Drivers have always moaned about the industry even in the “good old days” before the
tacho. Myself I have been in the job 40 odd years and I have been known to to have a winge
the odd time but some blokes would complain just for the sake of it. ps I am two years from retirement
anb I can,t wait to get out.
scanny77:
you do seem to be missing one major thing Neil. over the years i have moaned about a lot of things but i have always just got on with it.
Well you have over 3000 posts on this site and many more on other sites and I don’t ever recall seeing a positive post from you. They are always negative and always full of moans. If it is that bad why the hell do you still do it, a sane person would have got out years ago if it was making them that unhappy.
scanny77:
i did give you an example of an easier job. one of those muppets that should be made redundant instead of sitting around inventing new ideas to mess people around and trying to justify their own position within a company
That’s not an easier job, look at the effort they must have to put in to justify their existence. The constant thinking of new ways to try [zb] things up, no chance of nipping into the bunk behind their desk for a power nap - probably don’t even have a bunk in fact. They have to look at the same view all the time, deal with the office politics and then their is the biggie. They have to deal with any driver they encounter who doesn’t like the latest daft scheme they have come up with and for all that they are most likely on less than a driver earns. Easier? I don’t think so. 
yes scanny things have changed.
iso-trac etc has changed things alot, no-one now looks at the good work youve done over the week, just the 5 mins extra in the services.
they dont trust you to use the new pressure washer to clean your mirrors etc,only the shunter can use it
they dont trust yopu to use the new truck wash anymore,theyemploy a bloke to use it over the w/end , so if you want to wash your truck because you take a pride in it you cant
they send you letters asking about your health because there concerned your fit and safe to do your job even though your doctor/dvla say you are.
they give you courses on how tesco want you to work even though you dont work for tesco
they ask morr to ring up and report you to them if you dont go in and strip down .
they give you your paper work not in order, half of it missing, but if you hand it back not in order with p.o.ds missing you get docked your bonus
you used to ring t.o and get a decision there and then, now you ring 101 office bods to get the same dcision 1/2 hrs late.
the jobs gone to pot,it really has,its zb hard work where it shouldnt be.
for ■■■■■ sake they want you to put a seal on a empty tri your taking out the yard.
and you wonder why we moan, we moan because alot of us are frustrated at how much ■■■■■■■■ ther is in the job these days, every things taking twice as long as it should do, yes im on hourly pay so should love it , but its no fun nearly running out 2 times a week because of the ■■■■■■■■ involves in the job
its a simple job so lets go back to doing it the simple way, then some of us wont get frustrated and MOAN, ffs surely i should be allowed to push a button on a truck wash shouldnt i 
Coffeeholic:
scanny77:
you do seem to be missing one major thing Neil. over the years i have moaned about a lot of things but i have always just got on with it.Well you have over 3000 posts on this site and many more on other sites and I don’t ever recall seeing a positive post from you. They are always negative and always full of moans. If it is that bad why the hell do you still do it, a sane person would have got out years ago if it was making them that unhappy.
scanny77:
i did give you an example of an easier job. one of those muppets that should be made redundant instead of sitting around inventing new ideas to mess people around and trying to justify their own position within a companyThat’s not an easier job, look at the effort they must have to put in to justify their existence. The constant thinking of new ways to try [zb] things up, no chance of nipping into the bunk behind their desk for a power nap - probably don’t even have a bunk in fact. They have to look at the same view all the time, deal with the office politics and then their is the biggie. They have to deal with any driver they encounter who doesn’t like the latest daft scheme they have come up with and for all that they are most likely on less than a driver earns. Easier? I don’t think so.
i praised a DHL van driver a few months ago. i pulled over to let him join the M74 and he held back to let me pull back across to lane 1. van drivers get a lot of stick so i thought it was worth giving this guy some credit since we never seem to see anyone praise any drivers on this site. all the posts about driving are complaints so i thought i would buck the trend
i do enjoy some driving jobs but the extra layers of BS that have been consistantly thrown at it over the past few years have driven me out of it, especially as the vast majority of my recent work is tesco and we all know they are ■■■■■■■■■ as a company. the individuals who are giving me my work know that i go out and do my job without causing them any headaches yet their managers insist on screwing the jobs up and that isnt just for me. im guessing a lot of drivers on this site are fed up with people expecting more from them instead of letting them get on with their jobs.
this post wasnt a rant in the first place. i just wondered if drivers have more to moan about these days than in years gone by. i wasnt actually moaning about anything. i have another thread taking care of that 
I used to watch the yard politics of 1973 when a new driver was given a new DAF 2600 and the longest serving man got a hand me down F86 to go shunting. The same politics when the new man was given a container and the other blokes were handballing Cork and sheeting it in the wind and rain.
