Will the shortage eventually sort the job out

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
41

Conor:
This. I long since refused to do that any more. Recently on the run I seem to have ended up getting stuck on I’ve got shafted every single Friday night for the last several weeks so instead of getting home at 5am on a Saturday morning as I should do it’s been 7.30am so then that’s all of Saturday gone and you also end up getting later on Sunday too so that’s also half wasted. Monday is spent basically waiting to go to work so you don’t feel like you get a full weekend off like you do on days. So being agency I have the solution, I’m already only doing a 4 day week because I don’t want 50+hrs anymore so instead of taking a day off mid-week I’ll just move that to Friday and have a long weekend every weekend and bollox to them, not my problem. Worst that happens is I end up going somewhere else which before would’ve been a problem because Howdens were basically the best paying work in the county but no longer and even on days the lowest rate my agency pays for any work even pallet network local multidrop is within £2/hr and I can live with that.

That can come back to bite you on the arse sometimes. Bigger places typically want agency cover for a full week (5 days) and drivers who will do it usually get preference over those who can’t/won’t. Planners hate it as it causes them extra work trying to get a driver for just one night which is a challenge in itself as all the decent drivers are already booked up for the week elsewhere, so ends up being a random guy or newbie who’s never worked there before, and all the paperwork, hassle and assessments that comes with it.

As someone who doesn’t want full weeks either, my way around the ‘problem’ is to only work alternate weeks. This makes it far easier to plan as he can get an agency or s/e guy to do the full weeks that I have off whilst still being able to provide his customers with cover for their run for the full week, rather than only monday to thursday, for example.

42

Sidevalve:

fuse:
I think is sounds as if they have lost a good driver Side valve

Thanks mate, kind of you to say so. I’m not alone; five quit at Selby recently, Radstock and Portbury have always struggled to find new recruits though this is largely down to the likes of Royal Mail in Bristol paying top dollar.

It’s quite a specialised job, and certainly not for everyone; can be dirty, smelly and damned hard work, but the bonus is you rarely if ever go into cities and you do go to some very nice places, particularly on the game feed work.

I know a couple of blokes who have left Denbigh as well.

43

DCPCFML:
That can come back to bite you on the arse sometimes. Bigger places typically want agency cover for a full week (5 days) and drivers who will do it usually get preference over those who can’t/won’t. Planners hate it as it causes them extra work trying to get a driver for just one night which is a challenge in itself as all the decent drivers are already booked up for the week elsewhere, so ends up being a random guy or newbie who’s never worked there before, and all the paperwork, hassle and assessments that comes with it.

Tends not to be an issue on nights as unlike days work tends to get booked on a night by night basis, especially where I am, and it’s rare to be offered a full week anywhere. Downside is yes you can end up sat at home when you want to be working but the upside is you have more control over when you want to work. However over the last couple of years demand has been so high that the number of nights being sat at home when you wanted to work is basically zero. Days though, entirely different kettle of fish unless you’re doing stuff like Asda, Tesco, Next etc where the daily workload is up and down anyway so they hire the agency drivers not doing holiday or sickness cover on a day by day basis.

44

Every yard has a day which is busier than the rest.

Wouldn’t it make sense to have job patterns like the following?

To achieve 24/7 cover and make most efficient use of each vehicle:

Sunday-Saturday One driver on 06:00-18:00 shift, the rotate-around “set mate” on 18:00-06:00.

Four shifts on, four off. You’d need A pair of drivers to do Sunday-Thursday, another pair to do Tuesday-Friday, another pair to do Thursday-Sunday. and the final pair to do Saturday-Tuesday.

Thus, eight drivers, four on permanent days, four on perm nights - would tie up a total of FOUR vehicles 24/7

The night shift has a built-in 25% uplift for “shift allowance”.

Any “Overtime” would be covering absent colleagues, rather than working beyond 12 hours in a shift - with shifts actually being planned for TEN hours - but given 12 - to allow for normal delays and slippage.

“Nights Out” - only in emergencies, and paid at a decent fair amount, rather than “expenses tax free”.

FIXED SHIFTS - allows a worker to plan weeks and months ahead in any aspect of their private life.
ENOUGH of the “unplannable slavery of any-five-from-seven”.

Don’t like Earlies/Nights? - No need to rotate any more, neither!

Don’t like working across weekends? - Better than working 12-15 hours 5-6-5-6 though!

That would be the only compromise here. Take it or leave it.
Rotating the actual days one works - is far better than rotating from days to nights, which’ll see you in an early grave if you do it too often… :bulb:

Money? - Is secondary to the right terms and conditions eh?