I work for a company now in Eire where out of 20 drivers there are 5 Irish drivers, One Bean (Uk driver me) and the rest are Polish or Czech.
Most I have met are nothing but friendly, try and speak English and are hard workers.
However…and I do not agree with this and it seems to be the norm over here that there is a big difference in our wages and conditions.
Eire or UK drivers are on 130 Euro a day while our POlish colleagues are on 60 or 70 Euro a day.
Eire or UK drivers are drving 03 and 04 Globetrotters while our colleagues are running around in 98,99 and 00 trucks.
Eire or UK drivers get to pretty much set their hours, most doing two weeks away then getting four days off when back. Our colleagues just run non stop, and live in the units.
I thought this was disgusting…untill sitting drinking coffee with a couple of the POlish chaps.
They live in the trucks because it is their choice and they pay no living costs like rent etc. Their wages are lower because every 8 weeks they are flown back to their native countries for two weeks, with the boss picking up the bill for the flight and paid holiday. The wages they would earn in their mative country works out top wack of 400 euro a month, they earn this here in a week.
After listening to the passion they have for their families you have to take your hat off to them. We here in financially well off countries take it for granted things like health care, a good wage compared with the rest of the world and seeing our families. Most people I know in the UK have a hard time with travelling one hour to work to better their families lives.
These guys sacrifice a year or two of their lives to make their families future brighter and in my book that goes a long long way. Just because they can speak fluent english means nothing, atleast they have the [zb] to give it a go.
You can beat the automatic censor with odd spacing, but you can’t beat the mods. Simon
I think that we just have to get used to the fact that foreign drivers are cheaper,and most companies are more interested in maximum profits than paying uk drivers more money to do the job.Personally I dont think the wages will ever be that decent all the time that foreign drivers can be hired for a fraction of what uk drivers will work for.
When I worked in the construction industry,I know from talking to other trades,that a few years ago there was a lot of money to be earnt as a plasterboarder(not one of the greatest skilled jobs in construction)
Now the majority of plasterboarders are from russia and eastern europe as the labour rates are cheaper,you will now hardly find a British plasterboarder on a building site,and other trades are following suit(The construction industry also has a shortage of workers)
I just really hope that the shortage of uk drivers does nt mean a cheapening of our livelihoods,by the import of cheap drivers.
An EU driver with an EU licence can drive any vehicle in the EU
Romania isnt and probably never will be in the EU athough 2007 was the target
I am a British dtiver with an EU licence, that means I can work anywhere in the European Union.
Maybe some of you should read a book about Douglas Baader. He commanded a Squadron of Polish Drivers who couldnt speak English!
Have a look at the war memorial at Uxbridge, It is not an advert for Mr Sheen
Without them we might all be dressed like Prince Harry and even worse related to his Grand Dad
Lidl is from Germany and I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole, the way they treat visiting drivers.
EU drivers can drive anywhere in the Union but depends where you’re based. I was told to change to a French licence before I could turn a wheel here. Only for a truck though, not for a car.
BTW passed my medical the other day and it gets easier. No balance test, no whispering into a blocked ear test, just a quick eyesight, take the pressure and listen to the heart. Did have a days delay because the photos I took didn’t show me wearing the specs I need for driving since the last test. Then €24.40 to the doc, he does all the paperwork and the permis will arrive tout de suite!
If you’re running Poole to Clermont then I won’t see you in Hautvillers Wednesday then Malc. You might run into Chris (Caveman) down that way though.
As far as I know, the Poles at Bow’s and over at Roadways on the boxes get the same pay as all the other blokes. I used to work at Bow’s and a mate of mine is still at Roadway, they aint any cheaper, it’s just that both firms cant keep the blokes because the shillings are not great, and a good many dont like the job, thats why they get blokes from Poland.
At the end of the day how many of us “uk” drivers have been turned away from somewhere because we did not have the correct paperwork? I remember driving round Tilbury for a good few hours trying to get some sense out of various people. It is not the Polish drivers fault, If I were in their position then I am bloody sure I would do the same as them. The majority of us would do what is necessary to give our families a better standard of living. The real problem is with the transport operators, they are doing it for purley profit reasons. They should be paying them the same rate as everyone else. If they paid a female driver less then it would ■■■ discrimnation, but there is nothing to stop them paying a Polish driver less then us. All this type of thing will do is to drive down wages in general and keep rates low, when in fact what needs to happen is for rates to go up and taxes to come down. But until the industry unites to this end then the spiral will continue downwards. We can all see it happening before our very eyes. So what is being done about it? Nothing, Nowt, Zilch, Zero, Zip. We are our own worst enemies i’m afraid.
The thread started about Polish Drivers in Tilbury.
