Glad I sparked a bit of a debate with my post yesterday. I do see myself as a skilled person and do not believe you can learn to drive a 44 tonne artic properly in a couple of weeks. Ok it’s not as skilled as flying a plane but if you make a mistake the results can be pretty catastrophic. I have recently been made redundant from a relatively well paid job and I am shocked at how bad things have become in the outside world. It seems that every step taken to improve things for drivers ie the 48 hour week leads to worse conditions such as you dont get overtime until you go over 48 hours. Every other job is based around 37.5 hours so why should we be any different?
Then we have the agency workers bill which entitles you to equal pay after 12 weeks resulting in umbrella companies employing you or self employment. As for the east europeans- a lot of the agencies won’t employ them now because basically they are too dodgy and cannot be vetted or dvla checked as easily as a UK licence holder.
There is a driver shortage and it isnt getting any better. Realise the importance of what we do.
peewack654:
Glad I sparked a bit of a debate with my post yesterday. I do see myself as a skilled person and do not believe you can learn to drive a 44 tonne artic properly in a couple of weeks. Ok it’s not as skilled as flying a plane but if you make a mistake the results can be pretty catastrophic. I have recently been made redundant from a relatively well paid job and I am shocked at how bad things have become in the outside world. It seems that every step taken to improve things for drivers ie the 48 hour week leads to worse conditions such as you dont get overtime until you go over 48 hours. Every other job is based around 37.5 hours so why should we be any different?
Then we have the agency workers bill which entitles you to equal pay after 12 weeks resulting in umbrella companies employing you or self employment. As for the east europeans- a lot of the agencies won’t employ them now because basically they are too dodgy and cannot be vetted or dvla checked as easily as a UK licence holder.
There is a driver shortage and it isnt getting any better. Realise the importance of what we do.
There is no driver shortage at all. There are too many drivers and not enough jobs, hence why rates are going south and not north. There are also too many trucks and not enough work, hence why everyone is undercutting each other and running 44 tonners at a quid a mile (no Mars Bar anymore lads, we’re in a recession).
And there is a never ended stream of foreign labour ready to come in. The supposed driver shortage due to people not doing DCPC? Won’t happen as the Poles will just ring their brother in law, next door neighbour, bloke they once bought a dog off and tell them that there are loads of jobs going over here.
peewack654:
Glad I sparked a bit of a debate with my post yesterday. I do see myself as a skilled person and do not believe you can learn to drive a 44 tonne artic properly in a couple of weeks. Ok it’s not as skilled as flying a plane but if you make a mistake the results can be pretty catastrophic. I have recently been made redundant from a relatively well paid job and I am shocked at how bad things have become in the outside world. It seems that every step taken to improve things for drivers ie the 48 hour week leads to worse conditions such as you dont get overtime until you go over 48 hours. Every other job is based around 37.5 hours so why should we be any different?
Then we have the agency workers bill which entitles you to equal pay after 12 weeks resulting in umbrella companies employing you or self employment. As for the east europeans- a lot of the agencies won’t employ them now because basically they are too dodgy and cannot be vetted or dvla checked as easily as a UK licence holder.
There is a driver shortage and it isnt getting any better. Realise the importance of what we do.
There is no driver shortage at all. There are too many drivers and not enough jobs, hence why rates are going south and not north. There are also too many trucks and not enough work, hence why everyone is undercutting each other and running 44 tonners at a quid a mile (no Mars Bar anymore lads, we’re in a recession).
Blimey, a quid a mile … I worked for a firm when I first started driving 32 years ago, and they charged a quid a mile back then (1981). Used to run empty down to Brittany and back up with carrots or caulis for the NW markets twice a week, and watch the frenchies run up here empty and running back with NW produce. Backloads didn’t seem that impportant then.
I don’t understand the backload rate culture. Diesel, wages and wear and tear cost the same both ways. I know you are there and have to go home anyway but every load is a backload for someone. All that happens is everyone gets ■■■■ rates.
starfighter:
I don’t understand the backload rate culture. Diesel, wages and wear and tear cost the same both ways. I know you are there and have to go home anyway but every load is a backload for someone. All that happens is everyone gets [zb] rates.
If you were an owner driver and empty 200 miles from home - would you turn down a back load, even if it paid little more than the cost of the fuel?
Probably not if it came to it. I was just in dreamland where we stuck together and said “no that job isn’t worth doing”. As someone said the other day, there are five men to say yes behind every man who says no.
starfighter:
I don’t understand the backload rate culture. Diesel, wages and wear and tear cost the same both ways. I know you are there and have to go home anyway but every load is a backload for someone. All that happens is everyone gets [zb] rates.
