marcustandy:
Most of the replies here show Trucknet to be a useless resource for helping newbies and any questions they may have. Is this forum really so full of ■■■■-taking, bitter, know-it-all, jealous drivers■■?
As for those who come out with “It’s not tramping nowadays, bahhh, not the like the old days!”, well, I’m sure your [lack of] help was appreciated!! I guess the OP put the thread in here hoping to get some useful advice from the ‘more experienced’ members of Tnet, not some ‘dinosaur esque’ smart-arsed comments.
I still don’t get this obsession/jealousy thing that some folk have with Stobarts! They’re advertising for drivers (trampers) who can earn £35-40k. Even if some of that is made up from expenses, so what? I bet that’s going to come in quite handy, having a lower basic taxable salary, when the latest benefit reduction plans are brought in! Of all the drivers I know on different jobs/contracts, not many of them get anywhere near to £40k. The trampers I know mostly want to work their max hours while they’re away which is what they’ll probably get with ESL.
I hope ‘cheesy’ enjoys the job and I know he has been given some ‘proper’ advice now. Don’t worry about the ‘unhelpful zb’s’ of this so-called helpful community, you just crack-on.
Lighten up FFS , what did akacheese expect? Aftrer all he did post this thread on the ‘old’ forum I think the old lads are entitled to a bit of leg pulling aren’t they? Even though there replies were tongue in cheek it was still an interesting read in to what the true tramper used to carry with them when it was an interesting job .
I don’t get the ‘bitter’/obsession & jealousy thing you rant on about? … The Stobart depot at crick is always advertising for drivers- says it all really
Well said Boris!!! The other thing to remember is that "the old lads " on the thread have rolled futher back at traffic lights than these “knowledgable” youngsters have driven forwards!! Bewick
What are lights Dennis,wern’t any in this county when I took my test.
Sorry Dave I’d forgotten that traffic lights have still to arrive in your part of the world!!! Dennis.
The first set of fixed traffic lights were installed in Llandrindod Wells earlier this year Dennis. There were a couple of narrow bridges with lights on,also plenty of road works with mobile lights,but when I took my car test in 1965,there weren’t any traffic lights in Radnorshire.
Cheers Dave.
Bewick:
The other thing to remember is that "the old lads " on the thread have rolled futher back at traffic lights than these “knowledgable” youngsters have driven forwards!!
Is that like the ‘30+ years in the industry, roping & sheeting instructor, ex-driver assessor, etc’ (mentioned in another thread on here) that did an 18hr day the other day because “Well, I didn’t have the card in for the first three hours while I was getting my trailer and getting my load” and then moans & complains when he gets his list of infringements?? The same chap who said “What do you mean WTD break after 6 hours? What is this WTD stuff about anyway?”
The driver that hit the Tyne Bridge the other week wasn’t a ‘newbie’ (by any means!) and I just wish he’d done a bit more ‘rolling backwards’ before he drove forwards and hit the zb’ing bridge!!
aidey:
So what is your all trying to say that nonne of us are profeessional skivers oops sorry drivers .
No, not at all. It’s just that I don’t buy into ‘the longer you’ve been in the industry, the better you are’ train of thought. There are long-served drivers who can & do pas on helpful info to the newer members of the industry (not on this post though, it seems!), but equally there are those who fail to grasp that the industry is an ever-changing beast, what with new rules & regulations, working practises equipment etc (as shown by the examples I mentioned in my previous post).
There are drivers out there who have had their licence less than 10 years but have done plenty of personal development (other courses) along the way and are up-to-date with the modern aspects of the industry. True, they probably couldn’t tie a dolly-knot nor sheet a load but, in reality they don’t need to. What they can do is use a digital tacho, within the current regulations, both drivers hours and WTD, and make use of modern technology (be it satnavs, telematics, auto-boxes or whatever) to get the job done properly and professionally.
The ‘30+ year driver’ who, it seems, can’t interpret the drivers regulations (and WTD) to enable him to operate within the law is actually more of a liability than an asset to his employer.
Getting back to the OPs question, it seems that some folk on here would rather berate him because he isn’t going to be ‘sleeping on a plank across the front seats’ than help him out with the question he asked. Maybe he’ll remember that when some ‘30+ years’ old boy is asking him how ‘these confusing new digi things work’!!
hiya,
This has gone on and is starting to get silly the lad asked a question in the wrong place old fogies were the only ones that were true trampers, even old BRS drivers were’nt trampers their work was depot to delivery point to depot for a load to anywhere but the work was always found for the driver tramping was like being you’re own boss and you would quickly be out of a job if the motor was’nt making money, roamers yes we went anywhere but any loading materials was found if you needed anything to load a special cargo ie timbers and chains and tensioners if needed but they always tried to find you a load to suit the equiptment you was carrying and had used on your outgoing load, i think a true tramper today is as rare as chicken teeth, there may still be some but as Paul Daniels would say “not a lot”.
thanks harry long retired.
marcustandy,if the chap had asked the same question on the professional drivers forum,he would have had some advice,but a lot more ■■■■ taking than he has had on this forum.No one on this thread wishes him harm,we all hope he gets on well in his job with Stobart.Good luck to him.As for yourself there are plenty of us on here that know about WTD and digital tacho’s,so wind your neck in and lighten up.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
marcustandy,if the chap had asked the same question on the professional drivers forum,he would have had some advice,
I agree with that.
