dukeofdirt:
m1tch:
voodoo1:
Stobarts used to bring back return journey pallets for £1Really undermined haulage and sent alot of companies bust from what i heard.
So did norberts but no one mentions them all the time!
You should read French trucking forums! Serious hatred for them!
Must put “Learn to read French” on my to do list.
I had 6 good years working for them ('90-'96). At the time It was one of the best paying job locally ( as you all fall down In bisbelief 
). I lived just out-side of Tamworth at the time & there wasn’t many jobs going around back then either. When I told some of my old work colleagues where I was going I was nearly laughed out of the canteen ( I worked at Carryfast before Stobbies).
They said I was ‘a Mug’ for getting a job there & It was ‘obviously a lie’ when I told them I’d be earning at least a £100 a week more than them.
A month after starting Stobbies I bumped into an old Carryfast colleague who asked how It was. After showing him my wage-slip, he changed his tune.
Within the following 12 months 9 other ex-colleagues had joined ‘The Green Machine’.
We were not ordered to park In ‘our’ depot’s If we were away,but It was easier as there were showers on-site.
I only left there because I moved back to Belgium, where I then got a job with the ‘Big Red Machine’ ( Nobbies). Now that’s another story…
voodoo1:
Stobarts used to bring back return journey pallets for £1Really undermined haulage and sent alot of companies bust from what i heard.
Sorry to say that this Is just Truckstop/drivers room bull-■■■■ from over the year’s. They never hauled or stored anything for free or even a £1…as you say…
Goldfinger:
I’d like to know WHEN the actual hatered started??
Is it the drivers or the company that’s hated?
I remember on my Interview back in 1990, the guy said “to work here you need balls of steel because of all the nonsence you’re going to hear from drivers of other companies”.
I also remember some of the drivers quitting because they couldn’t handle the attitudes of drivers from other companies. They would rather earn less & be left alone…
This is Britain! Everyone hates success here! I was at Stobbies for 4 and a half years till they made trampers redundant late last year! The money was OK for very little effort!
I went to a smaller firm after and IMHO Stobbies were much better all round! Never did I have a pay query that is memorable!
I couldn’t go back once I left,as it would have been a pay cut! I’m very happy at the place I’m at now! 4 Artics and a number of rigids and 7.5 tonners! Less than 3 miles to work aswell! 
…
Recession over?..
The governments / retailer / anyones’ perfect excuse to hike the price of owt, because it’s been too low for so long, it’s time to ‘make up for it’. 
Buy I doubt wages will go up too to ‘compensate’.
Truckulent:
Saaamon:
Truckulent:
Juddian:
Never watched the program and never will, most fly on the wall progs turn into docu soaps.I dislike companies whos staff end up working excessive hours for an industry average gross wage, as high profile as they are they should (my opinion only i speak for no one else) salary their drivers as others have done at a decent level and allow their staff to have a true 48 hour week, thereby giving them a work life balance.
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Stobbies aren’t on their own paying poor wages, but they are well known so get the stick…most of which is fully deserved. If you work for them, you tend to stick up for them as you don’t like admitting they are taking the ■■■■ out of you somewhat.
All you ever hear about is drivers moaning about the wage, everyone seems to think their worth £15pa but you only have to look at other threads on here with people giving it the, “im not working a 15hr shift with 9 off” and you can see why employers pay what they do.
Anyone who has experience in business will know that giving employees an above average rate and/or giving them pay rises will actually have a detrimental effect on productivity.
Hmmm…sounds like cobblers to me…I ran a pro function band for several years and found that, if I paid decent money I got better players. If I paid excellent money (which I did) I got excellent players that were loyal. And the punters were happy they’d got a top band. There is a saying about peanuts and monkeys…
Why do so many drivers think it’s so great to work for poor money? I don’t get it!
but you’re comparing apples and oranges and therefore i don’t think it works
Goldfinger:
Recession over?..The governments / retailer / anyones’ perfect excuse to hike the price of owt, because it’s been too low for so long, it’s time to ‘make up for it’.
