gogzy:
Why should I have to worry about what I’m saying? I’m not flagging vdb as a company, I’m having a go at the fact they allow their drivers to work obscene amount of hours and then turn round and not pay them for it, the fact we get lumped with the rhd fms for 3 weeks (2 weeks ain’t bad in them) all because the Germans who only do 2 weeks at a time refuse to drive them and it’s not because they can’t it’s cause they dont want to,
Last night we had to drag a truck out the holes at the trailer park exit, we phoned the 24 hour emergency number and as per usual no answer. I phoned my planner he couldn’t have given 2 [zb] about helping because the truck wasn’t from his department.
As I said before my problem is the office
And for the people who havnt worked with vdb it’s best you stay out of this discussion
Jesus, dont you ever stop moaning■■? You are clearly dis-heartened to put it lightly.
Either put up with and get on with the job you signed up to do or go home!!!
davepenn54:
Hi Steve, what I’d really like to know is Did you ever take GM up on his generous offer back in August of a trial/start with his company running out of Bury St; Edmonds.
If not why not
Are you working in transport now Driver, warehouse or office or have you ditched the transport game forever
I appreciate the fact that you are under no obligation to answer any of my questions but I’m only interested to see if you’ve really put your VdB experience behind you and moved on
Regards
Dave Penn;
I’m working as a Class 1 Driver for an Agency. Started on Days but I’ve been doing some nights as well. Love the job and I’m amazed what these trucks can do in the ‘right’ hands (not mine just yet ).
I’m not going to go into anymore detail on here, I’m sick of all the Trolls and 'When I’s. I’ll PM you if you are genuinely interested.
davepenn54:
Hi Steve, what I’d really like to know is Did you ever take GM up on his generous offer back in August of a trial/start with his company running out of Bury St; Edmonds.
If not why not
Are you working in transport now Driver, warehouse or office or have you ditched the transport game forever
I appreciate the fact that you are under no obligation to answer any of my questions but I’m only interested to see if you’ve really put your VdB experience behind you and moved on
gogzy:
Why should I have to worry about what I’m saying? I’m not flagging vdb as a company, I’m having a go at the fact they allow their drivers to work obscene amount of hours and then turn round and not pay them for it, the fact we get lumped with the rhd fms for 3 weeks (2 weeks ain’t bad in them) all because the Germans who only do 2 weeks at a time refuse to drive them and it’s not because they can’t it’s cause they dont want to,
Last night we had to drag a truck out the holes at the trailer park exit, we phoned the 24 hour emergency number and as per usual no answer. I phoned my planner he couldn’t have given 2 [zb] about helping because the truck wasn’t from his department.
As I said before my problem is the office
And for the people who havnt worked with vdb it’s best you stay out of this discussion
thats bang on its exploitation to many dont realy understand exactly what goes on over there with this mob… and what a fud lol that driver going in the hole at parking
gogzy:
Why should I have to worry about what I’m saying? I’m not flagging vdb as a company, I’m having a go at the fact they allow their drivers to work obscene amount of hours and then turn round and not pay them for it, the fact we get lumped with the rhd fms for 3 weeks (2 weeks ain’t bad in them) all because the Germans who only do 2 weeks at a time refuse to drive them and it’s not because they can’t it’s cause they dont want to,
And for the people who havnt worked with vdb it’s best you stay out of this discussion
they only allow certain drivers to work stupid hours because the drivers don’t say no, as for your eating arrangements its quite simple gogzy, as you’re driving along pull into a autohof or routier, park up and eat a meal. take an hour off because they’ll take it off your pay anyway. if your traffic idiot moans tell him to eff off eating is more important than his stupid schedules and thats the end of the matter. he can’t sack you for taking a break when they take your break out of your hours as you are simply following their work practice.