What about the British Drivers in ECT in Rotterdam, or loading containers from Hamburg, or Gdansk all docks that you can fit Tilbury into a puddle in the corner.
In Rotterdam you have to find your way to the correct agent or shipping line, get the gatepass signed and stamped by customs then proceed to the bays to either operate a remote controlled straddle carrier or speak into an intercom to the driver in the tower crane.
Polish drivers did this on a regular basis, even helping us foreigners out. I was working in a foreign country, earning less money than the locals, but I was welcomed
Back in 1991, when I first started running into Quebec, I picked up a French-English dictionary and a Berlitz course in French on tape casettes. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that Quebecois was “non-standard”. Still, at least I tried.
Right now, my company has one Polish driver who doesn’t seem to speak any language other than his native tongue. I can eventually understand his written queries, but that’s about it. Thankfully, all of our tractors are equipped with satellite text messaging and GPS.
Invite them ALL over here the more the merrier i can go on the dole for a while, replace the British workforce with foreigners who will do the job for half what i will it suits me fine, but just one question?, where is Mr Brown going to get the £160 a week i kindly give to him from my wages?.
We are a small island who speak our own language all the Europen countries have no choice but to learn their neighbouring countries languages as some of them are so close but just remember the 2nd most spoken international language is English.
firstly,
as far as i am aware tilbury does not operate any self drive freight movement and so all the truck drivers entering the dock should also be exiting the dock without any embarkation being made, therefore for many years now the only nationality of drivers entering and leaving has been british therefore a health and safety sign in english would be all they required to erect.
secondly,
if the polish drivers employed by this company live in this country they must apply for a licence exchange and have a uk address, if you were to move to another country would you not want to (let alone be expected to) speak and understand the language of the people in that country?
thirdly,
if as i suspect, these drivers are here temporarily they will still hold a driving licence from their own country, they are here to make money, they will stay for a few months then go home for a couple of weeks, they will probably be employed by an agency and are more than likely being severely exploited by that agency, i would say that bowmurs are paying the same rate for those drivers as they pay their own drivers but they are paying an agency that rate, the agency will then deduct living costs plus learning costs plus a fee for work locating and the drivers will probably be some 2 or 3 quid per hour behind the uk drivers and have a little less per night out if they get anything at all, if they get flashed by a speed camera or red light camera where does the fine go to? as they do not have a uk licence they will not face the same penalties as the rest of us, if they face any at all.
these drivers are being exploited and we should in fact be tackling the problem by helping them make the transition to full time employment, get rid of these agencies, cut out the middlemen. once this has been done then we will be able to get better quality drivers with legal documentation working over here, drivers that do want to learn the language, do want to settle here and can bring added benefits to the industry at a time when there is a shortage of interested individuals for transport related employment.
this isn’t a shortage of drivers today, this is a shortage of drivers in 10 or 20 years time.
HI NSH i agree with that last statement about being given the same rate for doing the same job…you mentioned the ghurkas…they have been treated terribly yes they would and have given their life for this country and receive a lot less than their counterparts…although i did read somewhere that they cannot receive the same pension because its a lot cheaper in their own country and they do live very well on the meagre pension than someone who has been in civvy streeet…but i believe that they should be offered a british passport…a british pension…and all the rest that goes with serving in the british army…
have a nice day
KW:
I seem to remember from somewhere that Norbert Dentressangle were laying off some UK drivers on the bulk tanker division a few months ago.
Only down at Dover last week waiting for the same boat as me were three Polish or Russian drivers with UK 03 reg Magnums,Norbert Magnums.
It was me who first reported the Dentressangle news in Nov/Dec sometime, although I’m sure the driver I spoke too had a curtainsider and not a tanker. He said that as of Dec 23rd 2004 all British drivers at his depot were being made redundant and as of Jan 1st 2005 the depot would reopen under a slightly altered name with Polish drivers. This appears to have been the case unfortunetly. I believe the same has happened in Germany a few times however I’ve heard of a case where the redundant German drivers managed to sue the company for reopening a week later doing the same work, just with Polish drivers, they not only sued the company, but got their old jobs back.
As for being able to speak English. I think that if they’re working in Britain doing domestic British work such as containers and unaccompanied ferry trailers, then yes, they should have basic enough English skills to get by without too much hassle. It is in no way the same as a British driver delivering to Gdansk and then heading home again, just as Pekaes drivers who deliver to Derby and then go home, are not expected to speak English by anyone. I was in Germany recently and looking up driving jobs there, and most, even for international work, stated an ability to speak fluent German was required.
