Why do they put up with low pay? Because they’ve been brainwashed…loaded with debt…had the frighteners put on them…yorkie addicts…
fredthered:
[quote=“Juddian”
You’re so right. Now all you have to do is choose the concrete overcoat you’d like and in which part of the country and you’re sorted. Sounds daft but those who speak out and all that.
[/quote]
Back soon, got to go there’s a couple of blokes at the door…‘hello can i he’… 
The worrying thing is that you are spot on, as many who are no longer useful, or came to the wrong right conclusion and regretted the reoprts they were encouraged to write, found out to their cost.
Supply and demand, and like the guy’s daughter said, it is easy (once you get the hang of it). Apparently the pool of British drivers has a fairly high average age and not many youngsters taking it up, but as long as we are in the EEC there will always be plenty of migrant workers available to make up any shortfall.
Dr david kellys blood is certainly on that war criminal blairs hands.
…
Quite simply if we could get haulage rates up wages would follow
SHYTOT:
Quite simply if we could get haulage rates up wages would follow
Haulage rates would go up if there was more demand for haulage, but I can’t see this happening any time soon. The Government are doing everything possible to re-inflate the housing bubble in the hope that this will get people out spending, they have their eyes firmly fixed on the General Election next year. However, the elephant in the room is interest rates. At some point the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates and when they do, we will have little choice but to follow. An enormous number of households are mortgaged to the hilt, and any interest rate rise will simply reduce discretionary spending still further.
Alte Hase, spot on that man, well said.
Is there a finer example or definition of lunacy than re-electing the same swine who led us into the toilet previously, and expecting a different result this time.
Fuel saving bonus is not as simple as you think. There is a route I have done (Leicester to Cirencester), some drivers go down the Fosseway (steep hills) but only 79 miles, others use the m5 (114miles) The journey time is about the same but the M5 man may get 8mpg whilst Fosseway man gets 6mpg. M5 man will get his MPG bonus but Fosseway man won’t even though he used less fuel overall.
098Joe:
Fuel saving bonus is not as simple as you think. There is a route I have done (Leicester to Cirencester), some drivers go down the Fosseway (steep hills) but only 79 miles, others use the m5 (114miles) The journey time is about the same but the M5 man may get 8mpg whilst Fosseway man gets 6mpg. M5 man will get his MPG bonus but Fosseway man won’t even though he used less fuel overall.
Yep! And that’s the stupidity of it…
alte hase:
I cannot express in a short enough terms the apocalyptical view I see for the future of blue collar britain and those who believe their fate is completely immune from the fate of those in the blue collar economy, its as if seeing britain as a ‘titanic’ vessel not only knowingly entering an ice field at full speed but also with the captain and crew actually aiming for an iceberg, with the majority of passengers in a smiling drunken and assurance filled stupor.I actually agree with an amalgam of the opinions of several TNUK posters very much including juddian, carryfast, harry monk, newmercman, and many others who are sober enough to see where the ship is heading but unable, against the forces of the powerful few who hold the fate of the powerless many, to persuade the passengers to sober up, the most treasonous of the ‘few’ in living history are undoubtedly Blair and Labour, demonstrating there is no need for any controlling group to have any political embarrassment thresholds of any kind by shafting the working classes repeatedly and repeatedly getting re-elected by them.
With Capt. Liblabconster remaining at the helm I hope you’ve got a lifeboat, I seem to recall they were in short supply on the original titanic, with an election looming I’ll happily predict history will teach us nothing, again.
Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally–either directly or indirectly through elected representatives–in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination. Wiki.
How can we call our society democratic? In my view the unions are the only body that actually still believes and practices in it.
There are only two parties to chose from the 3rd is just wet and windy. The other two are so close in their politics, they overlap seamlessly. So your vote means what exactly? Nobody is listening.
It is business that governs what happens to the country not the government. I find it amusing how people still use the word. The United Kingdom is Dictatorial 
We don’t live in a democracy, not really. It’s a very cleverly constructed and disguised oligarchy. There’s an outward show of democracy to keep us all quiet.
That said, it’s still a better place to live than a lot of countries.
Rhythm Thief:
We don’t live in a democracy, not really. It’s a very cleverly constructed and disguised oligarchy. There’s an outward show of democracy to keep us all quiet.
That said, it’s still a better place to live than a lot of countries.
Spot on but let’s not be complacent about how good this country is now. Now is already history. I don’t see a bright future for many on this Earth without radical change.
DrivingMissDaisy:
Rhythm Thief:
We don’t live in a democracy, not really. It’s a very cleverly constructed and disguised oligarchy. There’s an outward show of democracy to keep us all quiet.
That said, it’s still a better place to live than a lot of countries.Spot on but let’s not be complacent about how good this country is now. Now is already history. I don’t see a bright future for many on this Earth without radical change.
The main problem this country has is it seems to think it’s still 1850. We’re yesterday’s news and no longer a world power and if we could only accept that and come to terms with our new place in the world, we’d be a better and happier nation for it. However, try complaining to a Syrian refugee or a member of the Egyptian opposition about how terrible living here is and you’ll soon change your mind. For all that it’s not what it once was, Britain still isn’t bad.
This profession has never been a get rich quick scenario ,more of a meeting ends meet job.Wages as a whole have stagnated in many other industries too . At a recent family gathering somehow we all started talking about our jobs and wages etc. I became a bit deflated to learn that i earned the least among us. I was the only person who worked unsociable hours,weekends,bank holidays and suddenly my £30k per year seemed not much for my labour . Employers attitude to drivers are " If you dont do it ,ill get somebody who will".Some lads in our place think in september there will be loads of work about as theyve heard of the impending driver shortage .Cant see it myself.
