I Think Ron Web should mind his own business regarding owner drivers I am one and have been for 27 years I will not drive for any other company the wages for the hours are rubbish, the conditions belong in the dark ages, he need go on about od,s when his members are doing 15 hour shifts and with the help of poa,s 70 od hours a week, no Ron if you read this and you use trucknet have a look at the crap job you are doing for you members and keep it out nob…
There must be more to come from this for those of us not in the know…
The jerk is happy because he had a hand in owner drivers now being sebject to the silly working time directive,he said haulage firms would try to get around rules by getting drivers to be self employed,
hi, quick question, is POA a euro wide thing or just UK?
The poa is euro wide it was put in so driver could still work long hours,it was an idea to kid brake and the other pricks that the driver was working shorter safe hours
brados:
There must be more to come from this for those of us not in the know…
There must, but with a bit of luck it may just fizzle out 
I thought you were going to come in with constructive comment,
fuse:
I thought you were going to come in with constructive comment,
I thought you were going to elaborate on your post and tell the rest of us what it is about, either by a link or some well constructed argument as to why you are so upset with Ron Web.
Are you Toby incognito? 
Mr Webb / Unison et al, can`t understand that some individuals want a little more out of life, and are prepared to do a lot extra to achieve it.
Put it down to ENVY 
Why cant they leave well alone, and concentrate on their members T+Cs, Ill never know 
The union cocksuckers @ Strasbourg have tried to bring the Spanish into line with something along the same lines, I wonder how they went on … 
IIRC, the Spanish O/D parc is around 85%
My main gripe is I dont want any more paper work, I work in construction about 7 until 4 some sat work but I dont do it I hate saturdays I will do sundays its my brill day good money no traffic, silly wtd prob is there will be times when we have the work and no hours to do it then no work and lots of hours, you see we finish fridays 3 or 4 pm so by monday morning we will have had 65 70 hours off at times…most of all I dont like a prick like web whos members dont have it as good as me trying to make it akward and bullying the likes of me because they can whaT DO YOU SAY TO THAT WHEEL NUT
roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … ective.htm
By Jove, I have got it!
I don’t listen to some Union Rep spouting ■■■■■■■■, but in this case you are probably shooting at the wrong person.
Since the silly WTD was introduced, it was always on the cards for it to envelop everyone, owner drivers and employed drivers alike. This was delayed several times and finally voted in last week by EU Ministers, not Ron Web, Ron Seal or Nor Web.
I cannot honestly see why the self employed had an exemption anyway, if it is, as has been said, “it is to improve road safety”
What’s the difference between a tired employed Somerfield Supermarket driver and a tired self employed Tarmac Franchisee?
It’s not as though Ron Webb of Unite has sneaked this in through the back door, it has been on the cards since April 2005 when the RTD/WTD was introduced and it should have been aligned in 2009
It was voted out not so long ago ,Ron the bully Web I know did not vote on it but he was behined it being re introduced, I ont like the silly wtd because it is fake it was put there so to allow flexable working without really paying for it, I DONT WORK THE HOURS BUT I WILL NOW HAVE TO WASTE IT WITH MORE PAPERWORK just when the digi tacho made life easy, I have a cushy little number and I dont like Web and his pricks bringing me down to his members level
Why self employed had exemtion…in my case…£85000 FOR NEW TRUCK…and all the responability…no employment rights I have been there 37 years no golden hand shake or pay off when I go, I dont care I knew what I was getting into, We can when there is not allot of work go else where but I can not be botherd now you see people like myself are no threat to bullyboy Ron and his coherts in europe they are fighting with themselves to work longer hours and sleep on industial estates and grotty little park spots with no facilities 15 hour spread then into the back of you truck no thanks
To be honest. I didn’t have any clue who Ron Web was, as I haven’t been in a trade union since 1978, but I can use Google, and I found this; I subscribe to TNN but must have missed this piece written in 2005.
TNN went to London Town recently to talk to Ron Webb, National Secretary for Transport for the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G).
Rolling up at Transport House in High Holborn, I must admit my first thought was rather uncharitable. Given reports of recent declines in union membership in the UK, I wondered if the T&G still has a role to play within the haulage industry?
Ron Webb, National Secretary for Transport for the T&G soon put me right on that score.
