The surgeries are only open Monday to Friday, so if you need to see a Doctor, it means a a day off and loss of pay for that day, as a tramper, your work is planned out ahead of time, in truckstops in the USA, they have a nurse, doctor and a dentist , so when you are on the road, you can pull in and even get your truck licence medical sorted out on the road.
I can never see the same thing happening on UK Msa`s .
In the USA stop overs, there is a dog grooming parlour , to shampoo your cab mut .They also have a chapel, so you can talk to a priest.
In the UK, there is the lit up silver crucifix on the roof of Lincoln Farm truckstop to confess your sins of driving over two minutes tacho time.
The owners and staff there are very welcoming, and i am sure, if you had a problem, they would not hesitate to help out any driver.
For example, you lost the wallet, pay us back the next time you come in.
Re your last sentence, you’re avin a larf aint ya ?
Ah the beauty of working at a heavily unionised place; if we have a doctors/dentist or optician appointment we get the day off on pay (10 hours) and no, it doesn’t come off your holiday entitlement.
If you need to see a Doctor you must be ill,what`s more important losing a days pay or your health 
toby1234abc:
For example, you lost the wallet, pay us back the next time you come in.[/quote.Where is that?
USA NHS service free at the point of service is it?
As Maoster, work for a company where a union is recognised and such things as doctors/dentists appointments will be catered for.
Being a member of that union and contributing to the efforts that make YOUR job worth having is fair do’s., annoys the hell outa me when union haters call the union everything and fail to see the irony/hypocrisy of pocketing/enjoying the benefits every week and then call on the shop steward for help when they themselves are in the crap.
Never been one for running to the doc for every little thing, but on occasion I have tried to get an appointment first thing Mon am, and go in to work afterwards, same with my 6 monthly dentist.
I do Tues to Sat am now so it aint a problem.
Agree with Juddian about the Union (dirty word to some) co.s thing.
Unions have an uphill struggle with public perception, and on reflection prob rightly so. But it aint all about Scargillesque policies, they are there to help, that is why they were founded all those years ago.
If they got back to absolute basics, were truly genuine, and shook off the old fashioned image, things WOULD be better for all of us.
However 30 yrs on they have not succeeded.
Re monetary help,I forgot my wallet,cards,money the lot,I called in to a truck stop on m62■■ See the man in charge, he lent me money to cover me for scotch trip,…with the words…pay me back when your passing next time, this I did, my faith in human kindness was restord.
Agreed RobRoy.
Thing is we as union members never have anything to do with the main union at all, we pay our dues and support our chosen shop steward as best we can, he’s the only one who has any dealings with area or head office and only then if he needs some advice.
A well supported union in a company won’t be needing flying pickets nor any other daft stuff, properly negotiated between the stewards and the management the stewards then bring details of discussions/offers/counter offers to the meeting of members and well have a say if we want to then we have a vote.
Yes sometimes we have disagreements, but that will happen anywhere, that’s why to me the choice of your steward is the most important one you will make.
You don’t want a bull headed idiot who thinks money grows on trees, neither do you want someone who can be bought nor someone who is afraid of the company hatchet man (we have our own Norman Tebbit too upstairs), neither do you want someone who’s feathering their own and their little band of supporters nests.
Someone fair minded who has a work ethic so the lazy sods who want big money for doing bugger all don’t get their own way.
Where i work we’ve never seen anyone from the union area or head office, our steward if he needs some advice rings up area and gets all the help he needs, personally i couldn’t give a tuppenny f what the union big cheeses do, they aint my problem and they are not in practice our union.
We, the blokes and girls who work where i do and who are members are the union, we decide whats good for us, if it all went pear shaped for some reason then we have the backing of the overall union with their expertise and legal side, that why we pay our dues.
Unite by the way, but i still regard it as the T&G.
It works, trust me i’ve been in this game a long time now and had good jobs and ■■■■ poor jobs, without a doubt the unionised jobs were the best paid ones with the best conditions…i’ve had some good bosses too on smaller companies where no union was involved so not saying its a must have by any means.
I had only one bad company experience where the union was poor and that was purely down to colluding shop stewards, buyable, feathering their own nests and those of the small bend of accolytes who kept them in place, i tried to talk to others who weren’t in the band of merry men but they couldn’t see what was happening, the thing is even the poorest paid and who got the crappy end of the stick were still far better off than the general haulage jobs they came from, so eventually i found a better transporter job than that shower and moved on.
Where collusion and bribery takes place is where bonus type pay schemes are paid, where the basic can be as low as minimum wage but you can treble or quadruple that rate with the load bonus schemes, hence why a certain type of person worms their way in to being a drivers rep or steward at such places, it works for them and the company overall.
I know people slag salary’s off, but from my personal point of view i’m now better paid for every hour worked on my salary than i was even on the best paid car transporter work, its a great leveller too, our steward keeps track of everyones hours and he’s a grafter of the old school who does more hours than anyone, the company keep a sharp eye on working practices so the few tear arses have to keep it in check, its not a job you want to lose.
Hourly pay is ok too, at least everyone knows where they are, put the time in and you’ll earn the money.
I’ve worked on both pay schemes on unionised companies with fair straight stewards, couldn’t ask for better.
Its bonus schemes where favouritism envy and collusion spoil the ship.
Just joined unite last week,certainly not making political party donations thats as sure as mustard.
