Well, it's nearly another year over in the life of TruckNet UK. It has been a turbulent 12 months for the industry, and this has been reflected in the posts made on the forums.
At the beginning if the year, popular topics included the variety of work available, with drivers looking to improve their working lot by changing jobs. Now we are seeing many posts from drivers being laid off - the public posting of available jobs has nearly dried up and forum users seems to be hunkering down to get through this downturn as best as possible.
This change in emphasis is no more apparent than in the discussions about remuneration. An advert for a job paying less than £7 per hour would have been met with scorn and derision at the start of the year now it attracts comments such as "take what you can" and "any job is better than no job".
But 2008 has not been all doom and gloom. The members of the East Coast Truckers Convoy brought their own brand of humour to the forums and shared with us those magical days they provide for the disadvantaged kids in their area.
While TruckNet UK doesn't take on a campaigning role, other drivers' websites that do so continued to push forward in 2008. Truckersworld gained meetings with Government departments and ministers to raise the issues affecting drivers. The PDA (Professional Drivers Association) continued to boost the profile of the LGV driver and work towards solutions to the problems faced by many in the industry. And in the new year, the PDA will be starting an initiative to provide the industry with a charitable benevolent fund aimed at assisting professional drivers who have had suffered misfortune. This is something the industry should have had a long time ago.
Finally, it's worth saying that we at TruckNet UK haven't stood still either. The forums have grown dramatically in popularity again this year - and to cope with the high traffic levels, they will be upgraded early in 2009, bringing far more usability and functionality to the website. Of course, TruckNet UK remains free to register and use.
Happy Christmas and a prosperous new year to you all from all the staff at TruckNet UK.