at one time, i had 5 trucks, with 4 drivers and myself, now down to 3 trucks 
After reading half the reply,s on here why on earth would anyone want to be a truck driver. Your expected to work max hours but can not have your break where you wish to take it. What an industry to work in. Where would ginsters be without truck drivers. Get yourself a sausage roll and crack on!
Easy to tell the bosses from the drivers on this post…
I crack on. Take the minimum breaks I can unless I’m tired, in which case - you can swivel…I don’t give a ■■■■ when your load is due…I’m resting 'till feeling OK again.
If you request I take a break on tip and it’s feasible, I would do so without hesitation. …But DEMAND I do and I’ll cause you ■■■■ like you won’t believe… 
Respect and reasonable behaviour is a two way thing… 
shuttlespanker:
at one time, i had 5 trucks, with 4 drivers and myself, now down to 3 trucks
Fair play and keep pulling…so to speak 
Gogan:
fisher:
Another good tip is to get your drivers to crap in there own time before they start work. Do not want them wasteing valuble working time.Good point, I hadn’t thought of that …
I did, and, I made them roll their ■■■■ @ home, not in the yard, after clocking on 
Reading some of the replies I can see how eastern Europeans struggle to get work over here. 
Truckulent:
If you request I take a break on tip and it’s feasible, I would do so without hesitation. …But DEMAND I do and I’ll cause you [zb] like you won’t believe…
which is why I asked the op if there were facilities at the tip, so that I would know if it would be reasonable to ASK the drivers to take their break there
…
nothing like begging how embrassing.
…
PinkLadyTrucker:
jessicas dad:
:roll:nothing like begging how embrassing.
Begging
if it’s an advert it’s in the wrong forum !
try here viewforum.php?f=22
jrl driver:
when planning a delivery,can a driver be asked to take a break while being unloaded on a bay…i always have done,but just not sure if a driver can be told to take a 45 min break when on a bay for about an hour.
reason is,we deliver to a firm in the midlands,about 2 1/4hrs from us.
there on a bay with a back door tip for an hour,but they only put it on break for 30 mins,even though there not required or allowed in the back of the trailer while it’s being tipped,they then leave & on the way back take a 30 min break to make sure they can get back,so i see no reason why they can’t take a 45 min break to enable them to get back to the yard for their 2’nd run in 1 hit,thats what i did when i was doing the same run…
there paid through their breaks so don’t lose out financially…would appreciate any advice form TM’s who have this sort of issue
thanks
John
I think the driver who takes a 30 min break on the bay is spot on, you say he is coming back for his second run, so he is travelling back 2 1/4 hours, if he had done a 45 while being unloaded then chances are he would need a further 45 while doing his second run(unless his 2nd run would take less than 2 1/4 hours driving). The way he does it he only need do 30 mins when he gets back and the jobs sorted, thus leaving him a full 4 1/2 hours driving for the second run. Well thats my opinion anyhow!
Gogan:
shuttlespanker:
the worst thing about running a haulage company is the drivers!!!^^ This!
The rest of it is childsplay. But it’s primarily the thick, knuckle-dragging, stuck in the 80’s, lazy, bone idle, filled with self-importance and a misguided sense of their own ability ■■■■■ trumpet behind the wheel that make the week seem that much longer.
There are, in my experience, three types of driver:
Driver ‘A’ genuinely knows the job, will do what it takes to get the job done, doesn’t drag the job out and knows his effort is appreciated without all the pathetic patting of the back and arse licking that most drivers crave. You only hear from him when the job is done and he’s on the way home, or vary rarely when he hits a problem he can’t solve himself or needs your OK to carry out his solution. Driver ‘A’ rightly expects a higher wage than the average steering wheel monkey, but he is worth it.
Driver ‘B’ doesn’t know it all and indeed may have no experience whatsoever, but he will follow instruction and offer what assistance he can to get the job done. He will become a ‘Driver A’ in due course, as he accepts that he doesn’t know it all but is happy to learn as he goes along and do what he’s told in the meantime.
Driver ‘C’ is a bit of a prick. He pretends he’s enthusiastic at the interview, but as soon as he gets on the job he starts to find fault with everything. As soon as he hits a problem he gets straight on the phone and starts throwing the toys out the pram, making no effort to solve any issues and expecting the rest of the world to wipe his arse for him. When he doesn’t get his own way he will complain (often on a public forum) that his [zb] of a boss actually expects him to earn his wages, and that he doesn’t think he should be forced to do anything other than attend behind the steering wheel. Driver ‘C’ inevitably values himself very highly, and regardless of what wages/salary he is offered will inevitably claim (more often that not privately
Sadly drivers of the calibre of ‘A’ and ‘B’ are in short supply, and will generally be found through word of mouth and can often afford to choose who they work for. ‘Driver C’ is very common, but is easily spotted, easily moved on, and there are no shortage of them to use until you find an ‘A’ or ‘B’.
After reading this excellent post and having a good mate mention it to me as well. I decided to make a straw poll of the twenty six drivers I work with at our place. I have used the strict critria of the post and the evidence is from the drivers themselves.
I’ve been with our firm for nearly five years. There are only two of the lads who have longer service than me and that time can be counted in months so I think it is fair to say I have a good idea how we all shape up.
So the results are…
7 type A drivers.
Two of which have the scruffiest trucks on the fleet but without their ability to think on their feet every night. We would all be knackered.
11 type B drivers.
It’s easy to forget that inexperience does not have an upper age limit. Everyone in this group still has the ability and desire to learn and for an older driver new into haulage it’s a quality that I admire.