I’m in Usdaw in their newsletter keep getting campaigns for no Sunday working. I like Sunday working and the Labour Party can ■■■■ off.
in this day and age you have to be near death before you can get a bloody doctors appointment,usual reply is I AM SORRY BUT WE ARE FULLY BOOKED FOR THE NEXT WEEK/2 WEEKS /3 WEEKS etc,usually appointments are taken up by scumbag druggies,people on benefits when nothing is wrong with them,or other wastes of space,OAPs excluded cos they have paid into the system
I was never a member of a union, but I have dealt with unions from the management side. If fact, the drivers were on strike for better night out money when I got my first job as a TM.
My experience (YMMV) is that shop stewards are either politically ambitious and want to make as much trouble as they can, or they are the fall guy who got elected because no one else wanted the job. I suffered from both kinds during my time in Birmingham and came to the conclusion that the workers (drivers and other staff) would have been better off without them.
As a driver, I have never been refused paid time off for a medical appointment. Of course, like Robroy, I would do my best to fit them in with work. I have also found that, so long as I wasn’t fussy about a particular doctor, I could usually get an appointment when I wanted one. In fact, a week before Christmas, I got a same day appointment - phoned at 9am, appointment at 3pm.
My attitude always was that I knew what I had signed up for - if they didn’t keep their side of the deal, off I would go to new pastures.
toby1234abc:
in truckstops in the USA, they have a nurse, doctor and a dentist , so when you are on the road, you can pull in and even get your truck licence medical sorted out on the road.
In the USA the majority of personal bankruptcies are for medical bills. Its all well and good having a doctor at a truckstop but how much are they going to charge? Are they in the same network that your HMO is? Will your HMO cover the cost if they’re not in the same network? The amount you will pay for medical insurance to a HMO and the co-pay you’ll have to pay would probably work out more expensive than me taking a day off work. No such thing as a free visit to a doctor in the USA even if you have insurance your employer pays for, there’s always a co-pay.
truckman020:
in this day and age you have to be near death before you can get a bloody doctors appointment,usual reply is I AM SORRY BUT WE ARE FULLY BOOKED FOR THE NEXT WEEK/2 WEEKS /3 WEEKS etc,
I got a next day appointment a few weeks ago. Usually its same day but being on nights I wasn’t up early enough to ring in and get one.
If it’s not an emergency ie your arms not dragging there’s always a minors drop-in center in most towns. I believe you can even arrange weekend medicals
Conor:
In the USA the majority of personal bankruptcies are for medical bills. Its all well and good having a doctor at a truckstop but how much are they going to charge? Are they in the same network that your HMO is? Will your HMO cover the cost if they’re not in the same network? The amount you will pay for medical insurance to a HMO and the co-pay you’ll have to pay would probably work out more expensive than me taking a day off work. No such thing as a free visit to a doctor in the USA even if you have insurance your employer pays for, there’s always a co-pay.
And lets not forget the fact that what he said isn’t true in 99.9% of truck stops. I’ve only ever seen one or two truckstops with a dentist and don’t ever recall seeing a doctor or nurse. The vast majority of truck stops here are part of a big chain and pretty much identical and while they do all offer free parking, excellent showers and the like, they certainly do not have what Toby suggested. Maybe the odd one did back in the day when he was travelling America and more truck stops were individually run affairs but those days are long gone.
Quite a few truckstops used to have a barber, but even they are getting like rocking horse ■■■ now.
As for the US medical system. Agree with everything you say. Even Canada doesn’t compare to the UK in my opinion. While doctors visits and hospital treatment is free at the point of use, all prescription drugs cost a fortune and have to be paid in full, unless you’re on a medical plan with your employer and fork out thousands per year for that out of your wages.
Conor:
truckman020:
in this day and age you have to be near death before you can get a bloody doctors appointment,usual reply is I AM SORRY BUT WE ARE FULLY BOOKED FOR THE NEXT WEEK/2 WEEKS /3 WEEKS etc,I got a next day appointment a few weeks ago. Usually its same day but being on nights I wasn’t up early enough to ring in and get one.
you were lucky then
toby1234abc:
The surgeries are only open Monday to Friday, so if you need to see a Doctor, it means a a day off and loss of pay for that day, as a tramper, your work is planned out ahead of time, in truckstops in the USA, they have a nurse, doctor and a dentist , so when you are on the road, you can pull in and even get your truck licence medical sorted out on the road.
I can never see the same thing happening on UK Msa`s .
In the USA stop overs, there is a dog grooming parlour , to shampoo your cab mut .They also have a chapel, so you can talk to a priest.
In the UK, there is the lit up silver crucifix on the roof of Lincoln Farm truckstop to confess your sins of driving over two minutes tacho time.
The owners and staff there are very welcoming, and i am sure, if you had a problem, they would not hesitate to help out any driver.
For example, you lost the wallet, pay us back the next time you come in.
A day off to see a doctor and losing a pay is so last year!!!
Get the app mate and do it on your 45!!!
oh and my local doc`s is open on saturday morning.
Mon 11 jan dentist morning/ doctor afternoon
Mon 18 jan eye test
Mon 25 jan upvc window repair
Mon 8 th feb new TVs box fitting
I tramp tues- sat so arrange doctors etc for mon( some things I can get done on Sunday ),