Hi all
Why do we knock winners in this country■■? He, thats William and Eddie Junior are doing very well indeed, and why are they doing well because they took chances.
One big chance was to get into storage, that is how and why they are so succesfull, they started with Metal Box, then moved on to CCSB and the rest is historty as they say.
The wages they pay are good or so we are led to believe (the vehs are good aswell), they were good in the late 80s you probaly gussed I used to work for them, even little William was still on the road then and Eddie was in the traffic office.
We should be proud of succesfull companies not rip them to bits, I do think that Stobarts have tried very hard to raise the profile of the road haulage industry with a bit of success. I do kow that we had some really smart tackle in the late 80s and I got fed up up with at he old saying ‘All flash no cash’ till one day down at CCSB Sidcup I compared wage slips with onother driver, after that he didin’t say much more.
The point of this post is to say lets get behind our succesfull companies and stop knocking, at this moment in time we all need a bit of support with fuel prices going through the roof. I’m sure Stobarts are feeling the pinch just like any other company…NO i’m not an Eddie Spotter, thats worse than a train spotter. 
You think being a train spotter’s bad,you want to try being a Train Driver 
I agree with every thing you say though,Stobarts are a good example of what this country once was,and could be again if only we weren’t so apathetic!
Simon 
Nothing wrong with Stobarts before they sold it at all. Even now if you look past the mountain of paperwork their wagons drive on, it’s not a bad job at all. The motors are good, the trailers are in good condition. They have a professional image, and work hard to keep it that way. Unlike some other companies I’ve worked for who give you gutless sheds for units and beat up junk heaps of trailers.
You know, I was quite proud to have been an Eddie trucker, even for just one day on the agency. It’s not all over for the british haulage industry just yet, but it will increasingly fall to a few big companies who can gather the financial muscle to compete with our european competitors.
We’ve fought it on the cheap for years, and look where it’s got us. The company that has decided to go the other way, and concentrate on professionalism and a solid image is the one that’s still growing, even in this financial hell-hole. We can’t beat Betz on price, we may as well do the solid professional bit instead.
What mountain of paperwork Allikat?
I have to fill one day sheet a day in,and i can remember when it was only one sheet of paper a week to fill in.
Maybe it’s me being in there for the first time, and on agency too…
Oh god yes,the agency driver’s do seem to have a lot of paperwork to fill in compared to us.
Sorryi’d forgot about the agency drivers.
The point of this post is to say lets get behind our succesfull companies and stop knocking, at this moment in time we all need a bit of support with fuel prices going through the roof. I’m sure Stobarts are feeling the pinch just like any other company
then they’ll know how all the smaller firms that went to the wall felt when stobarts started undercutting all the rates in the 70’s
fair do’s to them they had a plan and made it work, but don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for them, they hurt a lot of people.
biggusdickusgb:
then they’ll know how all the smaller firms that went to the wall felt when stobarts started undercutting all the rates in the 70’s
fair do’s to them they had a plan and made it work, but don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for them, they hurt a lot of people.
Oh come on Biggus!
The 70’s! surely time moves on? I mean I wasn’t even born in the 70’s! most the people who “remember” must have either left the game or be retiring shortly.
It was, if I believe what I’m told from those who were there, an entirely different time back then.
Now its all about the cheapest price, and Stobarts work on doing the work cheaply, treating their drivers well AND giving a good, professional image.
A company like that (although I’ve never worked for 'em) is to be applauded, not shunned for something they did back when dinosaurs were pulling their trailers!
Alex
I think you’ll find he was doing tippers and farm work then in ■■■■■■■ they didn’t get big till the late 80s early 90s. He made his money building the M6. That is the Father Eddie Stobart Senior.
The Brothers took over and made it Huge, with a guy called Rob Beattie, who I think had something to do with Corby Chilled later on.
But they moved with the times, got into storage aswell as haulage…
It would be nice to know what firms actually went bust in the 70s due Stobarts…
This is my point exactly, we should move on and not be dinosours and live in the 'Oh so glorious past!!! Unlike some people…
Deepinvet:
Hi all
Why do we knock winners in this country■■? He, thats William and Eddie Junior are doing very well indeed, and why are they doing well because they took chances.
Who knocks them? I thought they where a great company to work for, average wages or not too bad, great kit, regular drops,uniform and mostly good clean work. Whats to knock about that?
