Freight Dog:
I once went to Sainsbury’s Northampton. Went on a bay. Gave bloke inside the keys, asked him what the procedure was. He just said wait in the waiting room and you’ll be called.
On way, briefly went back to the Cab to get my phone, got out and shunter comes screaming over and starts barking at me “you should know better” etc etc. Clearly I had committed a haenius crime to humanity somewhere, but I took serious umbrage at being spoken to like a child and asked what it was about Sainsbury’s Northampton that I clearly should’ve been born knowing. He said I wasn’t allowed back into the cab after I was on the bay. A bit of a disagreement ensued, mainly about the way he was speaking to me and also the fact he kept going on about it. I pointed out far from “should know better” that I rarely come to Sainsbury’s Northants, don’t live in Sainsbury’s Northants and visit multiple other sites that allow you to visit the Cab and if it was such a hideous local crime perhaps their idiot of a security man should verbally mention it rather than throwing a glance to the printed rules on the wall before shooeing me out the door due to the que.
[zb] hitlers. I think rules for these places are created for those with small brains to feel proud they have something to lord over others and policed with all the visciousness of the chronically bored. Waiting room was a dump too. Couldn’t wait to get out of the [zb] hole.
Maybe you should read the sheet of A 4 they give you that explains the site and rules then, it’s given to all drivers on entry and some sites are now incorporating in to the site gate pass .
I presume by your similar tone you work for the place. A bold response given you did not know the facts.
After I had checked in, I wished to stop and read the briefing sheet on the wall. However, the security gate clerk wanted me out due to a large a que behind my truck. Taking a practical view I said ok, in absence of reading all that sheet what is the speed limit, and what is the procedure for the bays? I also further asked the goods in Staff the procedure for the bays when I arrived at the warehouse. At no point was not returning to the Cab mentioned. I hasten to add, I returned to my unlocked Cab merely to collect a phone on the way to the waiting room, not sit in the thing, my feet never leaving the steps.
If something is so important that it seems to warrant a delighted shunter clutching his rule book (whilst breaking the speed limit) flying over and using condescending language to berate visitors, you would expect this important procedure to be verbalised, by the goods in Staff responsible for the bays when directly asked about it. It also is of no emphasis to write something down if you don’t afford the briefing time to cover it.
Aviation has learned this trick funnily. You dont create a safety loop by enshrining important text and removing all mechanisms to make that material accessible (giving no time to read it) and further more not have anybody with the knowledge on site to verbalise it when asked. During an aircraft pre departure briefing one guy doesn’t say to the other during the interactive emergency brief “ok, let’s run through our actions on engine fire out of Vancouver”…The other bloke does not blab “you should know better, it’s in the manuals I’m not telling you”
Besides. The manner in which the shunter addressed the issue and the method of his point over shadowed any practical purpose to him speaking to me. Little hitlerville, Couldn’t wait to leave them to it.
It’s quite possible that said shunter had just had a [telling off] for not stopping a driver from getting into his cab.
There is nothing new about drivers being their own worst enemies:
Way back in the 60s when we didn’t have beds in our cabs, we used to stay in digs. There was a really good transport cafe near Barnard Castle where I used to stop for a meal regularly (two-course lunch for half-a-crown if my memory serves); he spent years getting planning permission to build an accommodation block at the back and I was one of the first to use it. (Fifteen bob, including breakfast). The facilities were fairly basic - a room to myself (many digs were dormitory style) with a single bed, with a toilet, shower and washroom to serve the eight rooms.
A week later I stayed there again. There were no mirrors in the washroom - stolen. No plugs - stolen. The toilet seat was broken - ok it was probably not up to the job. After a few weeks, he closed it down as he was losing money.
. I then pointed out that the procedure I had just illustrated was actually enjoyed by their drivers at our depots when they come into load. I also showed him a photo of a Sainsbury’s lorry doing exactly what I’d suggested only two bays down from where we were stood having the conversation. .
Always found Asda’s in the midlands decent places. A sort of polar opposite attitude to what you mentioned. No waiting room and not sure if still the case but you could sit in the cab. And if unfamiliar and you asked anyone anything they actually told you. I saw an overseas wagon back on the wrong bay and the warehouse loader slowly come out, walk over and politely explain they had the wrong one . Gate staff were always absolutely dead on too. They looked like guys from the Far East, almost Tibetan looking.
Santa:
It’s quite possible that said shunter had just had a [telling off] for not stopping a driver from getting into his cab.
There is nothing new about drivers being their own worst enemies:
.
Possibly, but without recovering my entire long post this is by the by and also misses the point of the procedure in the first place and why the re enforcement of it completely negates to see the flaws in their own system.
Far from being a worse enemy as a driver I actually took the conscientious approach and asked for a direct verbal brief on two occasions from Staff on use of the bays as a visitor, including the Staff responsible for the bay just prior to backing on. The brief I received was clearly incorrect. That fault was not with the driver on this occasion. And further more the “after the fact” reenforcement from the shunter was unprofessional, condescending, rude and not to mentioned hypocritical in speed in which he drove over and lurched his unit sideways a few feet from me standing on the concrete.