8 type C drivers.
Interesting to note that all these drivers are so called ‘trampers’. Their cabs are relatively clean and tidy, brimming with the latest gadgets for the modern driver away from home. Ask any of them to do anything more than the bare minimum… well, we all get to hear about it ‘ad infinitum’ (how do you think I can write this post?).
So that’s the view from the drivers seat where I work. I consider myself lucky to have such a high proportion of decent workmates.
How goes it where you work?
W
thanks for all the replies & tips on this matter…most of the drivers are doing as they company has asked them & this is resulting in a better turnaround of the 2’nd runs on return to base & the deliveries are getting to customers premises earlier…i’ve told the drivers to take another break wether they need it or need to make up for having 1 so early in the day on their first run,they seem to be ok with it so far…
not been on for a while as lot has changed since i put this post up…the transport manger i was working with,has left the company & i have now been asked to take over running of the transport side of things!!!
so i am now running 9 artics,14 trailers & 1 17t ridig,in at the deep end or what…
i have my CPC national part 1 & 2 which i took in 2008 but have been told they will put me through the new CPC course asap so thats something to look forward to…lol…
got a firm coming in to make sure i know what i’m doing from a legal side of things & to give me any help & advice i need.i have introduced new daily vehicle check sheets as well daily log sheets as the previous admin was terrible.
still have a lot to learn but looking forward to the challenge…i think…
Good I’m glad things are going good for you. Sounds like you have a relationship with the drivers.
jessicas dad:
Good I’m glad things are going good for you. Sounds like you have a relationship with the drivers.
thanks,as much as they do moan,what driver doesn’t lol i know i’ve done my fair share… they also see the need for what we are doing & why.
it’s the old scenario of 9 drivers being there so long that they have forgottten that there is a massive world of transport & logisitics out there that has changed from when they started with the company & they need to learn to move with the times & help keep the running costs under control…
will be a long process but a good start so far.
The problem i find in haulage is; the majority of drivers are in the A class, but are treated by the employers as C/D.
Gogan, you sound like a fair man, and there no stopping drivers from taking a break anywhere they want, so on a bay is fine ( most drivers do anyway ) it suits us, it suits you, and if your paying them anyway, your doing better than most…good luck.
In theory even though you are not physicaly unloading the trailer its still classed as work therefore the tacho should show other work. In a lot of other european countries police are actually going into RDC checking tachos and handing out fines for drivers not on ‘other work’ I doubt it will be long before VOSA do the same over here, so get used to the fact drivers will not place it on break whilst tipping. Personally if i can get away with it then i do put it on break whilst tipping but also you gotta think what when the driver gets pulled over his card checked for the last 28 days and no ‘other work’ shown!!! dont think it will look to good
taffytrucker:
In theory even though you are not physicaly unloading the trailer its still classed as work therefore the tacho should show other work. In a lot of other european countries police are actually going into RDC checking tachos and handing out fines for drivers not on ‘other work’ I doubt it will be long before VOSA do the same over here, so get used to the fact drivers will not place it on break whilst tipping. Personally if i can get away with it then i do put it on break whilst tipping but also you gotta think what when the driver gets pulled over his card checked for the last 28 days and no ‘other work’ shown!!! dont think it will look to good
it’s not work when your sat in your cab doing nothing mate,it’s a break,a period of recuperation.
having gone through my old CPC course book it is perfectly legal to ask a driver to have their break like this,as there is a section in the book where your asked to plan the vehicles day & it states that the driver can only have his breaks while the vehicle is being tipped or loaded…
our drivers are paid through their breaks this is why they are asked to take them while tipping at customer sites.sometimes they are there for over an hour,more than enough time have a break.do this 3/4 times a day,thats a lot of breaks…most are doing it.i see their time sheets & some are putting down 4 hours a day in breaks,all at customer sites…can’t ask for more than that from them…still an odd 1 or 2 taking the mick though…
jrl driver:
taffytrucker:
In theory even though you are not physicaly unloading the trailer its still classed as work therefore the tacho should show other work. In a lot of other european countries police are actually going into RDC checking tachos and handing out fines for drivers not on ‘other work’ I doubt it will be long before VOSA do the same over here, so get used to the fact drivers will not place it on break whilst tipping. Personally if i can get away with it then i do put it on break whilst tipping but also you gotta think what when the driver gets pulled over his card checked for the last 28 days and no ‘other work’ shown!!! dont think it will look to goodit’s not work when your sat in your cab doing nothing mate,it’s a break,a period of recuperation.
having gone through my old CPC course book it is perfectly legal to ask a driver to have their break like this,as there is a section in the book where your asked to plan the vehicles day & it states that the driver can only have his breaks while the vehicle is being tipped or loaded…
our drivers are paid through their breaks this is why they are asked to take them while tipping at customer sites.sometimes they are there for over an hour,more than enough time have a break.do this 3/4 times a day,thats a lot of breaks…most are doing it.i see their time sheets & some are putting down 4 hours a day in breaks,all at customer sites…can’t ask for more than that from them…still an odd 1 or 2 taking the mick though…
I have seen drvers fined in other countries for putting on break while being loaded and yes they were sat there doing nothing and we have the same drivers regs here as they do in europe so I’m speaking from my own experience. As i said if it helps out then yea i put it on break when tippiing but I will also take 30 mins or so somewhere i can get some decent food and break. But also it works both ways and rest on the bay shouldn’t be factored in when planing the runs