Throwing in the Towel

[robinhood_1984]

I have done something about it. As of 3 weeks ago I no longer work there and now do a Monday to Friday job. Other than that there is nothing I can do as one sole foreign voice in a sea of ill content Canadian drivers who will none the less do nothing about it apart from join the never ending merry go round of chopping and changing jobs from one crap firm to another, to another and back to the first again.

If the authorities here were actually serious about safety they would be the ones addressing this issue and the likes of me and you wouldn’t have to keep spouting off to deaf ears about it. Sort out the method of driver payment and much of the rest will sort its self out.

[newmercman]

The reset under the old system was no more than a loophole, the rules were 70 in 8, yet you could do more than 70 in 8 by nicking a reset. This appalled the safety groups and was a bit of an own goal by the authorities.

The whole idea behind HOS rules from the FMCSA and safety groups point of view is safety, the big carriers like them as they create a level playing field, but that’s irrelevant here, it’s all about keeping tired drivers off the roads.

The conclusion drawn from the studies they did regarding that, was that 70hrs work in an 8 day period was a safe amount, so that’s what they mandated, with a provision to reset the clock by taking a 36hr break.

Unfortunately, the 36hr reset turned into the maximum time off some drivers got, it became the rule rather than the exception it was intended to be.

Now the loophole has been closed, because of the way it was taken advantage of by the carriers, they got away with it because the drivers let them.

Now the carriers have got to get their act together as they can no longer rely on dumbass drivers sitting around for nothing for a day in the middle of a trip, so they can make it home without a rest period.

It’s the way it’s always been done in Europe and that’s where we all learned our craft, there were hundreds of firms paying trip money that had drivers weekended or having to take a 36/45hr rest in the niddle if a trip, some drivers got paid, some didn’t, exactly the same as it is over here now.

Then driver wages went up significantly for British Drivers running on the continent, then we became too expensive and the Eastern Europeans took our work and with it our jobs.

That could happen here, there’s a place not too far away with millions of unemployed people who would love to earn half of what we earn and they wouldn’t be ■■■■■■ off at sitting for a couple of days resetting their book.

They can already apply for operating authority to run up here, at the moment they can’t do cabotage, but that was how it was when things were good for the UK hauliers, look how that changed.

It only takes a bit of lobbying by, say Proctor & Gamble, Coca Cola, Cargill, Monsanto or any other conglomerate and laws will be passed that allow it to happen over here too.

It could be the increased costs from hourly pay that flips that switch, so be careful what you wish for…it may come true

[spacemonkeypg]

newmercman:
The reset under the old system was no more than a loophole, the rules were 70 in 8, yet you could do more than 70 in 8 by nicking a reset. This appalled the safety groups and was a bit of an own goal by the authorities.

The whole idea behind HOS rules from the FMCSA and safety groups point of view is safety, the big carriers like them as they create a level playing field, but that’s irrelevant here, it’s all about keeping tired drivers off the roads.

The conclusion drawn from the studies they did regarding that, was that 70hrs work in an 8 day period was a safe amount, so that’s what they mandated, with a provision to reset the clock by taking a 36hr break.

Unfortunately, the 36hr reset turned into the maximum time off some drivers got, it became the rule rather than the exception it was intended to be.

Now the loophole has been closed, because of the way it was taken advantage of by the carriers, they got away with it because the drivers let them.

Now the carriers have got to get their act together as they can no longer rely on dumbass drivers sitting around for nothing for a day in the middle of a trip, so they can make it home without a rest period.

It’s the way it’s always been done in Europe and that’s where we all learned our craft, there were hundreds of firms paying trip money that had drivers weekended or having to take a 36/45hr rest in the niddle if a trip, some drivers got paid, some didn’t, exactly the same as it is over here now.

Then driver wages went up significantly for British Drivers running on the continent, then we became too expensive and the Eastern Europeans took our work and with it our jobs.

That could happen here, there’s a place not too far away with millions of unemployed people who would love to earn half of what we earn and they wouldn’t be ■■■■■■ off at sitting for a couple of days resetting their book.

They can already apply for operating authority to run up here, at the moment they can’t do cabotage, but that was how it was when things were good for the UK hauliers, look how that changed.

It only takes a bit of lobbying by, say Proctor & Gamble, Coca Cola, Cargill, Monsanto or any other conglomerate and laws will be passed that allow it to happen over here too.

It could be the increased costs from hourly pay that flips that switch, so be careful what you wish for…it may come true

Do you pop kids balloons at birthday parties?

