Below is a letter printed in this weeks Commercial Motor (11/10/07).
Please read carefully questions will be asked.
WHY NOT MAKE YOUR DRIVERS SELF EMPLOYED?
I run a same day haulage company with vehicles from a small van to 7.5 tonne lorries. When I started this business I had permanent drivers for each vehicle but I found this to be extremely costly and unproductive in many ways. First the drivers simply settle into a no care attitude towards their job from about one year into their employment. There is also the problem of holidays-not only do you need to pay the driver forhaving time off but you also need to pay a replacement. In the vast majority of other jobs,colleagues and other workers simply fill in the role until the relevant employee returns. I’ve recently started what I believe is a common practice in the transport industry by making my drivers self employed with their agreement.I lease the lorry/van to them and they also need to pay for their fuel/insurance; they have the flexibility to work whenever they want for whoever they want. I found this significantly improves drivers attitudes towards their jobs and keeps them focused on providing a quality service.Is their any problem with this system? Article 10 of the new drivers hours regs(EC 561/2006) makes a transport undertaking liable for drivers hours and tachograph offences detailed in chapter II of the regulation and EEC 3821/85. Why will drivers be fined for hours and tacho offences under the proposed Graduated Fixed Penalty scheme when liability for the offence appears to lie elsewhere?
Andrew Gale. NYK LOGISTICS, Castleford, West Yorks.
Now a few questions:
Is the above legal?
What if the o/d takes on another (higher paying) job when he gets a job from above?
Is it any wonder drivers have a no care attitude when drivers are obviously so highly thought off?
"I lease the lorry/van to them and they also need to pay for their fuel/insurance; they have the flexibility to work whenever they want for whoever they want. "
so you lease them your trucks and they bugger off and deliver someone elses freight.
dave:
so you lease them your trucks and they bugger off and deliver someone elses freight.
i wonder how long the lease would last?
self employed is more hassle than its worth since the government screwed it up. i was considering it until i was furnished with some real life information
Haulage operators are being warned that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is intensifying its scrutiny of drivers’ employment status, tachographs and allowances, potentially resulting in higher tax bills.
you can not make an employed driver into an od simply by leaseing him the truck and doing the other stuff you mention,if this is what you think,why dont you try a winkle stall you sound fit for it
peirre:
not if you work for Tarmac, your contractually tied to em
Thats right. I think it’s done like a franchise.
I know of another company locally who tried to do a similar sort of system but shafted it’s drivers with unfair contracts and high fuel costs (The o/d’s were forced to buy their fuel from the main contractor) that a lot of the o/d’s went bankrupt and had to pack in.
you can not make an employed driver into an od simply by leaseing him the truck and doing the other stuff you mention,if this is what you think,why dont you try a winkle stall you sound fit for it
This is not me who is doing this system i just copied the letter out of the mag.
At the end of the day if the folks(o/d’s) are making a good living from it then fair play and good luck to them, but I think when you are doing something like this there will be tears for someone.
It was just the whole tone and attitude that made me focus on this letter I get the impression from reading the letter that he thinks that drivers are something that he trod in and should be blamed at every oppurtunity.
Currently doing some van work, and on a fixed weekly rate for up to 40 hours, so get a minimum each week. Currently only do 3-4 days a week on average, but obviously paid for 5. Quite happy to do whatever the boss requires, so from my side, he has a greater incentive than me to keep the van earning.
He suggested to me that I might like to go self-employed as he was finding it difficult to manage finances, then pay me a daily rate for the days I work. The other option he gave me was to leave at the end of our agreed contract, and no hard feelings.
So “OK” I says, “we will run the contract and call it a day and no hard feelings.”
Boss asks “What about being self-employed?”
“Not interested” I replied, “You can’t give me enough work to give me a full week, so best if I just leave as agreed”
Boss looks a bit worried at this point, I am his only driver, and am good at what I do, so then says “Well, lets extend the contract for a month, see what happens”
Point is, Boss offered me self-employment coz it was good for him, not good for me!
There is also the problem of holidays-not only do you need to pay the driver forhaving time off but you also need to pay a replacement. In the vast majority of other jobs,colleagues and other workers simply fill in the role until the relevant employee returns
so because this is a job that not every one can do then he thinks it is right to penalise the driver. well i hope they all leave and leave him running the show himself. hope ho goes bankrupt