The myth that most Poles and E.Europeans can speak English is just that, a myth. I have helped out what must be hundreds by now and practically none of them spoke any English at all, the Hungarians tended to be better on the whole but to claim that all these drivers we see now are from the good old days of Hungarocamion and Pekaes is nonsense. Most of the drivers we see now are relatively recently recruited drivers needed to fill the jobs and the massively expanding international haulage sector in the Eastern Block that owes most of its living on being able to undercut everyone in the West and being able to run between any EU country. Before anyone says that we can do the same, in theory yes, but in reality its never gonna happen on any scale because we just cannot compete with E.European companies on anything, they even have better trucks than us now so not even quality is on our side.
An EU driver with an EU licence can drive any vehicle in the EU
Romania isnt and probably never will be in the EU athough 2007 was the target
I am a British dtiver with an EU licence, that means I can work anywhere in the European Union.
Maybe some of you should read a book about Douglas Baader. He commanded a Squadron of Polish Drivers who couldnt speak English!
Have a look at the war memorial at Uxbridge, It is not an advert for Mr Sheen
Without them we might all be dressed like Prince Harry and even worse related to his Grand Dad
How could they ,polish soldiers co-operate with RAF without english.They could.Courage is over reason sometimes. I thing so most of polish drivers are more afraid about english and communication in english than you can imagine. Thanx for a bit of our common history.
I’ll hazard a guess and say that the Poles in the RAF has translators on hand and were not just set lose in planes without any means of communicating with fellow allied airmen or ground control.
Another thing that strikes me as odd is the notion that we should shut our gobs about Polish drivers because they fought for us in the war…hmmm thats very interesting considering Britain only entered the war to honour a treaty with Poland and as a result, all British deaths on the European theatre, could, if wished be directly linked to us fighting for Poland, and not vice versa.
robinhood_1984:
I’ll hazard a guess and say that the Poles in the RAF has translators on hand and were not just set lose in planes without any means of communicating with fellow allied airmen or ground control.
Another thing that strikes me as odd is the notion that we should shut our gobs about Polish drivers because they fought for us in the war…hmmm thats very interesting considering Britain only entered the war to honour a treaty with Poland and as a result, all British deaths on the European theatre, could, if wished be directly linked to us fighting for Poland, and not vice versa.
Possibly could be better worded as “We were all fighting against the ■■■■ regieme”
robinhood-1984 these comments are ill spoken and not required to
state your view, yes we should state and raise out points for all to hear but no mate many many people all over this planet gave in the conflict
you spoke about, and think before you write as many more came here
to live when the wrong people took over their countries not just POLAND.
If the workers are payed the right wage,and fit all the points required
with good communication skills, and are commpetent in there job then
we can not complain, if this is not true then yes we should say why they
do not deserve to take a job, I will join in any action to stop the abuse
of cheap labour when we have right on our sides, as it is only a modern
form of SLAVE LABOUR; which is practised in all our EU PARTNERS
FROM THE OLD EU:
To [zb] what the ■■■■ has the war got do do with employing sub standard eastern bloc " drivers" yes I am in a position to say that because I see it every time I do a job out of a east anglian cold store a simple fact
If they can t speak or read english go home and come back when they can simple as that, come back when you understand that driving in the third lane of the motorway is not allowed as wittnessed by me and several other drivers as a H International driver steamed down the M11 , as he was pulling same liveried trailer as myself when I gave him the merchant banker sign the numpty thought I was waving and waved back, and no he wasnt a British driver because I have seen this clown before .
A sign with a truck on with a cross through even to a child would indicate no trucks but when I passed the small service station near Bar Hill N/B, the one which got wreaked by a truck sometime ago, to see a pole shunting around in the Little Chef car park trying to get out me I got on the blower to the office and reported him hard luck buddy I think he may have been taken off the road and put to work in the Freeze store last I heard
The above two incidents are true reports and when the jokers are pulling same trailers as me, in publics eyes I am the same as some half wit who has no understanding of simple basic laws.
So PC gang condem me to a life of poverty and hell for speaking the truth and when your job is on the line due to some unskilled eastern blocer you may think again.
ALSO does anyone know how hard or easy it is to get a truck licence in one of the fine eastern bloc countries
I suspect given the standard of drivers I have seen that if you gave me enough time and enough bananas I could get a barrel of monkeys on acid a polish truck licence
Suffolk ReeferBoy:
To [zb] what the [zb] has the war got do do with employing sub standard eastern bloc " drivers" yes I am in a position to say that because I see it every time I do a job out of a east anglian cold store a simple fact
If they can t speak or read english go home and come back when they can simple as that, come back when you understand that driving in the third lane of the motorway is not allowed as wittnessed by me and several other drivers as a H International driver steamed down the M11 , as he was pulling same liveried trailer as myself when I gave him the merchant banker sign the numpty thought I was waving and waved back, and no he wasnt a British driver because I have seen this clown before .
