johnny:
judging by all the complaints (and the amount of different jobs robk has had).
Relevance to the thread . Absolutely nothing, so what exactly are you insinuating John .
sorry rob i thought you might be able to read between the lines here.
if the industry was better then every job would be as good as all the others, therefore drivers wouldn’t be moving from one job to the other, they would be able to decide the type of work they like doing and go to a company doing that type of work (tippers, containers, multi drop, nights out or day work etc.) get the job and stay there because all the others in that typr of work are working to the same setup, paying the same money, expecting the same loyalty and offering the same incentives in return (trucker utopia).
the only difference being the size of the operation and the type of fight at the christmas do etc.
instead what we have is operators expecting drivers to break the rules (in some cases), work extremely unsociable hours, driving cack motors and being controlled by lunatics that have no idea what shape a tacho is or that it isn’t an edible recipe from a mexican take away.
i was in no way having a go at you rob but your profile of job shifting fitted the bill, you probably aren’t the only one who has had 2 or 3 jobs this year but you do make a lot of posts about the change of career path etc and why.
(you didn’t think we all ignored your postings about another new employer did you?)
if the industry was better!
dave:
why no support ■■?
it could be that some drivers are happy in their jobs
That’s a good point Dave, it’s like every walk of life you only ever here from those who are unhappy the rest tend to keep there head down and get on with it…
dave:
in the olden days , people say that drivers were more helpful and stood as one etc,etc.
How far back do we have to go to find this camaraderie everyone talks about? I’m sure it is way back to when the world was a much different place.
I’ve been in this industry 21 years, not that long I grant you compared to some but long enough, and looking back 5 years people were complaining ‘it’s not like the good old days, drivers stuck together then.’
10 years ago the grumbles centred on the fact, ‘it’s not like the good old days, drivers stuck together then.’
15 years ago in the truck stops and cafes across the land the underlying complaint was, ‘it’s not like the good old days, drivers stuck together then.’
21 years ago when I took my first steps in this industry the cry would often go up, ‘it’s not like the good old days, drivers stuck together then.’
So how far do we have to go back to find the times drivers stood together and made themselves heard? I think it must be so far back and sadly so far removed from these modern times that we just have to accept times have changed and it will not happen again.
Coffeeholic:
dave:
why no support ■■?
it could be that some drivers are happy in their jobsThat’s a good point Dave, it’s like every walk of life you only ever here from those who are unhappy the rest tend to keep there head down and get on with it…
dave:
in the olden days , people say that drivers were more helpful and stood as one etc,etc.How far back do we have to go to find this camaraderie everyone talks about? I’m sure it is way back to when the world was a much different place.
I’ve been in this industry 21 years, not that long I grant you compared to some but long enough, and looking back 5 years people were complaining ‘it’s not like the good old days, drivers stuck together then.’
10 years ago the grumbles centred on the fact, ‘it’s not like the good old days, drivers stuck together then.’
15 years ago in the truck stops and cafes across the land the underlying complaint was, ‘it’s not like the good old days, drivers stuck together then.’
21 years ago when I took my first steps in this industry the cry would often go up, ‘it’s not like the good old days, drivers stuck together then.’
So how far do we have to go back to find the times drivers stood together and made themselves heard? I think it must be so far back and sadly so far removed from these modern times that we just have to accept times have changed and it will not happen again.
PMSL 
by the way rob - the sentance all the complaints and then the sentence in brackets are seperate - i was not trying to say that you complain a lot but that there are a lot of complaints about the industry and operators (and drivers too).
Here Here Lucy , What Rikki has built up with dogged determination and help from others including yourself, is what we’re drawn to, to change the position the site takes on not campaigning, would be madness and drive most members away from the site. It is the fact that the site is an open forum where every members veiws are as valid as the next that makes it so compelling, to change to an organisation that campaigns on the editorial line of the founder, or he who shouts loudest, would make it no better than the gutter press.
And in your position now the most important thing is your finacial stability. 
So basically as i see it then its every man for himslelf ■■■■ the rest of them as long as “im ok jack!!!”.
Ok fine, no problem i have no intention of leaving tnuk as i love it so much but i will in the future be looking after one thing and one thing only my arse, forget the rest of the drivers out there as long as im ok thats all that counts.