My mate Stuart was a handy lad who was brought up on a farm and got to work in the garage when there was a trailer to get through test, he moaned his ■■■■ off until the day my boss took on a fully time served fitter and gave Stuart a new F88. He still moaned his ■■■■ off because the fitter wasn’t as good as Stuart.
For every 365 days I have spent in haulage I bet I can think of the same amount of moans, too far, too near, too heavy, too light, too high, too low, Wont pull, pulls better, too slow, he drives like a prat, he drives too carefully. etc etc
scanny77:
i praised a DHL van driver a few months ago. i pulled over to let him join the M74 and he held back to let me pull back across to lane 1. van drivers get a lot of stick so i thought it was worth giving this guy some credit since we never seem to see anyone praise any drivers on this site. all the posts about driving are complaints so i thought i would buck the trend
You did but I thought then, and still do, your praise was misplaced and unjustified. It seems to me the van driver didn’t have much about him in the way of roadcraft. He got up to speed on the slip road, pulled into lane one then held back instead of putting his boot down and getting out of your way. An ounce of common sense would tell him and you that he obviously has more speed so the sensible thing would have been to put his foot down, give you an acknowledgement of thanks for moving over to aid his joining manoeuvre - that’s the courtesy bit - and leave you free to pull easily back into lane 1 behind him without having to worry about where he was, thus taking your attention away from the road ahead, a much safer option for all concerned. He did you no favours, he did following traffic no favours and showed himself to be a bit lacking in driving skill. I can’t see where the praise was due to be honest.
I know in your mind he was being polite and courteous but it would have been just as polite to get the hell out of your way and give you an acknowledgement of thanks. When I move over an let an obviously faster vehicle join I want them to do so and then bugger off instead of hanging about down my nearside so I have to worry about where they are, am I clear of them and what are they doing instead of concentrating on what is going on ahead.
I have seen you post that you do the same thing in your car and feel you are being polite and courteous but if you did that to me instead of getting out of the way ASAP I wouldn’t be think what a polite courteous driver, I would be thinking twit (other vowels are available ). No point getting up to speed on the slip road if the first thing you are going to do as soon as you are on the carriageway proper is dither about.
it is possible the van driver was a trucker in a van for the day and acted as he/she normally would. personally i would rather they did take that course of action as i then know exactly where they are instead of losing them in the blind spots. if nothing else, at least i know there isnt someone tucked in behind them following them up my inside
i have just bought a much more powerful car so i dont bother wagon drivers. unlike most car drivers, i look at the motorway and either floor it to join in front of any trucks or hold back and join behind them. it depends where they are in relation to the broken lines. either way there is no need for them to move over. also, if i dont feel like rushing to wherever i am going, i sit at 60 -65 unless i am letting a wagon overtake. like most people here, i look ahead and if a wagon is gaining on another one, it is obvious he/she will want out and its easier for me to regain lost speed so i will slow down and let them maintain the speed they need to get past. especially if its a car driver because we all know how annoying it is to have to overtake a car doing 50 on the motorway, assuming they are going that fast. there does seem to be an increase in car drivers going slower than that now 
The problem with you Richie is that you’re too big-headed to listen to and take the advice of others. I know this, because I used to be just like you are now. You always think your way is right and everyone else is wrong. You get frustrated that things are the way they are and that you have no power to change them for the better so you are always ‘angry’ about something and take it out on whoever will listen; it’s clear as day in every single post you write on here, and it’s clear as day in my old posts from 2004/5 as well. If you don’t let it go it will grind you down so much that you’ll get depression, trust me.
It was an inspirational post from Neil like one of his ones above that changed me. I used to have the same big (but in reality, trivial) issues as you have with things like people not holding back when you move out to let them join, along with loads of other stuff eg. RDCs, overtaking, 40 limit, arsey TMs, motorway closed lanes/merging, etc etc etc, but it was something that Neil wrote many years ago about taking a step back, relaxing, setting the cruise at 50, find a job you enjoy and just not letting anything/anyone bother you that made me think twice and adapt my ways, and I’m pleased to say it worked.
The two biggest changes I made were 1) finding work that I enjoyed and 2) keeping out of the wacky races on d/c and motorways by cruising at 50 - these were the ones which used to give me the most stress. Getting an agency job doing hand-ball/heavy lifting and/or multi-drop was probably my biggest nightmare, so I made sure I never took any jobs on doing that although I did have to compromise a bit - although I really enjoyed doing agy (and later s/e) for Hanson’s they did do a lot of Mamas and Papas work which involved hand-balling a few hundred boxes off at their stores and the tail lift work in the Spring doing the plants/nurseries wasn’t really my cup of tea either as I hate anything in roll cages, but it turned out I actually enjoyed doing both as it was all distance work to new places I’d never been before and plenty of driving between the drops. My point is that you need to find the balance between money, job BS (silly company rules & regs) and job satisfaction. It’s not easy to do but it’ll be out there if you look hard enough.
As for doing 50, well, it takes some getting used to and you’ll feel like you’re not going anywhere to begin with but once you get used to it I reckon you’ll never go back to driving pedal-to-the-metal everywhere, it’s soooo relaxing. And before you or anyone else starts the old chestnut about the increased travelling time and missing RDC bookings etc, the difference it negligible. I used to do 26t of bananas from Portsmouth to Huddersfield via A34, M42, M1 and off at J38 over the tops and it used to take just under 4hr 45mins driving time when doing 56. Cruising at 50 it takes just under 5hrs driving time, plus a huge saving in fuel. Considering that it’s a 200 mile trip and at least 5.5 hours anyway (incl break) then I hardly think you would ever be questioned why it’s taken you 15 mins more than ‘normal’ - a bit of heavy traffic on the motorway would soon ‘take care’ of that anyway. If you can’t spare 15 mins leeway on a booking time then you need to be planning your jobs better.
Like Neil says, the job in itself is easy-peasy if you relax and go with the flow; it only becomes hard when you fight it. So quit your moaning and do something about it! 
Neil:
Same old things and the majority are either meaningless or easy to sort out.This is one of the easiest, stress free jobs it is possible to do. You work by yourself so no office politics. You can pretty much please yourself what you do when, within reason. You don’t have to look at the same old thing out of your office window. What could be better?
So what if the security guard is a bit of a ■■■, says more about him than you. So what if some car driver does something stupid, your better than them and it really doesn’t make much difference to your day. So what if that truck you let on the motorway holds you out there, back off and pull in behind, says more about them than you. So what if the guy in front wants to stick to the speed limit on the single carriageway, why do you want to speed for your boss anyway? So what if there is a traffic jam and you are late for your booking, you tried but failed and unless you caused the jam it was because of something you had no control over anyway. So what if the planners have given you an impossible run to do, stick to the limits and the rules, do your best and fail. They might learn after a while.
Seriously, really listen to the moans and complaints in a truck stop or RDC waiting room and you will realise that most of them are over things so trivial that they really shouldn’t be [zb]ing up that drivers day to such an extent.
pretty much agree with coffee for attitude towards the job, it’s pretty much what you make of it. And whatever job you do, there are problems, just as the genral public don’t know the job of being a truck driver, you don’t know what their job consists of unless you’ve done it.
I think where the job has become less pleasurable is that there is less autonomy, but then again it beats me being in a factory all day looking at four walls.
i actually agree with you Rob. strangely, its tesco that has made me chill out a bit and now i dont really care about the trivial things and i dont let them wind me up. i do my best to hit my times etc but when they expect the impossible it changes your outlook. i get up to speed and run on cruise control now. they set the speed for the cruise control so if i dont have enough time to get there, not my problem. they set the times, they set the telematics up, they govern what is within my capabilities. if its not good enough, its their fault! all i care about now is getting my drops done and getting back without incident. as you said, its less stressful to do it that way. the only thing that really gets me wound up now is the extra bull they keep adding. assessments, pay cuts, performance reviews. what is next months surprise going to be? checking my underwear is clean at the start of every shift?
