The 90s!

[adam277]

Well I was born in the 90s!
I’m a relatively young guy on this forum. So when I hear a lot of the old timers on here tell me that they earnt more money in the 90s then what they earn now I am a bit like… wait what?

Maybe some of you more seasoned guys can explain this to me.

Is this soley due to when the floodgates were opened to EE workers and wages started to decrease / stagnate.
Like even now at Tesco some of the old time drivers have been on the same contract for 10-20+ years because the new HGV employment contracts are just inferior.

[wheel_nut]

I think money just went further, we didn’t all have new cars and 700hp, night out money was spent on beer and food, not paying to park the bosses lorry up, lots of bonus and extras paid, you could get 15 nights out a week. meals were free on ferries including wine.

We spoke to the office when we wanted, not when they wanted, we chose our own routes, chose our start times, & finish times. Drivers used to get out of their lorries to help others, would go out and find a restaurant or pub together as a group, regardless of who you worked for.

We were certainly better off in the 80’s and 90’s

[robroy]

adam277:
Well I was born in the 90s!
I’m a relatively young guy on this forum. So when I hear a lot of the old timers on here tell me that they earnt more money in the 90s then what they earn now I am a bit like… wait what?

Maybe some of you more seasoned guys can explain this to me.

Is this soley due to when the floodgates were opened to EE workers and wages started to decrease / stagnate.
Like even now at Tesco some of the old time drivers have been on the same contract for 10-20+ years because the new HGV employment contracts are just inferior.

Aye I was also born in the 90s, I heard that in those days those drivers had to think for themselves how tf did they do that, without being told what to do and where to do it, not sure I believe it actually…I also heard that there was no sat navs in those days, and you had to find your own way round ffs
Abd what was the story with those trailers with no sides that you had to put those sheet things on… and no autoboxes…you actually had to DRIVE a truck, instead of just steering it… …nah not having that.
I’m sure most if this is made up, you’ll need to ask the really old guys, the likes of Maoster what it was like in the olden days, apparently he even drove Sherman tanks in the Army, so he’ll know the score.

[the_maoster]

Yada yada yada, yeah Centurian was a rank and not a tank! My north westerly friend forgets (it happens) that he is my senior and has promised to show me his bus pass when we next meet. At least I hope that’s what he said!

[the_maoster]

I’m not sure that the money was better (I remember being ■■■■ a hoop that we had the highest rate in Teesside at £3.80 an hour) but as been mentioned it seemed to go much further in them days. I’m sure Conor will be along shortly to accuse me of wearing rose coloured spectacles, and he’ll have a point to an extent.

Not everything was a bed of roses admittedly there were plenty of downsides but the job itself was IMO infinitely superior than today; none of this JIT ■■■■■■■■, no booking slots, no RDC’s, no mobile phones, no micro management, you were indeed the Captain of your own ship. I remember getting a puncture one day (it happened a lot back then) and within ten minutes of stopping to change it four lorries from four different hauliers had stopped to offer assistance.

Everything was on flatbeds then and it was a given that you joined the queue and immediately jumped out to help the guy in front fold his sheets. The guy pulling up behind you helped with yours. Every town centre had a lorry park and all the drivers (who generally had never met before) went into town for a beer and war stories together.

On balance if I could keep todays lorries but 80’s and 90’s camaraderie I’d be a happy bunny.