This topic has achieved far more than just getting some support
Discussion,debate, criticism, comments, arguments, disagreement, agreement, complaint, ideas’s, chat and “Talking”
Our profession has always been split, the internet is allowing truckers to start talking and debating all the problems and faults within the job we all do. and most love.
Just imagine what could happen if somebody opened the door of debate and discussion,
In places where people have the power to assist in making things better.
Worth a try, or do we just keep talking amongst ourselves for the next 20 years.
and in 20 years hear our juniors say exactly what we are all saying now.
“Nobody respects our views or consults with us.”
over to you. 
Lucy:
Rikki-UK:
Coffeeholic:
Me too, I would be heading out the door beside you Linux.You would be right behind me
You can add me to that list as well.
On a personal note, I have to say that I get heartily sick of people a) clamouring to change TNUK and b) wittering on when they either haven’t got the numbers that we have here or can’t very quickly get them. So let’s look at a few home truths shall we? Like what it actually took to get this site where it is.
It has taken this site 5 years…yes, 5 years to grow to this size. It didn’t just appear one day and 2 thousand-odd people suddenly descended and signed up. I remember it being just one forum on the US TN boards…and even then it was over a year before I stopped lurking and registered, in August 2001. In fact THIS was my first post as a Newbie with just 18 months driving under my belt.
When TNUK finally got it’s own Boards and became an entity in it’s own right, it had a slight head start in that it took over several other forums and groups at the same time - most notably the US one mentioned above, Anna Sharpe’s site, and the UKtrucking newsgroup. That didn’t happen by chance. It happened because Rikki had put time and effort into them, so much so that the people involved entrusted him with their safekeeping and progress.
The day that Rikki sat down with Craig Zweiner (owner of www.Truck.Net) at MATS and convinced him that he was the man to take the UK forum forwards as a standalone website was in itself the end of several years of perseverance…and TNUK was still only just being born! Add it all together and the 5 years of TNUK rapidly becomes more like 10 years…yes, 10 years of Rikki’s life, time and money.
You can find the first ever post on TruckNet UK HERE.So why on earth would a businessman like Craig give both server space and use of an established name to a previously unknown British lorry driver? Because Rikki had proved himself, that’s why…He had worked as a Moderator on Truck.Net, and single-handedly raised the Worldwide Forum from the dead (a position to which it has since returned now the UK contingent are all over here). He had - and still has - the passion, drive, and long-term commitment needed to make the thing work. He also had the strength of character to give the site an identity all of it’s own…and to hang in there through the hard times as well as the good.
The fledgling website took time to start to take off, but our man persevered. If the forums were quiet, he started new threads. If Newbies needed an answer, he gave it. TNUK’s most active posting member was the one who brought it into being, and who nursed it to life.
Rikki also used his experience from the US boards and his knowledge of the members who came with him to recruit a strong and dedicated Moderating Team - people who shared the passion and belief in what they were doing, and who weren’t afraid to enforce Rikki’s very strict Guidelines. These Moderating Guidelines were built from the successes and mistakes on the US Forums and are largely the same to this day, give or take a few minor tweaks as the Forums have grown. That has only been possible because those early Mods started strong - one pace forward please Bully, Sundowner, Kathy, Vince, and Zzarbean.
Rikki had his first 100 members by August 2001, and it’s first 1000 by 28th January 2003…as can be seen HERE.Since then? Well, for starters take a look at the visitor numbers quoted in the link above. 15,000 visitors a month. We now easily top 40,000 visitors a month. We had 1000 registered members then. We have well over twice that number now. We have a shiny new Bulletin Board, opened in October 2003. We have 3 major sponsors and many more advertisers and supporters, both major and minor. We are a Limited Company and were for the first time able to trade actively and show a slight profit for the end of 2004 - all of which has been ploughed straight back into the site. We have our own server now, too. We are finally, 10 years on, gaining a place within the wider industry as an entity to be taken seriously.
Do you think this came easy? Do you think that Rikki just sat back on his laurels and let the members come rolling in?
