Hi guys n gals,
For the last three years i,ve been driving For Funstons. But as from sunday i will be working for Solstor. As a major contract has gone to them. Along with drivers units and trailers. We have been told that everything stays the same, eg nights out wages etc. But i’m sure i hav’nt seen any of there motors parked anywhere.
So does anybody out there know what its like working for them.? 
Truckyboy works for them, Bob will tell it how it is!
see alot of them parked up around stroud dairy crest
ooh thats nice. Not Last time i loaded there it was 4 am. But at least they night out. i would be happier if they send us over the water. 
Wheel Nut:
Truckyboy works for them, Bob will tell it how it is!
Will you be doing UK or European work??
I only did one trip to Italy for them on a casual basis and that was early 90`s so along time ago…couldnt work out why they had sleeper cabs though!!! 
As wheelnut says, truckyboy will tell you how it is and if you email trucknet member newmercman he will tell you how it “used to be” 
Don’t know fella. All we know is that from sunday we now work for them. Solstor won the waitrose contract. And to be honest without third-party work there aint no need for trampers. So i,m wondering if i ought to be looking for another job.
Preferrably doing a bit of continental as well. 
bullitt:
Wheel Nut:
Truckyboy works for them, Bob will tell it how it is!Will you be doing UK or European work??
I only did one trip to Italy for them on a casual basis and that was early 90`s so along time ago…couldnt work out why they had sleeper cabs though!!!
As wheelnut says, truckyboy will tell you how it is and if you email trucknet member newmercman he will tell you how it “used to be”
I can do that Bullitt, but it’s a totally different job now, in the old days Solstor exsisted for the sole purpose of bringing in Chingford Fruit Packers’ fruit, we used to have some work to get us out & did the odd reload for those companies (Kodak, Nestle, Mars) but most of the time it was get down to Spain, Italy, Portugal or Greece & load up with fruit & then go to the boat as fast as was humanly possible, then turn around & do it all again. We used to work 4 weeks on & then have 6 days off, nowadays it’s a stand alone company, I had a lorry on there a couple of years ago doing 2 Germanys a week, fruit cocktails in buckets out & yoghurt back, I never did it myself, but my driver was happy enough with the work, rates weren’t spectactular though, I don’t think there’s anybody but a couple of the old UK only blokes left there from my time. I enjoyed my time there, it was one of those hard working, hard drinking firms that were popular in those days, the money was probably the best around for the times, all different now though, which is probably a good thing, I wouldn’t fancy one hitting it from Reggio Calabria now, that’s for sure
As far as i know they just sub all there good runs. and do local stuff. Until this week i,ve been taking 500 to 580 a week tramping, with nights out. All i really wanna know is will it stay the same.? Or is it it full of 300 quid tourists.
Hi Ya little john…well here is the run down…most drivers on solstor at the moment would find another job if they could…we have heard that for the waitrose contract which they got because marshalls and other companies turned it down, due to the fact £15 a pallet was only good enough for Solstor. You have NO chance of getting on the international work which is only being run from Crayford anyway…unless you want to buy your own unit and sub for them…Polish companies are being paid £900 round trip to spain…can you compete with that.
The planners are absolutely useless, but i understand that the new job is being run from Peterborough (yaxley)
Your vehicles will be DAF C.F.s the very basic model with no air-con, wind deflectors, etc…with a very basic engine which couldnt pull you out of bed when fully loaded.
With these heaps of ■■■■, you will be expected to save fuel, by not getting any overspeeds, turning off the engine as soon as you stop…and the best bit is when coupling up to a trailer…1. start the engine…back up to the trailer…turn off the engine…put the air lines on…start the engine…reverse under the trailer…stop the engine…put on safety clip…number plate…wind the legs up…take off the trailer brake… do the vehicle checks…you may then re-start the engine…if your ready to go…after a 4.5 hour journey…switch off immediately…without letting the turbo cool down…thats what they want…thats what they get…(21 year old operations manager ex turners )
You will eventually get our old vehicles…whilst we get the new ones in crayford…and i am told that your wage will not be compatable with our £32 grand…but a mere £76 a day…we run 100% legal…and any infringements will be dealt with…we are on a points system whereby you get 3 points for every infringement…after 18 points…you will get a disciplinary…we get infringements for being 1 minute under our daily rest period…
You will be expected and told that a 15 hour day is the norm…and you will be expected to reduce your rest period from 11 hrs to 9 hrs…unless your truckyboy…and stand up to them and tell them you dont reduce. drivers have been reprimanded for failing to work 15 hr days…and disciplined for not using the rest mode when on a loading bay. This is to benefit the company in allowing a driver to be on duty for between 70 and 80 hrs a week because when they take away the rest periods…you will in effect have only worked 37 hrs a week…we have argued about this but they will only tell you…theres the gate
Of course we have heard that Funstons is calling it a day, and the drivers have to be offered first refusal for the jobs available…we have heard that the drivers are on night work, and they sleep in the trucks during the day…thats fine in your big DAF`s…Mercs…etc…but in the little rabbit hutches you will be supplied with…that will be a nightmare…but at the end of the day…,a job is a job…take it or leave it…and bear in mind that a lot of what i have written is only hearsay…have the interview…ask your own questions…and judge for yourselves…what i do know is, i wont be doing nightwork for them…
I do wonder where they are going to park the supposedly 37 units and 30 trailers…we have bought British and Brazillian…but theres not enough room there the last time i looked…good luck…and keep us informed…and goodbye to another great company forced against the wall.Funstons.
Kin 'ell Truckyboy, from one of the best jobs in the country to that… 
Truckboy seems to have got it about right…
AG Thames Group… Without this financial clout
Solstor would not exist… Is my view.