[m_a_n_rules]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
spot on mate, but the one you forgot was once you had filled up you pulled forward if possible, if not you went in paid and did’nt do a weekly shop…

[janos]

I must be the only one who finds your post patronising, and your penchant for mao disturbing.
Your solopsistic view of life is all too prevalent in the current snowflake era.
Thankfully, as already stated by others, we had a healthy respect for the previous generation in the 80’s and 90’s. It was easy to, as those guys had fought in the war, and driving was even tougher for them. Plus, backchat could get you a punch on the nose.
I became an o/d in 1990. Reason being that the union had a stranglehold on jobs, kept all the good jobs for their cronies, and put the crap on the union register, which your average joe slowly worked his way to the top, to be offered an awful job…or the dole.
In the 90’s there was a lot of work for the self employed in container haulage. Shipping lines employed you directly, and paid the full haulage rate, plus fuel was 30ppl. Interest rates were higher, but houses were cheaper, and if you were a worker, you could make a lot of money. There was more margin in the job rates. They are cut to the bone now.
The best times and work I have had. The comments about camaraderie are true. You would only know, if you knew the graft of sheeting trailers or changing wheels. You deserved respect if you were a driver then. Much less now, as no doubt you have much experience of.

[beefy4605]

age - 51
started driving mid 90’s
What I’ve noticed in the last 25 years is a total loss of “friendship”. Youve heard about the drivers helping each other to fold sheets and change wheels but it went a lot further than that . As someone who was pulling fridges in and out of Northern Ireland there were regular stopping points - The Moss , Carlisle ,Penrith ,Crooklands, Whetherby or Lymm . Drivers knew each other and had time for a cheese toastie a mug of tea and a chat - none of this slumped over the wheel for a 45 and away again . If you didn’t answer your phone (if you had one ) nobody knew where you where . You were trusted to get the job done and by and large it got done . Yes sometimes people went missing for a couple of days . We all had CB’s and we all spoke to each other to find out what was going on - nobody cared what company you worked for - now it seems you just ring or whats app your mates to let them know where the trouble ( speed cameras , police cars , Vosa) is and no odds about anyone else .
I suppose now nobody seems to have any time for anyone else , people have gotten greedy and are quite prepared to tramp all over anyone with little or no regard for anyone or anything .
Its wasn’t all beds of roses - I’d much rater have the Volvo V4 540 I’m driving now as the selection of FL10’s, F10’s and F12’s I drove in the first few years , the microwaves , inverters , tv and all the other home comforts that have appeared over the years all make the job a little bit more bearable . Satnavs and google maps make the navigation a lot easier - 20 years ago you couldnt ring your mate and say " Send me a drop pin for customer so and so "- you had a box of A-Z’s and a big atlas with bridge heights in it - thats how you planned your routes - the best your mate could do was draw you a "map " on a piece of paper and you had to hope they didn’t forget about a roundabout or a T junction and they knew the difference between left and right (it happend lol)

[beefy4605]

But to answer your question - yes when we started to ask for payrises bosses said no because the cheap EE drivers were starting to appear on the scene . Rather than give us a payrise it was easier to give the work to an EE driver , pay them less and not put their rates up and be able to undercut the competition to keep work . This has went on and on for years until Brexit / covid appeared and the supply of EE drivers vanished just about overnight , now the bosses can’t use EE’s to drive the rates down the true worth of a good , reliable driver with a brain capable of getting a job done without a risk assesment, method statement and a route plan that can actually go and do the job and get home again with out wrecking all around them is starting to become a reality .

[janos]

So busy moaning, I forgot to make my main point.
Doing container work in the 90’s, there were much fewer loads to and from China, and the work was seasonal, with NZ lamb, SA fruit, tobacco and hemp etc all having their busy periods. The warehouses receiving these are all long gone.
Closer union with the EU killed the truly international trading links we used to have, and we now suffer the consequences of that.

