Personally I’m really not bothered about Christmas bonuses, mostly as the management can use it to say how “nice they are being” in true Dickens style.
I know this year in haulage has been for some really tough, but ours oddly are bucking the trend and we have no idea why.
All we want for Christmas is the presumably 2% pay rise (aka inflation equaliser) “under review” from April…ideally this year without most of the letter moaning how much its costing them.
lolipop:
Job and no xmas bonus OR no job and no xmas bonus,not a hard decision in these times of unemployment
Is there “times of unemployement”?
We cannot get quality drivers for love nor money. And all the hauliers my way are adverstising.
There is goods locked up on docks that they are desperate to get shifted.
I would have thought its a drivers bonanza at the moment…unless you are one of those useless ones that batter the kit and cannot get from A to B without wetting yourself?
I think youre missing the point here: hauliers cant get it off the quay onto trailers. It isnt a lack of trucks, its a failure of the docks. Ships are cutting and running because turnaround times are too long. Boxes are then going elsewhere.
Aye but there is a massive backlog that will need shifting, creating (if even short term) work on the docks. Then Brexit, as has been mentioned before are we to see a massive upswing in unacommpanied trailers? Also creating work.
My lot have been flat out and we cannot keep up. There is work if you are a competent driver.
lolipop:
Job and no xmas bonus OR no job and no xmas bonus,not a hard decision in these times of unemployment
Is there “times of unemployement”?
We cannot get quality drivers for love nor money. And all the hauliers my way are adverstising.
There is goods locked up on docks that they are desperate to get shifted.
I would have thought its a drivers bonanza at the moment…unless you are one of those useless ones that batter the kit and cannot get from A to B without wetting yourself?
I think youre missing the point here: hauliers cant get it off the quay onto trailers. It isnt a lack of trucks, its a failure of the docks. Ships are cutting and running because turnaround times are too long. Boxes are then going elsewhere.
Aye but there is a massive backlog that will need shifting, creating (if even short term) work on the docks. Then Brexit, as has been mentioned before are we to see a massive upswing in unacommpanied trailers? Also creating work.
My lot have been flat out and we cannot keep up. There is work if you are a competent driver.
Who are the owners of these trailers? Who is shipping them and where, with what ships?
Unacc trailers take forever to unload and load on ferries. Longer turnaround times mean more boats and quays are needed. They need quay space to drop trailers. Dover certainly doesnt have the space. The train (as it is) is unusable for drops. Just in Time jobs will not be as efficient so more stock will need to be "stored on wheels". Faced with expense of this companies wont be using the UK in the future for manufacturing.
Longer trip times, more expensive ferries, more expensive haulage…
I know some reckon it will mean more droppers, but I reckon it is just a pipe dream.
msgyorkie:
You know there are other ports than Dover! Unacommpanied can utalise the longer routes
Of course they can. But why don`t they already?
Longer trip times, more expense. Milan to Sunderland with a couple of hrs to do a short sea crossing works. To drop a trl (where Zeebie?) check it pick up by tug load on boat, cross (to Hull?) tug off, check, collect and deliver would take much longer and likely cost much more. Units awaiting trailers on quayside ?
And where are the extra boats? Where are the spare tuggies and spare land at these other ports? Are there tuggies and land going spare EU portside?
Will all the trucks on the train now go Ro-Ro?
Ro-Ro takes longer to load/offload boats and that costs money. Every day longer for a load in transit means an extra load made, and on wheels, and that represents costs.
Although Europoort and Rotterdam is coping, The Zeebrugge / Hull route is now closed, the dock has been vacated, there are difficulties getting freight bookings from Europe for accompanied or unaccompanied traffic, the model doesn’t work now, its a large vessel ■■■■■■■ all day and only sails at night, they need to open the shorter Felixstowe RoRo routes again, 2 sailings per day. Yarmouth. Ipswich. Harwich. Tilbury. Dartford. Purfleet. Then pull them out of Kent and see what they lose.
Get the Ramsgate - Ostend
Sheerness - Flushing
Newhaven - Dieppe Folkestone- Boulogne routes opened back up for starters. Seems the be and end all
is that every thing has to be shipped Dover - Calais/ Coquelles - Folkestone.
Having said all that, theres no point considering it as good ol blighty wont be trading with mainland Europe for much longer
Suedehead:
Get the Ramsgate - Ostend
Sheerness - Flushing
Newhaven - Dieppe Folkestone- Boulogne routes opened back up for starters. Seems the be and end all
is that every thing has to be shipped Dover - Calais/ Coquelles - Folkestone.
