Riding back home on my scooter earlier and seen a 3 axle rigid ahead going along with the back doors swinging in the breeze. Pulled up alongside drives at some lights to let him know. I was waving to him to get his attention and he looked at me like wanted to kill me! He opened his window and ranted about the fact he was going to turn right and had I not seen his indicator?
I said look mate, I just came alongside to let you know your barn doors back there are flapping all over the place (not sure how he didn’t clock them in his mirrors but it was what it was). He was obviously feeling the pressure and I have a lot of empathy to that. He apologised and thanked me then said things along the lines of sorry for the rant, I’m right up against it at the moment, I ■■■■■■ hate this company.
He looked really flustered and looked like he could just do with a sit down and have a coffee or something. I know we’re all different when it comes to ‘pressure’ but still, it doesn’t seem right we can be ran ragged and put under so much pressure much of the time for generally, not a great wage. I don’t know many other job roles that would get away with this considering the consequences if/ when things go wrong driving vehicles that weigh tens of tonnes.
No excuses, no sympathy, he’s the one that is allowing himself to be pressurised and run ragged and he is the one that needs to do something about it, either the subtle way by failing a few deliveries and explaining that they planned too much or the less subtle find another job and throw the planners the keys.
Nah never get better not until the work mentality of lgv drivers change.to many burning the candle on both ends.funny thing is lots of drivers dont want change. now thats scary
Rentadent:
No excuses, no sympathy, he’s the one that is allowing himself to be pressurised and run ragged and he is the one that needs to do something about it, either the subtle way by failing a few deliveries and explaining that they planned too much or the less subtle find another job and throw the planners the keys.
yes and no imo, it’s never a one size fits all situation TBF, I have worked for your good an bad employers, and the alternative IE JSA/ESA (DWP) being the alternative and just how that really works is not even worth thinking about as a lifestyle choice
You only need to watch the movie I, daniel blake to see that, because it really is 90% how it is, fact, well it is if you happen to be a both white, and indigenous citizen of this island, as different rules apply to some others as it would be deemed waycist or a hate crime by the snowflakes
keepthefaith:
Nah never get better not until the work mentality of lgv drivers change.to many burning the candle on both ends.funny thing is lots of drivers dont want change. now thats scary
Yes that is scary,a mate of mine wants to work more hours not less
He does over 70 every week
keepthefaith:
Nah never get better not until the work mentality of lgv drivers change.to many burning the candle on both ends.funny thing is lots of drivers dont want change. now thats scary
Yes that is scary,a mate of mine wants to work more hours not less
He does over 70 every week
Obviously the wage is tripe then, probably a daily rate, with a monkey’s work of stoppages should you have an accident, as their excess needs to be paid somehow
Pay and conditions will never get better whilst you’ve got morons like some on this forum who want to work max hours, think earning a few grand more than the national average for doing an additional 30hrs a week than most people do and think sleeping in a cab on an industrial estate or in a layby with no access to toilets, a shower and a hot meal is perfectly acceptable.
keepthefaith:
Nah never get better not until the work mentality of lgv drivers change.to many burning the candle on both ends.funny thing is lots of drivers dont want change. now thats scary
Yes that is scary,a mate of mine wants to work more hours not less
He does over 70 every week
And there lies the problem in a nutshell.
As long as there are ■■■■ whits like that in the job who can not, and never will be clever enough to see the REAL picture, things will never get any better.
The only reason these superstars want more hours than 70 is because they are deluded in thinking they are on ‘‘good money’’ on their single time straight through, or time and 50p over 50 hours, or something equally as crap.
Yeh maybe the amount on the top line is good money, but not that good when you reckon up what you have to do to obtain it.
Pay and conditions for our industry have always varied between the very good and the ■■■■ poor and huge variance between the two extremes.
Realistically you can’t expect to run before you can walk, so its no surprise when newbies find things a bit tough for a while till they find their feet skill themselves up and search out better as and when, and it must be said that some that work in our industry don’t help themselves nor make themselves desirable employment prospects.
Similarly there are depressed areas of the country where working class wages are poor, this hasn’t been helped by mass immigration of un/low skilled workers, but we as a nation voted for this time after time so no good blaming the poles or any other bugger for flooding in when we voted for exactly that.
As above we have enough idiots for whom there are never enough working hours in the week, and whilst there are people prepared to work two weeks for a weeks wages why should the cheapskate employer change.
The good news is that there are still good jobs out there, often specialised skilled mucky or simple hard work or a combination of all four, these jobs have to be sought out because obviously those earning well for reasonable hours don’t leave, nor do they let it be known about these jobs or they’d be oversubscribed by the wrong people and wouldn’t be good jobs for long.
The simple fact remains, and it has been thus all my working life, that these good jobs are invariably unionised, but enough working class (who think they are middle class) people still believe the BBC and mainstream media that unions for working class people are evil, whilst unions for students teachers and so called journalists are wonderful liberal entities
I’ve fed up of hearing myself preaching this line, gawd nose how bored you lot must be of reading it, but as they say you can lead a horse to water…
Until you lot stand together and boycott all agencies and low paying companies, then stop working until wages and conditions improve these thieving agencies will take all the work you give and make huge profits from you.
The very reason (mainly) i got out of the UK so many years ago. Got fed up with lack of good stops/ crap truck stops with filthy facilities, rubbish food and generally being seen as ■■■■ on the bottom of someones shoe and employers wanting to take the p1ss. Things improved a little when i started working for myself but soon after took the plunge and moved out to Espana. Not always a bed of roses in Europe either but a massive improvement over working in the UK, attitudes to drivers are so very different. The same problems have been rife in the UK for so many years and seeing the postings on this forum dont seem to have got any better…
Re hours, i max my driving hours every single week but for my benefit now not someone elses.
Re the class 2 driver with banging back doors though, run ragged or not, no excuse for leaving himself open for a shafting by BiB…
No was offered a job yesterday 13 quid an hour
!3 years ago I was being paid 18 quid an hour for the same job.
These ■■■■■■■■ take the ■■■■.
(mercedes benz at Heathrow) would rather ■■■■■ starve than bow to these ■■■■■.
andy_s:
He looked really flustered and looked like he could just do with a sit down and have a coffee or something. I know we’re all different when it comes to ‘pressure’ but still, it doesn’t seem right we can be ran ragged and put under so much pressure much of the time for generally, not a great wage. I don’t know many other job roles that would get away with this considering the consequences if/ when things go wrong driving vehicles that weigh tens of tonnes.
See, it’s as much his own fault as it is the employer’s. Nobody is in the cab with a gun to his head making him rush round like a lunatic, I am sure. He could easily take his time, do everything properly and then either bring drops back or run out of time if it’s a sleeper cab.
As for wages increasing, driving a lorry now is easy (despite some liking to portray it as a profession that demands a level of skill akin to that required to be a brain surgeon), and hence it attracts people who would not have had the ability to do the job two or three decades ago. You need only drive along any motorway or major road to see that any idiot can, and often does, pilot a truck. It is only going to become even easier in the future, so no, there is not likely to suddenly be a major increase in pay.
whisperingsmith:
At least these days even with the worst firms you don’t get Hemorrhoids, spinal damage & have to wear a cloth cap & boiler suit
Theres plenty more to learn there though driving an old 8legger Sudden Accident with a wheezy old Gardner and protecting/securing that load…not always a bad thing…
