Our T M hasn’t got one, I think this makes it difficult to fully understand the daily life of his drivers and things they have to put up with, like mpg’s for example but you might have been lugging a fully laden trailer up the A 37 and getting 6 mpg.
Any one out there got a T M who has never driven.
Our TM hasn’t got his either.
On his 1st day I noticed a split in the air tank so as usual I go and report it.
I go up in the cab to pull tacho out etc and jump down to find him pushing and pulling at the fuel tank…
“there may be trouble ahead…”
To be fair he’s been alright so far but that one I’m keeping for a special occasion lol
I used to work for a Upvc Company in Mansfield where the TM is the owners brother,the police have had his license longer than him DDx3 only given the job to try and keep him out of the pub.As a result the man has not got a clue, can’t even understand a tacho,sends drivers out on runs that have no chance of getting back in their hours and end up sleeping in daycabs.The man is a total joke needless to say I did’nt stay there very long.
Our previous TM had been with the firm for about 40 years and had never held a lorry license, yet told the drivers how the job should be done. Some classics he’d spoken to me about was;
Holding up the traffic on the sc A420 (a car that did blow it’s horn got a V sign from me though 
)
Not moving over to let a tart in a BMW join the A34
Not earning enough bonus (never got that in writing, strangely)
Entering a weight limit where I was delivering
Telling a farmer to 'koff who expected me to tip under high voltage cables
Tipping in the wrong place on another farm job; Instructions said “tip by tractor” which there were 2; I chose the one with a bucket on…
One of the few occasions I was actually employed (as opposed to being self employed) I got told off for speeding by a TM, they only had 4 trucks but he started yelling at me about dangerous speed and the companies reputaion and waving my tacho’s at me shouting about me exceeding 100mph - yes 100mph!
Until that point their discs had always been analysed by an outside company in Winnick Quays, but in his wisdom he decided to check mine personally.
He went awfully quiet when I explained that tachographs record kph and not mph 
He had not got a truck licence either and admitted to one of the other drivers (allegedly) that he would never be able to pass a truck test because he was scared of the size of them!!! Turns out he was the brother in law of the boss and didn’t hold the CPC either.
To make things a little worse I heard only at Christmas that he is still working and is a TM for a large distrubution company based in the Wednesbury area.
I have always been an advicate of “if you have not done the job then don’t tell me how to do it”.
If MP’s had to have worked in the real world for at least 10 years before becoming an MP then this country would be so very much better run instead of the usual born into multi millionare parents then private school, Eton and then Oxford and straight into politics claiming that they know it all - they know [zb] all!!!
Had a transport manager at a container firm tell me off for driving round with my ‘airbags up’ on the trailer.
I’d never seen him before, he was on hols when I got the job, so we never got introduced, so I didn’t even know who he was.
I should set my suspension, he told me.
Wouldn’t listen when I told him that I’d just had a 30t box lifted off and was just parking it up, it’d settle down in a few mins.
What did he want me to do, sit on the pad for 10 mins whilst it settled, I was going on my dinner so it could use that time to settle.
Dragged me in the office, gave me a written warning for misuse of company equipment or some ■■■■.
Oh, you guessed it, no licence 
Brian J:
I used to work for a Upvc Company in Mansfield where the TM is the owners brother,the police have had his license longer than him DDx3 only given the job to try and keep him out of the pub.As a result the man has not got a clue, can’t even understand a tacho,sends drivers out on runs that have no chance of getting back in their hours and end up sleeping in daycabs.The man is a total joke needless to say I did’nt stay there very long.
I’d book into the best 5* hotel on route and refuse to move until he paid the bill. I had one TM who just BS’ed everyone and told me the night heater had been sorted on the truck I was to use after I told him it didn’t work. It hadn’t been touched so i drove 4.5 hrs towards my tip which was a sure N/O, then turned back. Just got in the yard before he went home and had the chance to tell him I wasn’t sleeping with no heater in -8 degrees and had gone as far as I could without a night out.
Never seen a bloke shout that long without breathing a bit of air back in. I just walked across to my motor and told him I’d try and get a bit further tomorrow before I turn back, or would he prefer to actually fix the night heater?
I am a Contract/Transport Manager.
I have my LGV2, ADR, DCPC, National and international CPC. I drive when I have too many guys off sick or on holiday, and now and then go on the road with them for a day out of the office. I do gain respect for getting “down and dirty” and doing the job that they do everyday. I also tend to get the tough runs, which they all acknowledge when I am on the road, which is just coincidence according to the planner!
I don’t think you need an LGV to be a TM, but I think it helps when you can say, “come on you I know the score”. IMHO
theonlybigman:
I am a Contract/Transport Manager.I have my LGV2, ADR, DCPC, National and international CPC. I drive when I have too many guys off sick or on holiday, and now and then go on the road with them for a day out of the office. I do gain respect for getting “down and dirty” and doing the job that they do everyday. I also tend to get the tough runs, which they all acknowledge when I am on the road, which is just coincidence according to the planner!
I don’t think you need an LGV to be a TM, but I think it helps when you can say, “come on you I know the score”. IMHO
You earn their respect, not assume you automatically aquire it. That’s the difference. Good man!
Lol…my manager has the idea that a 3 ton Mitsubishi canter is the same as driving an 18t axor with a hiab to do deliveries, and of course he’s right about everything & can do it all better than anyone …
Yes .
Hope that helps.
My last one has.Thank you.
bigvern1:
My last one has.Thank you.
Thanks for sharing I have made a mental note .
Hope that helps.
Yes
waynedl:
Had a transport manager at a container firm tell me off for driving round with my ‘airbags up’ on the trailer.
I’d never seen him before, he was on hols when I got the job, so we never got introduced, so I didn’t even know who he was.I should set my suspension, he told me.
Wouldn’t listen when I told him that I’d just had a 30t box lifted off and was just parking it up, it’d settle down in a few mins.
What did he want me to do, sit on the pad for 10 mins whilst it settled, I was going on my dinner so it could use that time to settle.Dragged me in the office, gave me a written warning for misuse of company equipment or some [zb].
Oh, you guessed it, no licence
Whether he had a licence or not doesn’t make him wrong, the air bags are over inflated when you lift a loaded box off, the bags will go down but it doesn’t take 10 minutes. I always lower the air suspension before lifting a box off and have done for many years. I have also been told to do it that way in Holland Belgium and Germany
To continue with this thread, one of the best planner managers I have ever had couldn’t drive. Mick Booth was a long haired music lover from Snaith who could route 40 vehicles without a problem.
Even my mum who was a transport manager didn’t drive and she had the respect of her drivers and sub contractors.
No, and it doesn’t matter in this case.
he has a lisense,but after nearly putting the d/d into my cab whilst attempting to reverse on a bay,lisense YES,can he actually driveNO
Yes 
Hope this Helps 
Yes
Still drives too 