Yesterday for the first time I have witnessed the shocking maneuvering skills of our Eastern European friends.
I was on a building site offloading artics one at a time. They all had to do a simple reversing exercise into a large access gate then back up to my wagon.
First in was a wag and drag and nicely done with just one little shunt followed by 3 artics who all done it without shunts.
Then along comes this clown that just could not do it. Im not the sort of person watch somebody struggle so I walk over and bank him in. However the clown was taking no notice of my hand signals or my voice commands and it took him 9 attempts just to get in the gate. A further 4 attempts to reverse up to my wagon in a straight line failed and he almost hit a load of parked cars. (And no the site was not tight)
After he finally gets into position I go and have a chat and asked him if he was new or just passed his test. It was at this point that I discovered he was EE when he got angry and said he has been driving many years!!
Which got me thinking has the haulage industry sunk so low that we have to import the clowns now?
Send in the clowns [emoji14]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Awful aint it? 
and it’s ALL of them as you say.
Especially as by the same token, ALL Brit drivers are equally efficient experts in a truck, …as we all see everyday. 
msgyorkie:
Yesterday for the first time I have witnessed the shocking maneuvering skills of our Eastern European friends.
I was on a building site offloading artics one at a time. They all had to do a simple reversing exercise into a large access gate then back up to my wagon.
First in was a wag and drag and nicely done with just one little shunt followed by 3 artics who all done it without shunts.
Then along comes this clown that just could not do it. Im not the sort of person watch somebody struggle so I walk over and bank him in. However the clown was taking no notice of my hand signals or my voice commands and it took him 9 attempts just to get in the gate. A further 4 attempts to reverse up to my wagon in a straight line failed and he almost hit a load of parked cars. (And no the site was not tight)
After he finally gets into position I go and have a chat and asked him if he was new or just passed his test. It was at this point that I discovered he was EE when he got angry and said he has been driving many years!!
Which got me thinking has the haulage industry sunk so low that we have to import the clowns now?
robroy:
Awful aint it?
Especially as by the same token, ALL Brit drivers are equally efficient experts in a truck, …as we all see everyday.
Your missing my point Rob…yes we have always had the idiots but have we really sunken so low that we need to import them as well?
Maybe he was just having a bad day. Or is a newbie but to proud to admit it.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
we have the simplest outside loading ramp in the world to back onto, in the gate , down the yard turn right then straight reverse onto the bay. I got so fed up with one the other week after umpteen attempts at a straight reverse, I went and asked him if he wanted me to put it on for him , he came out that left hand seat like a cork , so the old fat bald geezer out the office put the EE artic on the bay for him.
msgyorkie:
robroy:
Awful aint it?
Especially as by the same token, ALL Brit drivers are equally efficient experts in a truck, …as we all see everyday.Your missing my point Rob…yes we have always had the idiots but have we really sunken so low that we need to import them as well?
Yeh ok, fair enough, but my point is there is an ongoing stereotypical theme on this forum that ALL ‘‘Foreign drivers’’ are basically…crap.
The less intelligent amongst us ignorantly tend to include the Dutch, the Germans, Belgians and anybody who is not a native Brit, and it just tends to get on my ■■■■ a bit that is all.
Especially as I have had the misfortune to meet these type of pricks and their attitudes first hand, when driving non UK trucks myself in the past…until I opened my gob , when the usual reply was ‘‘Oh sorry mate, I just thought you were a foreigner’’ …as if that excused the abuse.
There is also at least one member on here who is a Brit, who drives an EE regd truck, I bet he gets even more ■■■■ than I did.
robroy:
msgyorkie:
robroy:
Awful aint it?
Especially as by the same token, ALL Brit drivers are equally efficient experts in a truck, …as we all see everyday.Your missing my point Rob…yes we have always had the idiots but have we really sunken so low that we need to import them as well?
Yeh ok, fair enough, but my point is there is an ongoing stereotypical theme on this forum that ALL ‘‘Foreign drivers’’ are basically…crap.
The less intelligent amongst us ignorantly tend to include the Dutch, the Germans, Belgians and anybody who is not a native Brit, and it just tends to get on my ■■■■ a bit that is all.
Especially as I have had the misfortune to meet these type of pricks and their attitudes first hand, when driving non UK trucks myself in the past…until I opened my gob , when the usual reply was ‘‘Oh sorry mate, I just thought you were a foreigner’’ …as if that excused the abuse.
There is also at least one member on here who is a Brit, who drives an EE regd truck, I bet he gets even more [zb] than I did.
Just to fan the flames further…he was also an agency driver. 
It’s also worth remembering that in the case of foreign drivers coming to work in this country that they will have spent most of their lives driving on the right side of the road in left hand drive vehicles.
To expect them to get it spot on right in a right hand drive truck on the wrong side of the road straight away could be a bit unrealistic.
When I first drove a left hand drive truck for a company in this country I scared the living crap out of the transport manager (and myself) who was with me for an assessment and guidance.