Hell, no. He has quite literally put everything on the line several times over to achieve all this. And, since we have been together as a couple, so have I. Not just because I’m supporting him as my partner, although there is an element of that. Not just because, as a Company Director, I have a legal responsibility to ensure it’s success, although there’s an element of that as well. But mainly because I, too, can see how much good the site is doing and where it can go.Nowadays Rikki rarely posts on the Boards, but that’s not because he wouldn’t like to , it’s because he hasn’t the time. I took over the running of the Forums simply to relieve him of some of the burden (something which I couldn’t do without an unbelievably dedicated Admin Team - Pam, Neil, Ken, Denis, Sean, Simon, Jonboy, Lib, Bully, Cliff, and Andy take one pace forward this time)…and I support us financially as a family so that he can do what anyone running a small business has to do and put in hours and hours of unpaid work to make it work.
You don’t get sponsors by sticking a few banners up and waiting for them to come knocking…you send out letters, e-mails, make phonecalls, travel to meetings, visit the tradeshows and stay sober to press the flesh with those who matter, write up media packs, research and produce presentations…the list goes on, and the effort and motivation it takes is phenomenal - all the more so when you consider that, for every banner and logo you see on this site there must be at least 20 more which aren’t there, the pursuit of which took just as much work as the ones who eventually said “Yes”.
One day, Rikki may be able to take a living wage for what he does. We’re not there yet. In that respect, the business is not yet truly paying for itself…hence the constant drive to push forward with new ideas (The Insider, for example) and reinforce old ones. It is only the sure knowledge that we’ll get there one day which keeps us going.Why bother? Because there is very little in this world which is free, and even less which is free to drivers…and TruckNet UK is. The eventual earning of a wage is only a necessary fact of life - this website has grown way beyond Rikki’s wildest dreams and has reached a point where it has to pay for itself to survive, and so do we as a family. But that is not really the point.
I, of all people, know how much good this site does simply by bringing people together in an industry which is scattered and, at times, lonely by nature. Not by flag-waving and fighting for a cause, but by simply being there to provide a meeting point, and somewhere to chew the fat. It is precisely because there is a place for everyone here that TNUK works.
For every ten posts on the forums, there are maybe a hundred e-mails flying across the Net behind the scenes, as friendships are forged and strengthened, support given, and views shared.
I know of many members who have made it through some of the darkest points in their lives thanks to the friends they have made here. I myself have a husband with whom I am blessed, and who loves my daughter as his own, as well as a baby son who quite simply would not exist if it wasn’t for TruckNet.
Let’s face it, the thing works!!!So…to those who want to see us change…can you blame us for having NO[/b] desire to mess with something so good? Can you blame us for having NO desire to risk throwing away all those years of work, time, money and passion to try and do something which we never set out to do, just because a few people would rather hang off Rikki’s coat-tails than put the effort in to build a following for themselves? Can you blame us for not wanting to chuck the towel in at this point and say “We give up, we failed, give us your money.”? I think not.
Barrie…this site and the support that Rikki has gained for it didn’t, as you can now see, appear overnight or by chance. Nor did it come easily. When you have been battling for the best part of a decade and getting no support, then you will be a position to complain…in the meantime it’s rather like someone with 5 minutes driving experience complaining because the career-worn veteran gets a better motor. Harsh, I know, but true. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it took even longer to recruit the builders, if you see what I mean…
Ok. Rant over.
[/quote]
jeezus
Let,s just all get in our trucks tomorrow and moan like we are used to doing the biggest podium we can use is closed as far as voicing our opinions is concerned.
Its a shame but thats life.
jammymutt:
Let,s just all get in our trucks tomorrow and moan like we are used to doing the biggest podium we can use is closed as far as voicing our opinions is concerned.Its a shame but thats life.
I respect Rikki & Lucy Decision and the way they run TruckNetUk (and it is me who got my wrist slapped)
By making this the best and biggest allows drivers Free access to hundreds of topic’s and the freedom of choice.
I am priveleged to be allowed to promote my campaign on here, along with JFD, and other suitable campaigns, so they do more than just campaign.
They allow you the drivers to see the campaign and then decide yes or no.
So please Respect where it is deserved.
Well done Ricki and Lucy
if Rikki and Lucy do not wish to involve TruckNetUk in campaigns then that is their decision and each member here should respect that decision. there would be very little support for any campaign if every website ran one. the support would be spread all over the place and would not be concentrated into one place which would have obvious benefits.
