Richard Long BV trucks fleet always clean and smartest on the road but sadly not office people and bosses!
have heard that they are doing run from Rotterdam to Maglic (Serbia) as regulars job! nice!
fingersdaily:
I have just finished at Richard long transport after 6 months of working there. My advice is do not go unless you are desperate for work, they are a terrible company to work for!
Well that’s a turnaround fingers… you were about the only person singing the Long’s praises on the other thread… Richard long transport - THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE) - Trucknet UK
What went wrong?
He stayed 6 months too long at Longs… 
Evening Luke.
If your young, single, enthusiastic and fancy a kinda busmans holiday, then give the bloke a look. If you fancy seeing your front door and local pub occasionally then really the jobs not going to work for you.
I, like some other posters on here are probably a bit biased through personal experiences, and thus should not be read into too deeply. Personally I think the bloke is an utter Kaaant. but that’s opinion for you. 
To give him a little due though, when I started working for him, I had only just passed my class one, he gave me my first bendy job. I spent a week in the yard learning how to load and secure all types of plant and farm machinery, a week on local work doing farm bulker work. Then off to Lyon with a couple of JCB’s and a reload out of Claas in Le Mans back to Blighty.
In hindsight, after a number of years and some good Karma as I sit now away from Longs, I went into the job with too little driving experience to then be bumbling around France, Germany and Benelux in a right hand drive, and he was expecting way more from me then what I was capable and comfortable of achieving.
The lads that do well, enjoy the job and last with him, are the single blokes that use the truck as a home and just pop back for a weekend every two months. If you want to be home on a fortnightly basis, then friction will be created between yourself and the office.
The kit is top of the range, when Richard buys a new truck, EVERY reasonable extra on the list is purchased, your truck is brought specifically for the driver to spend as long as possible away from home.
Although the reason all his kit always look the puppies pebbles is cause if you don’t clean it when you get home, Richard will clean it outside and inside and you will be billed for his time. (Its in your contract) No excuses. If you get home at 1am on a Saturday morning, you clean your truck and trailer or be light in the wage packet.
Even now, a number of years later, now self employed for nearly 4 years with no shortage of work. Job for Job, its still the most interesting and best job I have ever held in the haulage industry. Put the negative vibes from us on the back burner, give it a go and make your own mind up. If it don’t work out, and you live in Norfolk/Suffolk/Cambridgeshire. Its the best reference you can have on your CV. Its gained me a lot of work and still gains me new contracts when mentioned that I once worked for Longy.
“If you can work for Longy, then every other company is a diddle” is a well known saying round Norfolk hauliers.
Would I go back to working for him? In a nutshell, If he was the only UK haulier left then I would probably go picking wild flowers in Antartica for a living long before I would knock on his door.
Feel free to PM me for my number or Email if you wish anymore questions answered.
Oh and dont forget, when you quit, take as much paperwork and tacho’s home with you as possible as security on getting paid monies owed. 
fingersdaily:
I have just finished at Richard long transport after 6 months of working there. My advice is do not go unless you are desperate for work, they are a terrible company to work for!
after the honeymoon period ended 
fingersdaily:
i know that these posts are quite old but i still wana post a reply. in my experiance a firm like richard long will probably get more than their fair share of dreamers and time wasters. i don’t mean to take anything away from all the people that have already posted but put your self in their shoes, drivers ringing up full of dreams and big ideas and when it comes to the crunch their bottle goes, they’ve probably had trucks dumped all over europe. like the other fella said if you act like an idiot then you will be treated like an idiot. i used to work for thorburn international and before i started i heard all sorts of stories about him being a real b*****d but he was a really good bloke when he got to know you, they just want to make sure that you know what you’re doing. i might be totally wrong but try and look at the job from the other side.
