being a newbie. 1 week in i have a very good view on this whole subject, unfortunatelly i am away all week so cant really contact you unless theres a traffic jam, but i will e-mail you and reply to any questions, interiews or even write a diary because i love things like this
Wheel Nut:
Looking at the website, this one seems credible and have produced some good stuff, from Ross Kemps Gangs to the Vicar of Dibley. The mystery of flight 447 look interesting as does the last flight of Concorde.However I agree with much of what has already been mentioned, companies and gate security will not allow passengers or film crews on our terms, unless you could “wire” someone up to show the disgusting and unhygienic places that drivers have to deliver to.
Other journalists have tried to get a story, but they only want to show the bad side, the driver who has driven over his hours and is dangerously tired, not for our benefits but to further promote the myth that drivers are killers and all trucks are dangerous.
There are thousands of professional lorry drivers on the roads with an average age of around 50. It is these drivers who bring your meat and five a day, milk, eggs, fuel, bread and clothing. In fact everything you touch and use has been delivered by a lorry at some point. For this amazing feat drivers are paid at or slightly over the minimum wage and still expected to work up to 70 hours to make it viable for the employer.
Go ahead make a film, but be honest about it, forget the wannabe film stars and prima donna’s You need to show a multitude of drivers and the verbal abuse they have to take from equally low paid security gatemen and office clerks. Drivers who are not allowed to use company toilets, have to share a broom cupboard in a noisy goods in reception area then having to sleep in a lay-by with no toilets or food because someone earlier in the day took 6 hours to do a 40 minute task unloading 20 pallets.
Show a driver filling his lorry with fuel, follow his journey and show how much it cost him in fuel alone, add onto that a 20 quid parking fee or an expensive snatched meal before parking in the previously mentioned littered layby.
Most people work between 40 and 45 hours per week, that is the maximum time a driver will be able to socialise and spend time with family and friends, as he is able to have 45 hours off at the weekend, 20 of those hours catching up on previously missed sleep
Have you got Roger Cooks phone number? let him do the interview with the depot managers and H&S department heads.
And breathe…
I await this TV programme.
Malc
Well said.
i’ve been thinking. 
we could load six trailers. three of them being containers, and the other three being fridges.
they are all going to the same distant land. three overland, and the other three on the container ship.
then we can see what’s quicker. and we could see what condition the loads arrive in.
it’s got to be better than watching a truck move between junctions 6 and 8 of the m6 for an hour.
I think something worth while putting into the programme is a quick interview with someone like myself. Who has been brought up around trucks and the only thing he ever wanted to do was drive them, but with the way the industry went has decided to give this up and move on to something else and drive part time. This would show what youngsters of today think about entering the industry, even the ones who want to, and how it could be improved.
limeyphil:
i’ve been thinking.we could load six trailers. three of them being containers, and the other three being fridges.
they are all going to the same distant land. three overland, and the other three on the container ship.
then we can see what’s quicker. and we could see what condition the loads arrive in.it’s got to be better than watching a truck move between junctions 6 and 8 of the m6 for an hour.
Yeah let’s make it Austraila. My money’s on the ship.
Hi Folks,
Thanks for all your responses, they have been really useful.
I’ve heard from a few of you that times are quite tough out there at the moment, with companies squeezing as much as they can.
Are there any co-operatives of independent drivers that exist? Do owner drivers get together in order to get jobs?
Thanks,
Richard
DarlowSmithson:
Hi Folks,Thanks for all your responses, they have been really useful.
I’ve heard from a few of you that times are quite tough out there at the moment, with companies squeezing as much as they can.
Are there any co-operatives of independent drivers that exist? Do owner drivers get together in order to get jobs?
Thanks,
Richard
Richard, I think you’ll find that the vast majority of independent drivers are operating thru agencies. I believe legislation and / or self employment rules dictate this. As for owner drivers, a vast majority tag on to existing haulage firms and subcontract that way. Very few are totally independent due to the fact that rates have been pulled down by major hauliers. ( I dare say someone may correct me, but those are my points of view)
This thread’s gone quiet…
Who also got PM’d for a ‘chat’ at your phone bills expense?