Many times before. I get the feeling that there are huge variations of standards, rules and quality of waiting areas. Most of these seem to fall short of what we’d like.
But, what can we do about it? It’s all very well me standing up and getting barred from sites all over the UK but that doesn’t change a thing. As soon as you approach anyone who implements these systems the classic ‘do as we say or get lost’ mantra approach is taken.
Many times before. I get the feeling that there are huge variations of standards, rules and quality of waiting areas. Most of these seem to fall short of what we’d like.
But, what can we do about it? It’s all very well me standing up and getting barred from sites all over the UK but that doesn’t change a thing. As soon as you approach anyone who implements these systems the classic ‘do as we say or get lost’ mantra approach is taken.
Face it, they’re not bothered.
That’s the problem. There’s no influence as a site visitor. The first step if you really feel something is amiss is bring it up with your own company. But having bigger fish to fry nothing will happen. They’re not going to want to rock the boat with their money source.
The next step would be writing to the company involved that you visited. If you don’t have your own firm’s blessing to do that in the capacity of their employee, then de identify them from the e mail and just say you were a visitor but you can’t divulge your employer. Nothing will likely get done, but if the same issue is consitantly reported to XYZ plc management then you’d like to think they’d at least look into it.
But given driving’s long hours who really wants to spend their off time writing emails? Let’s be honest we’ve all had places where we just got out ASAP, hoping never to darken the doorstep again. But then I suppose, if you keep getting sent to purgatory it maybe worth persueing
Many times before. I get the feeling that there are huge variations of standards, rules and quality of waiting areas. Most of these seem to fall short of what we’d like.
But, what can we do about it? It’s all very well me standing up and getting barred from sites all over the UK but that doesn’t change a thing. As soon as you approach anyone who implements these systems the classic ‘do as we say or get lost’ mantra approach is taken.
Face it, they’re not bothered.
Exactly.
Put yourself in the position of the employees who work at these RDCs. No doubt they have a long list of requests for facilities & equipment they would like to see in their own quarters, it wouldn’t go down very well if their bosses decided to spend the bit of spare budget they had on sorting out the visiting lorry drivers. Our facilities are absolute rock bottom of an RDC’s list of priorities for expenditure on facilities, they have nothing to gain through making us comfortable.
I must agree that some facilities leave a lot to be desired, and i can agree that a lot of it is caused by drivers themselves. I often look around when in an MSA facility, and notice the trouble some people have taken to take out screws ( which have special heads to start with ) then use a tool to make holes into the wall so as to see into next door…why is that ■■..to curb this, they started to fit aluminium panels over the wall…but cant stop the grafitti…who carries a felt tip in their pocket, and why the will to vandalise…its the same on the railways as you enter the main stations into london…people risking their lives to cover every inch of wall, and electric box in their Tags that will never stop i`m afraid, and as for the toilets, i can well understand the need to not take care of the facilities, as it would take a maintenance man to be on call/duty to remedy what others have deemed necessary…i once visited a P&O facility in Felixtowe waiting for a ferry…it had recently been updated…some idiot of a driver deemed himself fit to not only use the shower tray as a toilet, but to also rip the showerhead of the wall…brackets as well…this damage was shown to me by a manager, and told me this had happened before, and they were thinking of closing them…until i asked him to reconsider, and supply a key to a locked door in exchange for his truck keys…that might have saved the day.
Drivers will continue to be placed in ‘custody suite’ style waiting rooms for as long as they put up with it. Newbuild RDC’s are designed to actively prevent visiting drivers from accessing customers other site facilities. The only effective course of action is to seek alternative employment that doesn’t expose you to waiting rooms like these.
The same goes for drivers needing to access random facilities particularly during tramping. To be brutal, the amount of regular trampers in operation compared to the amount of shift working drivers (and other similar patterns of ‘day’ work) is small. The infrastructure requirements needed to keep trampers happy is far greater than those needed to keep shift workers going.
Customers know they can keep providing poor quality facilities because the quality of facilities alone are not a major contributing factor to drivers resigning or quitting the industry. For as long as drivers keep returning the facilities will remain as they are.
The same goes for tramping. Tramping is a lifestyle and how far poor or no facilities impact on that lifestyle is an individual choice. How poor is enough to pack in tramping altogether? Not even zero apparently. In Norway for example, for years there have been no driver specific facilities yet there are still a few trampers including some Brit ex-pats.
In cases where drivers have no choice other than their current employment to endure poor facilities the choice to keep enduring is a personal one. The customer that provides the facilities has done all they can to influence the driver’s decision to accept or reject the facilities on offer by providing them for the driver sit in. If the lived waiting room experience isn’t powerful enough to motivate a driver to leave and never return then nothing is.
. Gate staff were always absolutely dead on too. They looked like guys from the Far East, almost Tibetan looking.