Carryfast:
Wheel Nut:
LazyDriver:
It’s obviously the story of the forbidden fruit, The grass looks greener or any number of green eyed sayings. The fact that Mr CF’s aspirational dream job is never quite within his grasp, when, given the amount of time he’s spent and therefore the experience he obviously has of the industry, and yet he cannot progress to where he envisages he is owed, can only have one logical conclusion. The employers of said dream job consider him unemployable.
Experience, tick
Motivation, tick
Attitude, get your coat…
Luck, none [emoji846]
Seems to fit the idea that those doing the right work want to keep it obviously by kicking others down the ladder.
Obviously a good enough ‘attitude’ to hold 3 jobs covering more than 20 years and commendations for my work during the last which covered almost 15 years.
Strange how the ‘attitude’ ‘experience’ ( face fits ) test doesn’t seem to apply to the ‘wrong’ type of work.You know the type of work which has a ‘shortage’ of drivers wanting to do it. 
… and the penny still hasn’t dropped? The 3 jobs you’ve done in the last 20 years, jobs that you openly hate. Jobs where they are desperate to retain drivers (by your own admission). ‘Boss to troublesome employee’ , you were rubbish today. ‘Employee’, I’m offski. Or ‘well done son’ . ‘Cya tomorrow’.
So, how many dream jobs have you actually applied for? What was the feedback on your rejections, and how did this alter your approach? This is what is meant by attitude. Not ‘This is me, take it or leave it’
LazyDriver:
… and the penny still hasn’t dropped? The 3 jobs you’ve done in the last 20 years, jobs that you openly hate. Jobs where they are desperate to retain drivers (by your own admission). ‘Boss to troublesome employee’ , you were rubbish today. ‘Employee’, I’m offski. Or ‘well done son’ . ‘Cya tomorrow’.
So, how many dream jobs have you actually applied for? What was the feedback on your rejections, and how did this alter your approach? This is what is meant by attitude. Not ‘This is me, take it or leave it’
Ironically I didn’t ‘hate’ any of the 3 main jobs I did.Starting as a works driver road testing specialist types and running around the country with a 7.5 tonner hauling sub contract components.
The council job with hindsight wasn’t bad drove some interesting trucks and plant haulage/tipper/bulker work around Surrey beat London building retail distribution zb.
Night trunking was at least mostly what I’ve described distance trailer swaps with the downside that night work trashes your daytime life.
Which part of the only ‘feedback’ I got from my employers was commendations for my work didn’t you understand.
Yes I got the impression that wanting to climb the ladder to something better was/is a face fits lottery.
Now made worse by an industry that’s deliberately degenerating because the government wants to minimise the tonne/miles carried out by road.
Nothing will change that view or fact including your silly aspertions regarding my employment record.
It’s not me that’s moaning about a driver shortage.But I’ve provided the reasons as to why there is one in the least attractive dregs that make up an increasingly disproportionate amount of the industry.
To the point where retired truck drivers are literally having to compete with young people for car driving jobs for garages.Because they’d rightly rather do that than drive a scaffold or hiab truck around the same local streets.
Carryfast:
Let me guess it wasn’t rotated equally among all the drivers on their books.
Some were lumbered with the usual constant diet of zb while you were enjoying the life of reilly.
‘Life of Reilly’ is not something that’s ever been used to describe the job of an HSF driver 
And I did literally say you’re falling down thinking agencies are the be all and end all. I literally said it. That you clearly fell down expecting an agency to be the one for you.
Carryfast:
You know bs like need to be based locally for jobs involving a week or more away
Except I’ve never seen anyone say that is a requirement on that sort of work. I’m from South West Wales, I’ve worked for companies based on New Ross Ireland, Virginia Ireland, Nijmegen & Zwindrecht Holland, London, Liverpool, Bristol that I can remember. If companies that want you to be away for 1/2 weeks started only using local to them drivers they’d never send any trucks out!
May be if there is really a shortage they won’t be making drivers agree to any 5 from 7 , or have to do a Saturday or Sunday as part of their work. May be nights and weekends will see an increase in rates.
switchlogic:
Carryfast:
Let me guess it wasn’t rotated equally among all the drivers on their books.
Some were lumbered with the usual constant diet of zb while you were enjoying the life of reilly.
