l like to know if any other drivers share my views ,it has always been a tough job putting in alot of hours for a average wage,l have been on class ones for 24 years ,l can saftley say l,m still looking for a decent job but l,m convinced there arent any, although when you talk to the old boys the lads coming up to retirement ,it was a cracking job pay wise ,ok you didn,t have all the creature comforts ei night heaters ,bunks,air suspension& seats sterio.s etc etc,am old enough to remember starting of on a four wheeler without any of the metioned ,but l won,t bore you with my war stories,my point is that l think things were looking up abit upto about a year ago,there was ashortage of drivers and the rates were creeping up ,but the market is now flooded with Poles slovacs,hungarians etc and thus my opening comment :
What do you think l.d be interested■■?
All the best Glen
p.s nayone know of any decent jobs drop us a line l don,t expect many replies lol
just editing the titleif it needs stars it’s not allowedmm
jonah:
my point is that l think things were looking up abit upto about a year ago,there was ashortage of drivers and the rates were creeping up ,but the market is now flooded with Poles slovacs,hungarians etc and thus my opening comment :
anybody with open eyes could see that coming a mile off, supply & demand old pal, it was getting on our side with the shortage (real or prcieved) it did swing the lead our way a bit, but not any more i fear, the eu has fixed that!
As someone else said it depends how you define decent.My main gripe as i have got older has been the long hours, i just dont want them anymore.
Back bus driving at the moment 38 hours @ 8.00/ hour and i know to the minute when i will finish, BUT if i could find the equivalent truck job i would be back like a shot.
Well I started about the same time as you, but have far less experience because i have probably only worked full time as a driver for half my time.
I don’t think the job was any better in 1979 when i started, wages were crap, conditions no better & creature comforts left a lot to be desired for every poor soul that didn’t have one of those new fangled F10’s !!
Going back to the early 70’s, I spent every spare minute with old school drivers that worked for my dad & it was the same story from them (long hours, low pay, dirty job, no home life).
Everybody I knew in the 70’s & 80’s ran bent
Every driver was expected to rope & sheet
Few drivers had sleepers (the lucky one had a 2200 DAf with walk thru cab, others had a Seddon Diesel, leyland Boxer, Mickey Foden, Bedford KM, AEC mercury & a Commer 2 stroke )
I know the job is not up to much compared to some jobs, but in comparison to the 70’s, your air conditioned globetrotter & curtainsider makes it look easy
I dont mind long hours or hard work, the problem Im having is working with bad equipment and uncumfortable nights (and £15 for a night out).
A lot of you will be the same, brought up to work hard and get the job done, but its like a disability now as the harder you work the more they think your an idiot. I find it very hard to drag my heals, it goes against the grain.
Bit of respect would be nice too.
So Im looking for a job with a company that values a hard working, professional driver who keeps within the law and gets the job done. It does my head in to realise that this just isnt required anynore.
Moan moan moan
Phil
One good bonus was we never had the dreaded mobile phone…4 pennies in the box and push button A…or button B to get your money back…
We wasn`t pushed to the limit either…just got there when we got there…
Ok we never had the luxury cabs that weve got to day…but the job was a lot better…and the averge day being about 12 hours.
there was plenty of time to park up…or even cancel…and catch up the next day…
nights out and the money we get now hasnt changed a great deal…the wages have kept pace with inflation for most people.
I have been chasing jobs for most of my time in this industry…which is why i have a lot of employers on my c.v…forever chasing money…to get the best job and the best wages…often leaving one good job for one that i thought was better…but …i have never worked for one employer twice…principles mainly…
each job suits one driver better than the other…and wages depend on your needs…
All in all…we thought the job would give us status when the hgv licence came in
but it never…what has made a difference is the shortage of drivers…and companies realising that a good truck…along with a decent wage…attracts drivers…although there are companies out there who has good trucks…but pays a pittance…as there are always drivers who will drive a good truck, with loads of bling, for next to nothing…
Of course the shortage of drivers has allowed certain companies, to exploit this situation and employ foreign ones, those companies are now paying for this with the amount of damaged vehicles having to be parked up…maybe because of proper training…as the saying goes…if you pay peanuts…
i agree on the mobile phone bob, they are as bad as the taco for ■■■■■■■ the job up, well thats my opinion anyway. and sattelite tracking, what a load of rubbish, the ultimate spy device!
at the end of the day though whatever spy gadgets are introduced, they cant beat you if the job gets done to an adequete standard and you brass the ■■■■■■■ out, ive had some gaffers call me a ■■■■■ but never been sacked for bad work.
i know what you mean about chopping and changing jobs, most of the blokes i know do it too. but im sad to say ive been back to firms where ive been before more than once! ive been at bowmur 3 different times
truckyboy:
One good bonus was we never had the dreaded mobile phone…
gotta agree with this one however, they do go wrong
my place isnt too quick to fix the cab phones. for some reason, they wont call in an engineer until 3 have broken but in the meantime, tough. if they expect me to phone in for whatever reason and i dont, they question it and my answer is always the same. the cab phone doesnt work so how can i call? my own mobile? yes thats what it is, MY mobile, not a business one
dennisw1:
Depends what you mean by a decent job, it can mean different things to different people.
Certainly some really crap jobs out there but some worse ones in other lines of work.
I mean there are some great haulage jobs that pay badly or some [zb] ones that pay well.
Entirely agree Dennis, different strokes for different folks. Money is good and everyone needs enough to live on plus a bit to ease your way but there is a lot to be said for job satisfaction, we all spend a lot of time at work so it needs to be reasonably appealing.
The mobile phone thing all depends who you work for. Last time I did General Haulage, the phone hardly rang. I was given a job to do and let to get on with it. This was because I’d worked for this company on and off for the last 10 years, (in fact everytime I need a job, but not to perminant) It’s a small company and the boss knows that I get on with the job and I will phone of there is a problem. The down side is that the pay and kit isn’t the best, athough about average for Norfolk.
But it depends what you want or need out of life, if you need the big money then the nature of the haulage business is that the trucks needs to keep moving, so they’ll want to know where you are and when you can get the next load on.
It always seems that the drivers who complain the most are those who work for the big PLC logistics firms. Maybe it has something to do with being just a number on accountants books and not being able to talk to anybody who can make a decision. Maybe working at a more personal level, helps people feel more in control, even if the pay isn’t quite the same.
truckyboy:
One good bonus was we never had the dreaded mobile phone…4 pennies in the box and push button A…or button B to get your money back…
We wasn`t pushed to the limit either…just got there when we got there…
Ok we never had the luxury cabs that weve got to day…but the job was a lot better…and the averge day being about 12 hours.
there was plenty of time to park up…or even cancel…and catch up the next day…
nights out and the money we get now hasnt changed a great deal…the wages have kept pace with inflation for most people.
I have been chasing jobs for most of my time in this industry…which is why i have a lot of employers on my c.v…forever chasing money…to get the best job and the best wages…often leaving one good job for one that i thought was better…but …i have never worked for one employer twice…principles mainly…
each job suits one driver better than the other…and wages depend on your needs…
All in all…we thought the job would give us status when the hgv licence came in
but it never…what has made a difference is the shortage of drivers…and companies realising that a good truck…along with a decent wage…attracts drivers…although there are companies out there who has good trucks…but pays a pittance…as there are always drivers who will drive a good truck, with loads of bling, for next to nothing…
Of course the shortage of drivers has allowed certain companies, to exploit this situation and employ foreign ones, those companies are now paying for this with the amount of damaged vehicles having to be parked up…maybe because of proper training…as the saying goes…if you pay peanuts…
mm
