Will you sod off?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

3300John:
…i had a good number that went to the wall with getting routed and been given the wrong trailers for the job after 19 years…

Hi Ya, John again agree 100%.
Aye a lot of the problems encountered by the modern driver apparently started when they introduced todays “Planners”. Cause more hassle than necessary especially when some are again, apparently monitoring every mile of your route and constantly on the phone asking for verification of where you are etc,etc,etc. Fortunately I’ve been out of the game for 20yrs+ now. Couldn’t put up with that rubbish I’m afraid. The fun and enjoyment of the job has been taken away.

22

Phil,don’t you think we’ve Got all these rules and procedures because of all these things you old lags have done in the past?
I’ve listened to drivers who’ve bragged about leaving Milan on a Friday afternoon and been back in the yard by Saturday dinner time and such like and then they complain about how the jobs been cut up and now it’s bolloxed but they can’t see further than the end of their nose.
Good on you not taking your dcpc,somebody will have your job no doubt.
Ill just running legal and taking the money and keep taking these courses I keep being offered,I’m getting paid for doing them so why should I worry.
I can pass vosa and not look in my back mirror for mile or so and that does me just fine.

23

3300John:
Hiya…old man here…times have changed … the problem the condition’s haven’t… pay or condition’s(they’re worse).
sometimes when you see someone write>>i had a cracked windscreen should i drive the lorry. some of us older
(I’am only 62)drivers have driven 3or4 days without a screen(they shattered)( there was no windscreen
vans about)we couldn’t go into a agent 300 miles away for a new screen(who was paying for it) no credit cards
we didn’t have £200 cash in out pocket.so we come home to get another screen. the unloading thing. i know its
not correct, but iv’e seen a driver drag a forktruck driver off a lift truck (possibly headbutt him) and unload them
selves because the forktruck driver was usless. time’ll change… its the transition period that some don’t like. …
when some drivers moan about a truck been a little dirty inside the cab. we and you if in our day would get
in the lorry(not truck) on a Sunday afternoon only to find 4or5 5 gallon cans of diesel in the cab to keep you company.
there was no agency cards and you didn’t get trusted with the cash(that was for beer)so times have changed and some
posts on Trucknet seem a little trivel. gosh someone wrote they’d been given a FL6 to drive no power rubbish.
I,am no one special but we used to do Stoke to Allowa and back in the day with a 150bhp Gardner Foden (32 ton)i never
found a heater…the windscreen wiper,s would freeze up(air)overnight, then when you was near Lancaster they’d start
up only a couple of times and scare you to death. it wouldn’t happen today…but it did years ago. and it was fun because
we was young.Lorries are better but the jobs gone to pot. we’re older and don’t like getting old.i’d love to sleep
over the bonnet again and have a spare logbook for the odd emergency but its all gone now. you’ll never have the
fun we had…and its a pity you wasn’t their to have it with us. but a Scania or Volvo would only be a dream.
then again we didn’t have VOSA to trouble us like you lads nowadays. we used to go shopping in our units on Saturday
or go to the pub. a pal of mine used to go to the night club and sleep in his lorry over night pick his trailer up Sunday and off to Dover… please don’t take any of this the wrong way its just what happened years ago we did it our way now you’re doing it today’s method…mobile phones are great but what a nightmare they can be. sat nav are brilliant but you never speak to a stranger in the street and listen to their wrong directions(that was funny) infact you don’t really look where your going anymore with sat nav.we had fun now you lads have fun. someone said they’ll be still driving when we’re dead!!!..yes we was driving before you was born. its evolution…Ps it wasn’t me who hit the forktruck driver.
best wishes John… no hard feelings to anyone I never said …i’d do it all over again. i loved it,

There’s just one bit missing from that.There were actually some jobs driving something like a Transcon,V8 FIAT or a TM in the late 1970’s on international work so no speed limiters and no tachos or much of the other bs which Phil seems to be ( rightly ) zb’d off about.That’s about as good as it got in which case not only did those of us who were too young to hold a licence,or who would have been stopped by the ‘no experience’ bs even if we weren’t,miss out but there were plenty of drivers lumbered with driving those zb wagons on uk work which you described who missed out on that too. :bulb:

As for Phil have you thought about emigrating to a South American country like Brazil or Colombia where you might just find the type of regime which might suit you. :smiling_imp: :laughing:

24

Hey…Jase…I think you and others have missed the points …Phil…was trying to put across. Don’t delude yourself into thinking everything that has been introduced into today’s version of the transport industry is for your benefit mate…'cos it ain’t. IMHO.