Buy I doubt wages will go up too to ‘compensate’.
mine just have 
stevieboy308:
Truckulent:
Saaamon:
Truckulent:
Juddian:
Never watched the program and never will, most fly on the wall progs turn into docu soaps.I dislike companies whos staff end up working excessive hours for an industry average gross wage, as high profile as they are they should (my opinion only i speak for no one else) salary their drivers as others have done at a decent level and allow their staff to have a true 48 hour week, thereby giving them a work life balance.
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Stobbies aren’t on their own paying poor wages, but they are well known so get the stick…most of which is fully deserved. If you work for them, you tend to stick up for them as you don’t like admitting they are taking the ■■■■ out of you somewhat.
All you ever hear about is drivers moaning about the wage, everyone seems to think their worth £15pa but you only have to look at other threads on here with people giving it the, “im not working a 15hr shift with 9 off” and you can see why employers pay what they do.
Anyone who has experience in business will know that giving employees an above average rate and/or giving them pay rises will actually have a detrimental effect on productivity.
Hmmm…sounds like cobblers to me…I ran a pro function band for several years and found that, if I paid decent money I got better players. If I paid excellent money (which I did) I got excellent players that were loyal. And the punters were happy they’d got a top band. There is a saying about peanuts and monkeys…
Why do so many drivers think it’s so great to work for poor money? I don’t get it!
but you’re comparing apples and oranges and therefore i don’t think it works
Some drivers get poor pay and the musicians I employed got decent pay. They were happy, i was happy and so were the customers. Your point was that paying above average wages has a detrimental effect on productivity and sadly that’s a general statement that holds about as much water as a sieve…do you work harder and more conscientiously then the less you get paid?
If so, don’t tell your gaffer or you’ll be on minimum wage next week with no o/t rate and max hours while he nips out to order a new Porsche and book a month in the Bahamas…
ANd by the way, I think you’ll find that apples and oranges are both fruit…
Why do people dislike Stobart’s?
Its simple… Stobarts are “The name” , very very good at marketing their brand and whether people like it or not are pretty succesfull at what they do, get to the top of the tree like Man UTD in football (and no I am not a fan, but recognise the effectiveness of their brand) and everyone clamours round to stick the boot in… , and the more people who know about you, the more people on either side will talk about you, there are a number of large hauliers that pay less than Stobarts, dont provide the sort of facilities Stobarts do at their depots but dont get knocked in any way as much.- Do Stobarts cut rates? I dont know, and I suspect very few people here actually know either, I suspect that they will look at every contract tender, see how they can utalise their fleet and see if they can make savings by being more efficient and therefore be able to tender at a lower rate than a company that is dedicating trucks to a contract- thats called business.
I am not in any way a Stobart fan- but sometimes I am almost shocked the amount of people here , who otherwise seem quite intelligent , cant grab the basics of business - Its very simple, If what Stobart does works they make money- if it doesnt they will go bust, if they are doing it cheaper than you and still making money -then they had a better and working business plan than you did. Dont blame Stobarts for that… they just tendered better than you. Other companies are doing exactly the same- just dont have the marketing that Stobart has
And lets be honest here if you started a business and knew precisely nothing about transport and had goods you wanted moving … but needed a haulier, Stobarts marketing has probably ensured that if you only know one hauliers name its probably theirs- who you going to call?
very succinctly written rikki , and very true , but being british everyone hates success don’t they ? if an american makes good , he gets respect but if a briton makes good he gets envy and scorn heaped upon him . having said all that , i dislike stobart and their kind for reducing drivers to steering wheel attendants , not allowed to think for themselves , just doing as they are ordered , cheers , dave
Truckulent:
stevieboy308:
Truckulent:
Saaamon:
Truckulent:
Juddian:
Never watched the program and never will, most fly on the wall progs turn into docu soaps.I dislike companies whos staff end up working excessive hours for an industry average gross wage, as high profile as they are they should (my opinion only i speak for no one else) salary their drivers as others have done at a decent level and allow their staff to have a true 48 hour week, thereby giving them a work life balance.
