And he also has a big thing about tight curtains (steady dave)
One thing that is guaranteed to get right up his nose…is somebody trundling down the yard,towing something that looks like a half inflated barage balloon.
To my mind, wages are wages and it is totally unacceptable for an employer to go making deductions for damage (or indeed for anything else - what next? Wages docked for taking a longer route than the planners (or their computer) thought necessary??). I can see the validity of paying a bonus of some sort in addition to wages, and withholding some or all of it if blameworthy damage has been caused. But then again, who is to be the judge of what is “blameworthy”?
It’s a crock, and if my employer tried it I’d be looking elsewhere.
And name plates in windscreens.
Proper annoys him…does that
i will be in sat and sun checking all trucks in yard for unreported damage at one customer some one does this everyday.
i have also been asked to make a contribution towards insurance excess in the past told them to do one it is their insurance policy not mine.
Imho you should only have to pay a small fraction towards damage, if you’re on a profit related bonus. And all damages should be paid from said bonus. Wages should not be touched. And if you don’t receive profit from the truck, you should never pay costs. What next, a £50 a week deduction every week to cover your holiday pay? 
Nothing new about this, firms have been doing this as long as I’ve been driving and probably a lot longer. My cab is very clean inside and very battered outside but it isn’t me who has battered it. So should I leave it dirty just cause it’s got a few scrapes.
bald bloke:
So when a planner messes up and sends someone to the wrong place or whatever mistake they make would they get charged for extra fuel/wages etc ? I doubt it very much. Damned if I’ll ever work for a company like this .
^^^ This.
Quit … From what I see there is a driver shortage and this isn’t going to help.
Punchy Dan:
If you don’t do any damage then the £250 won’t bother you and if it does then it will make you think before becoming a screw driver , its probably aimed more at the screw drivers who do regular damage rather than the good driver who occasionally does a bit due to the nature of the delivery sites .
I think this is probably where its aimed, the regular offenders are dragging every ones wages down, so those that very rarely do damage need not worry, as these schemes usually have an air of management discretion. Also its nothing new, I worked for a large Dutch company 15-16yrs ago and we had a quarterly damage free bonus scheme(£300), though this did have me ringing up the TM at 5am one Tuesday morning, to report that whoever had had my truck on the Monday had wrecked the N/S drive tyre mudwing dint want it stopping my bonus 
.
commonrail2:
Just to clarify…bonus is only stopped for EXTREME muppetry
commonrail2:
And he also has a big thing about tight curtains (steady dave)
One thing that is guaranteed to get right up his nose…is somebody trundling down the yard,towing something that looks like a half inflated barage balloon.
commonrail2:
And name plates in windscreens.
Proper annoys him…does that
I’m liking the sound of your Boss, bet he’s one for side wall damage= driver abuse, and tread damage = wear and tear
Lift all the internal straps of the trailer deck too, so as muppet flt drivers don’t squash the buckles
Am I a bit of a spacker or something? Surely accidents happen?
So let them that pay for the INSURANCE investigate any damage. Find out who has done it, and maybe even bring in the disciplinary system.
Might be thinking out of the box here, but then they could offer the knobheads that keep wrecking the motors, the opportunity to head for the exit gate.
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commonrail2:
And he also has a big thing about tight curtains (steady dave)
One thing that is guaranteed to get right up his nose…is somebody trundling down the yard,towing something that looks like a half inflated barage balloon.
thats why they’re called TAUTLINERS! 
my pet hate is seeing Mary poppins down the M6 south of Carlisle getting ready for take off at tebay! 
I totally agree
Tell them that following their notice you have no option but not to night out in the vehicles as you do not wish to jeopardise you own wages protecting your employers vehicles from the actions of others whilst you sleep and further more whilst unpaid during that period.
Bloody disgusting habit that is creeping in. There’s one thing discouraging poor treatment of work equipment but the trend is now to put the risk of running vehicles onto the employee. You run a firm and want the big benefits, you take that risk. Not the employee.
Most taxi firms in the UK have a driver paid excess. Personally i think it encourages more careful driving. Look at Royal Mail vans, even new ones, everyone of them has damage, because no one gives a ■■■■…
Stanley Mitchell:
Two sides to this problem I`m afraid.I`ve just got back from viewing six tractors from the same operator who are downsizing to due the cost of damage and their insurers starting to get very fussy regarding who they insure / allow to drive.
The damage to these motors was quite shocking, nothing major, just low level lack of pride/brains damage, everything low down both sides
Bumper corners, door panels, wheels, spray suppression, fuel tanks, Hydraulic tank, AdBlu tanks, wings amongst other things all damaged repaired, bodged up…
But the one thing that was very noticeable, was the inside of the cabs were virtually spotless ?
Slipper wearing tank polishing truck butchers perhaps ■■?
taylors
Something to keep up the large pool of drivers looking for fresh employment perhaps?
Let’s face it - if you could get a job elsewhere, wouldn’t you already be doing thus when faced with this crap?
It seems the phrases “it’s just the way it is now…”, or “it’s just the way the job is now…” are being overly used by management in order to justify crap working conditions with no come-back. I had it with my last firm, any complaint and it was this just a response from a lower manager. Cab-hopping as a tramper: “It’s just the way the job is here…”; Cameras in cabs facing the driver: “It’s just the way the job is now…”. “Like it or lump it, it’s just the way things are now…”
What could be next is worrying, especially if the mentality of “If it’s the driver’s fault, deduct their wages for it” starts to become mainstream. Deducting wages for the excess fuel if their MPG is too high? Deducting wages if a collection or delivery is late? I’m in favour of ADDING money into pay packets through bonuses for positive actions, but deducting for negative actions is dangerous.
I’m quoting somebody else on here, but firms like that deserve to really struggle getting drivers. To the point where there are more pointy-shoed, clean hi-vis wearing managers than drivers, whom they are there to manage.
I’ve heard nasty rumours about Reed Boardall too, such as them deducting for damage, and deducting the driver for lost number plates. I don’t know how that works, but if I knew I was going to get charged for a number plate, the last thing I would do is admit to losing one. I’d say it was nicked at a services, possibly by a begrudged ex-driver.
Jokes aside, I heard through the grapevine (well, an owner-driver in Nuneaton actually), that due to a ■■■■-up with one of their contracts, Reed Boardall are only making a truly minescule profit (1% apparently). If a driver smashes a bumper of one of their brand-new Volvos, the cost of repairs and time off-road could mean that truck won’t be making money for a long time. So the management try to palm-off all of their damage bills onto their drivers. That’s myself thinking out loud with input of hearsay.
AndrewG:
Most taxi firms in the UK have a driver paid excess. Personally i think it encourages more careful driving. Look at Royal Mail vans, even new ones, everyone of them has damage, because no one gives a [zb]…
Your right there all the royal mail vans round here have the sides tore out of them!
Whilst not condoning bad driving at all. How many places now want to get a quart in to a pint pot. For example they go to the bother of employing an expert to design something, do risk assessments etc then ignore it. Ie laid out for say 10 trucks then someone decides to put a container in one space as they want extra storage but still expect to park the 10 trucks still. Then complain if a bumper is clipped.