Alot of drivers saying how ‘back in day’ etc they had young drivers being took on by companies and given a chance to learn, sometimes by even the hard way…
With companies under so much pressure from customers and expecting the best and no problems is it really achievable ?
As a young driver myself, i think government should get some sort of bonus / benefit for companies taking on young folks, otherwise really we’re gona get no where in the future unless agencies/companies start opening the doors a bit more.
In addition to that, the wages paid are generally lower for youngsters, could companies not pay less, to cover costs of higher insurance etc and gradually make it rise ?
Palletline birmingham took a friend of mine on couple years back and worked him up, though he was getting paid less he appreciated it more and showed some loyalty to the company… as a token of appreciation.
I think axing the compulsory retirement age instead of raising it is to blame; There are less openings now. I got my driving break because a driver was nearing 65 and I was given an old motor to get experience. He went and I “replaced” him.
Out of 4 drivers to hit retirement age in the past year, only one has actually retired. Another will go at 70, who knows about the other two (one has been plagued with health problems recently).
My return to the road seems to be dependant on said driver not coming back…
Forgot we actually have 5 who’ve got to 65. The one I forgot about, has done so much damage the comoany wishes there was still a compulsory retirement age!
Upto now, drivers around 65 do not get given new motors. Is this age discrimination or is just “drive what you’re given”?
As Muckaway says, I’ve worked with drivers in their 70’s and even 1 in his 90’s, mostly drivers in their 50’s.
But, they either can’t afford to retire or have worked that long that they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they did.
The guy in his 90’s was an O/D, and he came in at the same time every morning, had a bit of breccy and a brew with the lads, then did his 1 easy job in his old Merc, maybe another brew depending who was in the cafe, then went home.
He finished a couple of years ago after his Merc failed it’s MOT, it was about 30yrs old, think it was an old R reg (R at the back) if I remember rightly.
If you live in Eastern Europe,you pass the HGV test and can be doing international work the next day,for some reason this does not happen in the UK.Firms like Waberers all have 18 year old at the wheel.
In the 90`s,i walked in to a transport office for work,they asked how many trucks i owned,and if i had any EU driving experience,i told a porky to land the job,and was shipping out for the first time in a truck to Europe,in a few days.
As a novice,i could not get the unit under the heavy super jumbo step frame tilt trailer in Newhaven docks.The legs were too low.
voodoo1:
Alot of drivers saying how ‘back in day’ etc they had young drivers being took on by companies and given a chance to learn, sometimes by even the hard way…
With companies under so much pressure from customers and expecting the best and no problems is it really achievable ?
As a young driver myself, i think government should get some sort of bonus / benefit for companies taking on young folks, otherwise really we’re gona get no where in the future unless agencies/companies start opening the doors a bit more.
In addition to that, the wages paid are generally lower for youngsters, could companies not pay less, to cover costs of higher insurance etc and gradually make it rise ?
Palletline birmingham took a friend of mine on couple years back and worked him up, though he was getting paid less he appreciated it more and showed some loyalty to the company… as a token of appreciation.
Whats your thoughts on this
Your problem as a young driver is as you mention higher insurance premiums, but also too many experienced drivers chasing too few jobs, not to mention the East Europe influx, so from a company point of view no real need to take a chance on an inexperienced driver.
If firms could get away with paying minimum wages to newbies it would not be a level playing field from the point of view of exp, drivers, and the wages are low enough in the job as it is now anyway.
As for govt grants, again no real need, so unfortunately it’s just another harsh fact of life but good luck anyway.
voodoo1:
Alot of drivers saying how ‘back in day’ etc they had young drivers being took on by companies and given a chance to learn, sometimes by even the hard way…
With companies under so much pressure from customers and expecting the best and no problems is it really achievable ?
As a young driver myself, i think government should get some sort of bonus / benefit for companies taking on young folks, otherwise really we’re gona get no where in the future unless agencies/companies start opening the doors a bit more.
In addition to that, the wages paid are generally lower for youngsters, could companies not pay less, to cover costs of higher insurance etc and gradually make it rise ?
Palletline birmingham took a friend of mine on couple years back and worked him up, though he was getting paid less he appreciated it more and showed some loyalty to the company… as a token of appreciation.
Whats your thoughts on this
Your problem as a young driver is as you mention higher insurance premiums, but also too many experienced drivers chasing too few jobs, not to mention the East Europe influx, so from a company point of view no real need to take a chance on an inexperienced driver.
If firms could get away with paying minimum wages to newbies it would not be a level playing field from the point of view of exp, drivers, and the wages are low enough in the job as it is now anyway.
As for govt grants, again no real need, so unfortunately it’s just another harsh fact of life but good luck anyway.
Im already full time employed Doing bit of 7.5T / Odd Class 2 But just saying in general, especially looking to future
The problem is, some not all, youngsters simply don’t have a work ethic any more, some don’t want to start at the bottom and graft/earn their way up the ladder, they want respect, trust and promotion that they haven’t yet earned.
This isn’t a problem with all youngsters, cos there are some good eggs out there, but their peers make life hard for them.
There’s good reason that warehouses shops etc are staffed with East Europeans, and its not just the wage on offer. They are usually reliable and punctual and hard working…and they have better spoken and written English in many cases than the natives, and they always turn up for work and in a fit state to do so on a Monday morn.
As for people working for longer, well thats what the govenment wants and the retirement age is only going one way so get used to it.
Assuming i’m still alive, in good health and still have a licence when i eventually allowed to retire (when the shifting goal posts park up for a week) i shall be carrying on in a part time only basis if the company i currently work for still want me, my company prefers experienced older staff for the usual reasons.
At our place Juddian, the two youngsters are the most likely to come back at 4.30 for a load home or to load for morning. I do this too but I parked at the loading point…
toby1234abc:
If you live in Eastern Europe,you pass the HGV test and can be doing international work the next day,for some reason this does not happen in the UK.Firms like Waberers all have 18 year old at the wheel.
For one thing, Holland and Belgium are less than half a shift wide/long, so International doesn’t have to be that far.
They all also drive on the same side of the road and they don’t have to contend with ferries.
Firms like Waberers or Stobards can have 18 year olds at the wheel, it is now perfectly legal to have a young driver / apprenticeship scheme. But they can’t do International.
toby1234abc:
If you live in Eastern Europe,you pass the HGV test and can be doing international work the next day,for some reason this does not happen in the UK.Firms like Waberers all have 18 year old at the wheel.
For one thing, Holland and Belgium are less than half a shift wide/long, so International doesn’t have to be that far.
They all also drive on the same side of the road and they don’t have to contend with ferries.
Firms like Waberers or Stobards can have 18 year olds at the wheel, it is now perfectly legal to have a young driver / apprenticeship scheme. But they can’t do International.
A ferry is a ferry! I wonder if the few Brits/Irish that do the continent drive as badly over there as these easterners do over here! i.e rolling down the wrong carriageway on the M6/M1!
Driving is driving! If your an idiot! Then you’ll ■■■■ it up! And there’s no money in euro work for all the aggro involved!
toby1234abc:
If you live in Eastern Europe,you pass the HGV test and can be doing international work the next day,for some reason this does not happen in the UK.Firms like Waberers all have 18 year old at the wheel.
For one thing, Holland and Belgium are less than half a shift wide/long, so International doesn’t have to be that far.
They all also drive on the same side of the road and they don’t have to contend with ferries.
Firms like Waberers or Stobards can have 18 year olds at the wheel, it is now perfectly legal to have a young driver / apprenticeship scheme. But they can’t do International.
A ferry is a ferry! I wonder if the few Brits/Irish that do the continent drive as badly over there as these easterners do over here! i.e rolling down the wrong carriageway on the M6/M1!
Driving is driving! If your an idiot! Then you’ll [zb] it up! And there’s no money in euro work for all the aggro involved!
Most Brit drivers have to have some experience before they’re let loose onto the continent. However there are idiotic Brit/Irish drivers on Euro work the same as there are idiotic Brit/Irish drivers doing UK/Irish work.
Driving is driving, if you’re an idiot you’ll ■■■■ it up, whatever nationality you are.
What is this ‘aggro’ you speak of ?
I do Euro work and get no more agro over there than I do over here.
bigvern1:
There must be money in Euro work. I was paid £520 pound for 3 days to Barcelona from a job advertised on this site. FACT.
Exactly V! A van earns more out of a job than a LGV! Mind you V,if Orys had known about said work,it would have been for a lot less than you did it for!
I don’t think youngsters have any worse work ethic than a generation ago or even further back. In fact in the 70’s it seemed most of the Country had lost a work ethic.
It will always be that youngsters will get a hard time from us old ■■■■■ about being not as good as we were when we started, but I remember being told similar thing by people when I started work, it’s just probably jealously really, but there will be and always are those who are keen and work hard and those who aren’t interested.
We are in a recession, and as any of us who left school in previous hard times know, it’s difficult to get into any job when you’ve just left school in times like this, companies that do have vacancies have a pool of experienced workers they can take on, it cost money to take on somebody without the experience and you don’t know if they’ll take to the job or cost you money in damage or just leave because they don’t want to drive trucks.
The job of a truck driver doesn’t really appeal to many teenagers now and why would it? There is not really the potential of travel far flung places and it really doesn’t have the same appeal when for a few quid you can jump on a plane and have a weekend in most parts of Europe. Also the freedom of the job isn’t really there like it was.
Doing bit of 7.5T / Odd Class 2 But just saying in general, especially looking to future