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Stobbies aren’t on their own paying poor wages, but they are well known so get the stick…most of which is fully deserved. If you work for them, you tend to stick up for them as you don’t like admitting they are taking the ■■■■ out of you somewhat.
All you ever hear about is drivers moaning about the wage, everyone seems to think their worth £15pa but you only have to look at other threads on here with people giving it the, “im not working a 15hr shift with 9 off” and you can see why employers pay what they do.
Anyone who has experience in business will know that giving employees an above average rate and/or giving them pay rises will actually have a detrimental effect on productivity.
Hmmm…sounds like cobblers to me…I ran a pro function band for several years and found that, if I paid decent money I got better players. If I paid excellent money (which I did) I got excellent players that were loyal. And the punters were happy they’d got a top band. There is a saying about peanuts and monkeys…
Why do so many drivers think it’s so great to work for poor money? I don’t get it!
but you’re comparing apples and oranges and therefore i don’t think it works
Some drivers get poor pay and the musicians I employed got decent pay. They were happy, i was happy and so were the customers. Your point was that paying above average wages has a detrimental effect on productivity and sadly that’s a general statement that holds about as much water as a sieve…do you work harder and more conscientiously then the less you get paid?
If so, don’t tell your gaffer or you’ll be on minimum wage next week with no o/t rate and max hours while he nips out to order a new Porsche and book a month in the Bahamas…
ANd by the way, I think you’ll find that apples and oranges are both fruit…
i wasn’t my point.
ok, to the extreme, so you book coldplay, they’re going to cost a fair bit more, but you can sell substantially more tickets or charge substantially more or a combination of the two
i’d say the majority of drivers do an acceptable job, so i’d say paying significantly more than the average will be going down the law of diminishing returns route
and by the way, I think you’ll find that comparing apples and oranges is a common idiom, as well as both being fruit
rigsby:
very succinctly written rikki , and very true , but being british everyone hates success don’t they ? if an american makes good , he gets respect but if a briton makes good he gets envy and scorn heaped upon him . having said all that , i dislike stobart and their kind for reducing drivers to steering wheel attendants , not allowed to think for themselves , just doing as they are ordered , cheers , dave
This baffles me. When I was on tippers, I got given a list of jobs and left to get on with it. On the timber I was given a list of jobs and left to get on with it. At Stobarts i’m given a list of jobs and left to get on with it.
All 3 were very different jobs for 3 very different companies, but all had one thing in common, you got a job and did it.
Are you implying that real drivers don’t do this, but just do what they want, when they want?
stevieboy308:
Bewick:
stevieboy308:
Bewick:
m1tch:
Bewick:
I’ve just read on the Motor Transport blog that apparently “fast eddie” is looking to INCREASE,yes INCREASE, some of their rates due to cost pressures,well this must be a first as they’ve spent the last 30 odd years cutting them !!!Wonders will never cease !! Bewick.With all respect Bewick, every, yes every haulage company has under cut every other company to get that lucrative contract. Owner drivers have done it also for years, it’s just the way of the world.
Lets face it Bewicks did it when getting the paper mill work from people like AA Griggs and alike, as they did to others also.