Dave the Renegade:
No one on this thread wishes him harm,
You wouldn’t think so from the replies he’s had. If you actually are correct, then why didn’t anyone either make a helpful post or at least re-direct him to the PDF? The key test is how he feels he’s been treated/helped and I know the answer to that one!
Dave the Renegade:
we all hope he gets on well in his job with Stobart.Good luck to him.
Well, ‘we all’ didn’t say as much to him. It’s no wonder if he’s disillusioned with Tnet.
Dave the Renegade:
As for yourself there are plenty of us on here that know about WTD and digital tacho’s,
I never said that there wasn’t some ‘old timers’ who know about WTD etc. What I do know is that in the last couple of weeks there are a couple of ‘old timers’ who, through their lack of EU driver Regs and WTD, have caused the company I now work for major headaches, not to mention decimating our Compliance/Infringements stats.
I’ve not even mentioned the old ■■■■ who had a bridge strike yet!! Experienced?? ■■■■■■■ senile, more like!!!
Dave the Renegade:
wind your neck in
And how about you wind your ■■■■■■■ neck in until you’ve got something useful or helpful to tell the bloke?
Don’t think we are going to win with this one lads, seems he wants the last word despite some saying it was all a bit of a leg pull, he obviously hasn’t worked with some of the blokes I and others on here have. Are the younger drivers of today all as serious and easily huffed as this guy. I remember trying to read up and learn the latest legal jargon along with finding out the tricks of the trade from the more experienced but I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes if I went in the huff when someone pulled my leg. As for berating the poor bloke that had an incident on the Tyne Bridge is he such an expert that he knows exactly what happened or was he just peaved because it mucked his timed delivery up, lets hope you never come a cropper marcus and the only help available is a young bloke that’s more interested in his delivery time and turns his head the other way, mind I suppose he could always call the emergency services on his hands free then feel satisfied he’s done enough. Franky.
Dave the Renegade:
marcustandy,if the chap had asked the same question on the professional drivers forum,he would have had some advice,
I agree with that.
Dave the Renegade:
No one on this thread wishes him harm,
You wouldn’t think so from the replies he’s had. If you actually are correct, then why didn’t anyone either make a helpful post or at least re-direct him to the PDF? The key test is how he feels he’s been treated/helped and I know the answer to that one!
Dave the Renegade:
we all hope he gets on well in his job with Stobart.Good luck to him.
Well, ‘we all’ didn’t say as much to him. It’s no wonder if he’s disillusioned with Tnet.
Dave the Renegade:
As for yourself there are plenty of us on here that know about WTD and digital tacho’s,
I never said that there wasn’t some ‘old timers’ who know about WTD etc. What I do know is that in the last couple of weeks there are a couple of ‘old timers’ who, through their lack of EU driver Regs and WTD, have caused the company I now work for major headaches, not to mention decimating our Compliance/Infringements stats.
I’ve not even mentioned the old [zb] who had a bridge strike yet!! Experienced?? [zb] senile, more like!!!
Dave the Renegade:
wind your neck in
And how about you wind your [zb] neck in until you’ve got something useful or helpful to tell the bloke?
Hi marcustandy, nice to see you have voluteered to take akacheesy under your wing. Perhaps then you could give him all the advice that he was asking for regarding in-cab comforts. Most of us on here are technophobes and find it difficult enough to manage a digital watch !! If you had read the previous posts instead of jumping to his unsolicited defence then you will have read mine on page one. I explained the job was different to ours nowadays and pointed him in the direction of ‘The Professional Drivers Forum’. May I now point you in the direction of Specsavers or will you then come back and accuse me of taking the p*ss as well,
Nobby.
I’ll be trying to make this my last post on this thread as it isn’t doing anyone any good it seems.
We’ve all been ‘newbies’ at some point, for me it was 22 years ago, and there’s nothing worse than asking for a wee bit of help and just getting the ■■■■ ripped out of you; there wasn’t really even a word of help or encouragement for the bloke and I was just disappointed for him but also disappointed by the response from what has been, in all of the years I’ve been on here, a really helpful resource.
I don’t see myself as an ‘old timer’ but nor am I a ‘newbie’. Keeping up to date with how the industry has changed is vital nowadays to, more than anything, keep the Operators Licence safe. Anyone, young or old, who, by their actions, puts that at risk, is a liability, IMO. The experience that they may bring to the job is easily negated by the wrath of the TC/VOSA that they may also bring to bear upon said company.