‘Life of Reilly’ is not something that’s ever been used to describe the job of an HSF driver And I did literally say you’re falling down thinking agencies are the be all and end all. I literally said it. That you clearly fell down expecting an agency to be the one for you.
Carryfast:
You know bs like need to be based locally for jobs involving a week or more away
Except I’ve never seen anyone say that is a requirement on that sort of work. I’m from South West Wales, I’ve worked for companies based on New Ross Ireland, Virginia Ireland, Nijmegen & Zwindrecht Holland, London, Liverpool, Bristol that I can remember. If companies that want you to be away for 1/2 weeks started only using local to them drivers they’d never send any trucks out!
HSF driver = life of reilly, were do you get your facts from Carryfast?
And regarding Switch’s first foray in to HGV driving I would suspect that Nolans was no face fit or a life of reilly but the point I’m making here is you have to start somewhere to gain experience, lower pay, lower spec vehicles etc but you are gaining experience. Did you expect to walk in to a job going over the water in a brand new V8 with only having driven a Leyland Clydesdale around Surrey or doing trailer swops on nights?
pete smith:
the point I’m making here is you have to start somewhere to gain experience, lower pay, lower spec vehicles etc but you are gaining experience. Did you expect to walk in to a job going over the water in a brand new V8 with only having driven a Leyland Clydesdale around Surrey or doing trailer swops on nights?
^ That bollox is the oxymoron which ironically proves my case.
So you have to ‘‘start somewhere’’ ‘to gain experience’ but ‘starting somewhere’ by driving a muilti lift wagon around Surrey and class 1 uk night trunking won’t cut it to get that start because you’ve effectively said it won’t yourself.
So tell us what will cut it to get that ‘start’ ?.(Unless your face fits to the point where for some a few years driving a bus will cut it ).
The ‘experience’ thing is just a scam reserving the best work for a chosen few and them then looking after their own by kicking those considered as not worthy down the ladder.
So let’s get this right no ‘experience’ needed to drive a scaffold or hiab wagon around the local streets or for local multi drop work new drivers welcome.
But international work, or even decent uk distance work, or even local tipper/bulker work then suddenly ‘experience’ matters, with the exception of night trunking obviously and we all know what’s meant by ‘experience’ when you’ve said yourself that no end of local hiab/multi lift/multi drop etc etc will cut it.You’ve also effectively said that over decade of uk trunking isn’t good enough to climb the ladder to the first international trunk run.You know the runs that the firm has subbed out to younger ex bus drivers with a penchant for crashing.
Which part of,
older over 60 semi retired workers having to compete with young people for car driving work for local garages.Because those younger people don’t want to be lumbered with the zb dregs of what increasingly forms the uk road transport industry and the laughable, arbitrary nepotism that applies, regarding climbing the ladder to something better,
didn’t you understand.
Also disillusioned East Euro drivers deciding that it’s better to do better quality work at home for less money but lower living costs.
There’s your driver ‘shortage’.
Dont know if there a driver shortage or not but the agencies are panicking, rates gone up £2-3hr and agencies I haven’t worked for in years keep phoning.
DCPCFML:
Is that you, Winseer?
Nah…
Can’t be Winseer, the post doesn’t run to 50+ lines with three Ytube links, three links to other articles on the net and two pic links.
Carryfast:
Seems to fit the idea that those doing the right work want to keep it obviously by kicking others down the ladder.
Obviously a good enough ‘attitude’ to hold 3 jobs covering more than 20 years and commendations for my work during the last which covered almost 15 years.
Strange how the ‘attitude’ ‘experience’ ( face fits ) test doesn’t seem to apply to the ‘wrong’ type of work.You know the type of work which has a ‘shortage’ of drivers wanting to do it.
Seems a bit of a paradox to be proud of working for 15 years for a company which didn’t do continental work, then moaning that you never did any continental work,
Harry, I bet you miss those long runs with no tracking, mobile phone, bank cards, speed limiters, driver facing interior cab cameras, and cab phone where you may risk dying of food poisoning in a Turkish or Russian road side cafe let alone Legionnaires disease from their showers .
And the banter and camaraderie with fellow drivers at the evening meal when the jugs of red wine were on free flow .
Tarmaceater:
Harry, I bet you miss those long runs with no tracking, mobile phone, bank cards, speed limiters, driver facing interior cab cameras, and cab phone where you may risk dying of food poisoning in a Turkish or Russian road side cafe let alone Legionnaires disease from their showers .
