Apparently…
According to Auto-Express, we deserve better conditions.
msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/it- … d=msedgntp
I’ll stick with days.
Also in other news
“Yes bears do @@@@ in the woods “[emoji23][emoji1787][emoji23][emoji23]
Sent while from gods know where
You only have to look at some of the comments in the Harsh Braking thread and similar to realise we’ll never get them. Comments like “Thank christ I dont work for these muppet large “logistics” turds” who tend to be the companies that have the best working conditions, as well as those banging on about how much better it was in the 80s, shows just how many drivers are apparently happy with the status quo.
The rest of us though can go work for these muppet logistics turds with better pay and working conditions, it would appear that there shouldn’t be much competition for jobs at them.
So we deserve better conditions do we ?
What do we want ?
Personally I’d like to see laybys that are proper laybys - right in off the road with a 3 -4 foot pavement / wall between where I’m parked and the live traffic , a running lane threw the layby with parking spaces off that again so your nor rocked everytime a car , van or truck goes past. A decent bin would be a help as well . 23 years driving and I’ve never paid to park in a services or a truckstop at night . I despise the thought of paying to take a legal break in a place that never quietens down - trucks coming and going 24 hours a day . I’m happy to eat in some of them and to pay £3-5 for a good clean shower but thats my limit .
I know its not much , probably not as much as we need but it would be a start and much better than whats out there at the minute .
See it all the time at my place- drivers are their own worst enemies when it comes to terms and conditions
A common comment when pushing for reduced hours is if you want that get an office job.
Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk
Conor:
You only have to look at some of the comments in the Harsh Braking thread and similar to realise we’ll never get them. Comments like “Thank christ I dont work for these muppet large “logistics” turds” who tend to be the companies that have the best working conditions, as well as those banging on about how much better it was in the 80s, shows just how many drivers are apparently happy with the status quo.The rest of us though can go work for these muppet logistics turds with better pay and working conditions, it would appear that there shouldn’t be much competition for jobs at them.
As I have mentioned in the other thread, why do you insist that working for a “logistic” company is far superior than a small operator■■? I have all the benefits that you mentioned with the added advantage I can go and have a cup of coffee with the boss and thrash out any problems.
msgyorkie:
As I have mentioned in the other thread, why do you insist that working for a “logistic” company is far superior than a small operator■■? I have all the benefits that you mentioned with the added advantage I can go and have a cup of coffee with the boss and thrash out any problems.
Because I’ve done both and probably with many more small operators than you have given I’ve worked for them both as permanent and agency. A lax attitude to vehicle maintenance, compliance with drivers hours and expecting you to both tip/load on break and work off card and an expectation for you to do stuff that’s borderline illegal with how dangerous it is is far more common in small haulage companies than large logistics companies.
I’ve never been asked to run bent by logistics companies, I’ve had it expected by small operators. Every logistics company I’ve worked at won’t even let you leave the yard with a bulb out, I’ve driven lorries for small operators where if you asked for a bulb they’d laugh at you and some so bad I’ve driven them to the nearest VOSA checkpoint and they’ve had GV9s issued. All the bodges and quick fixes I’ve learned to keep a unit or a trailer able to be used I’ve learned at small operators because they won’t fix their vehicles and expect you to hold things together with gaffer tape, string and cable ties. I recall fixing the gear linkage on one Renault Major at one small company with a coach bolt that was rattling around the cab and a year later that bolt was still there.
I can have a cup of coffee with the boss and thrash out things. In fact at a logistics company you’ve far more chance of being able to have a meeting with the manager and thrash out things because they have documented HR policies to follow and a working grievance system whereas at a small operator the boss is the owner and if the owner is in an arse of a mood they’ll tell you to sod off and if you don’t like it you know where the door is.
Well Iv better conditions now working for a 4 truck operator than Iv ever had working for the so called big boys.
Iv never been asked to break the law where I am now and never been lied to and maintenance is spot on unlike many large operators Iv worked for.
If Iv an issue it’s dealt with face to face not through a “line manager” who then takes it no further.
Drive a spot on truck that I get everything I ask for on it too.
Holidays and days off at short notice never an issue.
Only issue is I have to work 55 to 60 hour and I’d like less but I worked many more at the last big firm I worked for and that was never enough for them.
So for me the better conditions company wise are at a smaller operation.