25

jase:
Phil,don’t you think we’ve Got all these rules and procedures because of all these things you old lags have done in the past?
I’ve listened to drivers who’ve bragged about leaving Milan on a Friday afternoon and been back in the yard by Saturday dinner time and such like and then they complain about how the jobs been cut up and now it’s bolloxed but they can’t see further than the end of their nose.
Good on you not taking your dcpc,somebody will have your job no doubt.
Ill just running legal and taking the money and keep taking these courses I keep being offered,I’m getting paid for doing them so why should I worry.
I can pass vosa and not look in my back mirror for mile or so and that does me just fine.

Well said, surely when these so called new things (what classes as new) were being introduced the old lags could have complained then and stopped them■■? Got together and protested after all we hear how great the comraderie was back then but no - sleeper cabs, band 3 radio in cab, then mobile phones and the old lags did what about the introduction■■? Sorry but it is about time the haulage industry was modernised and dragged into the current world! Why worry if you are being paid to do courses etc? Sorry but I am all for progress!!! Move on no wonder with stories like the ones above that the haulage industry got itself such stigma!!!

26

jase:
Phil,don’t you think we’ve Got all these rules and procedures because of all these things you old lags have done in the past?
I’ve listened to drivers who’ve bragged about leaving Milan on a Friday afternoon and been back in the yard by Saturday dinner time and such like and then they complain about how the jobs been cut up and now it’s bolloxed but they can’t see further than the end of their nose.
Good on you not taking your dcpc,somebody will have your job no doubt.
Ill just running legal and taking the money and keep taking these courses I keep being offered,I’m getting paid for doing them so why should I worry.
I can pass vosa and not look in my back mirror for mile or so and that does me just fine.

I havn’t mentioned anything that you’re on about, apart from the dcpc. and no one will have my job.
My issue is with drivers that pay fines for offences that don’t excist. They will sit in a waiting room with no access to their lorry for several hours, They will do anything that they are told to by people that have no right to tell them what to do.
Drivers that sit in a lorry in a dangerous position with a minor fault because company policy says “you should not move the vehicle when a fault arrises”. They can’t see out of the windscreen due to the reflection of the hi vis vest. They wear it because they are told to.
The only rule that they won’t abide by is “From this day forward, You must use common sense”.

27

jase:
Phil,don’t you think we’ve Got all these rules and procedures because of all these things you old lags have done in the past?
I’ve listened to drivers who’ve bragged about leaving Milan on a Friday afternoon and been back in the yard by Saturday dinner time and such like and then they complain about how the jobs been cut up and now it’s bolloxed but they can’t see further than the end of their nose.
Good on you not taking your dcpc,somebody will have your job no doubt.
Ill just running legal and taking the money and keep taking these courses I keep being offered,I’m getting paid for doing them so why should I worry.
I can pass vosa and not look in my back mirror for mile or so and that does me just fine.

Hiya Jase i agree with you, we or i can change to the new regulations like you have done, turn the clock back 30 years
and you would have been as good/bad as we were, its just a sign of the time. some drivers doing europe years ago
was hauling back perishable goods. belive me if you had to keep trucking you would have done the same. now some of
the times people do say they,ve done from Milan to Callas is a little exaggerated to say the least.
I see you have taken your dcpc was it intresting■■? did you learn anything■■? or did you just sit listen and take the money
like i’d do. we did,nt have training years ago you just picked the job up the best you could
John

28

3300John:

jase:
Phil,don’t you think we’ve Got all these rules and procedures because of all these things you old lags have done in the past?
I’ve listened to drivers who’ve bragged about leaving Milan on a Friday afternoon and been back in the yard by Saturday dinner time and such like and then they complain about how the jobs been cut up and now it’s bolloxed but they can’t see further than the end of their nose.
Good on you not taking your dcpc,somebody will have your job no doubt.
Ill just running legal and taking the money and keep taking these courses I keep being offered,I’m getting paid for doing them so why should I worry.
I can pass vosa and not look in my back mirror for mile or so and that does me just fine.

some of the times people do say they,ve done from Milan to Callas is a little exaggerated to say the least.