And the banter and camaraderie with fellow drivers at the evening meal when the jugs of red wine were on free flow .
You mean…
When there was extra wine you didn’t order or were asked to to pay for, Armagnac/Amaretto/Chinchon that just appeared with the cafe solo/noir/negra without asking or the chef that came out and had a drink and a laugh with you?
The first driver to say Volvo Scania or Daf had to buy the brandies?
Nah, don’t miss those at all.
Harry Monk:
Carryfast:
Seems to fit the idea that those doing the right work want to keep it obviously by kicking others down the ladder.
Obviously a good enough ‘attitude’ to hold 3 jobs covering more than 20 years and commendations for my work during the last which covered almost 15 years.
Strange how the ‘attitude’ ‘experience’ ( face fits ) test doesn’t seem to apply to the ‘wrong’ type of work.You know the type of work which has a ‘shortage’ of drivers wanting to do it.
Seems a bit of a paradox to be proud of working for 15 years for a company which didn’t do continental work, then moaning that you never did any continental work,
More than half of those years were working for a ‘company’ that actually ‘did’ do continental work but which firstly refused transfer to its international trunk runs and then decided to sub them out to younger less experienced drivers like Switchlogic anyway.
So why no supposed ‘attitude’ issue in the case of the ‘wrong’ type of work.
But which suddenly supposedly becomes a problem in the case of the ‘right’ type of work.Let me guess not only will years of uk work not cut it but nor will commendations gained doing uk work.
We’re obviously talking about an elite division of the industry that applies its own special recruitment rules.
Or to put it simply there’s a shortage of drivers wanting to do zb work and there’s an arbitrary face fits recruitment policy applied to the over subscribed decent work.That includes everything from local refuse bulker work to uk distance work with the exception of nights because as we know night work really messes up your body clock and lifestyle.
Although that doesn’t stop day drivers wanting to hog the decent work to the point of then moaning about ‘too long’ away from home while othere drivers are lumbered with a lifetime of local zb.
So here we are 20 somethings would rather moan about the 9ph they get to drive cars for the local garage than earn a bit more to drive a scaffold or hiab wagon or do retail multi drop.
DCPCFML:
Odd days:
May be if there is really a shortage they won’t be making drivers agree to any 5 from 7 , or have to do a Saturday or Sunday as part of their work. May be nights and weekends will see an increase in rates.
Is that you, Winseer?
No just find it funny how easily people seem to accept something as normal and not miss what used to be. Then next will ranting on about parking. I don’t agree with either side having the upper hand that’s all.
Odd days:
DCPCFML:
Odd days:
May be if there is really a shortage they won’t be making drivers agree to any 5 from 7 , or have to do a Saturday or Sunday as part of their work. May be nights and weekends will see an increase in rates.
Is that you, Winseer?
No just find it funny how easily people seem to accept something as normal and not miss what used to be. Then next will ranting on about parking. I don’t agree with either side having the upper hand that’s all.
Oh I could rant all day over the demise of time 1.5 after 8 hours which used to be the industry standard on agency work 10+ years ago, but sadly my truck-steering bretheren think they’re on better money working 15 hours for Turners at £14/hr rather than £12/hr and time 1.5 after 8. As I keep saying, most drivers are thick as [zb].
Carryfast:
The council job with hindsight wasn’t bad drove some interesting trucks and plant haulage/tipper/bulker work around Surrey
At last, you agree with at least some of the criticism aimed at you.
(i would copy my post that this aligns to, but I don’t know how to quote from another post in to this one)
So, I said “the grass is greener…” and it appears you felt it was.
Panic Transport Rugby
New rates
£13 days - £14 nights
There must be a real shortage then. 
Beetlejuice:
Panic Transport Rugby
New rates
£13 days - £14 nights
There must be a real shortage then.
Yes we got notice of it earlier.
£12ph Class 2
£13ph Class 1
£14ph Class 1
There’s nail marks on the floor in the yard where management had to be forcibly dragged into a pay raise
Beetlejuice:
Panic Transport Rugby
New rates
£13 days - £14 nights
There must be a real shortage then.
Panic wouldn’t put the wages up at all if they thought they didn’t need to, their wages always have been average at best and probably not quite that. A year or so ago £10.50- £11 per hour was about the going rate for Rugby so it is at least moving in the right direction. Presumably they have been haemorrhaging drivers of late, maybe to the new Hermes.