I was asked if I wanted a light bar on the new truck that has been ordered for me. My reply was “Thanks, but I’m not bothered. It’s your truck (as in the gaffers), so if you want a bar on it then that’s great. If not, no problem, the truck will still be kept clean and tidy just like my current one.”
I am happy to clean and polish the truck and keep everything as ship shape as I can. But I get paid my time to do it, and once a month I put in for any cleaning product expenses I have.
So very much like Freight Dog, I love a couple of nice shiny stacks and some durabrites, but I’ll never contribute out of my pocket to drive a truck with them on.
I’ve just been watching a Tom Cruise film called Edge of Tomorrow, I finished watching it and came on here and mysteriously lost 12 hours! If anyone has seen that film they’ll understand why it freaked me out.
If i ran a company and a driver was daft enough to let me dock his wages/holiday pay to put bling on my truck then id take full advantage of the fool.play my cards right id be able to keep his mrs warm at night while he sleeps in my blinged up truck he paid for
nearly there:
If i ran a company and a driver was daft enough to let me dock his wages/holiday pay to put bling on my truck then id take full advantage of the fool.play my cards right id be able to keep his mrs warm at night while he sleeps in my blinged up truck he paid for
Freight Dog:
My thoughts maybe quite surprising given how I’ve posted before on the topic of bling.
I was a tramper and never felt the interest in putting much into my truck as was moving on. That said, I did feel a bit regretful that I didn’t relax long enough to put a few touches on the vehicle. I was quite proud of the thing and actually had more than a passing interest in the job as a result of riding in a truck as a kid. Its just personal taste.
Some trucks I see and think “how embarrassing” but some trucks still appeal to my 10 year old self and do look quite impressive. Even my little 3 year old niece admires the trucks with lights and smoke stacks. They can look impressive (thinking Thorburns/Geoff Gilbert type stuff)
I went for an interview in the early 2000s at a certain burgundy and grey liveried potato haulier in Boston. I was told that they expect motors to be kept top notch. They added drivers can add bits and bobs to the vehicle and the cost would be taken out of pay or holiday. He finished off adding there was a waiting list. The pay was usually bad for the area. This astonished me. I felt quite angry afterwards at the notion and never mind their waiting list, had no intention of darkening their doorstep if I was expected to pay for their image. My take on it was split then.
It comes down to these points for me:-
I see no harm whatsoever in someone taking pride in something they use as home all week if it’s not expected of them. If its their hobby as well, who am I to castigate if it brings them pleasure in their lives. So LONG as it isn’t affecting terms and conditions in the industry.
I do have a very very large problem with hauliers who expect and encourage tarting up vehicles for their own image and self gain: expecting drivers to pay.
I would take a really dim view if I thought adding accessories to trucks brought down the wages, as mentioned above, in the case of transport firms who encourage it, maybe, but I can’t see it affecting wages in those firms who are indifferent. The pay-for-bling brigade of hauliers would pay low wages regardless no doubt.
Good post freight dog. When I worked for a tipper firm in ■■■■■■■ some drivers had all the bling. I had none! I always remember a lad starting with us telling me he’d left jenkinsons to start with us. His reason was we had cleaner wagons. He left not long after to work for intake transport because he hated getting the wagon dirty. I reiterate that we were a bulk haulage company.
I like a bit of bling, my last motor as an employee was a full on custom Peterbilt 389, before that I had an older model dripping in lights and chrome.
Now I own and drive this, I keep thinking about putting some lights down the sides, but thinking is as far as I’ve got.
It does have a moose bumper but that’s there for practical reasons as there’s a lot of suicidal wildlife out there.
jerrikan:
If it’s company bling the drivers pay for it by their low wages.
All you have to do is look at the 20 drivers cars in our yard to prove that what you are saying is ■■■■■■■■ !!!
Figures please.
Why do people on this bloody forum think its ok to demand the posting of drivers pay just because they run tidy trucks? Why don’t you post who you work for and exactly how much you get paid first eh? And what you drive. It may amaze a lot of you but lots of drivers get to drive really nice trucks with wages that they are happy with. Whites drivers I know drive nice trucks, work hard and get paid well. They hardly have much of a turnover of drivers. He’s also got good drivers he can rely on, not drivers that will sit on a bay for three hours then pull outside and grab a 45 minute break, or refuse to go anywhere because a marker light is out. There are a few companies like that, good trucks decent pay, but most of them have one thing in common, they wont employ pedantic jobsworths. And that’s becoming increasingly rare in the UK these days. Anyway, got to go, shock horror Ive a bulb to change on the trailer.
Edit, I agree with everything The Pariah says. Ill do what I want with my money, if that means spending some on my truck who is anyone else to judge. Just like I wouldn’t judge someone for spending a fortune getting drunk.
Jewson and I get £22,400 PA,
I dont care, Im happy with what I get for what I do.
Also I wont bling their truck up as its on lease and were not allowed to do anythign to it, and I wont because Im there to earn not spend.
can i join in please please 40% tax band if that helps
Edit, I agree with everything The Pariah says. Ill do what I want with my money, if that means spending some on my truck who is anyone else to judge. Just like I wouldn’t judge someone for spending a fortune getting drunk.
shall we just put this one to bed ? if you choose to spend you cash on your truck then its your business no one elses if you dont keep the cash in your pocket again your choice done that was easy wasent it
look good 
40% tax band if that helps 
