What's better?

In your honhest opinion guys which is the better sort of company to work for?

A family run/small company or a large nationwide company. Bearing in mind I’m a newbie happy to get anything to get them dreaded 2 years experience

Many pros and cons about this, if you don’t mind being just a number but perhaps enjoy a bit more job security and little chance of late pay or no pay then a big faceless multi national. However many prefer to be a name and have a bit of say in work issues and truck spec etc and for this type a small family run outfit may better suit. You’re very lucky if you got any choice these days mind, good luck.

There’s no more job security with big companies than small. Virtually all mistakes made in my money have been made by big outfits who made no apologies and tried to palm me off. I find the atmosphere at small outfits is usually better and you find out quicker if it won’t be your cuppa.

Big and unionised, the bigger the better and definitely nothing run for profit the only jobs worth having in transport are supermarkets who run their own fleets.

Small family concerns are also good places to work for many different reasons, the only problem being is the pay or lack of it.

In 1994 I worked for a smallish firm and could earn £300 net a week Monday to Friday no nights out, fast forward 20 years and some think £450 and out all week is ok.

Don’t just look at the bottom line, consider also pensions, free shares, subsidised canteen uniform, all training and licence renewals paid for and a sensible amount of hours the list goes on and on.

Or work like a dog till your 65 or your health fails whichever comes first, walk away with nothing and live on a state pension, a harsh reality.

There’s pros and cons to both ive only worked for a family firm there’s my boss his brother and their mum who does the phone from home. My boss is testing at the best of times and when things get busy a tempers run high it’s me that ends up taking his verbal onslaught some times there’s only so much being spoken to like ■■■■ you can take and I feel like parking the motor up his aris and going up the road but then other times there’s no place I’d be looked after better. It would be nice to be a number on a fleet and just blend In and go unnoticed pick up my pay cheque and go home but there’s something nice about having your name on the cab and feeling part of helping things tick. As much as my boss sometimes treats me like something he’s just trod in if ever something’s going badly for me he’ll stick his neck out in his own unsubtle way to lhelp. I had an issue years back getting my ex of my mortgage the bank had changed there criteria and although I’d spent 3 years paying it of and was earning more money and she was down as a housewife with nil income they wouldn’t give me the mortgage I’m my own name, que him walking into the bank and kicking of for me they wrote me a letter and gave me a pay rise even though I’d not long had one to push me over the earnings I needed to keep it.
Would mr stobart had done the same for me I doubt it. Sometimes I’d like to go home and not worry about what’s happening with the business and I knownI’m guaranteed to have an easier days work else where but I bust my ■■■■■■■■ for him I treat the truck as if it’s my own and I look after it for this I think In return I’m paid well for the effort I give and when my time here’s up I’m hoping ill find another family firm to carry on with.

For me personally it’s a big outfit, suits my personality better & I’ve had problems in the past working In a family run environment…

I currently work for a small family run company and to be honest, as soon as I find something else I will be leaving.

It’s the most disorganised, unprofessional place I’ve ever worked. You get worked to the max and the pay is crap.

No-one seems to know what they’re doing and they never listen to useful ideas from the drivers. Well, this is just my experience…

I think in all honesty its a case of horses for courses. I have worked for both, and would say that family is better - simply because its more individual. I dont think that all multi-nationals are the same - far from it, but I do think that If you are valued by your employer for the work you do, my own personal view is that its with a family firm.

Small/medium outfits where you know the boss. When his wife can’t find one of the kids, it’s because he’s gone for a ride with one of the drivers.
The type of firm where the boss will rant and rave, call you a [zb], then you go for a pint with him on friday night and all is forgotten. Not like the big firms that have 10 people trying to tell a driver his job, battleing for pole posstition in the jobsworth stakes. These firms would offer you a job and tattoo you with a new serial number and barcode if they could get away with it.

I’ve kinda got both, I work for a big national company but at a small satellite depot where all the drivers are a close knit. Every other depot has fuel targets and driver debriefs asking why they stopped here and there for 5 minutes, while we just get forgotten about :smiley: