Just a quicky…
How many of your Transport Managers were actually drivers before becoming a TM?? I’m just interested to know what’s the common background they tend to have.
Reason i ask is because Transport Management is something i’d like to do one day, but i want to become a driver first and learn my trade and gain experience/knowledge first and then go into Management from that angle.
You can certainly tell the difference between the ones who used to be drivers and the ones that came straight from uni.
They think a truck has the same speed as a RAF Chinook.
An inch on their map is only 20 miles but in real life it is 100 miles or that old chestnut “Just around the corner or just pop round as they are waiting for you.”
They will send you the longest drive away on a Friday while their blue eyed boys are home at one pm.
Plan delivery slots that do not account for road closures or accidents or swans landing on the motorway thinking it is a river.
Hi all.I Think in the ‘‘old days’’ it was almost all T M swere ex drivers.It seemed the thing for Companys to do,take guys from the road who wanted to be home more,were getting on a bit,or had health problems [quite prevelant due to the heavy labour of the time]and put them in the office as they knew the job back to front.
Nowadays with the advent of technology it seems more T M s are coming from school with the ‘‘requisite paperwork’’ but a lack of ‘‘hands on’’ experience and knowledge.
Up here we are a bit ‘‘old fashioned’’ and live a slower pace of life so most of the T M s and bosses have come ‘‘up from the ranks’’ so to speak.
hutpik:
Hi all.I Think in the ‘‘old days’’ it was almost all T M swere ex drivers.It seemed the thing for Companys to do,take guys from the road who wanted to be home more,were getting on a bit,or had health problems [quite prevelant due to the heavy labour of the time]and put them in the office as they knew the job back to front.
Nowadays with the advent of technology it seems more T M s are coming from school with the ‘‘requisite paperwork’’ but a lack of ‘‘hands on’’ experience and knowledge.
Up here we are a bit ‘‘old fashioned’’ and live a slower pace of life so most of the T M s and bosses have come ‘‘up from the ranks’’ so to speak.
I hope it isn’t deemed old fashioned but common sense… but it seems company’s in most industries are adopting this method recruiting managers etc, and its sad really, especially for those without the academic background yet excellent at their jobs. I’m fortunate enough to have been to University, but i want the hands on experience and to work my way up. I just don’t want it to be of any detriment to me if companies largely recruit from school leavers and other academics etc. as opposed to someone who’s drove for 10+ years and beyond their 30’s.
I was a fleet engineer for twenty years, a driver for nine, then TM until I retired, so yes, I’d done it all. As it should be.
Our TM comes from a driving background, in fact he still goes out on the road when needed. His knowledge is invaluable when trying to find a location to deliver to or park in. This stuff cannot be learned in a class.
A lot of Tm’s don’t have a hgv licence ,some Tm’s don’t even do anything ,but lots of drivers became little hitlers and transport Clerks without a Cpc .
We have 4 transport managers on rotating shifts covering 24hrs…a total of none of them hold a HGV licence.
I am an ex driver turned TM, still more than willing to do a shift if the you know what heads fanwards.
Just out of curiosity what is required qualification / academic wise to get a foot in the door or is it all experience based ?
I’ve got a handful of GCSE’s and graduated from the school of real life. For me at least, experience and attitude is more of a qualification than a degree.
1FLEETRENEGADE:
Just out of curiosity what is required qualification / academic wise to get a foot in the door or is it all experience based ?
Majority seem to be experience in the industry and generic skills (communication, IT etc) although a lot do request a Transport Management CPC.
Berkshireblue:
I am an ex driver turned TM, still more than willing to do a shift if the you know what heads fanwards.
This is why i thought most would have a LGV licence and a reason i want to go down this route.
The best transport manager I ever worked for had never been near the steering wheel of a truck in his life, as far as I know he went straight into a transport office soon after leaving school.
He knew how to keep trucks earning money though, and if you had a problem at a collection or delivery, just a phone call and he’d sort it out, didn’t matter who the customer was, he wanted his truck moving and earning money.
As a former driver and a now TM wanting to go back to driving, there are many different TM’s out there just as there is drivers and planners and fitters.