Barrie has taken it upon himself to represent ALL drivers and drivers’ websites. he has no more incentive than anyone else but at least he has the guts to get up and do something rather than sitting here nit picking about who is and who is not campaigning. we all have something to gain and nothing to lose so get off you arses and support the man who is trying to do you lot a favour. i am one of the biggest whingers around but at least i will support anything that will help to rectify my complaints. it may not work but it has a much bigger chance of success than sitting here hoping someone will read the posts and make the necessary changes. THAT WONT HAPPEN so make the effort to help yourselves 
Well Scanny said it for me Tnuk is not for campaining it is for us, and it is free as well as addictive, as for baz good on him at least he has the guts to try and do something about the state our industry is in, mainly caused by hauliers, don’t forget who run’s all those rdc’s that you go to.
And i see our lucy is back on form i hope or new member was born with earplugs
Lucy:
Rikki-UK:
Coffeeholic:
Me too, I would be heading out the door beside you Linux.You would be right behind me
You can add me to that list as well.
On a personal note, I have to say that I get heartily sick of people a) clamouring to change TNUK and b) wittering on when they either haven’t got the numbers that we have here or can’t very quickly get them. So let’s look at a few home truths shall we? Like what it actually took to get this site where it is.
It has taken this site 5 years…yes, 5 years to grow to this size. It didn’t just appear one day and 2 thousand-odd people suddenly descended and signed up. I remember it being just one forum on the US TN boards…and even then it was over a year before I stopped lurking and registered, in August 2001. In fact THIS was my first post as a Newbie with just 18 months driving under my belt.
When TNUK finally got it’s own Boards and became an entity in it’s own right, it had a slight head start in that it took over several other forums and groups at the same time - most notably the US one mentioned above, Anna Sharpe’s site, and the UKtrucking newsgroup. That didn’t happen by chance. It happened because Rikki had put time and effort into them, so much so that the people involved entrusted him with their safekeeping and progress.
The day that Rikki sat down with Craig Zweiner (owner of www.Truck.Net) at MATS and convinced him that he was the man to take the UK forum forwards as a standalone website was in itself the end of several years of perseverance…and TNUK was still only just being born! Add it all together and the 5 years of TNUK rapidly becomes more like 10 years…yes, 10 years of Rikki’s life, time and money.
You can find the first ever post on TruckNet UK HERE.So why on earth would a businessman like Craig give both server space and use of an established name to a previously unknown British lorry driver? Because Rikki had proved himself, that’s why…He had worked as a Moderator on Truck.Net, and single-handedly raised the Worldwide Forum from the dead (a position to which it has since returned now the UK contingent are all over here). He had - and still has - the passion, drive, and long-term commitment needed to make the thing work. He also had the strength of character to give the site an identity all of it’s own…and to hang in there through the hard times as well as the good.
The fledgling website took time to start to take off, but our man persevered. If the forums were quiet, he started new threads. If Newbies needed an answer, he gave it. TNUK’s most active posting member was the one who brought it into being, and who nursed it to life.
Rikki also used his experience from the US boards and his knowledge of the members who came with him to recruit a strong and dedicated Moderating Team - people who shared the passion and belief in what they were doing, and who weren’t afraid to enforce Rikki’s very strict Guidelines. These Moderating Guidelines were built from the successes and mistakes on the US Forums and are largely the same to this day, give or take a few minor tweaks as the Forums have grown. That has only been possible because those early Mods started strong - one pace forward please Bully, Sundowner, Kathy, Vince, and Zzarbean.
Rikki had his first 100 members by August 2001, and it’s first 1000 by 28th January 2003…as can be seen HERE.Since then? Well, for starters take a look at the visitor numbers quoted in the link above. 15,000 visitors a month. We now easily top 40,000 visitors a month. We had 1000 registered members then. We have well over twice that number now. We have a shiny new Bulletin Board, opened in October 2003. We have 3 major sponsors and many more advertisers and supporters, both major and minor. We are a Limited Company and were for the first time able to trade actively and show a slight profit for the end of 2004 - all of which has been ploughed straight back into the site. We have our own server now, too. We are finally, 10 years on, gaining a place within the wider industry as an entity to be taken seriously.
Do you think this came easy? Do you think that Rikki just sat back on his laurels and let the members come rolling in?
Hell, no. He has quite literally put everything on the line several times over to achieve all this. And, since we have been together as a couple, so have I. Not just because I’m supporting him as my partner, although there is an element of that. Not just because, as a Company Director, I have a legal responsibility to ensure it’s success, although there’s an element of that as well. But mainly because I, too, can see how much good the site is doing and where it can go.Nowadays Rikki rarely posts on the Boards, but that’s not because he wouldn’t like to , it’s because he hasn’t the time. I took over the running of the Forums simply to relieve him of some of the burden (something which I couldn’t do without an unbelievably dedicated Admin Team - Pam, Neil, Ken, Denis, Sean, Simon, Jonboy, Lib, Bully, Cliff, and Andy take one pace forward this time)…and I support us financially as a family so that he can do what anyone running a small business has to do and put in hours and hours of unpaid work to make it work.
You don’t get sponsors by sticking a few banners up and waiting for them to come knocking…you send out letters, e-mails, make phonecalls, travel to meetings, visit the tradeshows and stay sober to press the flesh with those who matter, write up media packs, research and produce presentations…the list goes on, and the effort and motivation it takes is phenomenal - all the more so when you consider that, for every banner and logo you see on this site there must be at least 20 more which aren’t there, the pursuit of which took just as much work as the ones who eventually said “Yes”.
One day, Rikki may be able to take a living wage for what he does. We’re not there yet. In that respect, the business is not yet truly paying for itself…hence the constant drive to push forward with new ideas (The Insider, for example) and reinforce old ones. It is only the sure knowledge that we’ll get there one day which keeps us going.Why bother? Because there is very little in this world which is free, and even less which is free to drivers…and TruckNet UK is. The eventual earning of a wage is only a necessary fact of life - this website has grown way beyond Rikki’s wildest dreams and has reached a point where it has to pay for itself to survive, and so do we as a family. But that is not really the point.
I, of all people, know how much good this site does simply by bringing people together in an industry which is scattered and, at times, lonely by nature. Not by flag-waving and fighting for a cause, but by simply being there to provide a meeting point, and somewhere to chew the fat. It is precisely because there is a place for everyone here that TNUK works.
For every ten posts on the forums, there are maybe a hundred e-mails flying across the Net behind the scenes, as friendships are forged and strengthened, support given, and views shared.
I know of many members who have made it through some of the darkest points in their lives thanks to the friends they have made here. I myself have a husband with whom I am blessed, and who loves my daughter as his own, as well as a baby son who quite simply would not exist if it wasn’t for TruckNet.
Let’s face it, the thing works!!!So…to those who want to see us change…can you blame us for having NO[/b] desire to mess with something so good? Can you blame us for having NO desire to risk throwing away all those years of work, time, money and passion to try and do something which we never set out to do, just because a few people would rather hang off Rikki’s coat-tails than put the effort in to build a following for themselves? Can you blame us for not wanting to chuck the towel in at this point and say “We give up, we failed, give us your money.”? I think not.
Barrie…this site and the support that Rikki has gained for it didn’t, as you can now see, appear overnight or by chance. Nor did it come easily. When you have been battling for the best part of a decade and getting no support, then you will be a position to complain…in the meantime it’s rather like someone with 5 minutes driving experience complaining because the career-worn veteran gets a better motor. Harsh, I know, but true. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it took even longer to recruit the builders, if you see what I mean…
Ok. Rant over.
[/quote]
The words Touched & Nerve spring to mind
So you are hoping that one day drivers will unite and stick together…ive been waiting for that to happen for over 40 years..so can someone tell me when it will happen. What made the situation worse was the introduction of sleeper cabs..which the unions at the time were against..and i believe they were right..instead of drivers getting together in bed and breakfast houses and cafes…we are now divided and what with the introduction of tvs and other in cab entertainments, some drivers refuse to leave the comfort of their homes to even have a beer or a cup of tea…i even had one driver tell me `not yet mate corrie is on…theres your answer
drivers will never fully unite together! why? look at the variation within the industry. tramping, tippers, milk tankers etc etc etc to name but a few. some drivers are working max 8 hours a day while others are working almost double that but i doubt the money shows that. wages depend on area too.
