Reading many of the posts on here, it doesn’t appear there are a lot of these left in the industry. You know, the decent bloke who knew the job and acted as a kind of buffer between his drivers and his directors who sometimes didn’t have a clue. He would protect the company from out and out tossers but equally and just as importantly would protect the decent driver from the ignorant demands of those above him.
He would have a quiet,private,word in your ear about some small problem,not give you the official " see me in my office routine “,or much worse still a public dressing down. He would not however allow the “see how clever/hard/don’t give a toss I am " type of driver to constantly take the ■■■■, he would have his p45.
If he was stuck and the driver went the extra mile and went out and did an unexpected local pick up for him on a Friday tea time,he would remember it. Some time if that driver got back early he might say " get off when you’ve parked up we will pay you till 5pm” He might then say " thanks for this week Fred ,have a nice weekend” and mean it ! Any of these left ?
Regards. John.
old 67:
Reading many of the posts on here, it doesn’t appear there are a lot of these left in the industry. You know, the decent bloke who knew the job and acted as a kind of buffer between his drivers and his directors who sometimes didn’t have a clue. He would protect the company from out and out tossers but equally and just as importantly would protect the decent driver from the ignorant demands of those above him.
He would have a quiet,private,word in your ear about some small problem,not give you the official " see me in my office routine “,or much worse still a public dressing down. He would not however allow the “see how clever/hard/don’t give a toss I am " type of driver to constantly take the ■■■■, he would have his p45.
If he was stuck and the driver went the extra mile and went out and did an unexpected local pick up for him on a Friday tea time,he would remember it. Some time if that driver got back early he might say " get off when you’ve parked up we will pay you till 5pm” He might then say " thanks for this week Fred ,have a nice weekend” and mean it ! Any of these left ?
Regards. John.
+1
Ossie
A lot of TM’s have never been on the road, they are these uni grads. That being said, you could of never sat behind the wheel of a lorry but you could be the best TM there ever was because you have good people skills.
I’m fortunate enough to have had one in my early years.
The TM who I shall call Jeff (as that was his name) looked after the drivers and bent the rules in ways that today would be frowned upon. In return there was an unwritten rule that when asked to do a late run or something on the dodgy side it was done no questions, whinges etc.
On one occasion I was caught knocking about with the now wife (of 20+ years) at a pub which could have lead to an instant sacking and instead of a bollocking I was called in for a private chat and it was explained to me that he would cover my arse on this but in return i was not to do it again without clearing it with him first.
This of course lead to me doing everything asked without question, drivers hours where bent and I even drove him and his mates round on a pub crawl (paid of course).
Don’t get me wrong the gaggle of drivers moaned about him on occasion but in the end we all knew that he was ‘one of us’.
He has now passed away bless him but I often look back and think this bloke was the best TM ever, ironically he never drove a truck in his life but the key thing was he looked after his drivers and in return we looked after him, just maybe I owe the excistence of my 4 kids to him, who knows. One things for sure he was the definitive ‘salt of the earth’.
100% with that John ( old 67 ). Sadly, the genuine ‘old school’ TM’ s , not around these days, were ex drivers themselves and as such would not expect anybody to do the run they couldn’t in their ( tacho ) time.
Like radar19 implied; they’re all certs’oflirts fresh out of UNI, and probably never even sat in the passenger seat of a truck let alone driven one!.. Safe journeys.
old 67:
Reading many of the posts on here, it doesn’t appear there are a lot of these left in the industry. You know, the decent bloke who knew the job and acted as a kind of buffer between his drivers and his directors who sometimes didn’t have a clue. He would protect the company from out and out tossers but equally and just as importantly would protect the decent driver from the ignorant demands of those above him.
He would have a quiet,private,word in your ear about some small problem,not give you the official " see me in my office routine “,or much worse still a public dressing down. He would not however allow the “see how clever/hard/don’t give a toss I am " type of driver to constantly take the ■■■■, he would have his p45.
If he was stuck and the driver went the extra mile and went out and did an unexpected local pick up for him on a Friday tea time,he would remember it. Some time if that driver got back early he might say " get off when you’ve parked up we will pay you till 5pm” He might then say " thanks for this week Fred ,have a nice weekend” and mean it ! Any of these left ?
Regards. John.
good transport managers are a rare commodity these days i’m lucky enough to work for a company that uses ex drivers in the office …it really does make the day more pleasant when dealing with the office…compared to the pillock who i last had the misfortune to work for…whatever you requested be it anything from holidays to bereavements to a job that would suit your wtd he would do his uttermost to deny you any favours whatsoever, needless to say the turnover of drivers was high. he was without doubt the worst human being i have ever had the misfortune to deal with
After reading your post there Dipper Dave, I’ll ask you or anybody who chooses to read this with a traffic office regime.
Not the TM
Not the lads on despatch
No. It’s an old guy; 65 and looking hence to his happy retirement day.
But, he’s just heard his granddaughter’s past away in hospital. These details were submitted to the transport office… the Area Manager’s response… ‘’ I Don’t consider that a close enough family relationship to grant you time off for a funeral’’
If I knew more about these [zb] comps’, you’de have seen this statement in red!!!..
I don’t think it’s a requirement to have driven a truck to be a good transport manager, I’ve known ex-driver transport managers who’ve manged to put everybody’s back up in a company, because they might know how to get from a to b, but had zero people skills.
One of the best Transport Managers I worked for had never driven a truck, the closest he ever go to being a truck driver was when he was towing his caravan. But he knew his job, he did keep you working, (which seemed to annoy some drivers 
) I wouldn’t say his people skills were touchy feeley, 
in fact he was quite blunt, but he’d sort out sort at problems with customers, or get you an early finish if you wasted it and told him early enough, and would change plans if you were running out of time because of problem either while loading or delivering or the road.
simon1958:
After reading your post there Dipper Dave, I’ll ask you or anybody who chooses to read this with a traffic office regime.Not the TM
Not the lads on despatch
No. It’s an old guy; 65 and looking hence to his happy retirement day.