I think that’s where this thread has crept too. It is not just about drivers. It is more clear that it is a wholesale issue.
I am an older guy and brought up children and had to do 2 jobs and my former partner had to work part time. It was not easy. However I do believe it is tougher now for younger people. My heart goes out to the young people of today because although they have decent jobs and are bringing up children, it is seriously tough. The money for the majority of working people just is not going to enable their aspirations for there family’s.
To fire the cat back amongst the pigeons. £30k a year working 55 hours a week, Even with spending 4 nights away in the truck. Where do I sign? I’m 25 and currently work for a large scale agricultural contractor as head tractor man. Basically 3rd in command and get all the good jobs on the farm, drilling crops, combine that sort of stuff. For 5 months a year we work 16 hour days, 7 days a week, with no chance of time off. If it rains you service machines, if it not raining your in the field. you are expected to be everything from tutor to mechanic, No thanks, No extra pay. Sleep in the tractor/combine, No overnight money. Outside that 5 months its 40 hour weeks and I get NOWHERE near £30k, Neither does anyone else on the farm except the manager who spent 4 years and ££££’s on uni. My other half is in her final year of qualifying to be a solicitor. After 10 years of studying and £££££’s spent on uni fee’s and everything she will be looking at maybe earning £25kpa. Small firm, Not all solicitors are paid 6 figure sums.
So i had to spend £3k on two licenses that mean I can roughly (according to stobarts rates of pay for 2014) earn £34k a year and work less… Sometimes the reason drivers will work for so called ‘low pay’… is because the jobs they are coming from pay alot ■■■■■■■ worse and expect a lot ■■■■■■■ more
jmc:
To fire the cat back amongst the pigeons. £30k a year working 55 hours a week, Even with spending 4 nights away in the truck. Where do I sign? I’m 25 and currently work for a large scale agricultural contractor as head tractor man. Basically 3rd in command and get all the good jobs on the farm, drilling crops, combine that sort of stuff. For 5 months a year we work 16 hour days, 7 days a week, with no chance of time off. If it rains you service machines, if it not raining your in the field. you are expected to be everything from tutor to mechanic, No thanks, No extra pay. Sleep in the tractor/combine, No overnight money. Outside that 5 months its 40 hour weeks and I get NOWHERE near £30k, Neither does anyone else on the farm except the manager who spent 4 years and ££££’s on uni. My other half is in her final year of qualifying to be a solicitor. After 10 years of studying and £££££’s spent on uni fee’s and everything she will be looking at maybe earning £25kpa. Small firm, Not all solicitors are paid 6 figure sums.So i had to spend £3k on two licenses that mean I can roughly (according to stobarts rates of pay for 2014) earn £34k a year and work less… Sometimes the reason drivers will work for so called ‘low pay’… is because the jobs they are coming from pay alot [zb] worse and expect a lot [zb] more
I understand that. I lived in a village in Devon, met the farmers in the local and to be fair farming is ■■■■ hard work all the time. They don’t just work the farm, they are responsible for hedge and tree cutting so we can get our lorries going without having a drama. Hat off to you.
I heard a programme R4 that most young people who are brought up on a farm do not want to do it, average age of farmers is 60.
No collective stand point; this isnt a public sector job granted…however we serve the public through private sector employers but get paid below average salaries for the hours put in. What we all fail to reason is that voting with our driving gloves off would bring this country to its knees !! Fair pay is fair play to me, no one is talking about being unreasonable here (AKA PM’s). Two weeks TOPS loss of salary would amount to a standard FAIR rate (not unreasonable) of pay for this industry IMHO. It’s just a moot point and obviously would need a lot of addressing…however look back over many posts on this site regarding the same issue and we are still no further on many years gone by. Ask yourself where will you be in ten years time? On £9 an hour…
To those who will add, find another job, true, this was said to Teachers on low pay a few years back…you normally only find out the true worth of something when you lose it. No we arent as highly trained as Teachers, (just an example and hence not a comparable hourly rate) but the principle is still there. We have our mark on society as bad or good as it’s deemed to be but we/anybody is owed a fair days pay for a set amount of hours of time given over to any employee, public or private.
In an ideal world yes, but this is far from that and there would be military or paramilitary force used to break any strike or blockade and then we would be worse off than before, living under the threat of arrest or whatever.
Just as we are finding out more and more about the corruption that controls our every waking moment, through alternative news sources, the 1% and their agents are using those same sources to monitor us and worse.
Anybody with factual evidence of the wrongdoings is likely to have an accident, KR79 mentioned the WMD bloke, there are also high’ish level bankers hanging themselves and leaping out of windows. Were they about to reveal something?
In the not too distant future people like myself posting about it will likely get a visit and be dragged off to a gulag or similar, never to be seen again.
It sounds pretty far fetched, but look at it from a neutral standpoint, we’re indoctrinated to remember a version of history that we’re told to believe, intelligence is measured by our ability to memorise the stuff we are ‘taught’, creativity is frowned upon, even excelling at sports is a no no, everyone must be a winner, a few corporations dictate what we eat and they’re helped along by the government and its tax policies, a few more corporations decide what is news and what isn’t etc etc etc. Sounds a lot like communism to me…