Top posts guys, I’ve been fan of yours Ross for some time, and now I have added Conor to my list of of top posters.
These boards are overrun by transport managers and transport company owners who would want to convince all of us stupid drivers that working for minimum wage is good for us.
The sooner general public learns how many hours an average driver does per day/week , the better for all involved.
Calling “Panorama” or Channel 4 and letting them know how it all looks in real life wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Next time when your company, drivers, wins a contract , remember it’s you who is going to pay with your minimum wage pay for that win. company owners and bosses are going to be OK.
Ross v stobart:
The reason it should be scrapped is to save all the [zb].
Its a waste of time.
Any driver who complies will be treated like a jobsworth.
no one is following the law.
drivers and operators do not comply
They just pretend they do.
just scrap it and admit the truth.
tell the EU that in the UK were different and dont need to comply.
drivers will be happy doing there 80 hours a week.
enjoy your ill health and count your money.
low pay
long hours
and fiddle like its going out of fashion
industry is bent.
fatigue causes accidents.
its a load of ■■■■■■■■ and VOSA do not enforce it anyway.
a complete waste of time.
lets just admit its a fiddle and be done with it.
or
comply and be prepared for less hours and a higher hourly pay.
Safer roads
less fatigue
happier drivers
thats it
good luck
As much as I would like the benefits of a 47 hour week with the same/more pay than an 80 but I have one question: How would we get a higher hourly pay because our employer would have to employ more drivers to do the same amount of work?
jobseeker:
As much as I would like the benefits of a 47 hour week with the same/more pay than an 80 but I have one question: How would we get a higher hourly pay because our employer would have to employ more drivers to do the same amount of work?
You’ve just answered your own question, “because our employer would have to employ more drivers to do the same amount of work”.
Are you open minded to any alternative answers?
Here’s one possible alternative . . . A driver is paid a fair amount of the value they add to the community.
There are others, but I feel they would be wasted on you.
Ross v stobart:
The reason it should be scrapped is to save all the [zb].
Its a waste of time.
Any driver who complies will be treated like a jobsworth.
no one is following the law.
drivers and operators do not comply
They just pretend they do.
just scrap it and admit the truth.
tell the EU that in the UK were different and dont need to comply.
drivers will be happy doing there 80 hours a week.
enjoy your ill health and count your money.
low pay
long hours
and fiddle like its going out of fashion
industry is bent.
fatigue causes accidents.
its a load of ■■■■■■■■ and VOSA do not enforce it anyway.
a complete waste of time.
lets just admit its a fiddle and be done with it.
or
comply and be prepared for less hours and a higher hourly pay.
Safer roads
less fatigue
happier drivers
thats it
good luck
As much as I would like the benefits of a 47 hour week with the same/more pay than an 80 but I have one question: How would we get a higher hourly pay because our employer would have to employ more drivers to do the same amount of work?
That’s unfair! Bringing logic into a senseless rant
I demand an immediate return to the good old bad old days, when drivers drove for 80+hrs a week & only stopped when they finally awoke in a hedgerow. Of course, there were far less cars on the road in them days, you could actually fall asleep behind the wheel & drive for miles before you wiped out a family of 4 !
I think all working drivers should volunteer to double up their hours & cover for the armchair drivers, the drivers that talk about driving yet don’t actually drive.
Many drivers (pre wtd) regularly used to clock up 70 hour weeks, myself included. We were all probably a little more tired than was good for us, but it was the wage differential of say working in a factory on a regular 40 hour week that gave us the additional income to live in nice areas and drive half decent cars etc.
For many drivers the wtd essentially meant an immediate pay drop, quite often by a significant amount, with no means of regaining that lost income. Whatever the politics, you can’t change the obvious economic fact that less hours equals less money.
One lesson ive learnt about tnet is not to get sucked in by ross v stobart ,if anyone is a bit down or fed up this bloke coupled up with dozy and a few more could push you over the edge,
LIBERTY_GUY:
Many drivers (pre wtd) regularly used to clock up 70 hour weeks, myself included. We were all probably a little more tired than was good for us, but it was the wage differential of say working in a factory on a regular 40 hour week that gave us the additional income to live in nice areas and drive half decent cars etc.
In the Hull/East Yorkshire area doing 60-70hrs a week pre-WTD brought you up to roughly the national average wage people were getting for a 40hr week. That’s still the case today where a 60hr week will get you around £26k on Class 1.
And whilst it gave us additional income to live in nice areas and drive half decent cars, the average person in the UK was getting that level of income for doing 2/3 the hours. There’s nothing to be shouting about what it was like pre-WTD. Just like now the wages were shocking for what we were expected to invest and the risks and stress involved. Having to work half as much again that average Joe does to get the same wage is nothing but disgusting.
Whatever the politics, you can’t change the obvious economic fact that less hours equals less money.
Not always. If we hadn’t have had the PoA and had a max 48hr duty time it would have meant a driver shortage which would have shot wages up. I remember being at Geopost on the run up to its introduction and the wage negotiations taking place were looking at 20% wage increases which meant fewer hours for the same money as we were currently on. Then news about PoAs came out and that came to a crashing halt when it was realised the effect of the WTD on the linehaul drivers was zero because the time spent waiting at the hub for your return trailer counted as PoA.
weeto:
Ah, my ignorance.
But out of interest do places like Russia for domestic use, do they have there own rules different to EU/AETR?
I’d say they probably do. Our own Domestic rules are pretty bad though ? Well depending upon your viewpoint. As much as everyone moans about the EU (and i’m one of them), i have to admit them driving regs that have been adopted far wider than the EU seem pretty good to me in comparison to not having them.
Why Drivers always find the need to increase the pressure on themselves is beyond me,
Drivers are and always will be their own worst enemy,most are as brave as can be when they are in a crowd,but as soon as they go out of the gates they change into being “their own man” making their own rules up as they go.
I cant understand why something like the WTD -6hr rule etc is such a pain in the backside,Drivers complain all to often about the long hours etc yet when improvements to working conditions are implemented by Law they dont like it.
Same as moaning about timed delivery schedules,instead of getting there when you get there after an unscheduled delay,ie trailer defect trailer not quite loaded etc,and you more often and not get a Driver breaking his neck to achieve the same delivery time.
anon84679660:
The sooner general public learns how many hours an average driver does per day/week , the better for all involved.
Calling “Panorama” or Channel 4 and letting them know how it all looks in real life wouldn’t be a bad idea.
So… bell Panorama or Channel Four and tell them, if it’s a good idea.
I doubt the average Joe in the street would find much to be less concerned about than the number of hours drivers work. And for good reason, because if somebody I didn’t know from Adam walked up to me while I was doing my shopping and told me he worked 70 hours last week I wouldn’t be arsed in the slightest either.
Its all about shopping it seems.
If drivers wages increased as a result of having to work less as a result of legal limits ,that would benefit other drivers and improve working conditions for all current and new drivers.
Joe could talk about that while buying his waffles.
AK47 s fire 7.62 mm rounds and they hurt! 
