I`m interested in discovering the opinion of fellow drivers about the Working Time Directive, which will come into force next year.
Do you support the WTD or oppose it?
Vince
I have said I support it! as I do but only FOR NOW
I want to see the whole of the EU enforcing it and not only us the mugs of the EU!
if the Whole of the EU does not enforce it then I shall change my mind sharpish!!!
I voted that I oppose it as it is supposed to be. Too restrictive for my liking.
T C some of the other Europeans don’t abide with what we got now, so I would have though it highly unlikely they will abide with something even more restrictive.
Steve I agree!!
thats why my support has dwindled to a only just support from a ardent supporter!
look Truckers are normal people as a whole! 
we all have families, wifes, kids,a home life!! even if its just to sit on a computer visiting TruckNet! life is all about living! … and thats my problem I agree that 48 hours should be enough for any person to work in a week, but and its a big but some people for what ever reason like to work and be out on the road! my current fellings are if people can spend time doing what they like well whats wrong with that?
the law should be a minimum wage for truckers on a 48 hour week for those who want to do more can! but the rest of us should be able to live comfortable on 48 hours pay! others should be able to more if they wish!!!
but it aint gonna happen because in the main employers have taken the ■■■■ for far too long! in a perfect world we would have that but I am sorry to say the Employers have brought this on!!!
The h&S crap is and was only an excuse to stop us the drivers from being exployted!
We couldn’t stop it ourselves so its been stoped for us!
maybe its our own fault??
i voted against the wtd.for one i don’t think that it will come into effect as like everything else that the goverment try’s to set up it fails. i do things the simple way,at the moment i’m contracted to do 39hours with a limitied number of o/t.who determins that o/t 
the answer is me myself.no one can state which o/t i work that is my decision.the boss might think say 1 hour a day ain’t sufficent but thats 5hours extra a week still under the 48 that brussells is trying to bring in.why should some hairy arse from brussells dictate what i or anyone else works,if i want to work 60hrs a week then that is my choice,on the other hand if i want to work 48 or less then that also is my choice.i don’t like to be dictatied to by anyone especially snotty nose ■■■■■ from brussells.
people are saying that they will have to up your wages to compensate you for the loss of money moving on to the wtd 
do they or will they yes we have heard of companies like the co-op putting the money up and reducing the drivers working week.good on them and others like them.but lets look at what that means,a normal week mon-fri is the normal shift pattern for the uk based drivers delivering and collecting in the uk.with this 3 on 3 off or 4on 4 off,that pattern changes dramaticly instead of working mon - fri you could work mon - thurs one week tues -fri next,wed -sat next and so on.lets say your boss ain’t going to put the money up 
why should he its not his fault that brussells have cut your hours,so you go on to 4 on 4 off system,pay day arrives and you think i’m low on money this week or month,so you think to yourself i’ll join an agency work on my 4 days off,yes you get some money back that you lost but it defeats the object of the wtd which is ment to benefit you as a worker.
is this wtd really going to be any better for the driver and workers of this country
the o/d is ok as it don’t apply to him/her until 2009,but by that time it will have changed again.but him or her can dictate which hours they work anyway,48 or 28 the choice is there’s.if they have a good contract and it pays them well,then they are ok,but for the ones that ain’t o/d then the situation is a little different.
so b4 you go ahead and vote for this have a think on how it affects your family and the way you live your life.will it better it financialy. food for thought my friends 
the less i earn the less the csa can rob from my wages…but as the 48 hours is averaged over 17 weeks there will be plenty of oppurtunity to scrat a pittance together
teachers get long holidays why shouldnt we
if you still have a family and dont earn enough just claim from the social security system
Edited to bring the thread width back to normal. K
hitch:
the less i earn the less the csa can rob from my wages…but as the 48 hours is averaged over 17 weeks there will be plenty of oppurtunity to scrat a pittance togetherteachers get long holidays why shouldnt we
if you still have a family and dont earn enough just claim from the social security system
hitch…why should we as professonal drivers have to claim from the social security we have the right to earn a descent wage not to expect someone else to give us the money.thats why thousands are on the dole and dss as it’s to dam easy for them to screw the system.
I oppose it, but it is law and will happen.
What I ask is why is an employer going to give you more for less? An employer is only paid x amount for a trip, day, week, tonne or pallet.
The only way you will earn equal money is if he pays you more! The only way he can pay you more is to charge his customer more!
You will pay more in the supermarkets and high street too!
A teacher does less hours and gets less money, Teachers get more holidays and are contracted to take them during school shutdowns. They pay top price and surcharges for Holidays and Air travel because the industry doubles its prices, no last minute deals for them 
I support it fully i dont want to do 40 hours never mind 48 a week.