It used to be a very good job but as time goes by and the recession started to bite, we suffered. We were told that due to the recent crisis we could not have a pay rise, we even asked for an increase in the night out allowance (£20) but no come back on that one. Chingford Fruit is a very profitable company, and Solstor is the transport company. We have been supplying fruit to sainsburys for 30 years, but got the job from Cool Chain after they lost out. A new company was set up with 2 main parties, Chingford, Turners, and the Profresh name was born. Most of our trailers were sign written in the Profresh livery, but has recently been taken off and our own name added, but i dont know why we have dropped the name.
Waitrose were surprised to find that we have links to Turners, but that link is only through the profresh name as turners cannot get into sainsburys on their own merit.
Our M.D. young david wanted to expand, and although a lot of the work was subbed out, decided to buy/rent a whole load of new equipment…70 new trailers, 35 new units, all in the Solstor livery. Our work is supplying fruit to sainsburys ( we are not a transport company as such ) but although davids father had semi-retired, has decided to come back in house to oversee what his son was doing, and to watch his investments. We bought Grapes direct at rochester, we bought British and Brazillian, and are now going to supply waitrose. With another 30 trailers on order, and another 30 units, this company is on the way up. Obviously drivers are never always happy when changes take place, and when new office staff arrive and make changes to the drivers way of working then friction happens. But there is no way a driver can ever be happy…is that right…all in all its not a bad company…there are a lot worse, but the job is what you make it, and whether you allow bullying to take place, if you can call it bullying.
If i was in peterborough, and being threatened with being out of work, especially nearing xmas, i would at least give the company a workout, make up your own mind, and decide on your future from there. As i have said on previous threads, i only have 15 months to retirement, and i can live with this company till then, and after that, i may want to work on a part time basis to supplement the pension, and to pay for my many months spent lying in the sun in my home in Bulgaria, and £120 a day is not to be sniffed at.
Only 20 quid a night out,the wages have gone down then, we were on 24-75 a night back in the late 80s early 90s on there
Hey truckyboy
WOW thats an eye opener. But it is what i expected. We are being treated like mushrooms. All of us Funstons drivers are expecting the FB to hit the fan after christmas. We have got 5 from crayford with us at the mo. They reckon its a cracking firm. But they have been doing continental until last week.
Oh sorry it took so long to reply been away all week.
All i can say is RIP Funstons the best firm i’ve ever worked for. I feel really sorry for Tony. A lovly bloke.
Oh and ps . Giz a job.
Ive recently heard that Solstor has bought 3/4 of the funstons fleet..and just left 10 for the container work..this could be due to the fact we had to take over the Waitrose contract in a hurry and they didnt have any option but to buy them to start the job. Its not a bad job if you dont let them walk all over you, and im too old in the tooth to let them do that. At least you may have decent planners up your end, but in crayford they are diabolical, like i have said Solstor is a fruit company and they know little about transport ( hence the CF dafs ) which they openly admit has been a big mistake.
If you keep your nose clean ( so to speak ) you could enjoy the job and have a happy and prosperous future with a major player, but it depends on what you want from the job. The international boys are spoiled, and maybe they enjoy working maximum hours every week…i dont…which is why they refuse to let me go back…they even stopped me getting a MAN when the driver left, and another chance when a driver offered to do a vehicle and job swap with me…they preferred to give the MAN to a polish driver who hasnt been with the firm for 5 minutes…but thats Solstor…no loyalty whatsoever…their answer is " if you dont like it, theres the gate"…about the same on any company really…never mind…good luck…let us all know how it goes.
regards
trucky
truckyboy:
I`ve recently heard that Solstor has bought 3/4 of the funstons fleet…and just left 10 for the container work…this could be due to the fact we had to take over the Waitrose contract in a hurry and they didnt have any option but to buy them to start the job
According to what I’ve read Solstor has not bought this fleet from Funstons - the trucks, trailers and drivers have been transferred from Funstons to Solstor under TUPE legislation.
Simon71:
truckyboy:
I`ve recently heard that Solstor has bought 3/4 of the funstons fleet…and just left 10 for the container work…this could be due to the fact we had to take over the Waitrose contract in a hurry and they didnt have any option but to buy them to start the jobAccording to what I’ve read Solstor has not bought this fleet from Funstons - the trucks, trailers and drivers have been transferred from Funstons to Solstor under TUPE legislation.
I didn’t think you could TUPE lumps of metal and tin
About six weeks ago I was at St. Omer payage Calais bound and in front of me was a 59 plate Solstor MAN, pulling a brand new 60m3 powder tank on hire from WG, does anybody know what thats about? I think fruit would be a bit bruised after being tipped and blown at 2bar.
acd1202:
About six weeks ago I was at St. Omer payage Calais bound and in front of me was a 59 plate Solstor MAN, pulling a brand new 60m3 powder tank on hire from WG, does anybody know what thats about? I think fruit would be a bit bruised after being tipped and blown at 2bar.
Sugar. Bob used to drive one of them
Solstor offered funston drivers a chance to join a dynamic company …we have funston trailers in our yard…theyve all had new tyres fitted cos no one seemed to care about the maintenance. The trailers are in a terrible state which is hard to believe when theyre all on lease…trucks as well…i doubt Funstons have done a merger…they will wind up shortly ( my opinion)
I.ve spoken to some of our drivers who tell me that Funston drivers are not happy with solstor…are leaving in droves ( laughable) and at the end of the day its a job.
the tank work was for a french company carrying sugar…we asked for an increase in the rates…the french said non…the english office said wee…we lost…so went to tate and lyle…we lost that too…so now theres no tank work…at the moment…just fridge work international…and even thats limited…