Lorry driver shortage

TheTallGuy · Sep 2, 2021

glasshouse said:
So when i callled the power company and asked them to raise their wires as they were too close to larger machinery, why did they come and do it?
Your answer would have been pay attention and drive a fergie

Firstly, overhead cables are covered by statutory regulations concerning minimum heights and clearances, secondly I presume that the wires are crossing your land courtesy of a wayleave that can be withdrawn so it is in the interest of the DNO to keep you on side.

By your logic a supermarket could set up next door to you & not pay for the road to be upgraded or put in any noise mitigation measures...

glasshouse · Sep 2, 2021

TheTallGuy said:
Firstly, overhead cables are covered by statutory regulations concerning minimum heights and clearances, secondly I presume that the wires are crossing your land courtesy of a wayleave that can be withdrawn so it is in the interest of the DNO to keep you on side.

By your logic a supermarket could set up next door to you & not pay for the road to be upgraded or put in any noise mitigation measures...

You have lost thr plot entirely

kiwi pom · Sep 2, 2021

betweenthelines said:
It's the number and type of accidents that reflect the driver's ability

Used to be on a weekly conference call where about a dozen transport depots discussed recent accidents at their sites. It was quite an eye opener to me how many times the same names cropped up-and also how many times an accident involved a truck hitting an immovable object!

A driver being involved in a "moving traffic" accident is one thing, a driver hitting a parked car (or a railway bridge) is an entirely different matter.

We used to have a weekly conference call (actually it was called smoko time) when we discussed all the feck ups that the office staff made.
You wouldn't believe the stupid mistakes they made in planning and dispatch over and over again. If we made a mistake, we were drug tested, investigated and potentially fired. The shiny arses were promoted, to get them into a managers role where they couldn't cause as many issues on the ground.

kiwi pom · Sep 2, 2021

Bridges should all be above a certain height in my opinion. The really low ones are obvious and strikes really shouldn't happen but its easy to forget some of the more marginal ones if you regularly change vehicles or loads. Still shouldn't happen but it does.
Fortunately the GPS tech exists to mark a problem area and sound an alarm if you are approaching a potential problem, to give an extra level of protection. How many companies use it though?
Everyone makes mistakes at work, drivers mistakes are just more obvious and there for the world to see.

Daddy Pig · Sep 3, 2021

Breakthru said:
Work camps paying minimum wage for very hard work. 4 in this area.
The owner of one drives a £750k car so the present type of capitalism that wealth trickles down from the top is fatally flawed. A lorry driver I spoke to recently was on £10/hr but the boss has a lamborghini. I told him go home tell him you need 14 min for class 2 and 19 for class 1. My views are now correct as he can go to Waitrose /Arla for that plus golden hello.
There is no way you would slice fish in freezing damp conditions for min wage so why expect others. Flip side is economy will boom complete with inflation as giving the plebs money they spend it, don't save it.
Low wage days are over and if tesco et al don't pay they will have no fruit or veg. Ploughed and into cereals. Where B of E will get it wrong is to raise interest rates creating more inflation not less. Stop printing money and reverse QE rapidly. Who will suffer, the stock market and bankers. Big deal they create their own money anyway. More debt in the world than assets as per Greensill.

melted welly said:
Some sites don’t allow children in, full stop, port authorities for example. I think it just removes the need for a whole section of enhanced risk assessment and protocols.

In that situation they hide under a blanket on the bunk

Lincoln75 · Sep 3, 2021

I think the figures show self employed people earn 40% less than employees on average with like for like jobs , with their being a shortage of semiskilled workers and significant pay increases I think many self-employed will pack in and work for someone else, more pay, better conditions, no tax/vat to worry about and paid holidays, with agency work you can pick your days and hours. No brainer.

Hilly · Sep 3, 2021

Lincoln75 said:
I think the figures show self employed people earn 40% less than employees on average with like for like jobs , with their being a shortage of semiskilled workers and significant pay increases I think many self-employed will pack in and work for someone else, more pay, better conditions, no tax/vat to worry about and paid holidays, with agency work you can pick your days and hours. No brainer.

Actually agree with you , the system is all weighted in favour of the employee! Only a mug would be self employed today.

had e nuff · Sep 3, 2021

Hilly said:
Actually agree with you , the system is all weighted in favour of the employee! Only a mug would be self employed today.

I'm one of those mugs i guess. Looking at wages being offered I'm wondering if it's time for a change.

betweenthelines · Sep 3, 2021

Think you'll find Driver work through an Agency is usually self employed

glasshouse · Sep 3, 2021

P

had e nuff said:
I'm one of those mugs i guess. Looking at wages being offered I'm wondering if it's time for a change.

