Hi sammy dog,
Got a mate,used to run trucks like yourself,packed it in,now drives for someone else,does his days work,parks up,goes home,no weekend working on the lorries or doing paperwork at night. Say’s its the best thing he ever did.
Cheers Dave.
ps Hammer the boys here had the cut,same as your way 2.5% from october,as you said nationally,a lot are thinking of chucking it in.
hammer:
by 2.5% Nationally. This is after trimming off 2% in January. They’ve also cut the guaranteed payment on 6-wheelers from 17 to 16 tonnes on ashpalt (in our area anywhere).Apparently due to ‘overwhelming cost pressures on the business’. Good job my wagon runs on fresh air and goodwill otherwise I might be experiencing overwhelming cost pressures…
i worked for tarmac and al they did was let people go to save a few quid here and there
Two years ago Tarmac had four quarries in N.Ireland but they closed Hightown outside Belfast in early 2008.
Just announced today that Carn quarry in Co.Fermanagh and Dunaree quarry in Co.Tyrone are “on the brink” 
so that will leave them with one at Craigantlet in Co.Down. 
The artics are taking over a lot of the work in the three quarries near me,the rigids are spending more time parked up. I think its going to be a long hard winter,hope I’m wrong.
Article in the commercial moter saying about tarmac introducing walking floor trailers for tipping loads,only cost £150.000 or if you buy a second hand tractor unit £125.000, better job than buying an eight wheeler costing £90.000. Don’t think there will be a big rush somehow.
Dave the Renegade:
Article in the commercial moter saying about tarmac introducing walking floor trailers for tipping loads,only cost £150.000 or if you buy a second hand tractor unit £125.000, better job than buying an eight wheeler costing £90.000. Don’t think there will be a big rush somehow.
I reckon a walking floor trailer would struggle with a sticky load of SMA but they seem confident it will cope - good luck to whoever has to clean that one out!
Best not mention it to anybody who’s ordered a new 8-wheeler in the immediate aftermath of a RATE CUT…
hammer:
Dave the Renegade:
Article in the commercial moter saying about tarmac introducing walking floor trailers for tipping loads,only cost £150.000 or if you buy a second hand tractor unit £125.000, better job than buying an eight wheeler costing £90.000. Don’t think there will be a big rush somehow.I reckon a walking floor trailer would struggle with a sticky load of SMA but they seem confident it will cope - good luck to whoever has to clean that one out!
Best not mention it to anybody who’s ordered a new 8-wheeler in the immediate aftermath of a RATE CUT…
They have just given there three drivers this way a months notice.
hi guys its the same in scotland with the local quarries there cutting rates all the time and giving subbies crap loads 5 tonnes here and 10 tonnes there and keeping there own lorries fully freighted then theres work comes of get a good rate on it then do a couple of load then boss fones and says rates been cut just do our own work then other subbies yapping of the rate there working for im lucky my 6 wheeler tares at 9.100 so i get 17 tonne pay load
They have shifted the regional HQ this way,customers can’t get through half the time. The bigger stone merchants are doing ok out of it.
Anybody who goes out and spends 150k on a company like Tarmac who just suddenly decide to cut the rates, want their head testing.
I know people are struggling and need efficiencies. They cut the bagged aggregates by 5% of which we used to carry. We had a choice as our vehicles weren’t contracted or painted in Tarmac colours, and believe me we took it.
It’s far worse for those who have vehicles painted and contracted for Tarmac. What are they going to impose on you once you have invested 150k, another cut ■■?
Looks like Anglo American have put Tarmac up for sale again. Saw a peice in fridays Daily Express about it.
glo American to sell Tarmac and other assets after failed Xstrata bidCity welcomes switch of focus to core mining activities as group aims for 25% cut in overheads
Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk, Thursday 22 October 2009 18.55 BST Article history
Cynthia Carroll, Anglo American chief: ‘The changes are the logical next step’.
Tarmac, a leading supplier of building materials, is up for sale again as part of a new shake-up at mining group Anglo American in the wake of last week’s failed merger moves by rival Xstrata.
The British aggregates specialist is to be hived off, together with steel producer, Scaw Metals, Brazilian phosphate miner Copebras and other businesses considered “non-core” by Anglo. “The changes are the logical next step in focusing the group on our core mining activities,” said chief executive Cynthia Carroll.
The restructuring is seen by the City as a clear attempt to streamline Anglo ahead of any further takeover moves by Xstrata, which can come only after a six-month interval as dictated by regulators. Shares in Anglo rose 16p to 2292p in a falling market.
The disposals are also seen as an effort by Sir John Parker, who has just taken over as chairman from Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, to make his mark on the Johannesburg-based group. Parker was known to be keen to see an improvement in the balance sheet to pave the way for dividends to be resumed after they were axed this year following a 70% slump in first half profits.
Tarmac was originally put up for sale two years ago but was swiftly taken off the market as a slump in commodity prices and construction activity had diminished its perceived value. But improved sentiment in the market has emboldened Anglo, which bought Tarmac 10 years ago for £1.2bn. The UK company owns quarries and cement and asphalt manufacturing facilities in the Midlands and other parts of Britain.
Anglo American also said it planned to remove a layer of its global management structure and make other efficiency measures which could produce a 25% reduction in overheads plus annual savings of $120m (£73m). The asset sales, on top of earlier commitments to cut 15,000 jobs by the year end, will include its zinc operations.
The City welcomed the moves. “Anglo has six months before Xstrata can re-bid and management appears to have a renewed sense of urgency to show shareholders it is better placed as a standalone group,” said Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Killik & Co in London.
In May, Anglo American rejected a merger overture from Xstrata. The proposed combination would have created a group worth $68bn, ranking the combined company behind BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
Xstrata, facing a “put up or shut deadline” set by London’s Takeover Panel, announced on Thursday last week that it was walking away.Anglo American has already raised $671m in the third quarter from sales of two assets: its stake in South African sugar and starch producer Tongaat Hulett for $523m and its stake in South African aluminum processor Hulamin Ltd for $148m.
Anglo American reported that third-quarter production of copper rose 13% year on year, while iron ore output went up 16% and refined platinum production rose 16%. Rough diamond production was up 43% compared with the second quarter said Anglo, which owns 45% of the De Beers group.
Same ■■■■, different name. 
Hi Denis F,
Thanks for tidying up the quote I put on. Not to clever at cutting and paste,but will keep having a go.
Cheers Dave.