I do not support the WTD in it’s current state. I will work the hours I want to work. If I can’t then I will find another job. I will not be told what to work. That’s personal choice and takes away my freedom.
im totally for it.
my company seem to have it all sorted.
as of from septemter this year i will drop from 60 hours to 48 hrs and go onto a shift system spread over ten weeks…
some weeks are 5 days ,some four and some three days only.
i will be enjoying a lot more quality time home with the wife and kids 
my pay will go up by a few grand putting me on well over £30k.
we are expecting more nights out though. we only do around 5 or 6 a month, but at £30 a night all tax free bring them on.
incidentally i never count night out money as wages.
the downside is that i lose my own motor then again it was never mine in the first place 
ps. if you are interested in a job then are vacancies due to retirements and extra drivers required as a result of these new shifts.
however you must live within a 30 mile radius of one of our depots.
if you are interested in a job then are vacancies due to retirements and extra drivers required as a result of these new shifts.
however you must live within a 30 mile radius of one of our depots.
And where would they be Dave?
Ken.
Quinny:
if you are interested in a job then are vacancies due to retirements and extra drivers required as a result of these new shifts.
however you must live within a 30 mile radius of one of our depots.And where would they be Dave?
Ken.
the main depots are at
ketton (peterborough area)
and
clitheroe,
padeswood(north wales, near mold)
smaller depots with fewer drivers so dont recruit that often but they will have a waiting list
are at
teesport, middlesborough
avonmouth
an
coatbridge (glasgow)
Im against it, as Im against all types of dictatorship.
Depending on your type of work a 48 hours week might not make a great deal of difference.
Only working time is counted not on duty time. Anytime spent waiting whilst loading, unloading, time on ferries or not driving whilst double manning does not count.
Thats an average 8 hours working time per day over a 6 day week or 9.6 hours over a 5 day week, however if I remember correctly the new tacho regs have taken away the option of a reduced weekly break, which means it will be difficult to do 6x13 hour days each week and get 45 hours off.
The best way to work out how much it will effect you is to work out how much of you day is work and how much is a period of availability.
Mal:
Im against it, as Im against all types of dictatorship.
I remember when they introduced Tachographs,(to young to drive though) many drivers wern’t happy, “spy in the cab” was the phrase I think and even log books could be considered an infringement of personal freedom, the same could go for speed limits and the requirements needed for an operator licence. Maybe our bosses should be allowed to run us and their trucks as hard as they can without any holidays, maintainence, weight limits etc. After all why should government interfere with thier right to make a profit?
I remember when they introduced taco’s as well, as I was on log book at the time. I can tell you this, they did nothing for safety, we were a law unto ourselves on the book, and took as much rest as we wanted, that all ended when gaffers could check the charts. Also, the hours were probably shorter, so that part of your argument is ■■■■■■■■. I dont like your inference either that because I dont like being dictated to im some cowboy or spineless ■■■■■■ tha bends all the laws and cant tell a gaffer where to stick hisself if he or she try to put on me. Laws are good sometimes, and sometimes theyre crap.
Sorry Mal no insult was intended. 
My point was not that not wanting laws means you’re are a cowboy, but that we do need laws and we already work under laws which restrict what we are allowed to do.
Fair play to you Muckles, I know we need laws, and believe it or not we had better ones in my veiw before the taco, (and for a few years after it till thatchers mob waded in) when driving was 8 hours and the max day was 12 and half with extra rest, and there was a mileage cap as well. Im convinced that the taco, the reduced rest, 15 and 13 hour days, and timed deliveries have done more damage than good. And I agree, people will break the laws, no doubt, I dont claim theres an easy answer, but I appreciate my freedom and feel the WTD is a bridge too far in dictatorship. Also, why do they go so far and extreme? Why reduce it all the way down to 48 hrs?
I voted against but to be honest at the moment I’m not really bothered one way or another, I just don’t like being told what I can and cannot work anymore than the tacho rules already do.
Some of the countries that have been the biggest supporters of the WTD are beginning to have second thoughts. When the French government pushed for the shorter working week in 2000 they promised it would create jobs, when the law came into force the unemployment rate in France was 9.6% now it is 9.8%.
Workers across Europe have been voting to work more hours, for the same pay to protect their jobs and prevent them from moving to another country. In France the workforce at the Bosch factory near Lyon voted to give up their 35 hour week in return for a guarantee that the work wouldn’t be moved to the Czech Republic, they agreed on 36 hours a week and pay rises limited to 1% for the next 3 years.
In Germany workers at two Siemens factories voted to go from a 35 hour to a 40 hour week, for no extra pay, to stop their jobs going to Hungary. Staff at the department store chain Karstadt are working another 5 hours a week without extra pay to keep their jobs. Mercedes have increased the work week for some workers from 35 to 40 hours for no extra pay and others at the plant near Stuttgart have given up their promised pay rises to stop the jobs being moved to North Africa. Opel are expected to do something similar at it’s plants.
In Holland the office supply company Smead increased the working week from 36 to 40 hours, again for no extra pay.
Many more companies are doing the same as they are not viable under the reduced working week.
While the idea of working shorter hours is basically good, it is only good if you actually have a job. If it came to shorter hours or no hours I know what I would choose.