“Sorry for being a little late, I’ve just come directly from settling a dispute in a large, ‘household name’, logistics company.” he said.
With the T&G representing around 125,000 workers in the industry Webb describes road transport as “…without question one of the most important areas of membership of the T&G”.
Realising that we had a lot to talk about, I launched into the subjects of the day.
Fuel Pricing
Given that the increasing cost of fuel is putting pressure on employers, I asked Webb whether he understood the pressure haulage companies were under.
“The RHA and FTA are absolutely correct in my view to require a reduction in the price of DERV. The T&G wants it too. The truth is that the unacceptable levels of DERV at the moment have an impact on the viability of companies that employ my members”.
So the T&G certainly appear to be standing side-by-side with the trade organisations on this one.
Webb admitted that the ‘diplomatic’ approach to the Government was failing to reduce fuel prices, so the obvious question is does the T&G support the actions of the recent fuel protestors?
"No, we don’t support the fuel protestors. They are made up of a consortium of farmers and owner drivers and while I understand the need to reduce DERV I certainly don’t support the tactics they are using in trying to get it. Who are they accountable to? At times even we [the T&G] have to resort to direct action, but before we get to that we have clear procedures. We are accountable to our members. Who are this group accountable to?
"If I step outside the legal parameters laid down for ballots before industrial action they’ll lock people like me up, or they sequestrate funds from the union, or put chains on the door. But what we got is this group that think they can bring pressure to bear on the Government though an external avenue, and while unions have been known to bring pressure on Government, we have always done that with the mandate and accountability of our membership.
“The cause is a just cause but the process [they use] is fundamentally unacceptable.”
Driver Shortages
As a member of the board of Skills for Logistics, Webb is more than aware of the shortage of drivers in the haulage industry, which he believes is currently around 46,000 and of the fact that the average age of a truck driver is around 50 and getting older all the time.
Although enthusiastic about increasing training opportunities, Webb was less than happy about the apparent prospects offered to new drivers.
"You can put the skills and training there, you can make it easier for someone to come into the industry, but what we effectively say to the worker is ‘come and join the road haulage industry, come and join a seven day, twenty-four hour industry…become a competent class I driver in charge of a 38 tonne vehicle…and then we’re going to pay you £6.50 an hour’, it’s just crazy!
"I believe that the industry should be moving towards a proper salaried concept, a competent LGV driver today should be bringing home no less than £35,000 a year for a 48hr week.
“The youngster coming in the door…who ain’t coming in the door…it ain’t happening no more, it’s drying up. There’s a massive issue with recruitment. We [the industry] don’t mirror society…it’s white male, we have very few black people in LGV jobs, very few women in the industry, and quiet frankly it’s an outdated industry with an outdated image.”
Working Time
Given the introduction this year of the Working Time Directive I asked if this was a ‘good thing’ for lorry drivers, especially as it enforces a shorter working week which is one of improvements that the T&G has been calling for in the industry.
"Where there are employers who are carrying out the legislation accurately then it’s certainly having a degree of impact.
"Periods of Availability are being abused chronically by the industry. I believe that the Government gave far too much flexibility to the industry on the Working Time Directive and they did it by extending Periods of Availability, allowing, in my view, Periods of Availability to be exploited. We have saying in the Union that when they instigated the Periods of Availability they moved the 48hrs to 60hrs. No one should kid themselves that the WTD provides a clinical 48hrs. What’s happening in reality outside, is that on average I believe employers are getting much more out of their workforce than the 48hrs under Periods of Availability.
“In my view it would have been better for the Government and the employers and workers to accept that once and for all hours were going to be 48hrs.”
I suggested that the answer to his concerns would come in the enforcement of working time regulations by VOSA. Referring to recent reports that VOSA saw it’s role as ‘educational…’ Webb was scornful. “The role that the Government have given VOSA on the introduction of the Working Time Directive is comical. Nothing short of comical.”
Would you welcome a VOSA prosecution? I asked. At least that might clarify the law. “Absolutely” was the reply.
In Webb’s opinion the apparent lack of defined working hours is yet another reason for people not entering the haulage industry. With his passion for training and recruitment, he sees a strict 48hr week and straightforward salaried jobs as pre-requisites for attracting more people into the industry.