[robroy]

Janos:
I must be the only one who finds your post patronising, and your penchant for mao disturbing.
Your solopsistic view of life is all too prevalent in the current snowflake era.
Thankfully, as already stated by others, we had a healthy respect for the previous generation in the 80’s and 90’s. It was easy to, as those guys had fought in the war, and driving was even tougher for them. Plus, backchat could get you a punch on the nose.
I became an o/d in 1990. Reason being that the union had a stranglehold on jobs, kept all the good jobs for their cronies, and put the crap on the union register, which your average joe slowly worked his way to the top, to be offered an awful job…or the dole.
In the 90’s there was a lot of work for the self employed in container haulage. Shipping lines employed you directly, and paid the full haulage rate, plus fuel was 30ppl. Interest rates were higher, but houses were cheaper, and if you were a worker, you could make a lot of money. There was more margin in the job rates. They are cut to the bone now.
The best times and work I have had. The comments about camaraderie are true. You would only know, if you knew the graft of sheeting trailers or changing wheels. You deserved respect if you were a driver then. Much less now, as no doubt you have much experience of.

Do what I do mate, just go along with it.
He was as much born in the 90s as my Dad was.
And the Mao thing is just a (bizarre) smokescreen to take the focus of all things FRIDGE.
After saying that he does add to the forum with good content, but as with all multi I.d. users, of which we are told it is ‘forum legal’, (But then so is ‘outing’ them , even though a certain one or do get annoyed when you do and put you on theitr 'foe lists and the like ) …there is no mistaking style and technique.

As for the thread,…
I think (only imo) iit was the late 90s that saw the advent of the new type driver, and all the negative aspects he brought to the job that effed it up for the rest of us.
Not saying ALL drivers then btw either.

Autoboxes brought in the complete and utter f/whits who would maybe not have passed a test on a proper truck that YOU actually had to DRIVE,.so you got ‘car drivers with Class1s’.(not saying we should go back to manuals, I like the ease they bring)
Those drivers went on to perfect the ■■■■ poor trucking techniques of gems such as…cutting in, leaving out after moving over at junctions, coming up on your inside half way through an overtake, not letting you in, not letting you out, not flashing you in whether you needed it or not, and the general ‘‘I’m alright Jack ■■■■ you’’ cluster ■■■■ style of bad driving that you never (or very very rarely ) saw prior to the 90s,.that we all witness every day now in the job, that has got worse since those days.

Sat navs came on the scene, so as well as making the job MUCH easier, you got the clowns who totally relied on them, with all the f. ups that aspect brings…and so it goes on.
Not looking at those days prior to that through rosy specs either, just my own personal observations on the job and on certain drivers, for what thise observations are worth.
So yeh, I reckon the 90s was the start of the dumbing down process of the job.

[san_miguel]

I was ■■■■■■ and high in the 90s. Would have been in no fit state to drive a hgv.

[eagerbeaver]

Why do young people have to use the word ‘like’ all the time?

I was ‘like’ thinking about this the other day,like. Like, seriously wtf?

As you can see it looks moronic in type and sounds equally idiotic verbally. Please stop using an American sourced filler word all the time as it’s very hard for me to have any interest in your subject matter. If you can’t even communicate in an educated manner, any potentially pertinent points in your communications could go unnoticed…like

[stevegm3]

san miguel:
I was ■■■■■■ and high in the 90s. Would have been in no fit state to drive a hgv.

More a case of ■■■■■■ in the 90s and whizzing Barcelona Manchester in the early naughties in my case

Mad times

[toowise]

beefy4605:
the microwaves , inverters , tv and all the other home comforts that have appeared over the years

Thats partly the cause. Everyone has a home from home in the cab, no need to have a wander to the pub for a chat.

Also the demise of the greasy spoons have had an impact. Much easier now to grab a Greggs than sit down for a brew and a brekkie.

[star_down_under]

Janos:
I must be the only one who finds your post patronising, and your penchant for mao disturbing.
Your solopsistic view of life is all too prevalent in the current snowflake era.
Thankfully, as already stated by others, we had a healthy respect for the previous generation in the 80’s and 90’s. It was easy to, as those guys had fought in the war, and driving was even tougher for them. Plus, backchat could get you a punch on the nose.
I became an o/d in 1990. Reason being that the union had a stranglehold on jobs, kept all the good jobs for their cronies, and put the crap on the union register, which your average joe slowly worked his way to the top, to be offered an awful job…or the dole.
In the 90’s there was a lot of work for the self employed in container haulage. Shipping lines employed you directly, and paid the full haulage rate, plus fuel was 30ppl. Interest rates were higher, but houses were cheaper, and if you were a worker, you could make a lot of money. There was more margin in the job rates. They are cut to the bone now.
The best times and work I have had. The comments about camaraderie are true. You would only know, if you knew the graft of sheeting trailers or changing wheels. You deserved respect if you were a driver then. Much less now, as no doubt you have much experience of.