I worked for Richard Long for nearly 8 years and on the whole I throughly enjoyed. There were times when it drove me mad and there were times I thought it was the best job in the world. One the whole its a very interesting job and I got to see lots of interesting places and play with lots of fantastic pieces of machinery and trailers. It tends to suit people like myself who are used to farm machinery and getting there hands dirty. You need to be able to think for yourself and not expect the office staff to hold your hand every step of the way. There were lots of guys start there who just didn’t realise what they were getting into. Low loaders aren’t to everybody’s taste. Throw in the fact that there are lots of restrictions on height and width on the continent and things get even more interesting. Spending 4 hours loading and strippng down a machine is nothing unusal. But putting on a 20t digger takes no time at all either. I worked hard but was always told to keep it legal. It is a job that suits a young man, willing to learn and have a go, someone who doesn’t mind being away. That said I usualy made it home on the weekends I wanted to be back, occasionally I didn’t and you just have to put down the joys of being a continental lorry driver. I really miss the job, if my own personal circumstances were different I would love to go back. Its sad that the people who shout the loudest about how bad he is to work for either haven’t worked for him at all or they frankly weren’t cut out for the job in the first place. And yes I was one of those drivers that placed bets on how long new starters would last.
bluntman:
I worked for Richard Long for nearly 8 years and on the whole I throughly enjoyed. There were times when it drove me mad and there were times I thought it was the best job in the world. One the whole its a very interesting job and I got to see lots of interesting places and play with lots of fantastic pieces of machinery and trailers. It tends to suit people like myself who are used to farm machinery and getting there hands dirty. You need to be able to think for yourself and not expect the office staff to hold your hand every step of the way. There were lots of guys start there who just didn’t realise what they were getting into. Low loaders aren’t to everybody’s taste. Throw in the fact that there are lots of restrictions on height and width on the continent and things get even more interesting. Spending 4 hours loading and strippng down a machine is nothing unusal. But putting on a 20t digger takes no time at all either. I worked hard but was always told to keep it legal. It is a job that suits a young man, willing to learn and have a go, someone who doesn’t mind being away. That said I usualy made it home on the weekends I wanted to be back, occasionally I didn’t and you just have to put down the joys of being a continental lorry driver. I really miss the job, if my own personal circumstances were different I would love to go back. Its sad that the people who shout the loudest about how bad he is to work for either haven’t worked for him at all or they frankly weren’t cut out for the job in the first place. And yes I was one of those drivers that placed bets on how long new starters would last.
If your the bloke I’m thinking off, You’ll remember me. (There where not many folk with 8 years uder their belt)
I was a mate of Mick Donohue (sp). Ex oil rig worker and had the white BMW 750 Alpina.
Pm me if your bored, always good to get back in touch fella.
Phil
robinhood_1984:
Own Account Driver:
In fairness it’s a world where a lot of hauliers are no longer in business they still are even if they’re not winning a popularity contest with drivers.I don’t know if their reputation is deserved or not but they can’t be doing everything wrong.
From what I’ve gathered over the years through the grapevine and from people that know the Long’s personally it would seem that you’d get on very well there if you crack on with the job, go where you’re sent and stay out indefinetely. The thing they hate more than anything is drivers wanting to go home.
I think that’s about the size of it, I’ve met a couple of drivers who enjoyed the job, but they weren’t bothered about coming home including Christmas day. They also said they got all the work trough the text system so didn’t have to speak to anybody in the office which seemed to help as the attitude to drivers from the office is what seems to get to most drivers in the end.
Own Account Driver:
In fairness it’s a world where a lot of hauliers are no longer in business they still are even if they’re not winning a popularity contest with drivers.I don’t know if their reputation is deserved or not but they can’t be doing everything wrong.
About 30 odd thousand acres of farmland helps to boost business when haulage is crap 
You do get your work through the messaging system but you also have a phone in the cab which they will not hesitate to ring you on if they want to know where you are, the words “how you getting on” will become very familiar. You do get cold wet and dirty and you will be away for a few weeks at a time but that isn’t why most people leave. The majority of drivers go because of the attitude of people in the office and garage, it really can be quite bad. Richard is a [zb] make no mistake but Lorraine is usually ok to talk to, Peter and Edward are know it all’s who just want to pick at everything you do. Paul can be quite reasonable but he does get his strings pulled by Richard. If you can work for longy and stick it for even a short time then you will find working most other places will be easy. All this about not taking on fat people and being away for 4 weeks is ■■■■■■■■ you will normally be away for 2-3 weeks and some of the other drivers I saw there struggled to even get on the trailer they were that big.