From my discussion with Ron Webb it would seem that the aims of his Union are not that far removed from the companies where his members are employed. He looks forward to working with employers and Government to produce professional drivers in a professional industry with a professional image. Who can argue with that?
Not me in this case!
That was top notch Wheel nut, me and Ron are on the same lines at times,deep down I do feel some hauliers would use ods as a way of getting around things and they in some cases would be their own worst enemies, I was in the rag mans union years ago the old shop steward wanted me to be shop steward when he left so I would go to meetings,my god some could negotiate a wage cut and think they had got more, they tried and failed to ban the cb ,see we dont want the indians,or paddy wackers as we were sometimes referred to talking to onean,other they might get ideas above their station, then they tried to ban sleeper cabs when there were no decent digs sorry not many decent digs,I think to many like on pie in the sky island like some who disrupt an airline then clear off on holiday with a commpetitor,getting off the subject now but thenk for your input
Hi Malc, you do come up with some blinders sometimes…and that was no exception, very informative, i must agree that i am not a great fan of TGWU, but what was in that post made a bit of sense, We drivers are crying out for a reduction in our working hours, and yet as all governments do, they give it with one hand, and take it back with the other. So our 48 hr week becomes, 60hrs and with POA etc then becomes 70/80. I talk to many drivers on the road and they all agree that we are working more hours today than ever before, and yet when i read the posts on T/Net…there are a lot of drivers who say " i cant afford to work 48 hrs" which is a shame that a driver is not paid the £35,000 a year for a class 1 driver, but instead has to rely on the good ol fashioned hourly rate. Now i like a lot of other drivers are paid annually, which is great, but, companies think, and believe that a driver is at their disposal 24/7…just because they are paid an annual salary.
Working under 2 sets of legislation like the WTD is an absolute waste of time, and only extends our working day/week, whilst putting obstacles in our way, so who is fighting for our benefit to get rid of the wtd, and put us all on a decent living wage, with a reduction of hours to give us time to spend with our families.
The recent government announcement about the retiring age is one example, and to extend a truck drivers retirement age to 70 beggars belief, there are a lot of silly old fools on the road as it is, but to extend that to 70 and beyond to allow them to drive trucks so they can save on paying out the pension is unbelievable…weel before the retirement age, there are a lot of people whose health fails them in lots of aspects, joints, eyes, aching limbs, back problems etc etc, and we all know that serious issues could be calculated by a medical, but will it have an impact on the already tired, fatiqued driver. I for one have had enough and want to retire, i just feel i cant take much more of this industry, the one ive worked in for 46 years, the one ive loved at the beginning, and the one i despise now, but due to the fact that no one has fought to get me a better way of living over the years, has also failed to get me a decent pension, in my old age, yet they can give away millions to asylum seekers, pay a grand a week rent for an illegal immigrant family, and pay child benefit for kids that are not in this country, and the majority of drivers would only work beyond retirement age, 1. because its law 2. because they cannot afford to retire. Foreigners can run nfreely on our road network free of charge, and the government say that a new system is forthcoming, but we will have to charge the uk hauliers as well, then they can claim it back, what sort of a system is that, at least its a start though. How long did it take the germans to introduce maut…how many years have we been paying for the eurovignette, on our own soil…surely its better to just reverse the system…every vehicle that comes through our shores, has immigration…so give them a book with a stamp to show date of arrival, and then charge them a daily rate, or make them buy a vignette…how simple…maybe they want to create jobs for the boys in government offices so they dont have to sack them in order to balance their books with the jobs cuts they have promised… On the owner driver issue, where it was said about the tired driver who works for joe bloggs and the o/d who is also tired, whats the difference…well the owner driver rarely has his own work, so he is in fact employed by the person giving him work, but using his own truck rather than someone elses, and shows he is in fact super human. I have a friend who owns a truck, he makes £1700 a week, take out the fuel, tax, insurance, etc, etc, and what has he left…enough to make him want to cry…so if thats being an owner driver today…keep it…i think i`v said enough for now…
Good post truckboy but all od,s work is not bad ,would I have paid £85000 for a new truck, I would get the sack if I worked for a company I could not keep up ,I go my own speed if I lose out now and again I dont care.