A sign with a truck on with a cross through even to a child would indicate no trucks but when I passed the small service station near Bar Hill N/B, the one which got wreaked by a truck sometime ago, to see a pole shunting around in the Little Chef car park trying to get out me I got on the blower to the office and reported him hard luck buddy I think he may have been taken off the road and put to work in the Freeze store last I heard
The above two incidents are true reports and when the jokers are pulling same trailers as me, in publics eyes I am the same as some half wit who has no understanding of simple basic laws.
So PC gang condem me to a life of poverty and hell for speaking the truth and when your job is on the line due to some unskilled eastern blocer you may think again.
ALSO does anyone know how hard or easy it is to get a truck licence in one of the fine eastern bloc countries
I suspect given the standard of drivers I have seen that if you gave me enough time and enough bananas I could get a barrel of monkeys on acid a polish truck licence
I can see exactly where you are coming from, But it is not the driver,it is the company he works for, They have not bothered to see if he is safe etc, Clearly the guy you are on about was not safe. But If I werein his place I would have jumped at the chance to be out on the road rather then in a cold store. Yes he was a numpty, yes he as unsafe and yes he was giving truckdrivers and your comapany a bad name, but the company’s have to take the ultimate responsibilty here, they are the ones putting dangerous drivers on the road just because they are cheaper.
Suffolk ReeferBoy:
To [zb] what the [zb] has the war got do do with employing sub standard eastern bloc " drivers" yes I am in a position to say that because I see it every time I do a job out of a east anglian cold store a simple fact
If they can t speak or read english go home and come back when they can simple as that, come back when you understand that driving in the third lane of the motorway is not allowed as wittnessed by me and several other drivers as a H International driver steamed down the M11 , as he was pulling same liveried trailer as myself when I gave him the merchant banker sign the numpty thought I was waving and waved back, and no he wasnt a British driver because I have seen this clown before .
A sign with a truck on with a cross through even to a child would indicate no trucks but when I passed the small service station near Bar Hill N/B, the one which got wreaked by a truck sometime ago, to see a pole shunting around in the Little Chef car park trying to get out me I got on the blower to the office and reported him hard luck buddy I think he may have been taken off the road and put to work in the Freeze store last I heard
The above two incidents are true reports and when the jokers are pulling same trailers as me, in publics eyes I am the same as some half wit who has no understanding of simple basic laws.
So PC gang condem me to a life of poverty and hell for speaking the truth and when your job is on the line due to some unskilled eastern blocer you may think again.
ALSO does anyone know how hard or easy it is to get a truck licence in one of the fine eastern bloc countries
I suspect given the standard of drivers I have seen that if you gave me enough time and enough bananas I could get a barrel of monkeys on acid a polish truck licence
Suffolk ReeferBoy:
To [zb] what the [zb] has the war got do do with employing sub standard eastern bloc " drivers" yes I am in a position to say that because I see it every time I do a job out of a east anglian cold store a simple fact
If they can t speak or read english go home and come back when they can simple as that, come back when you understand that driving in the third lane of the motorway is not allowed as wittnessed by me and several other drivers as a H International driver steamed down the M11 , as he was pulling same liveried trailer as myself when I gave him the merchant banker sign the numpty thought I was waving and waved back, and no he wasnt a British driver because I have seen this clown before .
A sign with a truck on with a cross through even to a child would indicate no trucks but when I passed the small service station near Bar Hill N/B, the one which got wreaked by a truck sometime ago, to see a pole shunting around in the Little Chef car park trying to get out me I got on the blower to the office and reported him hard luck buddy I think he may have been taken off the road and put to work in the Freeze store last I heard
The above two incidents are true reports and when the jokers are pulling same trailers as me, in publics eyes I am the same as some half wit who has no understanding of simple basic laws.
So PC gang condem me to a life of poverty and hell for speaking the truth and when your job is on the line due to some unskilled eastern blocer you may think again.
ALSO does anyone know how hard or easy it is to get a truck licence in one of the fine eastern bloc countries
I suspect given the standard of drivers I have seen that if you gave me enough time and enough bananas I could get a barrel of monkeys on acid a polish truck licence
[zb]
Dearest jj72,
As I hang on every word you utter please tell me which part of my post you found to your dislike , then and only then can I sleep sound in the knowledge that I have made myself a better person. I hope you find time in your busy life to reply as I am truly sorry for upsetting you , I hope you can find it in yourself to accept my deepest regret for any such offence.
Your mate,
Suffolk ReeferBoy.
PS. looking back I suspect the part about monkeys on acid may have offended you, I would like to say that NEVER have I seen any monkeys of any sort on any illegal substance let alone driving a truck.
but when I passed the small service station near Bar Hill N/B, the one which got wreaked by a truck sometime ago, to see a pole shunting around in the Little Chef car park trying to get out 