But, he’s just heard his granddaughter’s past away in hospital. These details were submitted to the transport office… the Area Manager’s response… ‘’ I Don’t consider that a close enough family relationship to grant you time off for a funeral’’If I knew more about these [zb] comps’, you’de have seen this statement in red!!!..
If that was me, I’d go to the funeral anyway.
muckles:
I don’t think it’s a requirement to have driven a truck to be a good transport manager, I’ve known ex-driver transport managers who’ve manged to put everybody’s back up in a company, because they might know how to get from a to b, but had zero people skills.One of the best Transport Managers I worked for had never driven a truck, the closest he ever go to being a truck driver was when he was towing his caravan. But he knew his job, he did keep you working, (which seemed to annoy some drivers
I agree with you,that’s why I was careful not to say it was a requirement to be an ex driver. In fact I have seen a couple of ex drivers fail spectacularly when they adopted the " I’m management now, I’m better than you,I’ll show you who’s boss" attitude. Like most things in life, I believe you should never forget where you came from.
Regards.John.
simon1958:
After reading your post there Dipper Dave, I’ll ask you or anybody who chooses to read this with a traffic office regime.Not the TM
Not the lads on despatch
No. It’s an old guy; 65 and looking hence to his happy retirement day.
But, he’s just heard his granddaughter’s past away in hospital. These details were submitted to the transport office… the Area Manager’s response… ‘’ I Don’t consider that a close enough family relationship to grant you time off for a funeral’’If I knew more about these [zb] comps’, you’de have seen this statement in red!!!..
I will try and answer this.
Now the knee jerk expected response to this would be one of anger and disgust, but to me such a statement would logically lead me to consider that he may be acting on orders from above so I would seek permission from his senior, if the response was the same then I would have to conclude that this was company policy and these meat sacks are just acting on orders they blindly follow.
No matter I would go to the funeral anyway, I would inform them of this and see how things unfolded. I wouldn’t fake a sicky i would just go as I feel a direct genetic descendant needs my prescence as its a show of respect and I need to be present to comfort other family members.
What I would do after this cannot be typed on this forum, perhaps the AM just needs a hug or maybe skinning alive and forced to eat his own flesh, both are acceptable responses for me. 
So what if it was one of your own offspring then… and denied by some nondescript ■■? Area M.
simon1958:
So what if it was one of your own offspring then… and denied by some nondescript ■■? Area M.
Wouldn’t happen, direct relative/ close family member so automatically allowed time off.
In the end all that matters is doing what you feel is right, losing ones job because of it may be harsh and probably unlikely but nothing compared to living the rest of your life dissapointed in yourself.
Even booking a holiday my company have to allow it, sure they can say its not allowed but it means nothing to me. If I book the holiday long enough in advance its a done deal. Threats of redundancy carry little weight with me but maybe I’m special… 
Surely I can’t be the only one that thinks like this. Yes jobs are important but family matters more. So what I get a bollocking, it means nothing in the scheme of things.
You do all realise that we are living on a planet with a limited life cycle and just a comet (big rock thingy) crash away from destruction, when it all goes ■■■■ (and not in a gay way) I don’t want my last thoughts to be ‘I wish I had done this and that etc…’
Seize the day, the meaning of life is love its what we all have in common and all that jazz.
This post will mean more to those who have either had a near death experience or nearly lost a loved one and had true reality thrust in their face.
[Yes i’m well ■■■■■■■
simon1958:
After reading your post there Dipper Dave, I’ll ask you or anybody who chooses to read this with a traffic office regime.Not the TM
Not the lads on despatch
No. It’s an old guy; 65 and looking hence to his happy retirement day.
But, he’s just heard his granddaughter’s past away in hospital. These details were submitted to the transport office… the Area Manager’s response… ‘’ I Don’t consider that a close enough family relationship to grant you time off for a funeral’’If I knew more about these [zb] comps’, you’de have seen this statement in red!!!..
i’v actually worked at a firm that denied a driver the day off too go too his own step fathers funeral because it was too short notice so can believe what your saying.
…And guess what… When I first started with this outfit… circa1997… 
One one the AM’s suggested ‘’ All Driers are to do six weekend deliveries ( en masse ) for NOTHING; ZILCH;NOUT;NO PAY■■? … A.M.'s… PRICKS
simon1958:
…And guess what… When I first started with this outfit… circa1997…
my response too them would have been bye bye
I must be one of the lucky few, our TM is an old boy, former driver and couldnt go far enough to help. probably forgot more than most know!!
And at the end of every month we have as he calls it ‘‘a drivers meeting’’ which starts in town at 12 o clock and ends normally with a kebab he always get a round in, will be a sad day when retires
… The cats I like are the ones I drive on steel tracks… Not furry ones 
biggdaz:
I must be one of the lucky few, our TM is an old boy, former driver and couldnt go far enough to help. probably forgot more than most know!!And at the end of every month we have as he calls it ‘‘a drivers meeting’’ which starts in town at 12 o clock and ends normally with a kebab
I think this is what is called a team building exercise in modern management speak,
At a place I worked at a driver (who was Irish) had to go home to bury his father so it took a few days from Northamtponshire. It was company policy to conduct a return to work interview when somebody has had an unplanned absence, so the manager responsible called the driver in and reeled off questions from a standard form, one of which was “do you expect this to happen again and will it require further time off?” the drivers response was not recorded, although he was a big lad luckily he had a very placid nature.