is it really too much to ask to be allowed to just do my job?
i could understand it if i was taking breaks every half hour or bringing back bits of wagon but if i know i will be stopping for coffee, i leave early to compensate and i have not as much as scratched a truck or failed to complete a delivery. they just always want to push for more but they want to pay less for it. my performance is the one thing i have control over and they are only paying enough for ‘satisfactory’.
scanny77:
i actually agree with you Rob. strangely, its tesco that has made me chill out a bit and now i dont really care about the trivial things and i dont let them wind me up. i do my best to hit my times etc but when they expect the impossible it changes your outlook. i get up to speed and run on cruise control now. they set the speed for the cruise control so if i dont have enough time to get there, not my problem. they set the times, they set the telematics up, they govern what is within my capabilities. if its not good enough, its their fault! all i care about now is getting my drops done and getting back without incident. as you said, its less stressful to do it that way. the only thing that really gets me wound up now is the extra bull they keep adding. assessments, pay cuts, performance reviews. what is next months surprise going to be? checking my underwear is clean at the start of every shift?is it really too much to ask to be allowed to just do my job?
i could understand it if i was taking breaks every half hour or bringing back bits of wagon but if i know i will be stopping for coffee, i leave early to compensate and i have not as much as scratched a truck or failed to complete a delivery. they just always want to push for more but they want to pay less for it. my performance is the one thing i have control over and they are only paying enough for ‘satisfactory’.
My advice to you is to stop working there and look elsewhere. I find it really hard to believe that Tesco has made you “chilled out” - in fact I think you’ve just made that up! Everything you said after that tells a different story : you are completely hacked off with all the red-tape BS they’re piling on and also want 2 lbs of flesh instead of 1. You’re never going to win with companies like this. Any “chilled out” you are experiencing right now won’t last and you’ll be ranting and raving again in no time.
Personally I wouldn’t touch Tesco work with a very long stick. For a start it’s nannying-orama + large doses of H&S BS, then on top of that it’s crappy roll cage work + tail lifts and from what I’ve heard you say the money you’re getting isn’t exciting either. I’m afraid to say that the job tickss every ‘no’ box on my sheet. Isn’t there owt else up there you can do instead of this?
im chilled out about the driving side of it ie the muppets out there on the road. as i said earlier, it takes 10 seconds for them to get out of my life so why get worked up about it? it is the BS that gets on my nerves but i think anyone would be the same. its just a matter of what you do about it. im not taking a pay cut (times etc vary but day shift has gone from £9 ph to £8.15. saturday was £12 flat rate, down to £10.45. 8 hour minimum pay is now 6 hours) and working harder for it.
if i thought the work was available i would tell them to stick it but everything, including tesco, is unpredictable just now. some days we havent enough drivers, other days we have hardly any drivers out. only so many have been assessed at tesco though so that increases my chances of getting work. i have to look at the odds and tesco is my best bet for getting any work at all. there is nothing i can do about that just now 
Looks like you’re in the rock + hard place situation then. You have 4 choices :
- Put up with it and somehow deal with it without losing your head
- Change trade
- Change location where there’s better opportunities.
- Accept lower paying work (see below)
I know Edinburgh is not exactly transport central of the UK but I’m sure if you looked hard enough you would find alternatives there. Edinburgh is hardly some town in the middle of nowhere is it?
Don’t automatically rule out taking lower pay either as sometimes there are hidden perks that you don’t find out about until you’ve been in there. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of my little overnight parking ticket ‘business’ I had going where the company I worked for on agency paid overnight parking without question… 
A nice little £40-50 extra per week for doing nothing other than switching the printer on and clicking a few buttons 
. I know you don’t do overnights so that one probably not much use to you, but even taking a job that is maybe 50-75p per hour less than you want is worth taking if they are fairly laid back and don’t care what you do as long as the job gets done. If there’s potential for getting an hour or two’s kip on the bunk without them batting an eyelid (excuse the pun) then take it as you’ll make up any ‘loss’ in the hour you’re kipping. I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve used this to my advantage at several places here in W Yorks, especially on Sundays 
.
Some moans are not moans atall they are constructive criticism