Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

A thank you to Brexiteers.

Some truck drivers in the UK delivering for quarries etc are paid by a percentage of the value of the load they’re carrying - sort of the way share fisherman are (who are taxed in very unique ways) - according to someone I knew who worked in that industry. Suspect it was a niche way of paying people.
 
Neighbour driving big trucks at night from Cornwall got paid flat rate whether he was doing 120-mile or 240-mile round trip drops. He got a lot of long journeys for some reason, meant he was often paid below minimum rate - getting back at 4 or 5 a.m. He said he was promised really good pay and conditions when he was interviewed, all of which mysteriously disappeared after he started.
 
I know wagon drivers used to get a decent wage about 25-30 years ago. I used to get a lift up to Leeds with one of the drivers from the place my dad worked at, he didn’t get loads (being only 12.5t I think) but stopped overnight at a truck place on the M62, had a lot of friends among the regulars there.

He said those doing the larger wagons on long runs were earning a fortune, some had speedboats, places in Spain etc. but never got to use them often as the job involved such long hours and many overnight stays - lots didn’t see much of their families. I think it was well remunerated partly because of the antisocial nature.

I think the influx of drivers from overseas knocked all this back a bit, so suspect we’re seeing a bit of a correction at the moment. At the same time I suspect those working for the big supermarkets or other large organisations probably never did as well out of it.

When I used to hitch a lot I found most lorry drivers were quite right-wing, some of that rugged independence/individualism type thing going on, not unlike what you find with some taxi drivers. Little empires and all that. These would have been mainly independents or self-employed, the big firms wouldn’t be allowed to pick anyone up.
 
Dogsauce said:
I know wagon drivers used to get a decent wage about 25-30 years ago. I used to get a lift up to Leeds with one of the drivers from the place my dad worked at, he didn’t get loads (being only 12.5t I think) but stopped overnight at a truck place on the M62, had a lot of friends among the regulars there.

He said those doing the larger wagons on long runs were earning a fortune, some had speedboats, places in Spain etc. but never got to use them often as the job involved such long hours and many overnight stays - lots didn’t see much of their families. I think it was well remunerated partly because of the antisocial nature.

I think the influx of drivers from overseas knocked all this back a bit, so suspect we’re seeing a bit of a correction at the moment. At the same time I suspect those working for the big supermarkets or other large organisations probably never did as well out of it.

When I used to hitch a lot I found most lorry drivers were quite right-wing, some of that rugged independence/individualism type thing going on, not unlike what you find with some taxi drivers. Little empires and all that. These would have been mainly independents or self-employed, the big firms wouldn’t be allowed to pick anyone up.
Click to expand...
At one time heavily unionised industry, same as building work before the days of 'self employment ' and agency work gave some a few years boost in temporary earnings at the expense of workers rights. Then a sad decline thereafter even at unionised firms. Glad to see some of this now picking up although very uneven.
 
A whole bundle of non Brexit reasons in there, such as there are now higher wages for truck drivers available in Eastern Europe.

Ultimately the British public has become addicted to cheap products, been built on the foundation of exploiting cheap labour costs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Kid_Eternity
No thanks app - boycotting Israel with a tap of a button
Replies
4
Views
425
existentialist
existentialist
ash
Another Brexit benefit- using Wi-Fi in Europe
2
Replies
51
Views
2K
Elpenor
Elpenor
editor
  • Poll
Do you want a separate Brexit forum?
2 3 4
Replies
97
Views
5K
platinumsage
platinumsage
Serene
So what happened to 350 million a week from brexit being put into the NHS??
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
Pickman's model
Pickman's model
tony.c
Any 11pm Brexit fireworks near you?
Replies
23
Views
1K
N_igma
N_igma
Back
Top Bottom