Maybe the ‘old days’ were worthy of being called ‘tramping’ and nowadays they are not, however, that word [tramping] is now fairly standard and recognised throughout the industry as meaning ‘spending a night in the cab between shifts’.
In WW2 an attack on the enemy in the hours of darkness, with an old Le Enfield .303 for company and not much else was called ‘night manoeuvres’. Guess what? Nowadays, in Afghanistan, an attack on the enemy in the hours of darkness with night-vision magnification optics, thermal imagery, ISTAR assets (spy in the sky drones), kevlar helmets and body armour is still called ‘night manoeuvres’, however, you don’t get Chelsea Pensioners taking the ■■■■ out of the young squaddies!!
TIR Original:
nice to see you have voluteered to take akacheesy under your wing. Perhaps then you could give him all the advice that he was asking for regarding in-cab comforts.
Well, as it happens, once I saw the route this thread was going down, I did just that! It did disappoint me though, how many people jumped on the ■■■■-taking band wagon.
TIR Original:
May I now point you in the direction of Specsavers or will you then come back and accuse me of taking the p*ss as well,
That did make me laugh though! In a positive way, I hasted to add!!
TIR Original:
nice to see you have voluteered to take akacheesy under your wing. Perhaps then you could give him all the advice that he was asking for regarding in-cab comforts.
Well, as it happens, once I saw the route this thread was going down, I did just that! It did disappoint me though, how many people jumped on the ■■■■-taking band wagon.
TIR Original:
May I now point you in the direction of Specsavers or will you then come back and accuse me of taking the p*ss as well,
That did make me laugh though! In a positive way, I hasted to add!!
Hi again marcutandy and thanks for replying without kicking off over my remark. Yes I did try to point him in the right direction and I am sure any of the other ex drivers on here would have done if being confronted with him. Over 40 years ago although being brought up in a transport orientated family I still needed and asked for advice, all of which was useful at some stage and also very welcome. In the same vein I would hope that the advice that I have passed on to others along the way has been useful to the same degree.
Regards, Nobby.
I never said that there wasn’t some ‘old timers’ who know about WTD etc. What I do know is that in the last couple of weeks there are a couple of ‘old timers’ who, through their lack of EU driver Regs and WTD, have caused the company I now work for major headaches
,
not to mention decimating our Compliance/Infringements stats.
The above says it all, oh to see ourselves as others see us.
I’ve not even mentioned the old [zb] who had a bridge strike yet!! Experienced?? [zb] senile, more like!!!
As for the old fellow hitting the tyne bridge, I think Frankydobo will comfirm that one of Fergusons youngsters hit the flange on the Tyne bridge with a 9ft dia storage tank, so age isnt the only reason the bridge gets hit so often. As you approach the bridge looking at the cross member you would think you would clear no problem. The flange that causes the trouble only sticks out about 2-3ft from the side and the 4 lanes are quite tight just there so the traffic gets squeezed giving no room if at the last moment you realise its going to be a bit tight.
3300John:
Hiya…akacheesy…SORRY from all of us at TN .its eddiy,s fault really , dose he call it tramping■■? I,ll put my life on the line and say
Eddy stobart ltd never did general haulage tramping (you can,t be a tramp in a suit can you). At stobarts they should call it depot
to depot work.or circular haulage.the computer always knows where your going. with tramping in the older days you and the boss
did,nt have a clue what direction you was going(and sometimes that was good)Its a pitty you can,t do tramping as we knew it
its was more fun tham we can explane.all the loads was a differant shape,half the time the sheets was not big enough or you
was short of timbers or chocks, so you made do…sometimes drivers looked like tramps they was black as coal delivering
biscuits or other food stuff.It is perhaps nicer to be clean and tidy but hell it must be so boreing without the fun we had.
John
I second that mate… off on a sunday up to scotch … then who knows. u soon learnt the ropes … can you imagine going into tilbury and telling the fork lift driver you want the paper rolls stood up on end… used to love watching those big reels chasing the bloke down the trl lol
Try & park in Town centre with plenty of chippies & pubs nearby , 12" B & W portable + coathanger aerial, nylon sleeping bag , washbag & stripey towel - wash/shave nearest public lavs , camping gaz stove+ kettle& saucepan ,‘big ben’ alarm clock(wind up type) , curtains that just cover the bunk area … & whoevers parked up next to you sits & chats in your/his cab ( when drivers were social folk )
Hi All
Theres no Headlight Magazine any more to get your loads out off or to book your digs when you get there must be old sette cushions across the seats every night these days.
I fail to understand why Marcustandy would think anyone would be *jealous and wish to work for ESL?,*as stated previously,in this day and age,why are they having to advertise driving vacancies,that in itself says a lot doesnt it?
I never liked working for large conglomerates,either direct or subbing!..no respect or understanding.
Trust me, the TC and VOSA think it is, irrespective of how ‘modern’ they may be. 
… & whoevers parked up next to you sits & chats in your/his cab ( when drivers were social folk ) 