something that would work for one driver would have another one kicking off about it eg the WTD (or how it was supposed to work)! some of us expected a 48 hour week for 60 hours pay but it didnt happen but even if it did, there would be complaining going on. personally, i want to work long hours as i enjoy driving trucks. if i wanted a 9 - 5, i would be working in an office or stacking shelves somewhere. i could earn the same money but i want to drive trucks for 12 hours a day. at the same time, some (probably most) would be happy to do their 8 hours and go home with a wage that they can live on.
we all want different things and it is driving us apart. in some cases, irrepairably since a lot of drivers are handing their keys in for the last time. as for as i am concerned, that is more worrying than anything else. our colleagues are leaving all over the place so its time to shout out and get the team spirit back in the industry along with the respect that is so sorely lacking. we can only do that if we work together and be heard. the louder we shout, the more publicity we will get and the more support we will receive so get shouting
truckyboy:
some drivers refuse to leave the comfort of theirhomesto even have a beer or a cup of tea…
I must admit…i’ve been guilty of that in the past. However, many times that I have socialised over a beer (with other drivers) i’ve ended up going back to my cab depressed 
Too many conversations soon end up along the lines of how crap the job is, it’s not like the old days, bloody car drivers, bloody office & planners, etc etc.
I would’ve much prefered conversation along the lines of motorbikes, fishing, look at that pair…and even Coronation Street!!
marcustandy:
truckyboy:
some drivers refuse to leave the comfort of theirhomesto even have a beer or a cup of tea…I must admit…i’ve been guilty of that in the past.
Too many conversations soon end up along the lines of how crap the job is, it’s not like the old days, bloody car drivers, bloody office & planners, etc etc.
I would’ve much prefered conversation along the lines of motorbikes, fishing, look at that pair…and even Coronation Street!!
how true that is. lost count of the times ive left early cos i couldnt stand another minute of the usual bull…
now get me talking about fishings another matter…
scanny77:
something that would work for one driver would have another one kicking off about it eg the WTD (or how it was supposed to work)! some of us expected a 48 hour week for 60 hours pay but it didnt happen but even if it did, there would be complaining going on. personally, i want to work long hours as i enjoy driving trucks. if i wanted a 9 - 5, i would be working in an office or stacking shelves somewhere. i could earn the same money but i want to drive trucks for 12 hours a day. at the same time, some (probably most) would be happy to do their 8 hours and go home with a wage that they can live on.
we all want different things and it is driving us apart.
Got it in one,
We all run our lives in diferrent ways, i live like many others live monday to friday in the cab, this works for the way our family is set up, Mrs snax doesnt work as our kids are still reletively young, and she beleaves she is the best carer for them. Opposit us lives a copper and his family, they’re a similar age to us with young kids, to supplement there income they run a wedding car service, which means that they’re busy on a saturday. does this give him more time with his kids but it works for them. And this is were we’re losing any cohesion that we may have had as a group of workers, we all live diferently. I’m not really impressed with the WTD, why becausewhen i’m away i want the abilty to build my income, and it not be restricted by some false and misled legislation. If the government really wanted to help road safety and LGV drivers health and safety, then it could have done away with the reduced rest period, no more 9 hour daily rest periods 11 minimum, this would’ve done more for road safety than the WTD. But i may well be in a minority, so i dont go telling others that i’m going to set up a campaign to get rid of the WTD, and campaign to get rid of the 9 hour break, after all i do use the 9 hour break. I dont beleave that i have mandate for this, and even if i did i dont beleave that the group i’m representing has a large enough constituent to be deemed wort notice by any politician, lets face it there is now more immigrants in this country than truckers So lets get real we’re by nature indivisualistic {made up word} and are likely never to stand together, but we all like to have a [zb] good moan most of the time, and where better than here, were you can whinge with like minded people
the way things are going, we wont have much to worry about soon. being a haulier is becoming more and more difficult whether its a large international company or an owner driver. its right across the board and loads are giving up and leaving the industry or are prosecuted and losing O licences. the transport industry is in serious trouble and the government still insist on looking the other way and giving our taxes away to non brits whether they are in britain or not.
if we dont start making a noise, we wont have an industry to shout about