[newmercman]

Spacemonkeypg:

newmercman:
The reset under the old system was no more than a loophole, the rules were 70 in 8, yet you could do more than 70 in 8 by nicking a reset. This appalled the safety groups and was a bit of an own goal by the authorities.

The whole idea behind HOS rules from the FMCSA and safety groups point of view is safety, the big carriers like them as they create a level playing field, but that’s irrelevant here, it’s all about keeping tired drivers off the roads.

The conclusion drawn from the studies they did regarding that, was that 70hrs work in an 8 day period was a safe amount, so that’s what they mandated, with a provision to reset the clock by taking a 36hr break.

Unfortunately, the 36hr reset turned into the maximum time off some drivers got, it became the rule rather than the exception it was intended to be.

Now the loophole has been closed, because of the way it was taken advantage of by the carriers, they got away with it because the drivers let them.

Now the carriers have got to get their act together as they can no longer rely on dumbass drivers sitting around for nothing for a day in the middle of a trip, so they can make it home without a rest period.

It’s the way it’s always been done in Europe and that’s where we all learned our craft, there were hundreds of firms paying trip money that had drivers weekended or having to take a 36/45hr rest in the niddle if a trip, some drivers got paid, some didn’t, exactly the same as it is over here now.

Then driver wages went up significantly for British Drivers running on the continent, then we became too expensive and the Eastern Europeans took our work and with it our jobs.

That could happen here, there’s a place not too far away with millions of unemployed people who would love to earn half of what we earn and they wouldn’t be ■■■■■■ off at sitting for a couple of days resetting their book.

They can already apply for operating authority to run up here, at the moment they can’t do cabotage, but that was how it was when things were good for the UK hauliers, look how that changed.

It only takes a bit of lobbying by, say Proctor & Gamble, Coca Cola, Cargill, Monsanto or any other conglomerate and laws will be passed that allow it to happen over here too.

It could be the increased costs from hourly pay that flips that switch, so be careful what you wish for…it may come true

Do you pop kids balloons at birthday parties?

[remy]

robinhood_1984:

remy:
Me bloody 'eads done in with all this !

I’m glad i’m just a lowly old trolley driver

Charles

I meant to ask before. Do you ever deliver to the Walmart in Newport, Maine? Thats the usual haunt for all of us Canadian Maritimes drivers to get our shopping heading south.

Yes, i’ve delivered to that store many times though not lately. I’ve seen many Canadian trucks there and only saw a Union Jack on one but he/she had curtains drawn.

When i was doing OTR years ago the term ‘reset’ was never used. I was gone 2 to 3 weeks then had time off when i got home. If you ran out of time or had to wait a day to load/unload the company payed for a motel and paid you layover pay. That was the nature of the beast as they say, but i should allso say most of us used to run as bent as a corkscrew. A lot of stuff was logged off duty and we’d back our logs up so we could show a day off and keep running. I know we did a lot of work for free but that’s how it was.

Ah yes, the good old days

Charles

[robinhood_1984]

newmercman:
The reset under the old system was no more than a loophole, the rules were 70 in 8, yet you could do more than 70 in 8 by nicking a reset. This appalled the safety groups and was a bit of an own goal by the authorities.

The whole idea behind HOS rules from the FMCSA and safety groups point of view is safety, the big carriers like them as they create a level playing field, but that’s irrelevant here, it’s all about keeping tired drivers off the roads.

The conclusion drawn from the studies they did regarding that, was that 70hrs work in an 8 day period was a safe amount, so that’s what they mandated, with a provision to reset the clock by taking a 36hr break.

Unfortunately, the 36hr reset turned into the maximum time off some drivers got, it became the rule rather than the exception it was intended to be.

Now the loophole has been closed, because of the way it was taken advantage of by the carriers, they got away with it because the drivers let them.

Now the carriers have got to get their act together as they can no longer rely on dumbass drivers sitting around for nothing for a day in the middle of a trip, so they can make it home without a rest period.

It’s the way it’s always been done in Europe and that’s where we all learned our craft, there were hundreds of firms paying trip money that had drivers weekended or having to take a 36/45hr rest in the niddle if a trip, some drivers got paid, some didn’t, exactly the same as it is over here now.

Then driver wages went up significantly for British Drivers running on the continent, then we became too expensive and the Eastern Europeans took our work and with it our jobs.

That could happen here, there’s a place not too far away with millions of unemployed people who would love to earn half of what we earn and they wouldn’t be ■■■■■■ off at sitting for a couple of days resetting their book.

They can already apply for operating authority to run up here, at the moment they can’t do cabotage, but that was how it was when things were good for the UK hauliers, look how that changed.