I’ve often run to Monza with the car over the years and I’d say that given the right truck those stories would probably be possible,maybe even faster,depending on border clearance times.Although it would have been difficult maybe impossible going the old typical Blanc-Macon-Paris route,without going through Switzerland,before the A 39/31/5/26 route through France was available by which time speed limiters were an issue.

29

I worked in construction for 25yrs and that industry has changed in a similar way to the trucking one .Back in the day we would think nothing of swinging off our ladders ,climbing up scaffold ,walking accross open flooring ,no safety gear at all and going for a few pints at dinner time,we would get hired simply by rocking up and showing what we could do .Now every joiner ,brickie,plumber or labourer needs to pass a H&S test and relevant qualifications before they are allowed on site .Yes it’s a pain up the arse for us “old school bods” but it is what it is and fewer people die earning a pair of shoes for the kids as a result

30

i think to sum it u , iy used to be said that you had to have your brain removed to be a lorry/truck driver . not any more , they have to have their ■■■■■■■■ removed instead . our lass has more bottle than the modern steering wheel attendant .

31

limeyphil:
I’m getting a little bit tired of seeing comments from so called lorry drivers that will obey each and every rule that gets thrown at them.
This industry is going down hill because of those that will sit in waiting rooms, hand keys in, pay fines for offences that don’t excist, and basically do what anyone tells them.
So, will you please sod off and play at being someones puppet in another industry instead of haulage?
Thanks ever so much.

Well if you dont like it how about you leave the industry simples

32

3300JOHN…is that a DAF 3300 by any chance, i digress, i was one of those that used to get home on a saturday, to at least get one day off, it didnt happen all the time mind you, but, when on euro work to spain, no one got their papers till 6pm on a friday in zona franca, it was the rush hour as well, so everything moved at the same time, it was one thing to get out of barcelona, and another to get through la junquera, then it was straight to calais, only stopping for a croque mesieur, and a coffee, not forgettuing the duty free, for we could smoke 2 packets on the way back. Thank god we didnt have to do it every week, 19 hrs in the saddle was enough, so long as we had a radio/cassette, and a CB, it was great, and better if we had someone elses company, Most custom clearances were done in Dover, so we could drop the trailer,. and someone else would collect it and deliver it.
We would just pick up another pre loaded and ship out again Sun night, or if we were lucky, Monday am.
Most of the stuff you wrote is spot on, and a lot of what the others wrote is true also, no new regulations are made in support of drivers, its always for the employer, or government.
If you take todays standards, why is a driver allowed to work 15 hrs, and only get 9 hrs off, and thats just one example. I am 67 now, and still working, albeit only 3 days a week, but it gives me the luxuries that my pension wont, and its a clean job, good tackle, so thats what counts. Would i go back to the good old days…kin right, was a different learning curve, but at least drivers mixed together, helped each other out, and most could work on any vehicle to get himself out of trouble, and always carried a tool box, and whatever, even to help others get home.

33

Iam making very good money being a steering wheel attendant thank you very much!

34

Jack the lad talk again, wannabe cowboy :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

Things change and it’s time people either change with it, or don’t bother at all. if you don’t bother at all, leave those that want to change to get on with it.