Scarab:
biggusdickusgb:
then they’ll know how all the smaller firms that went to the wall felt when stobarts started undercutting all the rates in the 70’s
fair do’s to them they had a plan and made it work, but don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for them, they hurt a lot of people.Oh come on Biggus!
The 70’s! surely time moves on? I mean I wasn’t even born in the 70’s! most the people who “remember” must have either left the game or be retiring shortly.
It was, if I believe what I’m told from those who were there, an entirely different time back then.Now its all about the cheapest price, and Stobarts work on doing the work cheaply, treating their drivers well AND giving a good, professional image.
A company like that (although I’ve never worked for 'em) is to be applauded, not shunned for something they did back when dinosaurs were pulling their trailers!
Alex
read the 2nd line of my post again, it may be all about the cheapest price now, it wasn’t then, stobarts started it all off
like you said you weren’t there i was and it was different then, stobarts broke the mould, you’d be surprised at how young some who were about in the seventies are, i started as a yard boy/drivers mate in 72, i’m only 50.
It would be nice to know what firms actually went bust in the 70s due Stobarts…
try ellis, snaylams, obertelli, all suffered when stobarts decided to move in on long standing agreements and smashed the rates so thats 3 for a start, there was a hell of a lot more all over the north west.
same as young scarab read the 2nd line of my post again, they did well, i wish i’d thought of it.
why am i living in the past because i have a different perspective to you.
you don’t know me, a lot on here do and each of them will tell you i don’t hark to and certainly wouldn’t go back to “the glorious past” if you tripled my money, it was too much like bloody hard work.
Deepinvet:
It would be nice to know what firms actually went bust in the 70s due Stobarts…
This is my point exactly, we should move on and not be dinosours and live in the 'Oh so glorious past!!! Unlike some people.…
Go down Suffolk way and around the Fenlands!!! Plenty of companies went bust thanx to Mr Stobart in the late 80s and early 90s.
Scarab, you said you wasn’t born in the 70s?? Well plenty of us 'old ‘uns’ remember Mr ■■■■■■ Stobart being the frontrunner in the ‘cutting rates’ stakes.
I also remember his drivers being pariahs in truck stops. They would always be sat on their own cos no other drivers would talk to them. Partly because of their boss and partly because a lot of them were so far stuck up their own ■■■, no one wanted to be seen dead talking to one.
Yes, I agree with all the comments regarding the equipment being top notch etc … yes his policies did change the way drivers dressed etc. BUT whilst I personally have no beef with Mr Stobart, I am quite sure there are plenty of 'old ‘uns’ who were affected by his antics.
When all you guys that have only been in the business five minutes are moaning about the rates etc, remember it was darling sodding Eddie that started the “Give me the contract for 4 years and I’ll give you the first year free” malarkey!! Not the Eastern Europeans.
Yes and if Stobart didn’t do it,20 years later Johnny Foreigner would have done it anyway like has happened now.
This is going to sound really harsh but it isn’t meant to be……
So what if he undercut peoples prices to get the work. So what if some companies folded and went to the wall because they couldn’t keep up with the likes of Stobart’s and so on. Like has been mentioned before on this thread, they have worked hard for where they are today.
Some drivers are stuck up their own arses but that’s not just Stobart’s. How many times have you been waiting at an RDC or somewhere and tried to start a conversation with someone out of pure boredom and got the 1000 yard stare from them as if you have just crawled from the bottom of their shoe?
I applaud Stobart’s, they started a business and built it up with hard work and a few price cuts. Would you slag them off if you were in the exact same situation, winning contracts worth millions of pounds? I don’t think you would.
There is no need to slag them of, they are a great ambassador for the British in my eyes, and (no I’m not an Eddie spotter) the trucks they drive are always clean with next to no damage on them, no wonder they win big contracts, if you had a big firm pulling your companies goods around would you want it in top notch equipment or battered old wagons and trailers?
I don’t know if they did a few underhand things to get where they are today (and if you post they did I hope you have proof, loose lips sinks ships and all that) but today they seem to be the biggest company in the haulage industry by miles. You go on to any high street and ask Joe public to name a haulage company and I bet Stobart’s is near, if not the top one.
It is a company that has the backing and funding to stand up to Johnny foreigner and his cheap contracts and hopefully one day they will stand up to the government on all things in the haulage world. A company like that isn’t just going to lie down and take it. Once they start feeling the pinch like all the others then maybe the government will listen.