I would only consider a big firm again for an attractive salary and 40-48 hour maximum week
I’m all in favour for better working conditions. I also like to ■■■■ without having to ask permission from bosses. Blue chip & the big boys don’t allow you to ■■■■ without authority or have a Spanish inquisition if, heaven forbid, you ■■■■ without first asking.
robbo99.:
I’m all in favour for better working conditions. I also like to ■■■■ without having to ask permission from bosses. Blue chip & the big boys don’t allow you to ■■■■ without authority or have a Spanish inquisition if, heaven forbid, you ■■■■ without first asking.
I do work for one of the Big Boys…
I confess to ■■■■■■■ as I please. I also pee when I want -often outside the cab
I receive my run in the morning… and am left to get it done, stopping as I deem necessary
Maintenance is spot on.
Management are absurd…but that appears to be more of a personality thing than firm culture.
I’m salaried. For my area the company pays at the top end…
I like the idea of a smaller company…but there’s good and bad.
Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk
I suppose it’s very subjective, as there are great logistics firms, and terrible ones. The same with small companies. I’ve worked for 4 logistics firms, and a small company. The latter where I am now, which is the best gig I’ve had in my puff, hands down. I truly think the smaller outfits are where you’ll live a much happier, and more enjoyable, stress free life. That’s just my opinion.
At my small haulier, it’s the same truck every week, which doesn’t move unless I’m in it. True home away from home. The logistics firms I had experience with would have you cab hopping on days. The seat still warm from the EE agency driver who’s just finished his 15 hour shift minutes before me. Even tramping, more and more big firms seem to expect cab hopping. If you do get your own truck, it will go out at the weekend. Putting your belongings at risk, or your firm even telling you to clean out the entire cab every Friday night. Not for me. Small haulier 1-0.
At a small firm, once my work is done, it’s done. Regardless whether it’s a 6 hour job, or 15. Job done, go home. Logistics firms would just squeeze in another job, or try to dispatch me again. “Can you just nip here…” Expected to work 65 hour weeks on day shifts. Every minute counts. 2-0.
No telematics and the like at a small company. Unlike logistics firms I worked for who’d measure and grade every aspect of your driving with the hope of saving a few pence. More technology in their poverty spec trucks than the space shuttle. Idling, harsh braking, acceleration, cameras pointed at you… They’d monitor your oxygen consumption if it saved them money. 3-0 to the small haulier.
My boss is always at the end of a phone, text or email. Fantastic flexibility and approachability, and can get holidays ASAP. Boss also an ex driver, so knows the score. Knows the trials and tribulations. He’s not a 19 year old with a degree from a polytechnic uni in “Logistics Management” who wouldn’t know a truck if it drove over his head. The sort who frequent the “operations” departments of most logistics firms. At my last logistics firm, I was never told who my manager was. And when I did find out who it was, there was no thrashing out. No answer to phone calls, emails, etc. Only response I ever got was when I handed in my resignation. Go figure. 4-0.
As for running bent, I’ve been given more questionable instructions / orders from the aforementioned 19 year old Logisticians than I have from my small company boss. Massive groupthink mentality of “it’s just the way we do things here”. At my last logistics company they were failing new drivers’ probationary periods for not taking their breaks on bays. No ta. 5-0.
The only thing that was better at a logistics firm was hmaintenance. It was a lot more organised, and if something was wrong it got sorted ASAP. If one of their trucks is defective, they can just give you one of their many thousand spares. It’s a lot bigger problem if a truck at a small company is off road, so there’s an element of “make do and mend”. 5-1.
I can’t see myself working at a logistics firm ever again. Where there’s a choice.
Brilliant post Rottweiler, couldn’t put it any better, have worked for both types and absolutely no contest.
Drivers will never get good conditions while they’re willing to sleep in lay-bys and survive on cans of lilt, mars bars and manky oranges
robbo99.:
I’m all in favour for better working conditions. I also like to ■■■■ without having to ask permission from bosses. Blue chip & the big boys don’t allow you to ■■■■ without authority or have a Spanish inquisition if, heaven forbid, you ■■■■ without first asking.
I work at a blue chip company. I’m given the keys and run sheet for the day, I’m left to get on with it. Yes we have microlise in the trucks and we have cameras but nobody is questioning the route I take or when I choose to have a break.
The only time that has ever happened is when I’ve been doing parcel network trunking because it’s a high value load but you’ll get that even on general haulage working for small companies if you’re pulling certain loads.