It only takes a bit of lobbying by, say Proctor & Gamble, Coca Cola, Cargill, Monsanto or any other conglomerate and laws will be passed that allow it to happen over here too.

It could be the increased costs from hourly pay that flips that switch, so be careful what you wish for…it may come true

So which is it to be then? We’re collectively all “dumbass’s” for not getting paid for our time or we will all collectively be “dumbasses’s” for demanding being paid for our time, which causes a domino effect and the opening the market to Mexican competition in the same way that 2004 heralded a huge death blow to road transport for Western European firms and then end up with no work at all?

[robinhood_1984]

remy:

robinhood_1984:

remy:
Me bloody 'eads done in with all this !

I’m glad i’m just a lowly old trolley driver

Charles

I meant to ask before. Do you ever deliver to the Walmart in Newport, Maine? Thats the usual haunt for all of us Canadian Maritimes drivers to get our shopping heading south.

Yes, i’ve delivered to that store many times though not lately. I’ve seen many Canadian trucks there and only saw a Union Jack on one but he/she had curtains drawn.

I’ve just purchased a Union Jack licence plate to screw on to my front bumper next to my licence plate so if you see a blue Kenworth T600 Anteater matching that description, it’ll be me. Unless the company take issue to my installation of said licence plate, which could be awkward as no self respecting Englishman, even those of us of half German decent lower our flag that easily in defeat!

[newmercman]

robinhood_1984:

newmercman:
The reset under the old system was no more than a loophole, the rules were 70 in 8, yet you could do more than 70 in 8 by nicking a reset. This appalled the safety groups and was a bit of an own goal by the authorities.

The whole idea behind HOS rules from the FMCSA and safety groups point of view is safety, the big carriers like them as they create a level playing field, but that’s irrelevant here, it’s all about keeping tired drivers off the roads.

The conclusion drawn from the studies they did regarding that, was that 70hrs work in an 8 day period was a safe amount, so that’s what they mandated, with a provision to reset the clock by taking a 36hr break.

Unfortunately, the 36hr reset turned into the maximum time off some drivers got, it became the rule rather than the exception it was intended to be.

Now the loophole has been closed, because of the way it was taken advantage of by the carriers, they got away with it because the drivers let them.

Now the carriers have got to get their act together as they can no longer rely on dumbass drivers sitting around for nothing for a day in the middle of a trip, so they can make it home without a rest period.

It’s the way it’s always been done in Europe and that’s where we all learned our craft, there were hundreds of firms paying trip money that had drivers weekended or having to take a 36/45hr rest in the niddle if a trip, some drivers got paid, some didn’t, exactly the same as it is over here now.

Then driver wages went up significantly for British Drivers running on the continent, then we became too expensive and the Eastern Europeans took our work and with it our jobs.

That could happen here, there’s a place not too far away with millions of unemployed people who would love to earn half of what we earn and they wouldn’t be ■■■■■■ off at sitting for a couple of days resetting their book.

They can already apply for operating authority to run up here, at the moment they can’t do cabotage, but that was how it was when things were good for the UK hauliers, look how that changed.

It only takes a bit of lobbying by, say Proctor & Gamble, Coca Cola, Cargill, Monsanto or any other conglomerate and laws will be passed that allow it to happen over here too.

It could be the increased costs from hourly pay that flips that switch, so be careful what you wish for…it may come true

So which is it to be then? We’re collectively all “dumbass’s” for not getting paid for our time or we will all collectively be “dumbasses’s” for demanding being paid for our time, which causes a domino effect and the opening the market to Mexican competition in the same way that 2004 heralded a huge death blow to road transport for Western European firms and then end up with no work at all?

I’m not in either group, as far as I’m concerned I hope that the situation remains the same. Lots of jobs for the bottom feeders who want to sit around for nothing and moan about it and a fair number of decent jobs for those who have a little more to offer.

I’m happy with the T&Cs at my job, if I wasn’t I would try to negotiate a better deal, or leave, not for the greater good of lorryists around the World, but for ME, some may say that’s a selfish attitude, but I say ■■■■■■■■ to that, when you start paying my bills you can have a say on how much I earn, until then I’ll carry on looking out for number one…

I will bet that Mexican trucks are allowed to perform cabotage in the USA within twenty years, the World is run by big business and for them it makes sense to allow it, the big US carriers will flag out a large portion of their fleet.

The saying that US transportation is 20yrs behind Europe is true, it will be true in every way once the Mexicans take over, they, like the Eastern Europeans, are cheaper and they’ll get the job done just as good.