maybe they give you the RHD trucks because as a brit you’re used to them whereas the only thing the germans can drive that’s NOT RHD is a Panzer which is centre steared
gogzy:
Why should I have to worry about what I’m saying? I’m not flagging vdb as a company, I’m having a go at the fact they allow their drivers to work obscene amount of hours and then turn round and not pay them for it, the fact we get lumped with the rhd fms for 3 weeks (2 weeks ain’t bad in them) all because the Germans who only do 2 weeks at a time refuse to drive them and it’s not because they can’t it’s cause they dont want to,
Last night we had to drag a truck out the holes at the trailer park exit, we phoned the 24 hour emergency number and as per usual no answer. I phoned my planner he couldn’t have given 2 [zb] about helping because the truck wasn’t from his department.
As I said before my problem is the office
And for the people who havnt worked with vdb it’s best you stay out of this discussion
thats bang on its exploitation to many dont realy understand exactly what goes on over there with
this mob… and what a fud lol that driver going in the hole at parking
Lol it was funny we did rip the pee out of him and got plenty of pics. What happened though was the fob for the barrier had been knocked over a bit and he was in a rhd and couldn’t be bothered to get out the truck lol, he certainly wont live it down lol, we got him out though the garage said we should have left it there and were surprised we got it out lol
davepenn54:
Hi Steve, what I’d really like to know is Did you ever take GM up on his generous offer back in August of a trial/start with his company running out of Bury St; Edmonds.
If not why not
Are you working in transport now Driver, warehouse or office or have you ditched the transport game forever
I appreciate the fact that you are under no obligation to answer any of my questions but I’m only interested to see if you’ve really put your VdB experience behind you and moved on
Regards
Dave Penn;
I’m working as a Class 1 Driver for an Agency. Started on Days but I’ve been doing some nights as well. Love the job and I’m amazed what these trucks can do in the ‘right’ hands (not mine just yet ).
I’m not going to go into anymore detail on here, I’m sick of all the Trolls and 'When I’s. I’ll PM you if you are genuinely interested.
OK Steve, appreciate you responding to my questions. I am genuinely interested but there is no obligation to pm me with any more details unless you really want to. I’m just glad you stuck with it and have found something else, hope things work out for you.
Rob K:
Does anyone know if the bookies are taking bets on how long certain uk drivers will last at a certain dutch tanker company? I fancy a little flutter.
coming from the man who finds the A702 difficult
The above is a perfect example of what I meant when I said you come across as Mr Experience when you’re actually green as grass. Rob has far more experience than you, and you are judging him based on a road you know and he doesn’t. It’s this kind of comment that makes you look a fool.
newmercman:
I get paid by the mile, with waiting time thrown in if I’m hanging around more than two hours, but I don’t argue over paid miles versus miles driven or the odd half hour here and there, I work as hard as I can whilst I’m away, maxxing out my hours every day, so I can get back home again asap, then I look at my wages and as long as I’m happy with what’s going in the bank that’s all that concerns me, some weeks I’ll have earned every penny, if there’s an obstacle to be overcome, I’ll have found it, some weeks it’s like being paid to be on holiday, that’s trucking as far as I’m concerned
That’s how we work at our place, IN THE UK. And yes, before you all start, it’s perfectly legal, the local VOSA are more than aware of it and work closely with the Company on other things. Our OCRS is Green.
The stuff about not babysitting drivers is bang on. That’s what I’m finding so difficult to understand here, why a group of men with enough ■■■■■■■■ to come and slag the firm off on here suddenly become incapable of finding the ■■■■■■■■ to say no, or to stop and eat, or whatever. Unsocial hours and irregular mealtimes are the standard laments of the tramper, wherever you may be undertaking that work. It’s the nature of the job. As is planners pushing drivers to find out what they’ll do. It’s up to you to hold your ground and decide where your boundary is, then STICK TO IT.