Having said all that, theres no point considering it as good ol blighty wont be trading with mainland Europe for much longer
The Newhaven - Dieppe route is open however not for the faint hearted when there’s a breeze blowing
ever since the firm i first worked for driving u got a turkey every year and xmas do for a couple of yrs.then got took over by larger firm.the turkey still got hand out every year but we also got £10 a week which u got end of year of £520 which u get taxed on.but when u off sick u lost £10 for every week off.we still get it now but thsi year no turkey but £20 voucher for morrisons.end of day i think myself lucky to get it as most firms dont give anything at all.just wish they put it throug as exspences so we did not get taxed on it.
Suedehead:
Get the Ramsgate - Ostend
Sheerness - Flushing
Newhaven - Dieppe Folkestone- Boulogne routes opened back up for starters. Seems the be and end all
is that every thing has to be shipped Dover - Calais/ Coquelles - Folkestone.
Having said all that, theres no point considering it as good ol blighty wont be trading with mainland Europe for much longer
The Newhaven - Dieppe route is open however not for the faint hearted when there’s a breeze blowing
Its there, and I use it too. Fairly hassle free, normally. Up to three sailings a day, and up to (with no punters) 62 freight units on the Cote DAlbatre. Call that 200 a day being generous. Wont make a dent in Dovers thousands (7,000 up to 9,000 or more now) will it?
Dover and the Tunnel are in a different league to other routes.
We got a half day for working through the first lockdown, took mine Thursday (doctors appointment), didn’t take long to spot the flat O/S steer walking to the vehicle. Called in, 2 hours later the tyre fitter arrived, an hour later he’s finished, too late to do any work, had a burger, chatted to a few depot staff, went home.
My last employers, a family firm where I was the only employee for five years, usually presented me with a hamper at Christmas which was nice. That was eighteen years ago though, previously Tilcon gave us a ‘safe driving bonus’ which was a maximum of £20 (I think?) and we were taxed on it. However if you had damaged anything you lost most of it anyway. One local haulier used to give his two drivers a £5 note to spend but I have no idea if any bonusses are issued nowadays.
Forgot to add that just weeks ago we all had our annual meeting about how we are doing as a business and we we’re all told “great news guys we are 12.9% above our forecast” ,this is mainly due to the fact that we have increased the backloads and the general output has been higher and we we’re lead to believe a bonus was on the table but one of xpo managers (not from our depot) stopped it, so yes I’m thankful for my job and no I didn’t expect a large bonus but think the whole team deserved something even if it was just a thank you
jonboy80:
…but one of xpo managers (not from our depot) stopped it
That’s a bit which grates - you can guarantee someone higher up will be getting the bonuses.
But they always like to crow about how well they are doing, which usually translates as “how well the managers have covered up their screwups” where you have more than 2 layers of manager.
Now I’m starting to sound like Arthur Scargill.
Reading Windrush’s notes, I am surprised we’ve not heard about companies where the blue eyed boys are getting their bonuses and everyone else gets nada.
Our lot used to put on a very nice Christmas meal; transport laid on, partners invited, free bar before the sit down grub then drinks tickets afterwards. Usually a disco or entertainer after the meal. The sort of night out that you wouldn’t get much change out of a hundred and fifty quid for if you did it yourself. The drinks tickets were always good for a laugh cos we have one driver who counted them every year, moaned that there were less than the year before but still had beer left at the end of the night.
Since we were taken over by a bigger firm, that has gradually dwindled; last year they paid for the staff only to go to Cardiff for a day out, rugby match but no booze or food paid for. Missus and I would have taken advantage of the free coach trip to have a day out but no partners so we didn’t bother; and by all accounts we didn’t miss much.
Last Thursday, a company letter came through my door, thought it was usual corporate guff ( not big enough for a P45!) with a link on it for a £25 Amazon voucher. Better than nothing I suppose, times are hard, mustn’t grumble.
Still get the odd Christmas gift from a customer, mostly the smaller farmers; might be a banknote, but sometimes a couple of dozen eggs or my particular favourite last week, a large bag of freshly made free range pork sausages. At the other end of the scale, we have one customer with a large successful dairy who will give you a half pound of butter as though he’s granting you a knighthood!
£20 gift card. Considering it’s from a company which finishes 2020 at a considerable financial loss and isn’t likely to recover for at least 2 years (assuming the overall situation vastly improves by mid-2021 that is…) I’d say it’s a nice touch none the less.
Think I’ll award myself a bonus this year, I’ll decide who’s paying for it when I’m next invoicing
It’s going to be whoever recently ■■■■■■ me off the most + vat