For those that have never driven a truck with the steering wheel on the opposite side to which you’re used to, yes it gets wasywirh time, but how long that time is varies wildly from a few hours to never getting the hang of it.
Isn’t it about time we just accepted we are all drivers facing the same problems regardless of which country we originated from, and regardless of where we are on the knowledge and experience journey through life and got on with helping each other and showing some of the camaraderie that now seems to be so sadly missing.
Some EE drivers are actually good drivers, the majority I have witnessed first hand though are sadly as the OP has witnessed… I am not in favor of these drivers regardless of their skills especially of the ones that lack them. It is not good for our industry in general, they are an influence in keeping our wages low, they represent a real HSE concern with regards to some of them simply cannot communicate in English, some have a total disregard or care free attitude towards our regulations. I am in no way racist or anything else you would care to label me for adopting my view on EE drivers. I also acknowledge the fact we have bad drivers ourselves, the difference there being that is usually the fault of our industry’s lack of training and the hauliers fault for not permitting the time to double up until they are ready or make the grade. We will continue to import these drivers for as long as they are allowed to work here. It is of our own doing the state our industry is in.
If an EE driver had come in and done the job perfectly, would you have made a post about that?
I refused to help the one that…
Stood on the catwalk looking down the suzies wondering which one went where.
There’s helping a driver out and then there’s assisting an idiot to go out and quite possibly wipe himself and a small family car out.
wood fuel:
If an EE driver had come in and done the job perfectly, would you have made a post about that?
Why would you make a post about that. Are you suggesting there is no problem with the many EE drivers? Should we look the other way and ignore it because they are from EE? Don’t want to upset them but I am afraid something needs addressing. The OP makes a valid point.
UKtramp:
wood fuel:
If an EE driver had come in and done the job perfectly, would you have made a post about that?Why would you make a post about that. Are you suggesting there is no problem with the many EE drivers? Should we look the other way and ignore it because they are from EE? Don’t want to upset them but I am afraid something needs addressing. The OP makes a valid point.
More to the point, had it been a British born and bred driver who had the same problem would the OP have deemed that worthy enough to post about it?
But then of course it’s only EE drivers that can’t reverse to save their lives, the British are all perfect.
Perhaps he was in a different unit than he’s used to driving. Might sound stupid but I had to move a motor in our yard the other day (just other a couple of spaces to make it easier for the guys getting back) and I could not line the thing up for love nor money.
The unit in question was a midlift whereas mine is a tag axle. It took me 4 shunts. I was ashamed.
Ever thought that maybe he was having an off day? Or that maybe he just misjudged his angle to begin and it got worse from there? Especially with you and a building site full of workman no doubt looking on. And as for calling him a clown for not following your hand signals, ive seen “banksmen” try to give instructions and its like they’re trying to swat a fly and direct a plane in to land at the same time.
I have put trailers on a bay first time with no shunts. Ive blind sided onto a ramp in the rain first time yet sometimes I can need many shunts when the trailer just wont turn or I get it lined up wrong. With acres of space and plenty of room to get it lined up straight and come straight back it can STILL go pear shaped and end up weaving all over the place.
Youve got no evidence hes a bad driver, only that he had a bad morning. For all you know the guy could be a better driver than you and I for the other 363 days of the year
BradCarTransporter:
It took me 4 shunts. I was ashamed.
Only 4? Pffft. Amateur. Ive been in double figures with shunts before. Now THATS embarrassing! 
UKtramp:
wood fuel:
If an EE driver had come in and done the job perfectly, would you have made a post about that?Why would you make a post about that. Are you suggesting there is no problem with the many EE drivers? Should we look the other way and ignore it because they are from EE? Don’t want to upset them but I am afraid something needs addressing. The OP makes a valid point.
When people have prejudices, they ALWAYS find evidence to reinforce them.
There is plenty of evidence around, don’t play the racist card please.
I must admit that I’ve seen quite a few incidents of bad reversing lately. I’m not sure whether they’re new drivers or not but 12 shunts to get on a bay seems excessive, I would class the manoeuvre onto this particular bay as quite a simple one. The only reason I didn’t offer to help was because our shunter driver had already offered help.
On Monday night this week I witnessed one driver crash into a stationary shunter unit and rip his wheel arch off. Then less than 5 mins later another driver was driving out of the yard with his landing legs still down.
Whether all these incidents are down to inexperienced drivers or just bad driving is hard to say really but they are getting more frequent at our place.
Just one last thought though. At our place we’ve had Romanian drivers turn up to drive that we’ve had to send home as they just can’t drive a truck and didn’t have a clue about anything. Turns out that in their country their licence allows them to drive an agricultural tractor and pull a trailer. That same licence allows them to drive an artic and trailer in this country!! Hence why they get sent straight out of the gates in this situation as they’re not fit or able to hook up and drive.
Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk