muckles:
That’s a relief my last Duel didn’t go too well.
That’s quality. Not so sure about UKTramps round glasses though…
Well my most hated transport firm is maritime…
These lot do think they are the kings of the game and seem to “clone” there office staff and some drivers in to the “maritime” way…
Also they are trying to take a lot of work off smaller guys in my area…
Nothing against the decent folk that work there but the container sector would be a lot better off without them
How Stobart can undercut all companies if he get not so much contract?He focused in Tesco job,Britwick,Coca cola.In last 10 years Stobart not win so much new contract.
What I find unpalatable about Stobart is the commodifying of the drivers role, and also the way some drivers buy into it willingly. Using the economies of scale they have got the drivers wages cut to the same extent as the rates they quote to kill off legitimate companies. Thankfully there are still companies about that pay well and appreciate the maverick skills needed in this job sometimes. From the Eddie-spotters, the pompous office staff and the swagger of some of the drivers in their embarrassing Kermit-green uniforms there is enough to make it the most hated company. Because of this, and not really because of the mythical driver shortage, they seem to have to employ a lot of young drivers, along with the destruction to infrastructure they bring with them.
Janos:
From the Eddie-spotters, the pompous office staff and the swagger of some of the drivers in their embarrassing Kermit-green uniforms there is enough to make it the most hated company. Because of this, and not really because of the mythical driver shortage, they seem to have to employ a lot of young drivers, along with the destruction to infrastructure they bring with them.
Talking of Eddie spotters and young drivers,… I’m surprised Goldhivizboy hasn’t been on defending their honour, and threatening to bounce whoever’s head off the pavement who doesn’t agree with him again.
To be fair mate I think your theory of ‘‘swaggering drivers’’ is just an urban myth.
Any Stobbie drivers I’ve had dealings with were just normal drivers like the rest of us.
robroy:
Janos:
From the Eddie-spotters, the pompous office staff and the swagger of some of the drivers in their embarrassing Kermit-green uniforms there is enough to make it the most hated company. Because of this, and not really because of the mythical driver shortage, they seem to have to employ a lot of young drivers, along with the destruction to infrastructure they bring with them.Talking of Eddie spotters and young drivers,… I’m surprised Goldhivizboy hasn’t been on defending their honour, and threatening to bounce whoever’s head off the pavement who doesn’t agree with him again.
To be fair mate I think your theory of ‘‘swaggering drivers’’ is just an urban myth.
Any Stobbie drivers I’ve had dealings with were just normal drivers like the rest of us.
I suppose you have to take people as you find them, so fair comment. My experience of working out of one of their local depots for a few years was the opposite of yours. To be fair, it must be tough on the individuals who work there, who don’t have the ‘Stobart Stench’ of entitlement.
Janos:
What I find unpalatable about Stobart is the commodifying of the drivers role, and also the way some drivers buy into it willingly. Using the economies of scale they have got the drivers wages cut to the same extent as the rates they quote to kill off legitimate companies. Thankfully there are still companies about that pay well and appreciate the maverick skills needed in this job sometimes. From the Eddie-spotters, the pompous office staff and the swagger of some of the drivers in their embarrassing Kermit-green uniforms there is enough to make it the most hated company. Because of this, and not really because of the mythical driver shortage, they seem to have to employ a lot of young drivers, along with the destruction to infrastructure they bring with them.
Ha , ha , I’d love to have a swagger , but 56 , 2 knackered knees , hip , back , id more pass for a agency limper
robroy:
I’m surprised Goldhivizboy hasn’t been on defending their honour, and threatening to bounce whoever’s head off the pavement who doesn’t agree with him again..
I really found that . Some folk get so wound up and take it so personal. Maybe he was/is one of Eddies top staff who really had to earn that gold hi vis like a medal… 
robroy:
Talking of Eddie spotters and young drivers,… I’m surprised Goldhivizboy hasn’t been on defending their honour, and threatening to bounce whoever’s head off the pavement who doesn’t agree with him again.
Well… spotted m8 
I think he’s currently busy promoting/defending ES training
Rav
dieseldog999:
Norfolkinclue1:
UKtramp:
Its just business and all businesses do the very same thing. The supermarkets took all the business away from the corner shops but no one hates them, the supermarkets all undercut each other or worse, they price fix. Car manufacturers do it all the time. Stobart is not to blame for the state that this industry is in, the drivers have played as much of a part as anyone else for allowing this to get to where it is now.Utter rubbish.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
why would it be utter rubbish?
its a well known fact that supermarkets move into a town and devestate the local economy to the effect that your local butcher,fishmonger,baker etc will be down the pan and employed by them on the shop floor within a few years.
i saw it happen for years in scotland,and see it happening here in n.i. although its 30 years behind the times.
car manufacturers fix prices to market levels and locations,the ferries price fix especially n the irish routes,and since time began,hgv drivers have bit each others bums and taken a royal shafting with or without the help of the unions destroying theis occupations.
i owned a petrol station untill about 18 years ago and at the time the trade retailers newspapers came round with the news that teso decided to operate their fuel stations at a 40 million per year loss.1 reason was they could recoup by adding 1p onto a tin of beans,and 2.so that the revenue wouldnt go to tesco and the rest.so im afraid its you thats talking pish.