35

martyh:
I worked in construction for 25yrs and that industry has changed in a similar way to the trucking one .Back in the day we would think nothing of swinging off our ladders ,climbing up scaffold ,walking accross open flooring ,no safety gear at all and going for a few pints at dinner time,we would get hired simply by rocking up and showing what we could do .Now every joiner ,brickie,plumber or labourer needs to pass a H&S test and relevant qualifications before they are allowed on site .Yes it’s a pain up the arse for us “old school bods” but it is what it is and fewer people die earning a pair of shoes for the kids as a result

I remember when started Scaffolding in the 80s, in the summer we used to work on sites in shorts & trainers, most sites don’t even allow shorts now, because of melanoma. I’ve got a pal who’s a spark, he can’t even use a small step ladder. I wonder if plasterers can still use stilts, that was an art. ‘Claim culture’ has also played a big part of this.

36

JJ192:

limeyphil:
I’m getting a little bit tired of seeing comments from so called lorry drivers that will obey each and every rule that gets thrown at them.
This industry is going down hill because of those that will sit in waiting rooms, hand keys in, pay fines for offences that don’t excist, and basically do what anyone tells them.
So, will you please sod off and play at being someones puppet in another industry instead of haulage?
Thanks ever so much.

Well if you dont like it how about you leave the industry simples

Why the [zb] should i leave an industry that has been spoiled by can’t do won’t do brain dead steering wheel attendants hell bent on ruining the job.
Leave an industry because i won’t bend over and take it?
It’s them lot that’ll be crying when all the jobs have gone to the foreign can do will do brigade. The miners wanted more rules to create less hours for more pay, More rules to give them any excuse not to get the job done. Look what happened to them.

37

mickyblue:
Jack the lad talk again, wannabe cowboy :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

No pal. I just like to get on with the job safely and with the use of common sense. I don’t need someone to tell me what to do and when to do it.
This thread isn’t about legal rules like tachographs and the like, It’s about those that adore jobsworth rule makers and thrive on being less productive.

38

bluenose:
I remember when started Scaffolding in the 80s, in the summer we used to work on sites in shorts & trainers, most sites don’t even allow shorts now, because of melanoma. I’ve got a pal who’s a spark, he can’t even use a small step ladder. I wonder if plasterers can still use stilts, that was an art. ‘Claim culture’ has also played a big part of this.

Nope ,never see that anymore

39

Skippy70:

limeyphil:
I’m getting a little bit tired of seeing comments from so called lorry drivers that will obey each and every rule that gets thrown at them.
This industry is going down hill because of those that will sit in waiting rooms, hand keys in, pay fines for offences that don’t excist, and basically do what anyone tells them.
So, will you please sod off and play at being someones puppet in another industry instead of haulage?
Thanks ever so much.

the neanderthal trucker is dying-It’s all caring sharing and getting on with the job now

:laughing: are you taking the ■■■■■■?

40

truckyboy:
3300JOHN…is that a DAF 3300 by any chance, i digress, i was one of those that used to get home on a saturday, to at least get one day off, it didnt happen all the time mind you, but, when on euro work to spain, no one got their papers till 6pm on a friday in zona franca, it was the rush hour as well, so everything moved at the same time, it was one thing to get out of barcelona, and another to get through la junquera, then it was straight to calais, only stopping for a croque mesieur, and a coffee, not forgettuing the duty free, for we could smoke 2 packets on the way back. Thank god we didnt have to do it every week, 19 hrs in the saddle was enough, so long as we had a radio/cassette, and a CB, it was great, and better if we had someone elses company, Most custom clearances were done in Dover, so we could drop the trailer,. and someone else would collect it and deliver it.
We would just pick up another pre loaded and ship out again Sun night, or if we were lucky, Monday am.
Most of the stuff you wrote is spot on, and a lot of what the others wrote is true also, no new regulations are made in support of drivers, its always for the employer, or government.
If you take todays standards, why is a driver allowed to work 15 hrs, and only get 9 hrs off, and thats just one example. I am 67 now, and still working, albeit only 3 days a week, but it gives me the luxuries that my pension wont, and its a clean job, good tackle, so thats what counts. Would i go back to the good old days…kin right, was a different learning curve, but at least drivers mixed together, helped each other out, and most could work on any vehicle to get himself out of trouble, and always carried a tool box, and whatever, even to help others get home.

hiya truckyboy its a spacecab 3300 daf. when i was doing tilts it was a A series ERF.

I’ve sold her now
John