Unions have done nothing as regards, conditions ie rest areas toilets and above all hours they are way to long,a real union gets its members like train drivers and railmen ,fire brigade ect real jobs
Thats because firemen, train drivers etc have strength because they are not divided like drivers are.
Large companies tend(not always)to have better conditions for drivers than small outfits for the same reason.
Drivers will never get good conditions until they stick together, the last time we did pull together was in 1979 and then we did improve wages etc, but since then we have let it all slip away. That was when most drivers did belong to a union. Bosses and the government learnt a lesson from that dispute and are adamant that drivers will never be allowed to unite again and will do all in their power to keep us at one anothers throats. i.e. by encouraging foreign hauliers and agency/temp working etc.
Reading most of the posts on this forum leads you to believe that most drivers see other HGV drivers as an enemy rather than a workmate who happens to work for a different company
. Just read the number of posts with comments like “I won’t let them off the slip road” , “won’t flash them in” etc…
Posts where a driver will slag off another driver for making a mistake and then go on to claim that he himself always breaks speed limits.
With that kind of attitude in the industry there is no chance of drivers having any unity. Everyone seems to take an honest mistake/ error as a personal attack on them and needs to respond with some kind of action instead of just letting it go.
The prevalence of agency drivers also creates problems, in that some agency drivers do not feel that they “belong” or are treated as if they “don’t belong” so have no interest in pursuing any fight to improve matters.
Sorry to sound so gloomy about the job but as far as I can see, those of you that are still driving for a living…enjoy it now… because thats as good as its ever going to be.
The real problem is unions with the backing of euro mp,s keep sticking their nose in then make things worse, some of them are to thick to know any better,lets see hours to lng,no improvement from when I started 37 years ago, lack of parking no toilets no showers, I remember them the unions trying to ban sleeper cabs when the bigs were not good ,trying to cb radio,we dont want the paddywackers talking to one another they will find us out…whats the best they come up with, yea we will get them od,s on the silly WTD…SAD B,TARDS
RE hours Fuse.
I sat in a meeting of over 800 drivers at which the union was pushing for a ban on overtime in an attempt to force hours down.
All I could hear was the cry " but what about the overtime pay".
you can lead a horse to water etc etc
RE sleeper cabs
The attempt to ban sleeper cabs was part of an attempt to force the provision of decent accomodation when most drivers who slept in the cab did it on board across the bonnet or the lucky ones had a Bedford TK. At that time there were very few volvo 88’s or scania 110’s which were about the only sleeper cabs around.
Whichever union you talk about, they are only as strong as the membership.If drivers stood together you wouldn’t even need a union to fight for us.
So some of us join unions and do what we can, others just stand outside and moan.
If you feel strongly about the job and really want to see improvements…join a union (any) and MAKE the union earn their money, MAKE
them do what you want them to do. Go to meetings and vote, campaign, stand for office and shout untill they do.
del949:
If you feel strongly about the job and really want to see improvements…join a union (any) and MAKE the union earn their money, MAKE
them do what you want them to do. Go to meetings and vote, campaign, stand for office and shout untill they do.
That’s what Jimmy Hoffa did. 