Put your charges up

TheTallGuy · Sep 3, 2021

betweenthelines said:
Think you'll find Driver work through an Agency is usually self employed

I think that you'll find IR35 has put paid to most of that.

glasshouse · Sep 3, 2021

Whst

TheTallGuy said:
I think that you'll find IR35 has put paid to most of that.

What is ir 35

Ffermer Bach · Sep 3, 2021

had e nuff said:
I'm one of those mugs i guess. Looking at wages being offered I'm wondering if it's time for a change.

I remember I used to deal with a self employed builder, he then got a job with a large contractor as a site manager, I met him on his new site and I remember him telling me, it's great, I have just been on holiday and I was earning money while I did nothing!

Highland Mule · Sep 3, 2021

glasshouse said:
Whst

What is ir 35

IR 35 is a taxation rule that was frequently abused, and is now being increasingly targeted by the tax authorities. It’s very similar to the old 714 tax code, if you remember that.

Previously, workers would set up limited companies and use them as a vehicle to be a “disguised employee”, getting their client/employer to pay the Ltd Co (which was owned by the employee), and then paying themselves from the Ltd Co, but in a very tax efficient way (no NI, minimum wage, most income as share dividend). Clients liked it because they could pay less/ have fewer employees on the books/ deal with companies and workers liked it because they paid less tax & NI.

Recent rule changes and enforcement focus have moved the responsibility for any disputed back tax payments from the worker’s Ltd Co to the client, which has made clients very wary of using them.

Important to note it’s different from being self employed - an IR35 worker is an employee, but of a Ltd Co that they probably are the only shareholder of too.

Will 1594 · Sep 3, 2021

JP1 said:
Children and others riding in wagons .....

Progress !

My formative years I used to go out with my Grandad in the walking patient's ambulance, many rides in wagons all over

As a boy you learn so much, people, geography, work ethic ..............

That’s when the apprenticeship starts j p
You look at the farm kids or plant kids who sat in from early age , my lad used to sit on passenger seat for hours , then silence be a sleep on your jacket on floor , then you get pushed off seat , it let me have ago , sadly now a lot what are keen have to wait till 13 or even 17/18 now and have missed out on those years of learning
Right wrong , depends

JP1 · Sep 3, 2021

Will 1594 said:
That’s when the apprenticeship starts j p
You look at the farm kids or plant kids who sat in from early age , my lad used to sit on passenger seat for hours , then silence be a sleep on your jacket on floor , then you get pushed off seat , it let me have ago , sadly now a lot what are keen have to wait till 13 or even 17/18 now and have missed out on those years of learning
Right wrong , depends

I'd never put my 10 year old in danger moving stock but he can already "read" them health wise and knowing how to handle and move them. How do you start with a novice adult , bit like a collie it's much easier to start young ....

Renaultman · Sep 3, 2021

had e nuff said:
I'm one of those mugs i guess. Looking at wages being offered I'm wondering if it's time for a change.

I am too, mate is a wage slave and finishes cattle too, and says it's really easy being an employee and having your own business.

hoff135 · Sep 3, 2021

I think there are pros and cons with both. Probably plenty self employed people would be better off working for someone else but I'm sure plenty are better off running their own show. I've never been on paye and can't see me ever going that route but who knows

TheTallGuy · Sep 3, 2021

glasshouse said:
Whst

What is ir 35

A few years back the HMRC decided to crack down on what constitutes self-employed for taxation purposes (different to the requirements for employment law purposes) & it was decided that an individual driving a clients' vehicle on a job set up by the client wasn't "self employed" - i.e. they are providing the same service as an employee would otherwise do & should be treated as such for taxation purposes & thus the pay attracts employers NI. HMRC decided that it would be down to the employer to make good on any unpaid tax & NI from incorrect self-employed status & so there was no benefit to the employer in trying that dodge.

The other dodge that was used (increasingly after the previous crack down) was for self employed drivers to set themselves up as a Ltd company with only themselves as shareholders, Driver Ltd company bills the client company and then pays the bulk of the money as dividends which doesn't attract NI & has a lower tax rate compared to PAYE. Again HMRC have decided that under IR35 this is tax avoidance as the sole purpose of the Driver Ltd business is to avoid tax. Tighter rules and greater enforcement has again made this very unattractive for businesses as they become liable for the tax that the driver should have paid. The clamp down on IR35 enforcement has again highlighted the role of "self-employed" status and abuses of the system, which has fed back into tighter rules on what can constitute self-employed to the extent that even being an "Owner-Driver" doesn't automatically confer self-employed status if that person only ever drives for one client.

Woolless · Sep 3, 2021

unlacedgecko said:
I've previously been described as a professional fücking wankër...

Well, you've obviously studied very hard to get as good at it as you are. Well done

Lorry driver shortage

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0 %

Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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