Isn’t it in the nature of being a subbie that work comes and goes just like on agency, unless its written into the contract that you are contracted for x weeks (doubt any did that).
Going by what I’ve seen around one of the Morrisons depots, its amazing the food actually got to the supermarkets in one piece. V8s with more lights than Blackpool flying in and out as if the fate of the world depended on them and stuff the state of the cages.
Not a fan of Stobbies as a company, but at least they drive generally more sensibly. Plus hopefully its keeping a few full timers in a job (if there are any left).
I was working for Morrison’s through a subby via Agency, last week, only got 2 days then told wait, don’t need yo no more, I counted 34 units in Bellshil Morrison’s parked in the yard, al, drivers in the canteen drinking coffee waiting on the phone call, don’t know what the cost of all the subbies wad, but wouldn’t have been cheap, some were bragging 600 pounds a day?.
trevHCS:
Isn’t it in the nature of being a subbie that work comes and goes just like on agency, unless its written into the contract that you are contracted for x weeks (doubt any did that).
But if you are an employed driver on gigs, containers, ferry trailers etc and it’s all that’s keeping the wolf from the door then it’s a bit of a ■■■■■■, especially as we were putting 20 units a day in there on shift work - Stobarts do pull their trailers full time but all they are doing is a supplier collection or three, not stores.
We do supply wincanton at their sainsburys site at sherburn too, they pay a day rate of £450 for that so what Stobarts are charging, god only knows. I have had a week off but had a phone call last week asking me to change my shift to go on morrisons full time and a phone call the day after saying don’t bother.
So I fully expect to get ■■■■■■ off when I go back to work this week wether that’s fully redundant or on 80% remains to be seen, I may as well go drive for the green brigade.
To be honest when I went in the store with the mrs and the shelves were nearly back to normal I knew then we weren’t going to be subbing for them much longer
The jobs market for truck drivers has become so volatile that there’s a glut one day, with full timers kicking their heels - and the next day, firms are paying a monkey for a single subbie because all the agency drivers are busy working somewhere else…
“First come, first served”.
The agency who gives you work for next week today - and then doesn’t cancel - will get a reputation that allows them to KEEP said drivers- rather than the agency who pays more, but doesn’t book until the last minute, and frequently then cancels even that…
It isn’t about “Money” - it is about “Reliability” now.
trevHCS:
Isn’t it in the nature of being a subbie that work comes and goes just like on agency, unless its written into the contract that you are contracted for x weeks (doubt any did that).
But if you are an employed driver on gigs, containers, ferry trailers etc and it’s all that’s keeping the wolf from the door then it’s a bit of a [zb], especially as we were putting 20 units a day in there on shift work - Stobarts do pull their trailers full time but all they are doing is a supplier collection or three, not stores.
We do supply wincanton at their sainsburys site at sherburn too, they pay a day rate of £450 for that so what Stobarts are charging, god only knows. I have had a week off but had a phone call last week asking me to change my shift to go on morrisons full time and a phone call the day after saying don’t bother.
So I fully expect to get [zb] off when I go back to work this week wether that’s fully redundant or on 80% remains to be seen, I may as well go drive for the green brigade.
To be honest when I went in the store with the mrs and the shelves were nearly back to normal I knew then we weren’t going to be subbing for them much longer
It’s not just reloads I’ve done no end of inter depot trunncking , swan valley - gad brook etc , and when I was chilled it was tip morrisons Kettering , reload & tip there store at Swadlincote
I do not know why drivers blame companies for employing Stobart, it’s basic maths.
if a company say Tesco, have operational costs of £200 million a year to operate all trucks/ trailers / wages etc get a Stobart or Wincanton in saying we can do all of this for £175 million … why wouldn’t Tesco rip there hands off.
1, they save £25, 2, no employment issues, 3, repairs and diesel no issues of Tesco , 4, pens tiles for non delivery etc.
It’s win win, only people who suffer are the driver who are tuped over and have to take pay cuts…
dieseldog999:
id imagine the hgv insurance assessors will be another niche market that will be working overtime for the forseeable future.
Did we not all click onto this thread expecting some bridge bashing…?
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double edged sword there bud.
sword 1.subbys with the last straw doing anything and everything to get a believable insurance job for writing off the truck.
sword 2. stobarts finest on new work with new routes new risk assessments,and new bridges for future carnage.( also with trucks written off big time).
Stobarts, Maritime, Wincanton have container operations, which I believe are quiet, so they will switch these vehicles to where the work is.
The supermarkets are now on top of demand or getting there. The main issue is warehouse staff self isolating, leading to not enough people to pick stock, leading to less vehicles required.
sapper:
don’t know what the cost of all the subbies wad, but wouldn’t have been cheap, some were bragging 600 pounds a day?.
That wouldn’t be unbelievable. I know Fowler Welch pay £500 on the run up to Xmas and often it’s just a single tip and maybe reload or come back with empties.
polytrotter:
Oh the irony of a certain Supermarket announcing today that they are donating a load of food to charity.
Wonder where those savings have come from??
[emoji848][emoji848]
Or am i just a tad cynical?
I’d imagine it’s stuff reaching its sell by date they’d normally have to dump. People were wheeling out trollies of pasta, bread and bog roll like it was the end of the world but strangely fresh fruit and veg was plentiful on the shelves.
polytrotter:
Oh the irony of a certain Supermarket announcing today that they are donating a load of food to charity.
Wonder where those savings have come from??
[emoji848][emoji848]
Or am i just a tad cynical?
I’d imagine it’s stuff reaching its sell by date they’d normally have to dump. People were wheeling out trollies of pasta, bread and bog roll like it was the end of the world but strangely fresh fruit and veg was plentiful on the shelves.
It was more the timing i was thinking of…but yes the selfish stockpilers are probably the reason…[emoji15][emoji2959]
as it’s been said, it’s a dog eat dog world, when all the subbies came in to the depots, all the agency guys who have been there years have been kicked to the kerb and are lucky to get one shift a week there now
even the full timers are sitting around for hours waiting for a load as the subbies have priority.
Tooz:
as it’s been said, it’s a dog eat dog world, when all the subbies came in to the depots, all the agency guys who have been there years have been kicked to the kerb and are lucky to get one shift a week there now
even the full timers are sitting around for hours waiting for a load as the subbies have priority.
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thatl be because the subbies will get the job done and for all the full timers do then they might as well sit around all day.
it worked like that when i ran sainsburys from east kilbride to northern ireland.
we did a full card trip which was easy as there was 2 hours each way plus waiting at the docks on the ferry round trip in one shift whereas the plobbers took two full days so they just subbed all the work and let the industrious ones do locals.
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hardly a hero my good man,merely pointing out what a normal easy days work is to subbys in general is compared to the by the book lost souls that work direct for tosco type outfits.
1 hour in the rdc…1 hr 40 to the boat.wait on the boat…2 hours on it,a cpl hours tipping,then the same back…total doddle with meals each way on whatever ferry you got.
their own guys couldnt hardly make it back off the ferry before parking up which made the entire operation unviable hence the subbys.
Odd days:
What ever buisness your in it will be dog eat dog out there, and a lot of casualties to be expected. Unemployment will be high for a long while and some older workers probably won’t work again before retirement.
So what do the government do.They increase the pension age to force those older workers into the jobseekers environment.Makes perfect sense.