Instead of slagging them off lets applaud them.
Well done Stobart’s
biggusdickusgb:
Scarab:
biggusdickusgb:
then they’ll know how all the smaller firms that went to the wall felt when stobarts started undercutting all the rates in the 70’s
fair do’s to them they had a plan and made it work, but don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for them, they hurt a lot of people.Oh come on Biggus!
The 70’s! surely time moves on? I mean I wasn’t even born in the 70’s! most the people who “remember” must have either left the game or be retiring shortly.
It was, if I believe what I’m told from those who were there, an entirely different time back then.Now its all about the cheapest price, and Stobarts work on doing the work cheaply, treating their drivers well AND giving a good, professional image.
A company like that (although I’ve never worked for 'em) is to be applauded, not shunned for something they did back when dinosaurs were pulling their trailers!
Alex
read the 2nd line of my post again, it may be all about the cheapest price now, it wasn’t then, stobarts started it all off
like you said you weren’t there i was and it was different then, stobarts broke the mould, you’d be surprised at how young some who were about in the seventies are, i started as a yard boy/drivers mate in 72, i’m only 50.It would be nice to know what firms actually went bust in the 70s due Stobarts…
try ellis, snaylams, obertelli, all suffered when stobarts decided to move in on long standing agreements and smashed the rates so thats 3 for a start, there was a hell of a lot more all over the north west.
same as young scarab read the 2nd line of my post again, they did well, i wish i’d thought of it.
why am i living in the past because i have a different perspective to you.
you don’t know me, a lot on here do and each of them will tell you i don’t hark to and certainly wouldn’t go back to “the glorious past” if you tripled my money, it was too much like bloody hard work.
highlighted for the hard of understanding.
i’ve never slagged them off, i’m just giving the other perspective
the trucks they drive are always clean with next to no damage on them, no wonder they win big contracts,
wake up, they get the contracts because they can afford to do it cheaper than a smaller firm, not because their lorries are clean
Unlike some other companies I’ve worked for who give you gutless sheds for units and beat up junk heaps of trailers.
if you think an 07 DAF and that box trailer you had on the back are a gutless shed and junk heap trailer allikat, you’re going to be in for a big let down sooner rather than later in your career
At the end of the day it’s called ‘BUSINESS’ He is the Richard Branson of Haulage or the ‘Marmite’ Ad you either hate him or love him…
biggusdickusgb:
the trucks they drive are always clean with next to no damage on them, no wonder they win big contracts,
wake up, they get the contracts because they can afford to do it cheaper than a smaller firm, not because their lorries are clean
so if two companies put in the same bid for the same contract and one has wagons and trailers that are bollocksed but promises to get new ones when the contract is in place and the other is stobarts, who is going to get the contract? eh?
Giblsa:
biggusdickusgb:
the trucks they drive are always clean with next to no damage on them, no wonder they win big contracts,
wake up, they get the contracts because they can afford to do it cheaper than a smaller firm, not because their lorries are clean
so if two companies put in the same bid for the same contract and one has wagons and trailers that are bollocksed but promises to get new ones when the contract is in place and the other is stobarts, who is going to get the contract? eh?
Depends who the other company is, but going solely off what youve put, Stobarts because they have enough back up to cover breakdowns etc hence there because less chance of a failed or late delivery.
how can you say stobarts is good money £7.10 hr between 8/6 it takes the ■■■■ not long since passed my test and cannot find a job i earn more driving a 7/5 ton 45 hr a week.possibly 5 hours driving max a day and 26 days holiday i look at my newly qualified licience now as somthing to fall back on, dont get me wrong driving is what i love and ive always wanted to drive a hgv but the morgage tells me to stay where i am.
I don’t think all their kit is as good as it’s cracked up to be, I was delivering to a place in Yate a couple of years ago when a forkie came into the office where I was getting my notes signed and he said to the supervisor “I thought Stobarts are supposed to have decent vehicles - the wheels of my fork-truck have just gone through the floor of one of their trailers!!” All the drivers in the office, along with the office staff, trooped into the warehouse to look at the offending trailer. Sure enough, the planking had broken and one of the front wheels of the fork-truck had sunk through by several inches. The driver of the vehicle was not very happy, to say the least. It must have been one of their older trailers, but it didn’t look that old to me. Perhaps it had been carrying something corrosive which had spilt and weakened the planking. 