this also blows the myth being peddled on this thread that the only drivers who get rang are the ones who toss the job off , drag it out , canāt be trusted etc , previous job I was always being rang ( and I wanted too be done yesterday ) wheras now never had any communication fro t.o when out for night with new mob
I reckon that a lot of firms treat individual drivers differently according to past results. Itās always been my experience that what to T O really want is a kind of āfire and forgetā driver, the type that does the job in a reasonable timeframe, doesnāt upset anyone along the way and doesnāt damage anything along the way either.
My cab phone rang on Friday and it took me a few seconds to realise what the strange noise was! Turns out it was the planner planning next weeks work and he wanted to know if I was working on Monday, to which I said no. Job sorted from his point of view.
Our vehicles are tracked and on the odd occasion that Iāve been massively off route either to avoid massive hold ups ahead or simply 'cos I wanted to be somewhere particular for a night out Iāve been prepared to defend my actions but have never once been questioned on my choice of route. This leads me to believe that either they donāt check the tracking or they are treating me as a grown up and letting me get on with what they pays the big bucks for. 
Ours is relaxed so long as you do the job right, but come up on the radar and that can change.
We get a start time, i often start anything up to an hour before that time depending if the lorry needs a wash down before leaving, or route, or usual traffic hotspots or where iām going to have my break, possibly before tipping (usually one drop home MT), never been questioned donāt expect to be.
So long as the job gets done, the customer is happy, you donāt have any accidents or damage or genuine complaints against you the company leave you alone.
We are tracked, we have telematics, but the phone never rings and no one has ever asked for explanations.
No one pushes you (except for some drivers from another depot who think theyāre on a mission and being held up for 5 minutes means their life will end ), you get a set days work (no nights out), the job takes as long as it takes, we can choose our own routes so long they are legal, iāve taken some right odd routes to get round snarl ups, no oneās said a dickie bird.
Itās not what youād call relaxed, but so long as you do your job right and look after the customer youāll never hear from the office.
The only flies in the ointment are those who drivers donāt appreciate quite what they have and do or say stupid things and the usual whingers whoād still moan if they were paid a grand a week to lie in bed.
Only hear from office if thereās a change of plan or if someone will be coming to meet me to download tachograph or to meet a fitter for minor repairs or bring lorry back to yard for checks etc as Iām not based at our main yard