Stobarts did some good by smart ending up the rather poor image of haulage but took it a bit too far in the end with uniform etc.CM
You could not be more wrong “m1tch”,what you suggest happened at Bewick Transport and many other decent hauliers couldn’t be further from the truth.Bewick’s,in particular,obtained their traffic by a combination of their service record at other customers and also by charging an economic fair rate for the work which was oft’ pointed out that although we were the dearest or on occaisions,close to be the dearest,on balance they awarded us the traffic ! As regards your mention of AA Griggs,which Paper Mill are you talking about? The only time we came into contact with AAG was at a little carton producer over in Cambridge(in the same group as AAG) and because of the dismal service given by AAG we were asked if we could help ! However,as all the transport for the Group went through AAG we had to invoice them and run at AAG rates,which we did!.The Carton works were pleased, and we were once we’d tipped our load of reels from East Lancs as there wasn’t a lot of re-loads round Cambridge,it was only AAG who were “■■■■■■■ but they had continually let their sister co. down so fair do’s !! I could quote you many other instances but in every case it wasn’t based on rate cutting,quite the opposite in fact.Cheers Bewick.
it’s insurance renewal time, do you just take the renewal price, or do you shop about?
There is a well known form of words," The cheapest is not usually the best" and that sentiment is more than true as regards insurance renewals !! Cheers Bewick.
i quite agree, but i never said cheapest
but do you shop around?
so it’s looking like bewick hasn’t spotted my reply. now i don’t doubt for a second that he isn’t a man of principal, so a man with such strong views on rate cutting is obviously not going to see what these insurance rate cutters have to offer.
now if we have somebody with bewick’s views on rate cutting but isn’t quite as principled, so does spend a bit of time trying to get better deals with insurance, fuel, tyres, etc. does that then mean they’re a hypocrite?
I did read your reply “Stevieboy”,however I am a product of another era and my methods of business over the 25 years plus was to always try to establish honest working relationships with both our customers (clients in to-days speak) and suppliers which,with very little exception, worked very well.Take insurance for instance,via three takeovers within the Insrance industry during the first 18 years I was in business,our fleet insurance moved from Century Ins (who were the only ins co. I could get cover from as an O/D when I started) to Pheonix Century and then to Sun Alliance.During all that time I dealt with the same two underwriters and believe me I could get anything I wanted in the way of a new cab,when a lot of engineers would have straightend it,write offs when another engineer would have insisted on a re-build and first dibs at buying back write offs for using for spares etc.I managed all this while enjoying a fleet insurance premium with the largest NCD in the North West and the premium being a lump lower than the other quotes my broker also used to obtain at every renewal date ! I never had to squeeze or threaten to move the business as no other quote came near.Same applied to Derv and Tyres,I was dealt with fairly and in return I was loyal and it paid off in the long run.But of course things are entirely different to-day in this dog eat dog World which I am glad to say I am not part of !! Sorry to bore you but thats how it was in my Day, Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
I did read your reply “Stevieboy”,however I am a product of another era and my methods of business over the 25 years plus was to always try to establish honest working relationships with both our customers (clients in to-days speak) and suppliers which,with very little exception, worked very well.Take insurance for instance,via three takeovers within the Insrance industry during the first 18 years I was in business,our fleet insurance moved from Century Ins (who were the only ins co. I could get cover from as an O/D when I started) to Pheonix Century and then to Sun Alliance.During all that time I dealt with the same two underwriters and believe me I could get anything I wanted in the way of a new cab,when a lot of engineers would have straightend it,write offs when another engineer would have insisted on a re-build and first dibs at buying back write offs for using for spares etc.I managed all this while enjoying a fleet insurance premium with the largest NCD in the North West and the premium being a lump lower than the other quotes my broker also used to obtain at every renewal date ! I never had to squeeze or threaten to move the business as no other quote came near.Same applied to Derv and Tyres,I was dealt with fairly and in return I was loyal and it paid off in the long run.But of course things are entirely different to-day in this dog eat dog World which I am glad to say I am not part of !! Sorry to bore you but thats how it was in my Day, Cheers Bewick.
you’re not boring me.
so i don’t understand how you’re happy and have no problem with an insurance company charging a lump less than other insurance companies, but you’ve got issues when a haulage firm charges less? what about if you were’t with the cheap company, a mate tells you how much he’d just saved, wouldn’t you be temped?
i don’t see anything wrong with working relationships, they can be very beneficial, but some people can take the ■■■■, so don’t see anything wrong with checking up on the going rate
