- Location
- Darlington
Great post.Putting a different slant on it from the lorry driver side, and I don't do it full-time,
But how would you or your staff like to be a driver on a lorry,
Average week, away Monday morning if lucky, as some away Sunday night.
Have to sit for upto 4.5 hours at the wheel before a break, and even then you cannot go far from the lorry, 45 minutes later your off again, after 4,5 hours need another break, go get a shower in a cesspit where some polish driver has left a mess after him.
grab some food out of a sh1thole of a truck stop, and back to the lorry, drive half hour to park outside the gates of tipping point next morning, wakened on and off through the night by traffic, phone home, then bed.
Next day repete the same, through to Friday night at soonest,
All along never far from the lorry, p1ssing in laybys , stuck in traffic, eating from not so good or fatty food vans or cafes, hassle from the office, and from customers where you deliver, problems getting loaded.
All the time trying to gain time by starting early about 4am, to miss traffic etc.
Then parked up at 7pm for the night, again in a layby, no toilet or food,
Call home and then bed, and about fecking 9 pm a boy racer with the latest sawn off exhaust pipe wakes you as he is off out, one would be ok, but there is usually 3 or 4 of them, fudge me around midnight there away home, same bloody noise again.
By Thursday evening you have had enough, so begrudgingly you pay for parking in a truck stop, as the company won't pay parking, fed and watered, alone with a shower, back to the lorry, phone home and then bed, just as you get off to sleep, a fecking fridge lorry parks beside you, the fridge engine runs most of the night, what a waste of parking money that is, and if it is not that, its the bloody ladies of the night knocking on the door wanting to know if you want company,
Anyhow Friday morning tipped and trundle to a farm for loading grain.
Bugger me the farmer expects the driver to sweep up in the store as loading,
Back to the mill, queue is mile long, 4 hours later your tipped, back to the yard, the gaffer wants a 5 minute job done, 2 hours later your finished at 6.30 and home for 7.
The kids and wife have missed you all week, and want to tell you everything that's happened, your mentally drained at bed time, have to make the most of it, as your away 4pm Sunday to do it again,
It at one time was a reasonable job, and made reasonable money,
However with the advent of minimum wage, then the living wage, the drivers only got rate of inflation in general, which means the wage gap has got a lot less over recent years, the night out money soon dwindles away, after buying breakfast, dinner and tea the next day, put together with the cost of getting your licence to drive, CPC training, medicals etc, its not attractive for many to become drivers as it where,
If there is an accident the police automatically blame the lorry driver,
DVSA pull lorries in and do their best to get a fine,
Tachograph has to be kept within the law, and on a break means on a break, no work is permitted,
Once was in a services on a break, 10 minutes later a plant lorry pulled in beside me,
Driver must of put Tachograph on break, got out went inside back out 10 minutes later back to his lorry, he opened the door and put something in his cab, he then walked around his lorry and pulled at the straps to check they were tight, back to the cab, the gestapo in the DVSA car came over, they checked and gave him a fine of £60, as checking his straps as it is classed as work, yet his Tachograph said he was on rest,
And that about sums it up, why there is a shortage of drivers