If you were an owner driver and empty 200 miles from home - would you turn down a back load, even if it paid little more than the cost of the fuel?
I only ever did a job if it was worthwhile one way. Working for backload rates is ultimately cutting your own throat. I was in Brum one day and got a call from the firm I was delivering for. They had a job coming back and the pick up point was about 5 miles from where I was delivering. It couldn’t have worked out better. They asked for a price and I quoted them the same as I had quoted for the delivery I was doing. They wanted it “cheaper as I was already there and coming back this way”. I told them my business plan involved finding the next job that paid acceptable rates and if they accepted my quote, which had been acceptable to them for their delivery, then that next job would be theirs. If not I’d be working for someone else who paid the going rate. I got the job at my rate. Would I have run back empty? Absolutely! Because pricing the job properly in the first place allows you to do that. I gave up being an O/D about 11 years ago when I couldn’t find enough reasonable paying work. There’s an awful lot of people working for pin money these days. I’m not interested in being a charity on wheels. Let 'em have it!
peewack654:
Glad I sparked a bit of a debate with my post yesterday. I do see myself as a skilled person and do not believe you can learn to drive a 44 tonne artic properly in a couple of weeks.
Correct. You can do it in 5 days.
It seems that every step taken to improve things for drivers ie the 48 hour week leads to worse conditions such as you dont get overtime until you go over 48 hours. Every other job is based around 37.5 hours so why should we be any different?
I’ve always got overtime after 8hrs in haulage. You don’t get overtime pay at McDonalds…
There is a driver shortage and it isnt getting any better.
starfighter:
I don’t understand the backload rate culture. Diesel, wages and wear and tear cost the same both ways.
Correct. But if the choice is between going back empty which costs money in fuel and wages or going back getting paid enough to cover the running costs which would you choose?
I know you are there and have to go home anyway but every load is a backload for someone.
Western Germany was THE place for the best rates prior to the Iron curtain being lifted.The W/German transport industry was controlled by the State railways.Say you got a load from Hamburg to Munich it paid you for a round trip (back empty if you wanted!) but the German hauliers reloaded in Munich and got “double bubble” again,it was ■■■■■■■ mad but it was how it was controlled,however,when the “doors were thrown open” the Dutchmen soon put a stop to that,they had a ■■■■■■■ field day carving lumps out of the German rates!! IIRC our very best UK rates at that time just crept into the bottom of the German schedules !! Cheers Bewick.
I’m doing 7.5t work ,self employed with one company getting 15p a mile +30 for nights out and we don’t get paid for driving to the pick up .I know that i am probably getting royally screwed but it does give me a wage of sorts until something better comes along .Wages at the moment are a race to the bottom
peewack654:
There is a driver shortage and it isnt getting any better. Realise the importance of what we do.
What you do is very important requires skill and has great responsibilities - I doubt anyone could argue otherwise. Unfortunately - there are more drivers than jobs right now - certainly no shortage.
I completely agree drivers should be paid more and treated with the respect they deserve for the skilled job they do. However, the people that employ drivers are having their rates driven into the ground, costs are spiralling and making a profit is almost un-heard of. There will be more well known names go to the wall in 2013. Plenty are currently only in business because they can’t get out of it - and what else would they do?
Many retail outlets are relying on this Christmas to turn a bad year into a profit - and from what I have seen of volumes being carried by the hauliers I know compared to previous years, they don’t appear to be selling as much.
peewack654:
Glad I sparked a bit of a debate with my post yesterday.
Yep it was a good debate on here for a change, that didn’t end in a slanging match.
peewack654:
I do see myself as a skilled person and do not believe you can learn to drive a 44 tonne artic properly in a couple of weeks.
You probably are a skilled driver and I hope this means you’ll get a decent job, but the point isn’t that fact that there are some very good drivers, there are probably also some very good and skilled shelf stackers and burger flippers. It’s the fact that after a couple of weeks training you can get behind the wheel of a truck and that means it’s not a skilled job.
peewack654:
There is a driver shortage and it isn’t getting any better. Realise the importance of what we do.
As somebody said there maybe a shortage or good drivers, but there are plenty out there looking for work. There maybe a shortage in a few years if the economy picks up and a fair chunk of those with HGV licences find work doing something else, this started to happen before. Companies were worried and even started to train people, some were warehouse staff who had a couple of weeks training and were then a truck driver, hardly signs of a skilled profession.
Then of course the East Europeans came to save us and if there is another Shortage, they’ll find another bunch to provide cheap labour. Maybe from the Ukraine or Morocco or Turkey. The fact they’re not EU won’t matter, strings will be pulled by large companies and Governments will roll over.
It’s the fact that after a couple of weeks training you can get behind the wheel of a truck and that means it’s not a skilled job.