Rottweiler22:
As for running bent, I’ve been given more questionable instructions / orders from the aforementioned 19 year old Logisticians than I have from my small company boss.
But that tends to be more from an ignorance of driving hours and rules by that individual rather than company policy.
Conor:
robbo99.:
I’m all in favour for better working conditions. I also like to ■■■■ without having to ask permission from bosses. Blue chip & the big boys don’t allow you to ■■■■ without authority or have a Spanish inquisition if, heaven forbid, you ■■■■ without first asking.I work at a blue chip company. I’m given the keys and run sheet for the day, I’m left to get on with it. Yes we have microlise in the trucks and we have cameras but nobody is questioning the route I take or when I choose to have a break.
The only time that has ever happened is when I’ve been doing parcel network trunking because it’s a high value load but you’ll get that even on general haulage working for small companies if you’re pulling certain loads.
Rottweiler22:
As for running bent, I’ve been given more questionable instructions / orders from the aforementioned 19 year old Logisticians than I have from my small company boss.But that tends to be more from an ignorance of driving hours and rules by that individual rather than company policy.
Don’t make me laugh Conor, think you are a bit above your station regarding the view you have for the company you agency drive for. Since when did they become a blue chip? They aren’t even in the FTSE 100 of companies, they are in the FTSE 250, bit like comparing the boy scouts Sunday league team with the premiership. I’d bet the majority of the UK population haven’t even heard of them.
Despite what Conor’s generalised views are, I have never found it so black and white and either or.
I worked for a relatively small firm down in Essex for about 10 yrs.
I found them one of the best firm I’ve worked for, they treated you with respect, paid well,.and if you did them a favour (legal one btw) you were adequately compensated,.I would and did willingly go that extra mile for, and was part of a team.
On the other hand the big firm I worked for in Belgium (Brit European) was also a good job with decent t.s and c.s.
The big firm I work for now with their ■■■■ cameras,.microlise, nasty memos, pay for damage policy, poverty spec truck, average pay with no perks, and general irritations from pointy shoe types is a different ball game. 
Don’t get me wrong, I still give 100% in my work,…fact., I like the actual job I do,.and would never do anything stupid to jeopardise it, .I manage to (not actively) get a decent score on my driving on their ■■■■ monitors, but I work as pure mercenary, I ain’t part of a ‘team’ as I was in the other job, how could I be with the way we are looked upon, so I do only what I am told and no more…so they’re happy with me (afaik 
) and I am quite content.
So to sum up if all small firms are like my Essex based job,.and all big firms are like my present one…give me the small personal firm every time, on the terms I was on.
beefy4605:
So we deserve better conditions do we ?
What do we want ?
Personally I’d like to see laybys that are proper laybys - right in off the road with a 3 -4 foot pavement / wall between where I’m parked and the live traffic , a running lane threw the layby with parking spaces off that again so your nor rocked everytime a car , van or truck goes past. A decent bin would be a help as well . 23 years driving and I’ve never paid to park in a services or a truckstop at night . I despise the thought of paying to take a legal break in a place that never quietens down - trucks coming and going 24 hours a day . I’m happy to eat in some of them and to pay £3-5 for a good clean shower but thats my limit .
I know its not much , probably not as much as we need but it would be a start and much better than whats out there at the minute .
I think you’re selling yourself short.
Why a better lay-by ?
Don’t we pay enough in road tax, and fuel taxes, and provide a vital service to deserve better? How about more parking areas on m-way? And as part of planning permissions for industrial estates and warehouses that need trucks to function.
Parking is necessary, and should be planned for early on.
Jeez Franglais…something we both agree on ffs ! 
Franglais:
[q How about more parking areas on m-way? And as part of planning permissions for industrial estates and warehouses that need trucks to function.
Parking is necessary, and should be planned for early on.
Correct - I missed that part .No parking in Industrial estates ■■ what is that all about ? There should be a dedicated parking area on every ind estate that truckers can use . Prove that your tipping or loading there the next day and you should be allowed to park up.
I maybe selling myself short but it would be a first step - lets walk before we try running .
I buy it every week & he’s never mention us in all the years I’ve been reading it , just something to earn him a few more £££ & fill his colum up no doubt , I mean what have we got to moan about , m&s food & beautiful scenery ( snow ) .