I dont know how many he had but there was one bloke I met regularly with an A Frame setup, normally in Ashford every other Friday night, decent lad who liked a pint. I seem to remember he worked for Barbour European for a few years.
my brother in law worked there for a couple of years,
he said the same thing work and kit was great but it was the way the office staff treated you that was the big let down.
I had a bust up with Richard and told him where to put his truck and trailer and stormed out of the office, Paul came out and had a word then Richard spoke to me AND APOLOGISED TO ME, that is 100% true believe it or not. I found Edward OK but Peter forgets he once once a driver. My son also worked out of Bury on the Classe for a fair while and liked it. I’d go back as well.
Richard gets a new truck and trailer for himself to play with every year (or did when I was there) and gives his previous one to his brightest blue eyed boy, I asked him when it would be my turn and he replied ‘‘will you still be working when you’re ninety’’
.
fingersdaily:
You do get your work through the messaging system but you also have a phone in the cab which they will not hesitate to ring you on if they want to know where you are, the words “how you getting on” will become very familiar. You do get cold wet and dirty and you will be away for a few weeks at a time but that isn’t why most people leave. The majority of drivers go because of the attitude of people in the office and garage, it really can be quite bad. Richard is a [zb] make no mistake but Lorraine is usually ok to talk to, Peter and Edward are know it all’s who just want to pick at everything you do. Paul can be quite reasonable but he does get his strings pulled by Richard. If you can work for longy and stick it for even a short time then you will find working most other places will be easy. All this about not taking on fat people and being away for 4 weeks is ■■■■■■■■ you will normally be away for 2-3 weeks and some of the other drivers I saw there struggled to even get on the trailer they were that big.
Are you fat■■?
Well i am and he told me he wouldnt take me on as he thought my size was an issue…
wildfire:
iv’e got a mate on there says he don’t find it to bad. they do push you fairly hard and he is away 2 weeks at a time. might not be suited for everyone just depends what your attitude to work is
I don’t think it’s the attitude to work that is the problem, more like how much contempt can a driver put up with.
I’ve never heard a good word said about Richard Long, the planners and the bosses wife treat and talk to the drivers like ■■■■.
I’ve seen a photo of one of their tucks turned over as it turned into their yard fully loaded with machinery.
I bet that was some driver highly pi$$ed off and thought, cop this you ■■■■■■■■■
berewic:
wildfire:
iv’e got a mate on there says he don’t find it to bad. they do push you fairly hard and he is away 2 weeks at a time. might not be suited for everyone just depends what your attitude to work isI don’t think it’s the attitude to work that is the problem, more like how much contempt can a driver put up with.
I’ve never heard a good word said about Richard Long, the planners and the bosses wife treat and talk to the drivers like [zb].
I’ve seen a photo of one of their tucks turned over as it turned into their yard fully loaded with machinery.
I bet that was some driver highly pi$$ed off and thought, cop this you [zb].
A brave driver to turn one over and risking injury or their life don’t you think??
Although the reason all his kit always look the puppies pebbles is cause if you don’t clean it when you get home, Richard will clean it outside and inside and you will be billed for his time. (Its in your contract) No excuses. If you get home at 1am on a Saturday morning, you clean your truck and trailer or be light in the wage packet.
Amazing what some stand for.
I spoke to the delightful Loraine? a few years ago, and put the phone down on her, a very rude and aggressive woman.
Iam sitting here browsing and found alot of comments some of which i agree with entirly it looks like an attitude problem the problem is whos the fompany operates all vehicles in europe most on dutch plates so you can expect to work abroad the trucks are all top to high spec at worst good spec why eouldnt you want to keep your truck clean in and out the work is heavy low loader plant and machinary so expect to have to do some work sorry container boys no twist locks here
if you load a combine for czech republic dont necesaraly expect to be home for dinner your off down the road.
If your back loads 3.5m wide and your taking it from czech to france dont expect to be home for the weekend either and if your backload from france is going to scotland your going to scotland too now add in your ec drivers hours regs expect to weekend any were.
This a out lay of a basic task i wouldnt apply to be a bank manager or a doctor vecause i couldnt do that but i can drive a truck and load it