This whole thread is just going 'round and 'round in circles. Either you can hack the job or you can’t. If you can’t, move on. Simple.
gogzy:
Last night we had to drag a truck out the holes at the trailer park exit, we phoned the 24 hour emergency number and as per usual no answer. I phoned my planner he couldn’t have given 2 [zb] about helping because the truck wasn’t from his department.
Was that the trailer park opposite the training room? The one with the tank traps
bullitt:
After trawling through these posts and watching the too-ing and frow-ing of the various arguments the really clear thing seems to be that some people will never make the grade as a “continental” truck driver all the time they have a hole in their collective backsides, no matter who you are working for. You may want to be able to say that that is what you do for a job but when it comes down to it you just cant hack it!
You work for a dutch company so you do things the dutch way, its not rocket science!!!
Anyway,what exactly did you expect to be doing for your 3 weeks away??..a little site seeing around the tourist trails?..maybe a few days parked up on the beach somewhere in southern Europe??..a long weekend in the cabbage patch, the pub, Macon services or some other ghastly equivalent■■?
You are there to work!!..for three weeks…nothing else, just drive, load, drive, tip, drive , load and sleep. If you have done the maximum hours then park up, get some food then kip!! Don’t harp on about the planners etc, just grow a pair of balls, state your case and your intentions and then DO IT!!! As has already been said, they will soon learn how far to push you, so either be a man and stand up or stop moaning about your lot and put a dress on!!
What you are doing seems easier than the way things were through the 80`s, then it was one hits the length and breadth of Europe then turn around and go and do it all again, coffee money for plod, ducking and diving on and off the nationals, knocking peages etc. Its plainly clear that some people here wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes doing things that way and therefore would never have even got a sniff at a European driving job.
You have got things well easy, its shame that you just don’t know it and that’s why there are a few characters who will NEVER make the grade.
In a nutshell, those that can,do, those that cant should either shut up with their whinging or (zb) off!!!..simples
And gogzy, a little bit of advise…dont bite the hand that feeds you. I feel you may soon be about to find out what that means exactly!!
Bullit you must be reading my mind
This is as soap is getting addictive reading please let end soon as it’s getting to the stage of just becoming a slanting match
gogzy:
Last night we had to drag a truck out the holes at the trailer park exit, we phoned the 24 hour emergency number and as per usual no answer. I phoned my planner he couldn’t have given 2 [zb] about helping because the truck wasn’t from his department.
Was that the trailer park opposite the training room? The one with the tank traps
Yes. On the exit gate, just lucky they didn’t have a fully loaded trailer on or there’s no way if getting it out easily. I don’t understand why it’s just narrower than the truck? I understand why there are there but the have changed the layout to the carpark so just fill the bloody things in and you won’t get damaged trucks
A few choices here as i see it and it’s very simple
go and try it out if you want but do a lot of research before you do
2)try and adjust to different working styles
3)dont try and work to different working styles
4)realise its just the job for you
realise it’s not the job for you
in both 5 and 6 learn from the experience
7don’t knock the company ,it’s not always there fault if it don’t meet your criteria and you may need a reference from them listen/learn from the guys that have done the “CONTINENTAL” work for a number of years and who understand that way of working
9)put any good/bad experience down to a learning curve and keep a diary of sorts so others may benefit from your experience (keep it factual and honest)
10) stop attacking peeps who try and give some advice/help
11) if you fail don’t dwell on it ,move on and learn from it
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and did you notice!!! not one person has been
criticised/lambasted/flamed/bullied/ridiculed/slagged/etc/etc
not having a go just a general comment,only done a little conti work myself(was a long long time ago)
Hurrah Merc0447 has taken the ‘soap opera’ onto page 30. if anybody remembers the short lived ‘Truckers’ drama from 1987 this thread has beat it hands down
This thread has also shown C5 how they should make a reallity docu-soap Eat your heart out ESL
I’ve been logging on everyday this week to keep up with the ‘drama’ love it
if you are genuinely interested.
listen/learn from the guys that have done the “CONTINENTAL” work for a number of years and who understand that way of working