A question for the tippers, mixers, merchants and other fellow plant drivers out there.
Has the building game slowed, stopped or got slack in your area? In Essex there are loads of companies laying off blokes from sites, we’ve got machines standing and there just isn’t the work about at the moment.
Not in the building buisness 8 Wheels. but small paragraph in finance page of mail stated that 30,000 jobs out of 300.000 in the building trade have gone in 4 months.
i`ve just started on the 8 leggers and it is apparently quieter than usual at the moment
Spoke to my mate whos still on the tankers, he said its definatly quieter than usual.
it’s the problem everyone’s havin gettin a mortgage to buy all these new house’s. It slowed down just before i left the agency on the buildin products.
8wheels:
A question for the tippers, mixers, merchants and other fellow plant drivers out there.Has the building game slowed, stopped or got slack in your area? In Essex there are loads of companies laying off blokes from sites, we’ve got machines standing and there just isn’t the work about at the moment.
Its called a recession, the government will not admit it, but, its a recession…
The brick business is having a torrid time, its the worst its been for over 20 years, Hanson have mothballed two factories, and closed one, the rest are watching and waiting, but, its a recession 
You would not think so, the way some people still spend the dosh, but, I`ve just spent the last week delivering very expensive doors around southern England, and the developers / builders I spoke to, are in pensive mood, shall we say 
We deliver concrete floors to sites. we are quite busy. but we are not going to many new sites, just finishing off the large ones. a lot of the sites used to have properties pre sold. but now they remain un sold.
i think it’s just the beginning of the end. with Thatchers privatisation program and labours greed we couldn’t expect anything else but a recession.
after all thatcher sold every company that the tax payer owned.
but the tax payers bought what they already owned from her.
I thought as much, just checking really.
There’s loads of big sites round here that have stopped, half built houses staying that way. If people ain’t buying then they’ll not keep pouring the cash into finishing them off.
its the same or even worse here in ireland, house prices have been slashed everywhere, building workers being laid off all over. Alot of houses have dropped 20% in the last 6 months.
I think its only the beginning. Everything has slowed here dramatically.
Haulage is down,
building is down,
financial services is down,
car sales has collapsed.
All in all a very doom and gloom place now in ireland.
Very quiet at the mo on powder tankers, have only done two building sites in the past 2 weeks, good thing other work has been available
I don’t know about Hanson shutting factories down, but I do know they have or did have a massive recruitment drive on for class 1 drivers, which is now nearlly finished, and they’re still using subbies and franschies to deliver because the demand is still there.
They did shut down the block plant at St Ives, but they openend a brand new bigger one at Whittlesey, so read into that what you want.
There is a huge construction project getting bigger by the day down in sw london…Olympics.
New shopping centers being built, one at Bradford, one near the dog track in London(can’t think of the name at the moment) they are by just one company Westfield They have just built the HUGE shopping center in Derby.
Can’t beleive some people still blame Thatcher, they probably don’t remember the ■■■ the country was in before she brought in the Iron Fist to sort out the mess we were in…Oh dear I think this thread might now get political sorry guys.
We could do with a recession to bring house prices down a bit, the younger generation today don’t stand a chance to buy their own homes.
It’s all to do with economics, we (the country) need to bring things down to a more realistic level, it was a bit like this in the late 80s, my mortgage went from 3% to 15% in a very short space of time, a real bummer but we survived…Just. My interest rate now is…0%…no mortgage. 
Just got to get rid of the kids now, one down one to go…
Things are hard at the moment but they WILL get better…sooner or later
Deepinvet:
I don’t know about Hanson shutting factories down, but I do know they have or did have a massive recruitment drive on for class 1 drivers, which is now nearlly finished, and they’re still using subbies and franschies to deliver because the demand is still there.They did shut down the block plant at St Ives, but they openend a brand new bigger one at Whittlesey, so read into that what you want.
There is a huge construction project getting bigger by the day down in sw london…Olympics.
New shopping centers being built, one at Bradford, one near the dog track in London(can’t think of the name at the moment) they are by just one company Westfield They have just built the HUGE shopping center in Derby.Can’t beleive some people still blame Thatcher, they probably don’t remember the ■■■ the country was in before she brought in the Iron Fist to sort out the mess we were in…Oh dear I think this thread might now get political sorry guys.
We could do with a recession to bring house prices down a bit, the younger generation today don’t stand a chance to buy their own homes.It’s all to do with economics, we (the country) need to bring things down to a more realistic level, it was a bit like this in the late 80s, my mortgage went from 3% to 15% in a very short space of time, a real bummer but we survived…Just. My interest rate now is…0%…no mortgage.
Things are hard at the moment but they WILL get better…sooner or later
I agree, it will get better, but, not just yet…
Hanson still need their trucks to be driven, the subbies will feel the pinch first.
The block plant has been replaced by a bigger and better one, saving money in the long run, if you read other comments, the Tarmac silo job has gone quiet aswell.
Ive seen a number of sites [houses] stop work, there isnt the demand at the moment, your point about Westfield, is correct, but, they build shopping centres, not houses.
House building is a barometer, there are other signs to look out for, like car sales, these have been on their arse for a while aswell.
The big “projects” will still be built, for the moment, when they stop, then we are in big trouble.
The Olympics is a bit of a red herring regarding the economy, it will be built come what may 
We have been quiet on the cars the last week, but that happens, will have to wait and see. Our general haulage side have a contract delivering radiators and they are very quiet. Mate on the petrol tankers is quiet too, but thinks its with everyone stocking right up before Grangemouth, but price of fuel must have some implications. Time for a new government.
Deepinvet:
in sw london…Olympics.
Cor blimey Charlie! Didn’t know Stratford had moved all the way to the other side of town! :lol::lol:
Yes, ALE moved it a few weeks back as they decided it was much nicer in the South West of London.
Very quiet on the tippers in my area at the mo’.
Our firm’s been relying on so-called “hospital jobs” for weeks now - just to keep the wheels turning. As soon as these dry up - which wont be long - we will all be in the yard polishing our trucks.
8wheels:
Yes, ALE moved it a few weeks back as they decided it was much nicer in the South West of London.
I’d have though BIFFA WASTE would have bid for that, their kit’s probably more suitable! 