Its just been reported on the news that there are plans to improve parking facilities and safe parking, bit late mister spokesperson,
“We have got hauliers that have literally got vehicles parked up, unable to cover literally hundreds of thousands of loads on a daily basis."
Only those who continue to insist they will only pay the same barely above minimum wage pay they’ve been offering for the last decade. Places like where I’m at had that many applications when they advertised a few months ago for 3 positions that when they wanted another 15 drivers they just went through the applications they’d already had and got 15 new starters without any issue including two from the haulage company next door.
This is a massive crisis – a crisis on a scale of which we have never seen before in this industry
Indeed. For the first time in decades drivers have said they’ve had enough and mean it and have withdrawn their labour from the companies who continue to insist on paying barely above minimum wage and/or are crap to work for. Not only that, demand is so high that haulage companies are now able to sack off the worst work that loses them money when their wagons are kept there for hours waiting to load or tip.
Brandane62:
Roverman:
edd1974:
There’s a company near me (John Mitchell of Grangemouth) that are paying £9.65 p/h for class 1 drivers.Us Scots are the new eastern europeans.
Then the pay… £10.50 per hour. Errm; thanks but no thanks.
A.D. Logistics at Linwood are constantly advertising for class 1 drivers; they recently put the hourly rate for dayshift up from £9.50 per hour. to… £9.90 per hour. Aye right; haud me back!!!
I know of one national well known company in Bellshill that’s paying the top one and have offered their drivers a paltry 25p/hr wage rise. The general concensus amongst the drivers is they’re going to be moving up the road to one of the other companies at Bellshill offering a few quid an hour more. So no mate you’re not the new Eastern Europeans because you’re not willing to work for that rate other than the odd one or two daft uns.
robthedog:
Top pay
Brilliant! Exactly how you can expect the media to turn on us in the coming months.
Graham Poole, what were the t&c’s of your fantastic £500p/w job. Guessing he’s so speechless he can’t get them out…
LazyDriver:
robthedog:
Top payBrilliant! Exactly how you can expect the media to turn on us in the coming months.
Graham Poole, what were the t&c’s of your fantastic £500p/w job. Guessing he’s so speechless he can’t get them out…
Hey come on now, give the man credit - it was a MORE THAN 500p.w. job. Funny btw our top pickers in the warehouse make more than that in under 50 hours/week.
Firms still seem to think we are all desperate for jobs, and would willingly take a low-paid job with solid rights to keep said job, rather than take a chance on £20ph+ stuff that might be gone a few weeks later…
I reckon we are coming to a time now when agency might finally come into it’s own.
At places where full timers resent agency (unionized places, typically…) people like me will be doing less work at those places, and rather more work doing “Holiday Cover”, which if you have an agency with a large enough portfolio of client yards - can have you working such holiday cover all year around, with re-visits to yards being on a regular basis.
I did this back in 2014, which was by far my best year on agency this past decade.
55 hours @ Fedex one week,
48 hours @ Yodel another week,
45 hours @ Menzes
40 hours @ Brakes, where I eventually went temp to perm…
No palletliner work, no hassle - depot to hub, stay at hub 3 hours-ish, take break there, rather than being kicked off bay, and having to park on double yellows in the service road to get that legal break in…
Best of all - no unpaid assessments prior to going into such places. Just turn up and go.
robthedog:
Top pay
A combination of Low Pay for far too long, coupled with people who wouldn’t (before the lockdown…) consider going onto Universal Credit - has kinda distorted the picture here.
On UC you get deducted 63% of any earnings over £515 per month, which means if you have a job above and beyond working in a chippy on a saturday night - you’re gonna get docked for doing any job that involves multiple shifts per week…
SO - you try to get your overheads down:
Better to do 4x12 shifts than 6x8 - reduces your commute cost by a third…
Better to do 2 shifts rather than 4 if you have an unemployed wife and kids - because 2 keeps the max UC benefits up, whereas 4 shifts will have you lose two thirds of it in “taper back”…
Thus, “Less” really IS more. UC is rather different from Tax Credits, but essentially it is an “In Work” Benefit rather than just a “Benefit”.
It is become rather hard now for “Workshy” types to remain long-term on full UC payments before they get pushed “Hey, how come you’ve not taken one of the many jobs around your area? You’re not registered disabled bud - so what gives? - Tell you what: Have a job by this time NEXT month - or we’ll be benefit sanctioning you!”
The only thing wrong with it - is that this “Taper” should start at 40 hours @ Minimum Wage level, rather than the wages you’d get serving in a shop for 6 hours on a saturday night - NOT your average job being held down by a family man - is it?
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.
Depends on the individuals prospective. I am working any 5 out of 7 shunting. I enjoy it, Sunday is at double time but Sat is normal time. I get two days off each week so not too bothered. Would I prefer Mon to Fri? Yes definately. was it a deal breaker ? No I don’t mind. Does it mean I am not worthy? Don’t talk soft. It is all down to the individual and preference, no one has forced me to take any 5 from 7 job. My wages are on parr with tramping, the job is easy and enjoyable. The shift pattern reflects my wages. £40k and home every day.
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.
WFT is the matter with you guy? 
I work regular 15 hour shifts- you, likely don’t. That makes you workshy - don’t it?
I’d rather work 2x15 and 2x12 in a week rather than 6x8 or 5x10. It’s all about life/family/work balance, rather than any desire to “live at work” for one’s self-respect.
The only thing that has changed from when I was under 50 - is that I can’t swing the 15 hour shifts starting later than 19:00 any more. Yet, the firm wants to make one’s health issues a “reason to get rid of”, rather than recognizing a cultural danger to the public via the unreformed industry that would plan agency drivers in particular to BE that danger to the public.
