I have wanted to drive artics since i was little I’m now 39
I was going to get my licence to drive artics but now due to the dpc I’m not going to bother
At the moment I’m a amusement machine engineer and I’m on more an hour that most of the artic jobs I have seen ( I’m on £8.44 an hour ) I work 45 hours a week and get a company car and I’m at home most of the time
If they got rid of the dpc then I probably would try n get my licence but I’m not paying for the dpc just so i can continue working every 5 years
BillyHunt:
I’ve no idea what, if anything will change come sept 10. I don’t see anything happening in the short term as we don’t know how the DCPC will be policed, if we all start getting stopped & asked for the card then that will give you a clue as to how strict they are going to be, thereby forcing the fence sitters, and those holding back thinking they might get away with not needing it, into doing it.
I don’t see wages going up too much, let’s face it most transport companies have a reputation for not throwing cash at the drivers & I can’t see that changing soon. A place I worked at have just given their class 1 drivers a raise in the hope of keeping them, up from £8.66ph to £8.70ph, overtime rate after 12 hrs is £8.70! This after they take 45 mins pay after 12 hrs btw. They also made them pay for DCPC and attend on a Saturday, unpaid. The reason this industry will never change for the better is because drivers will accept this type of employer, happy to work for peanuts.
You will know there is a shortage coming when the 2 years experience bull, along with the proof of driving in the last six months cobblers gets dropped. There are very few young drivers around that’s for sure. My DCPC had a guy in his 30s, youngest by far, but he worked on the rigs & only did his test to give him something to do during his down time, he’s not used his licence yet. One had retired & come back as he was bored, one was 77!
I disagree here. I don’t believe that firms would be daft enough to let any old ■■■■■■ drive their vehicles, smash them up, get them the unwelcome attention of VOSA, and drive up any insurance premiums paid - just because the firm can’t and won’t pay a bit extra according to the normal laws of supply and demand.
More likely, they’ll keep the 2 years bull in place, and put the onus upon the driver to make up their own bull by being self-employed, have a wet foreign licence, or otherwise lie along on their CVs.
Even as we speak, the main thing that yards get out of employing agency nowdays is that any ■■■■-ups can be claimed against the agency insurance instead of the yards! There’s hardly any premium to be had from agency rates over full timers rates after all, so why employ full timers at all? one might argue…
If I’m right, then agencies who’ve not put up their rates yet (ie most of them) will be inundated with work the next 6 months, until the differential between agency actual driver’s rates and full timers “secure but lower” rates are restored.
Well my last firm before I left was one of the so called big boys and they would literally employ anyone…
They Would bang on about been safety conscious and training drivers well,but when push come to shove a person with a pulse and a licence would suffice,and even in one extreme oversight by a manager a bloke with no licence
One agency around here was offering just £7 hour for class two drivers delivering cages of milk to local convenience stores. That has gone up in recent weeks to £7.50, then £8 and is now at £8.60. I know agencies are struggling for drivers in some sectors.
Jesus Wept, i can’t believe what i’m reading here.
Where the hell are these jobs paying £7.50 an hour for class 2, downtown bloody Belgrade?
I could not under any circumstances allow these shysters to take the pee out of me to that extent, about the only thing i’d do is take the lorry out abandon it somewhere and sling the bloody keys, thats all they deserve.
Winseer:
Around here, the firms paying £7-£8ph are too tight-fisted to use agencies at all…
Good because if they pay crap money & won’t use agency they will shortly be going to the wall, and deservedly so.
Keep a close eye on firms like Polypipe, DPD, & any other firm who actually advertises full time jobs for real at the jobcentre!
You just know it’s gotta be crap if they are offering over 40 hours a week regular rather than just “shifts via agency” like the main herd do…
Such job “perks” for instance, include “free parking” and “help to get benefits” - so what does that tell you?
It’s downright criminal in my opinion, to offer a full time job that requires benefits added onto it! Why should any firm be allowed to blatently scrape off the state like that?
Incidentally, multidrop rigid rates are already on the rise around here. No takers y’see.
Don’t think the message is getting through just yet.
Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd
Class C1 Driver
Job description
Location : Dragonville Industrial Estate, Durham
Approx: 34 - 37 hour
Salary: £7.36 per hour with Drivers CPC
Salary: £6.85 per hour without Drivers CPC
Due to our continuing expansion we are seeking a reliable person to drive 7.5 tonne, boxed refrigerated lorries, on multi-drop routes to our shops and wholesale customers. Starting at 4.00am and working approximately 7 hour shifts. Also you must hold a licence that will cover this type of vehicle or have passed your car driving test prior to January 1997.
How to apply: Please collect an application form from any one of our shops or e-mail your name and full address including postcode to jobs@cooplands-bakery.co.uk
To be considered for this vacancy you MUST fill in our application form - Please DO NOT e-mail a copy of your CV.
I don’t mean to be a scaremonger but
We don’t have accurate details of how many drivers work through agencies but it could be as high as one third
If a large proportion are just coasting along to retirement and will use the September deadline as a cut off point, then there could be a major disruption in food distribution
Even if the deadline is postponed, as I am sure it will be, there could still be a driver shortage which could threaten food security
So it might be worth stocking up with a supply of non perishables just in case.
BillyHunt:
Don’t think the message is getting through just yet.
Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd
Class C1 Driver
Job description
Location : Dragonville Industrial Estate, Durham
Approx: 34 - 37 hour
Salary: £7.36 per hour with Drivers CPC
Salary: £6.85 per hour without Drivers CPC
Due to our continuing expansion we are seeking a reliable person to drive 7.5 tonne, boxed refrigerated lorries, on multi-drop routes to our shops and wholesale customers. Starting at 4.00am and working approximately 7 hour shifts. Also you must hold a licence that will cover this type of vehicle or have passed your car driving test prior to January 1997.
How to apply: Please collect an application form from any one of our shops or e-mail your name and full address including postcode to jobs@cooplands-bakery.co.uk
To be considered for this vacancy you MUST fill in our application form - Please DO NOT e-mail a copy of your CV.
If you didn’t have to take up this job until the end of August, then the firm would be obliged to IMMEDIATELY put it’s driver through DCPC themselves - all 35 hours of it. The smallish pay differential involved would then be worth sticking around until the end of september - and moving on!
Euro:
I don’t mean to be a scaremonger but
We don’t have accurate details of how many drivers work through agencies but it could be as high as one third
If a large proportion are just coasting along to retirement and will use the September deadline as a cut off point, then there could be a major disruption in food distribution
Even if the deadline is postponed, as I am sure it will be, there could still be a driver shortage which could threaten food security
So it might be worth stocking up with a supply of non perishables just in case.
I predict there will be a large number of agencies offering “3 month/6 month” ie longer term committments as of September.
There will be plenty of takers, as most drivers want some kind of certainty in their lives rather than a pay rise it seems.
For bods like me looking for 35 hours a week - I’m considered a “part timer”. There’s nothing in those contracts for me, because I’d be obliged to work something like “5 from 7” which I’m never going to do unless I’m earning the same pay as those around me.
I’m sure the supermarkets would LOVE me to put in my services there on a flat-out basis, but without some decent T&Cs that firms like TRG just don’t provide - it ain’t gonna cut it!
…Perhaps the long awaited “foot in the door” for inexperienced drivers has come eh? Turn up saying “I just LOVE working on frozen food distribution!” and see what work gets offered you…
Plymouth is a relitivly small place. But theres at least 3 hgv training schools and their vehicles are always out. When i did my class 1 a few months ago there was easily 2 - 3 tests on most days. So i wouldnt say no one new is coming into the business.