Maths is not your forté, is it? I was driving in the 90s and my father was still at school during the war.
Any returned serviceman still truck driving in the 90s would have been very much the exception and over retirement age.

[adam277]

robroy:

Janos:
I must be the only one who finds your post patronising, and your penchant for mao disturbing.
Your solopsistic view of life is all too prevalent in the current snowflake era.
Thankfully, as already stated by others, we had a healthy respect for the previous generation in the 80’s and 90’s. It was easy to, as those guys had fought in the war, and driving was even tougher for them. Plus, backchat could get you a punch on the nose.
I became an o/d in 1990. Reason being that the union had a stranglehold on jobs, kept all the good jobs for their cronies, and put the crap on the union register, which your average joe slowly worked his way to the top, to be offered an awful job…or the dole.
In the 90’s there was a lot of work for the self employed in container haulage. Shipping lines employed you directly, and paid the full haulage rate, plus fuel was 30ppl. Interest rates were higher, but houses were cheaper, and if you were a worker, you could make a lot of money. There was more margin in the job rates. They are cut to the bone now.
The best times and work I have had. The comments about camaraderie are true. You would only know, if you knew the graft of sheeting trailers or changing wheels. You deserved respect if you were a driver then. Much less now, as no doubt you have much experience of.

Do what I do mate, just go along with it.
He was as much born in the 90s as my Dad was.
And the Mao thing is just a (bizarre) smokescreen to take the focus of all things FRIDGE.
After saying that he does add to the forum with good content, but as with all multi I.d. users, of which we are told it is ‘forum legal’, (But then so is ‘outing’ them , even though a certain one or do get annoyed when you do and put you on theitr 'foe lists and the like ) …there is no mistaking style and technique.

My thread was not intended to be patronizing. As for you assuming I am someone else… Well I spent a year working for CO-OP and did a bit of fridge work. But other than that I know very little about them. This is my only forum account. Mods can verify that if they want but no doubt too much effort for them .
As for the Mao thing I did a year doing a degree in Chinese history and I find him quite an interesting character. Especially during the civil war. Very much find Chiang-Kai-Shek interesting as well. Would recommend Mao the Unknown Story book by Jon Halliday. If anyone is interested.
That’s all off topic anyway.

@Janos other than your rant about myself I did find your post interesting.
Comradeship is something I have seen in the industry which is a shame. Drivers often just don’t talk to each other anymore which is a shame. Interesting about everyone’s experiences of wages as well. So basically cost of living has gone up without the wages going up at the same pace.

[janos]

Star down under.:

Janos:
I must be the only one who finds your post patronising, and your penchant for mao disturbing.
Your solopsistic view of life is all too prevalent in the current snowflake era.
Thankfully, as already stated by others, we had a healthy respect for the previous generation in the 80’s and 90’s. It was easy to, as those guys had fought in the war, and driving was even tougher for them. Plus, backchat could get you a punch on the nose.
I became an o/d in 1990. Reason being that the union had a stranglehold on jobs, kept all the good jobs for their cronies, and put the crap on the union register, which your average joe slowly worked his way to the top, to be offered an awful job…or the dole.
In the 90’s there was a lot of work for the self employed in container haulage. Shipping lines employed you directly, and paid the full haulage rate, plus fuel was 30ppl. Interest rates were higher, but houses were cheaper, and if you were a worker, you could make a lot of money. There was more margin in the job rates. They are cut to the bone now.
The best times and work I have had. The comments about camaraderie are true. You would only know, if you knew the graft of sheeting trailers or changing wheels. You deserved respect if you were a driver then. Much less now, as no doubt you have much experience of.