It is about time that Insurers refused to insure yards that treated their workers in this way.
If a driver cannot have much influence on the pay for a job in this industry, then at least we can hold out for better conditions - can’t we?
I cannot see any reason why a supermarket needs to have people starting between 22:00 and 04:00 for example. Early doors should be a start time no EARLIER than 04:00 and “Nights” shouldn’t ever start as late as 22:00.
Back to topic, I strongly suggest that the general public - won’t hold much respect for a driver who is put on an unnatrual-to-one’s-bodyclock shift, rather than simply made to work longer hours on a more comfortable shift if said member of public - ends up in a RTC with a knackered driver 10 hours into an 11 hour shift, let alone a 15 hour shift - because they happened to start that shift at stupid-O’Clock “for the needs of the operation” you understand…
Bugger them all! The best “industrial action” a driver could take is to steer clear of God-awful shifts and planners, working instead for the yards that have decent shift patterns available, even if for lower hourly rate in the process…
I suspect it won’t be much longer before we see better shifts AND higher hourly rates - at the same time…
Which firm will be the first to break rank (from racing to the bottom…) I wonder?
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.
…Ever thought that it is actually quite nice for one’s life - if you know in advance when your next days off are, weeks and even months ahead?
Fixed duty patterns, knowing which days you have on and off. NONE of this permanent “On call 24/7” which is essentially what “Any five from seven” quickly ends up becoming…
I suspect that it was the Unions at yards who originally “poisoned the chalice” so that all agency drivers taking their overtime away from them - had a bloody hard time because of this caveat that became the norm so long ago - but strangely, not for those on the full time wear-the-shirt drivers! Hmm!
Well, I know the waste industry has put the pay up due to not getting enough drivers (although they can afford to when they charge £40 to empty a bin and have drivers doing anywhere between 100-300 a day depending on the route).
My mate works on class 2 for Biffa and is on £14.60 p/h plus a fixed bonus of £20 a day. His mate gets £29 a day bonus as he’s a catch up driver who never has a round. He said they’re about to get another £1 an hour pay rise and maybe also an additional retention bonus of 50-80p an hour.
So, soon to be £15.60 p/h for class 2 and a £20 bonus. As it’s a 9.5 hour day, you could effectively say that the overall pay (hourly plus bonus) works out to £17.60 p/h. And that’s without the retention bonus which may come in. The guys who do overtime and the occasional weekend are pushing well over £40k.
That said, I don’t really give a ■■■■ what the general public think. Part of the reason I became a driver is so I could earn a half decent wage whilst still having a beard almost down to my chest and not having to pretend to like people who I think are ■■■■■■
I don’t really care about an individual’s job/ethnicity/religion/etc so long as they’re sound, but tbh half the guys I see in suits look like they couldn’t carry a torque bar six feet without breaking a nail.
Winseer:
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.
WFT is the matter with you guy?
Solid bite with that one.
DCPCFML:
Winseer:
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.
WFT is the matter with you guy?
Solid bite with that one.
To achieve what end though? 
Winseer:
DCPCFML:
Winseer:
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.
WFT is the matter with you guy?
Solid bite with that one.To achieve what end though?
A small victory after having to endure 13,000 posts from you rattling on about having to work any 5 from 7 in every post.
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.
Most of these drivers you talk of, in there 50,s/ 60,s ( me being one ) have done there time in the trenches and are finically secure so that they can reduce there hours / days & go out & enjoy themselves / relax as they should
If I go back to driving when I get myself hopefully right I will be looking for mon- wed ( thurs at a push ) , not a chance of me doing Fridays , weekends , bh etc etc
I’m 60 now & im going to do what you should be doing at my age , winding down
I started work at 12 in a berni inns kitchen , I’m 60 now & have never not worked other than last 6 weeks , I think I deserve a rest after 48 yrs not stop work , not being abused for being workshy !!!
dozy:
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.Most of these drivers you talk of, in there 50,s/ 60,s ( me being one ) have done there time in the trenches and are finically secure so that they can reduce there hours / days & go out & enjoy themselves / relax as they should
If I go back to driving when I get myself hopefully right I will be looking for mon- wed ( thurs at a push ) , not a chance of me doing Fridays , weekends , bh etc etc
I’m 60 now & im going to do what you should be doing at my age , winding down
I started work at 12 in a berni inns kitchen , I’m 60 now & have never not worked other than last 6 weeks , I think I deserve a rest after 48 yrs not stop work , not being abused for being workshy !!!
Yes dozy, you should definitely retire and stop driving immediately. At least then you won’t have anything to write on here.
DCPCFML:
dozy:
DCPCFML:
Workshy types are those who refuse to work any 5 from 7.Most of these drivers you talk of, in there 50,s/ 60,s ( me being one ) have done there time in the trenches and are finically secure so that they can reduce there hours / days & go out & enjoy themselves / relax as they should
If I go back to driving when I get myself hopefully right I will be looking for mon- wed ( thurs at a push ) , not a chance of me doing Fridays , weekends , bh etc etc
I’m 60 now & im going to do what you should be doing at my age , winding down
I started work at 12 in a berni inns kitchen , I’m 60 now & have never not worked other than last 6 weeks , I think I deserve a rest after 48 yrs not stop work , not being abused for being workshy !!!Yes dozy, you should definitely retire and stop driving immediately. At least then you won’t have anything to write on here.
Yes your right , I don’t drive anymore so shouldn’t really post on here , I’d not be happy if a non driver was telling me what to do , I do apologise, and yes your right everyone should recognise when they’ve overstayed there welcome, and when it’s time to walk away .