I’ve been running with a drivers mate for a couple of weeks and it seems that as well as doing 100% of the driving I’m expected to do 50% of the lifting and carrying. Do you think this is fair? I don’t mind mucking in and doing as much as I can but I start to get a little tired five hours into my shift, especially as I have to drive a truck that’s only three years younger than my drivers mate. 
Warren T. Claim:
I’ve been running with a drivers mate for a couple of weeks and it seems that as well as doing 100% of the driving I’m expected to do 50% of the lifting and carrying. Do you think this is fair? I don’t mind mucking in and doing as much as I can but I start to get a little tired five hours into my shift, especially as I have to drive a truck that’s only three years younger than my drivers mate.
Its certainly not fair but i think its definatly expected, or it was when i used to do a job like that, it all depends on how well you get on with the mate or whether you want to start laying the law down to him if you dont care what he thinks then just tell him straight… “im doing all the driving you get out there and crack on”
Personally id rather just jump out so we could get the manual work done twice as fast, and in turn get home quicker
I’ve done pickfords a few times and was expected to drive to someone’s house, work as hard as the other guys emptying it (just stick the tacho on break 
) then drive the 5-6hours to wherever they were moving to. For £6.50/hr - stuff that! I’m back there at the end of next week but I’m putting a stop to that kind of thing this time - they can ask for a different driver, it’s fine by me 
done pickfords and other removal firms, you get paid more than loaders so whats the beef 
. its there in job description and well known in trade or do you want to be a chauffeur and just drive. just get on with the job in hand 
. read the small print , its part of job description 
When i used to have a drivers mate, the work was 50/50. Got the job finished quicker, plus it kept me fit. I’d feel guilty sitting on my behind watching someone else bust a gut. But that’s just me.
I think the nature of the work might determine how much the driver needs to do
what did you agree with at interview■■? job description ect? who is it for?
i agree with getz just crack on
The last place I worked we had one bloke who all he done was go out with other drivers when they had a hard day, lots of carrying up stairs he couldnt drive as he only had an automatic licence. He would do 90% percent of the carrying the driver would just have to take it off the van and stack it by the door and he would take it up the stairs. We used stair walkers to take the majority of stuff up but sometimes the racks wouldnt fit so it needed the driver to help aswell.
I liked going out with him he was a good laugh and made the day entertaining.
dle1uk:
what did you agree with at interview■■? job description ect? who is it for?i agree with getz just crack on[/quote
arghhhhhhhhhhh how many times
its GEZT GEZT GEZTNOT GETZ GETZ
GEZT GEZT
I.M NOT A HYUNDAI
NO WORRIES MATE JUST JOKIN
I’m assuming you get paid more than the drivers mate. If that’s the case, it will be because you do the driving as well as the lugging! What’s not fair about that? As for getting tired, you need to make sure you take your proper required breaks. If that means the mate is working while you’re not, so be it - you’re entitled to proper breaks. How would you feel if you were on the lower pay rate, but expected to do more of the donkey work because someone else was driving?
I thought the job title of ‘drivers mate’ gives the game away, he’s there to help the driver. Thats how i understood it anyway. Maybe some places have drivers especially for unloaders to chauffer them around!!!
it should probably be 50/50, when i think of handballing a load i would have been glad of a second man 
I’ve no problem with helping out or hard work and I do pull my weight but I’m there as a driver - that’s my job, carting stuff about and wrapping stuff is theirs. The worst bit’s the end of the day when you’re all tired, ache etc and everyone else gets their head down while you drive, how’s that fair!?
As for a driver’s mate, I’d try to keep it that you’re doing a similar amount but more like 60/40 on the quiet and if there’s ever that much of a rush try to find yer mate an easy job while you’re on your break - after all, he/she’s been sitting doing nothing while you work (drive) Obviously though, you can’t really expect a skinny 17yr old to graft as hard as say a fit 30yr old who’s been doing it for years.
Sorry no offence intented but do you want to be a chauffeur if so go drive a strecth limo if you want to be a truck driver then be prepared to get your hands dirty otherwise get another job that doesn’t involve manual labour cos thats what most of us do by very nature of the job.
definition of a driver
first do vehicle checks
second load vehicle or check its loaded correctly
third check load is correct and loaded proper with paperwork
fourth check route
fifth drive there
sixth deliver load in whatever manner is required (handball/fork truck/etc)
seventh wash hands after getting them dirty
eighth drive back to depot
ninth feel good about doing a days graft
tenth go home
simples really
thats what being a truck driver is all about
bet that surprised you
only in fun
It’s not graft, getting my hands dirty, pulling my weight etc that I’ve got a problem with. When you think about it, I’m doing as much as them PLUS the driving - which has been lincoln to exeter on top of a days work, after dropping the lads off at base so they can go home. (they collect people from the nearest depot at the other end).
Why would I want to do that when I get the same money for checking a truck over, driving somewhere, put it on a bay and wait for the green light, collect paperwork and drive back - see my point?
As it happens though, I dont like having other people in the truck with me so I don’t think I’d wanna be a chauffer
No offence taken though, just wanted to clear things up. Brakes tomorow - Boooo!
i used to be a drivers mat eback when i was 18, did 8 months on the bins going round butchers collecting their waste meat.
generally i did most of the bins at the smaller pickups, when we got to our larger pick ups it was 50/50
thats how we worked and we got on fine that way, plus when i was in the truck i was usually sleeping…even between pickups lol.
gogzy that sounds quite fair.
As driver, i’d be tempted to lay out the ground as soon as we left the yard along the lines of:
“I’m an experienced driver, that’s my job. You can’t help me with the driving because you don’t have the experience & qualification.”
“Your job is the ■■■■■■■. However, i do have the experience & qualification to help you with that IF you are polite & respectful towards me!”
I’d be a little more tactful as to how it was put accross if the DM was older.
we didnt even speak about how we were going to do this it just generally went that way, usually because while id be emptying the bins the driver would be off sorting out the paper work or something or collecting money (i hated that bit so avoided dealing with money and still do to this day)
but this was all back in the day before i could drive trucks.
In the golden days, the drivers mate was your ■■■■■ and he did as much as you told him to do, otherwise he was replaced by a fresh new 16 year old A TK Bedford was the nearest thing to a walk through cab, and you could reach across and educate any new mates if they misbehaved. If they did it too often, it was a long walk home
I would say that the role of a driver normally involves unloading one’s vehicle. If you have a drivers mate then he is there to help you, not do most of the work for you. On the rare occasions we multiman it’s always 50/50 but then we are nearly always multimanned with another driver but we just get on with it.