When I drove for Tesco it was common knowledge that they would buy land and build a supermarket then lower all the prices in order to bring any other supermarket to it’s knee’s, then after ruination they put the prices back up. It was just a way to get rid of the competition.
There have been large companies cutting rates and nicking jobs for over 50 years. BRS were the original rate cutters
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
As a former Stobart driver, I reckon the hate is because of numerous reasons. The TV show was in my opinion a major culprit, making the entire firm a laughing stock. It seemed more of a tongue-in-cheek mockumentary than anything else. It tried far too hard to depict Stobart drivers as “the best of the best”, whilst trying to give their daily operations the same death-defying zest of Ice Road Truckers. It did a bad job of highlighting the Eddie Spotters, giving the impression that every Stobart truck is followed around and photographed by an anorak-wearing virgin. Of course they put Fiona in their as the PC token female. Harry Hill tearing the show to shreds every week didn’t help either. It gave a cheesy aura to Stobarts, but the show definitely drew more attention to the company, good and bad.
They’re undoubtedly a household name, so when they have a bang, or smash into a bridge, every member of the public instantly knows who it is. Big firms like DHL, Maritime, Turners, Wincanton, etc, just aren’t household names. Negative attention is amplified. Most people will remember the Stobart truck going the wrong way up the M6, but most people won’t remember the Turners truck that went the wrong way around a roundabout. Any negative attention to Stobart’s tends to provoke a nationwide frenzy. There are even Facebook pages for Eddie Stobart crashes, and pages that mock Stobart in general.
As for the undercutting, that’s probably a little bit before my time, so I can’t really comment.
Stobart’s relationship with the agencies is very questionable, and when I worked there, there was a definite over-reliance on agency drivers day-to-day. I heard rumours that Stobart HQ wanted a proportion of 80% agency drivers to 20% employed, so they can bin-off the agency staff when work is dry. Whether anything came of it, I don’t know. The agency situation definitely made me dislike Stobarts when I was there.
Personally, I think there are big companies that deserve to be laughed at more than Stobarts.
Classic
Shandy123:
Classic
Never seen that before…brilliant, love the cream cake part…
AndrewG:
Shandy123:
ClassicNever seen that before…brilliant, love the cream cake part…
Somebody with low level intelligence would
Rottweiler22:
The TV show was in my opinion a major culprit, making the entire firm a laughing stock.
The TV show didn’t do the company’s image much good in the haulage industry, but it wasn’t just watched by the spotters, it seemed to catch the public’s interest, 
with or without Harry Hill’s help
If I’d been a program planner and somebody pitched the program to me, I would have thought they’d been on the Colombian marching powder.
And while we might knock it, for its cheesy plots and pseudo drama, maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on it.
How many times does something like casualty have some dodgy haulage company carrying hazardous waste in a clapped out truck crash into a school bus, next to a convent and fluffy kittens home. Or the unreconstructed male figure is a truck driver, who finally breaks down in tears after accepting his gay son, but only after the rest of his life has collapsed round him.
However the Stobart show showed trucks, haulage and truck drivers in a positive light, not the big nasty, smelly polluting monsters (that’s just the drivers ) that the industry and truck drivers are normally shown as in the media.
ItsJoe:
AndrewG:
Shandy123:
ClassicNever seen that before…brilliant, love the cream cake part…
Somebody with low level intelligence would
Low intelligence Bet youre a right bundle of laughs…
ItsJoe:
AndrewG:
Shandy123:
ClassicNever seen that before…brilliant, love the cream cake part…
Somebody with low level intelligence would
I think somebody with low intelligence couldn’t see good satire when it stares them in the face.
muckles:
ItsJoe:
AndrewG:
Shandy123:
ClassicNever seen that before…brilliant, love the cream cake part…
Somebody with low level intelligence would
I think somebody with low intelligence couldn’t see good satire when it stares them in the face.
Good satire? Watching a multi millionaire making fun of the working class? Brilliant satire that mate, just goes to show people’s intelligence levels if they think watching their job being made a mockery of is funny. That’s what’s wrong with this industry.