Some have never driven and are well conversed in the economics of running logistics and haulage, some have driven a HGV and are equally as good. But one thing is for certain every driver who approaches the window or the desk can do every ones job in the company. Unfortunately for them so seemingly can every other driver so competition is high 
For clarity i started as a driver then went into recruitment (fleeting visit) then into Transport Management, i took my Transport Managers CPC after i was given a transport managers position.
we have Branch Manager then 6 office staff. 5 of which I have no idea what they do other than really answer phones and take orders.
One does the run organising.
None have driven a wagon…and you can tell. When you try and explain anything, its in one ear out the other.
Best thing about banging your head against a brick wall is to stop banging your head. I just do the runs to their liking and if it can’t be done, the load comes back.
Spacemonkeypg:
Some have never driven and are well conversed in the economics of running logistics and haulage, some have driven a HGV and are equally as good. But one thing is for certain every driver who approaches the window or the desk can do every ones job in the company. Unfortunately for them so seemingly can every other driver so competition is high
Never a truer word spoken!
I’ve been both sides of the desk too mate, and done recruitment; now I’m back driving basically cos it’s similar money and less hassle. To survive in any office today you need a hide like a rhinoceros and a stab-proof vest; the latter preferably with the armour in the back.
Sidevalve:
Spacemonkeypg:
Some have never driven and are well conversed in the economics of running logistics and haulage, some have driven a HGV and are equally as good. But one thing is for certain every driver who approaches the window or the desk can do every ones job in the company. Unfortunately for them so seemingly can every other driver so competition is highNever a truer word spoken!
I’ve been both sides of the desk too mate, and done recruitment; now I’m back driving basically cos it’s similar money and less hassle. To survive in any office today you need a hide like a rhinoceros and a stab-proof vest; the latter preferably with the armour in the back.
This is why i am leaving the office and getting back onto the road.
The finger is pointed at you constantly, from those who work for you, those you work for, and anyone else in between. One thing i try and enact on drivers is the industry we make a living in is dynamic so when things change they change for us all not just you. Unfortunately, in my experience the majority of drivers are only capable of seeing things from their own perspective, and more happens outside of their cab than they dare imagine.
I have started at 0600 and left at 2330 to make sure that every driver has a fair share of the workload, not only to ensure harmony but to ensure the percentage of the job is done. But you can place high stakes on that phone call in the night or early hours because someone is not happy because John is going here and there and Pete has not and blah blah blah.
I have also waited behind and shook the hands of drivers who have done a hard day and pulled their hoop out to get the job done, this is something i do on a regular basis, just because i never got that gratitude as a driver and still dont as a TM - so believe its a good traite to instill.
My phone rings constantly like three times an hour, with the mundane to the serious, and if i make a mistake its one of 65 vehicles routes knackered, or their drivers, or the night drivers on the following shift, then the customer, then the receiver with the ultimate reply to the owner.
A driver cant be arsed to do his walk around check and gets a pull, OCRS score screwed your fault! even though every professional driver should as instructed by the TM do a check its your fault, likewise for infringements on WTD and tacho’s they all have there DQC and DCPC and can talk the talk at the window quoting all the relevant MMTM, SAS McNabb is my mate, HOFE missed it by minutes and ive been driving like a prick since before you where born handbooks.
Where the lorry, truck and or wagon driver is the enemy to all on the road - the transport manager is the enemy to everyone in the company because they are held to account for all of it.
Just look at the Managers CPC and the different modules you need to be a professional in.
My boss, no hgv background whatsoever. He lets a load of bell ends do all the planning, as I don’t think he has much of a liking for geography (saying that, I don’t think they do either)
He is either buying vans or wagons, or arranging services. Never off the phone. My biggest annoyance is that he drives something for a few miles, then agrees to replace the fleet with them. We started off 100% MAN, then DAF gave him a better deal.
He then had Iveco on the phone offering him a long term demonstrator.
He picked it up from them with zero kms on the clock, drove it about 25-30 back to base, and based on that alone, he ordered 10.
I have every suspicion these will have rattled themselves to pieces before anything else on the fleet needs replacing.
His new baby is trackers and telematics. I know ■■■■ all about that guff, but I know a lot more than him.
How can he measure motors mpg when no 2 speedos run the same? If the miles are wrong, so is the mpg.
Not going into it now. Frustrates me