Lorry driver shortage

[robs1]

The lorries themselves are a doddle to drive compared to a few years ago. Auto box, 500hp, cruise control etc. Like driving a big car for anyone with an aptitude for driving. Responsible yes but not difficult.
Its not like driving an Eaton twin splitter up Birdlip hill

Its the rest of the job that’s the hassle. Waiting times, deadlines. All the stupid rules. Busy roads.

My grandfather farmed at Brockworth court, my father said in the car going up birdlip hill you had to hold onto the gear lever it would push itself out of gear and you had to roll backwards to the bottom and have another go as it would start up from a standing start

 

[Henarar]

When I did my HGV training the instructor asked me what my previous experience of vehicles was. When I said tractors, he said he would have no problem teaching me the reversing part, as he found farm people were more used to having to use mirrors and manoeuvring in confined yards.

I drove an old Leyland Bison tipper on L plates a fair bit before I took lessons and my test, once I mastered the crash box the rest was easy enough including putting it in tight gateways on the handbrake and so on

 

[Henarar]

Yes.

I've told you before, get your cpc then get up the road to Bristol. Co Op are paying ltd company drivers £21/hr

I wouldn't want to drive for the co op, may go back to tipper work or some such but even that wouldn't be so much fun these days I wouldn't think

 

[deleted user 436632456]

Then put his prices up. How come his competitors can, it’s business

You have to remember that I'm talking about a guy that is a sub pulling trailers, it's not that simple.

The big wages that are being offered are all by the major retailers/processors/large hauliers with distribution contracts, the simple subby guy can't compete at all, it's always a take it or leave it.

£3,000 a week is a realistic enough figure to turn over with a unit, diesel man gets close to half of it, give the driver a grand and then add in HP/Hire costs, insurance, breakdowns, mortgage on a yard, transport manager salary etc etc and then try to take something for yourself.

There is also an unsavoury side to the world of subby haulage.. basically the unit is a large washing machine or "distribution centre "on wheels.. you have to compete against that too and they are always very competitive as need to be on the road.

 

[unlacedgecko]

You have to remember that I'm talking about a guy that is a sub pulling trailers, it's not that simple.

The big wages that are being offered are all by the major retailers/processors/large hauliers with distribution contracts, the simple subby guy can't compete at all, it's always a take it or leave it.

£3,000 a week is a realistic enough figure to turn over with a unit, diesel man gets close to half of it, give the driver a grand and then add in HP/Hire costs, insurance, breakdowns, mortgage on a yard, transport manager salary etc etc and then try to take something for yourself.

There is also an unsavoury side to the world of subby haulage.. basically the unit is a large washing machine or "distribution centre "on wheels.. you have to compete against that too and they are always very competitive as need to be on the road.

Lots of these subby firms can't find drivers as they can't match the wage offered by supermarkets and the like.

Big problems ahead unless the ferry trailer firms dramatically up their rates.

 

[Renaultman]

Or loading coke for Scunthorpe wasted too much time there only to be sent back after queuing ages for the weighbridge because you were 20kg over
Had some fun did some silly things but it was a different time when fun was socially acceptable
Would never go back to driving again

It's certainly not the same job as it was, must say I enjoy the bit of driving I do now but it's all farm related stuff and the gear we use is first class.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

It's certainly not the same job as it was, must say I enjoy the bit of driving I do now but it's all farm related stuff and the gear we use is first class.

Same here

 

[farmerfred86]

Its only a month until Sugarbeet season starts.... the haulage issues will last until the new year!

 

[glasshouse]

If the govt really wanted to help the haulage industry they would let truckers run on red deisel.
Fuel tax has strangled the industry since 2001
Thats why smaller firms cant pay decent wages

 

[Hilly]

Fun fact..
There is a well known traffic cop in the A75/M6 area who shares the same name as the breed of bull in your avatar... he's a nice guy

That lay-by on the 75 makes me feel
Sick even when they ain’t their.

 

[Boohoo]

Its only a month until Sugarbeet season starts.... the haulage issues will last until the new year!

Sugarbeet will have to wait, Christmas started this week.

 

[bluebell]

i was watching an american mechanic youtuber who repairs anything from lorries to farm tractors, he was ranting saying in the USA that paying anyone there 20-30 dollars an hour, unskilled he said was wrong? get a skill such as him? What we need here in the UK i think, is not more UNIS but more trade schools, colledges to help train, give skills to young people. And more contact with young people at secondary school level explaining the merits of skilled jobs such as the construction, engineering industry, far far to much is put into to get in a university, its almost looked at as a failure if you leave education early with no so called Qualifications? Many of the most sucessful people i know both young and old had no what you called proper education? but they have, had the drive and determination to get ON?

 

[76masseyman]

On an even more serious note than the driver shortage.......


It took a damn long time this morning to get my car washed locally !
Even those lads are saying they are short handed due now due to brexit.

 

[roscoe erf]

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

you've forgotten the little hitlers at the rdc's that turn you away because your 15mins early or late and they won't let you tip until you've rebooked , that they can keep you waiting for 4 or 5 hours but the facilities aren't there for your use

 

[steveR]

When I did my HGV training the instructor asked me what my previous experience of vehicles was. When I said tractors, he said he would have no problem teaching me the reversing part, as he found farm people were more used to having to use mirrors and manoeuvring in confined yards.

As long as you didn't tip the trailer up 1/3rd of the way, to aid visibility

 

[roscoe erf]

Yes.

I've told you before, get your cpc then get up the road to Bristol. Co Op are paying ltd company drivers £21/hr

pretty sure that's been made illegal now

 

[steveR]

My grandfather farmed at Brockworth court, my father said in the car going up birdlip hill you had to hold onto the gear lever it would push itself out of gear and you had to roll backwards to the bottom and have another go as it would start up from a standing start

Or as my old chap told me when I was taking him from Ludlow to London, "make sure you had a can of water" and showed me where the stopping places for overheated motors used to be located!

 

[Renaultman]

you've forgotten the little hitlers at the rdc's that turn you away because your 15mins early or late and they won't let you tip until you've rebooked , that they can keep you waiting for 4 or 5 hours but the facilities aren't there for your use

Hopefully their day is coming.

 

[Stewie]

Or as my old chap told me when I was taking him from Ludlow to London, "make sure you had a can of water" and showed me where the stopping places for overheated motors used to be located!

Ever drive on the Brennar pass? Going downhill every now and then you have on the side uphill gravel lanes where you should direct your lorry if you loose the brakes....

 

[steveR]

Ever drive on the Brennar pass? Going downhill every now and then you have on the side uphill gravel lanes where you should direct your lorry if you loose the brakes....

Saw similiar across the Tyrol and Alps,,,, worrying really!!