Maths is not your forté, is it? I was driving in the 90s and my father was still at school during the war.
Any returned serviceman still truck driving in the 90s would have been very much the exception and over retirement age.

Star down under… Is that a euphemism? Maths does not come into it. There were plenty of older drivers knocking around Lpl when I first started for myself.
Employment in the 80’s and 90’s was a lot different to now. There were not many ex drivers on generous final salary pensions, and would work cash in hand. I remember this precisely because I took a fortnight off, and paid a guy to fill in for me, and then got into trouble with the taxman because if it…and the guy who drove the truck used to ferry Montgomerys staff around N.Africa during the war.
Not a tall tale he just told me. Guy was well know locally for his background, and a gentleman. Although, I doubt you would of questioned his integrity to his face.

[jack-knife]

I remember when drivers would actually slow down and flash you out.
Now there to busy boxing you in and slowing you down.
Bring back the good old days driving was much more enjoyable then now it’s just become a chore.

[janos]

adam277:

robroy:

Janos:
I must be the only one who finds your post patronising, and your penchant for mao disturbing.
Your solopsistic view of life is all too prevalent in the current snowflake era.
Thankfully, as already stated by others, we had a healthy respect for the previous generation in the 80’s and 90’s. It was easy to, as those guys had fought in the war, and driving was even tougher for them. Plus, backchat could get you a punch on the nose.
I became an o/d in 1990. Reason being that the union had a stranglehold on jobs, kept all the good jobs for their cronies, and put the crap on the union register, which your average joe slowly worked his way to the top, to be offered an awful job…or the dole.
In the 90’s there was a lot of work for the self employed in container haulage. Shipping lines employed you directly, and paid the full haulage rate, plus fuel was 30ppl. Interest rates were higher, but houses were cheaper, and if you were a worker, you could make a lot of money. There was more margin in the job rates. They are cut to the bone now.
The best times and work I have had. The comments about camaraderie are true. You would only know, if you knew the graft of sheeting trailers or changing wheels. You deserved respect if you were a driver then. Much less now, as no doubt you have much experience of.

Do what I do mate, just go along with it.
He was as much born in the 90s as my Dad was.
And the Mao thing is just a (bizarre) smokescreen to take the focus of all things FRIDGE.
After saying that he does add to the forum with good content, but as with all multi I.d. users, of which we are told it is ‘forum legal’, (But then so is ‘outing’ them , even though a certain one or do get annoyed when you do and put you on theitr 'foe lists and the like ) …there is no mistaking style and technique.

My thread was not intended to be patronizing. As for you assuming I am someone else… Well I spent a year working for CO-OP and did a bit of fridge work. But other than that I know very little about them. This is my only forum account. Mods can verify that if they want but no doubt too much effort for them .
As for the Mao thing I did a year doing a degree in Chinese history and I find him quite an interesting character. Especially during the civil war. Very much find Chiang-Kai-Shek interesting as well. Would recommend Mao the Unknown Story book by Jon Halliday. If anyone is interested.
That’s all off topic anyway.

@Janos other than your rant about myself I did find your post interesting.
Comradeship is something I have seen in the industry which is a shame. Drivers often just don’t talk to each other anymore which is a shame. Interesting about everyone’s experiences of wages as well. So basically cost of living has gone up without the wages going up at the same pace.

I do think I see where you are going with this thread, but you confuse camaraderie with comradeship.
Mutual trust and respect engenders camaraderie. Too long in the student union forms Citizen Smith style comradeship.
Do you not do irony? Mao is the biggest mass muderer in history, and would of persecuted the likes of you, and yet you find him interesting?