You’ll hear the US drivers saying the Mexicans can’t drive blah blah blah, but some of them shouldn’t be allowed within a mile of a truck, so the Mexicans would need to be pretty bad to be worse!

[on_the_road_again]

Moan moan moan, whinge whinge whinge. Two drivers on here have quit jobs blaming the new hours of service. I believe they left because of crap jobs and they couldn’t add up to 70

[contractdriver]

On the road again:
Moan moan moan, whinge whinge whinge. Two drivers on here have quit jobs blaming the new hours of service. I believe they left because of crap jobs and they couldn’t add up to 70

Tell me where a good job is in Canada and i will make an enquiry! ,

I’m still looking for good a Canadian job (I still have my Licence, SIN, my Car, all my house contents and Canadian banks and credit card etc)

Where do you work ‘On the Road Again’? how many hours do you work? and how much do you take home?.. also how often do you get home

What would you consider a ‘good job’? and a good pay?.

Col

[robinhood_1984]

On the road again:
Moan moan moan, whinge whinge whinge. Two drivers on here have quit jobs blaming the new hours of service. I believe they left because of crap jobs and they couldn’t add up to 70

Who?

[newmercman]

contractdriver:

On the road again:
Moan moan moan, whinge whinge whinge. Two drivers on here have quit jobs blaming the new hours of service. I believe they left because of crap jobs and they couldn’t add up to 70

Tell me where a good job is in Canada and i will make an enquiry! ,

I’m still looking for good a Canadian job (I still have my Licence, SIN, my Car, all my house contents and Canadian banks and credit card etc)

Where do you work ‘On the Road Again’? how many hours do you work? and how much do you take home?.. also how often do you get home

What would you consider a ‘good job’? and a good pay?.

Col

You are kidding?

There’s a ton of jobs out there that pay min $4k nett a month, clean, easy work, 5/6 day trips, 10-12,000 easy miles a month.

Only you won’t find them in a backwater town in BC

Go to Vancouver and you can easily earn $0.50 a mile, plenty of firms with 5 day CA round trips, 2xCalgarys a week, or weekly Winnipeg round trips

[russjp]

contractdriver:

On the road again:
Moan moan moan, whinge whinge whinge. Two drivers on here have quit jobs blaming the new hours of service. I believe they left because of crap jobs and they couldn’t add up to 70

Tell me where a good job is in Canada and i will make an enquiry! ,

I’m still looking for good a Canadian job (I still have my Licence, SIN, my Car, all my house contents and Canadian banks and credit card etc)

Where do you work ‘On the Road Again’? how many hours do you work? and how much do you take home?.. also how often do you get home

What would you consider a ‘good job’? and a good pay?.

Col

Our drivers earn on average $2300 bi weekly (take home) for a normal shift pattern, away maybe 2 nights a week and home for the rest of the time - dont know if this enough for you or what you`re looking for just trying to help

[flat_to_the_mat]

Check your messages CD .

[pat_hasler]

CD, having gone as far as you have with regard to bringing your family over and from what I see on VB the wife and daughter seem to like it, I really thing it would be wrong to pack up and leave without exploring the chance of other driving work first, I would never consider taking them to the country you told me of on FB mate. I really hope you settle in Canada and find better employment.

[on_the_road_again]

contractdriver:

On the road again:
Moan moan moan, whinge whinge whinge. Two drivers on here have quit jobs blaming the new hours of service. I believe they left because of crap jobs and they couldn’t add up to 70

Tell me where a good job is in Canada and i will make an enquiry! ,

I’m still looking for good a Canadian job (I still have my Licence, SIN, my Car, all my house contents and Canadian banks and credit card etc)

Where do you work ‘On the Road Again’? how many hours do you work? and how much do you take home?.. also how often do you get home

What would you consider a ‘good job’? and a good pay?.

Col

You want me to do your research so you can point the finger at someone else without accepting responsibility for your own actions lmfao, have a read at your own signature…seems you were not as adaptable to change as you thought you may be.

[taffytrucker]

contractdriver:

On the road again:
Moan moan moan, whinge whinge whinge. Two drivers on here have quit jobs blaming the new hours of service. I believe they left because of crap jobs and they couldn’t add up to 70

Tell me where a good job is in Canada and i will make an enquiry! ,

I’m still looking for good a Canadian job (I still have my Licence, SIN, my Car, all my house contents and Canadian banks and credit card etc)

Where do you work ‘On the Road Again’? how many hours do you work? and how much do you take home?.. also how often do you get home

What would you consider a ‘good job’? and a good pay?.

Col

I’m home every weekend and on pretty good pay. There are plenty out there if you wanna look