What truck will I get next?

I can’t think of any at the moment. I love Scania and my R470 Euro 3’s are brilliant. They average 10.5 mpg plus on container work and pull like a train. I’ve tried the Euro 4 R480 (EGR) version and found it to be 20% less fuel efficient. I have also tried the R560 (SCR) and the R500 (SCR) and found them to be 10-15% less fuel efficient plus the Adblue cost.

So what is my motivation? Saving the planet? The joy of complying with another EU regulation?
We are talking about £60-150 a week per truck. Mind you, you do get £6 per day discount for EURO 4 in Central London! It’s another nail in the coffin of UK transport.

Ah well, I can’t hear anybody else complaining.. Maybe they don’t check their fuel figures?

John English has been trading for 20 years, mainly international work but more recently in the UK. he runs 4 Scania artic trucks, all unmarked white, His drivers are all British drivers with approx 20 years experience

So who thinks it’s a good idea for drivers to retain a month's tachos? I have a fancy calendar from DKV Euro service that shows the previous month, current month and next month. Whoopee! I hear you say, but I’m just checking through the latest tachos received and they are for; ‘the month previous to the previous month’. So, if I want to know if the 25th was a Friday . . . And if I see something ‘odd’ that I want to ‘discuss’ with the driver . . eg: ‘what were you doing on Wednesday evening 6 weeks ago?’.

It seems like an odd situation to me that the people making the rules – make the rules and the people at the ‘sharp end’ find them largely unworkable and inconvenient. But as long as they are not dangerous we will go along with them.

I’m a member of the FSB (The Federation of Small Businesses). They really have a ‘voice’ in parliament and make considerable headway against ridiculous rules. Our industry bodies seem to be useless against them and I will not join any. Look at the WTD for example – working time rules on top of working time rules. Pathetic, but it seems there is no argument against them so they will stay.

So how do you store a month's driving records on a digital tacho card?

John English has been trading for 20 years, mainly international work but more recently in the UK. he runs 4 Scania artic trucks, all unmarked white, His drivers are all British drivers with around 20 years' experience.

The Operators Voice welcomes a new contributor to the column. Mike Young, Group CEO of Innovate Logistics will be commenting on our industry and the issues within it.

Innovate logistics was formed in 2005 from several smaller entities and has quickly become a major player in the chilled and frozen distribution market. Living up to its name, Innovate recently announced the formation of an ambient division to take its supply chain services across all temperature ranges.

Mike's comment's, thoughts and opinions will be appearing in the blog shortly.

The Operators Voice welcomes contributions from operators across all sectors and of all sizes. If you would like to add your own please e-mail us by clicking here. And dont forget you can also comment on published blogs by using the comment box below each entry

If you’ve read my posts on TruckNet UK, you’ll have noticed that to count the number of nights out I do a year might be possible using one hand and certainly wouldn’t require me to take my socks off! However this week an abattoir delivery in South Wales was booked for late Thursday afternoon. Looking at the pick ups scattered around North Devon I soon realised that getting home wasn’t going to happen in the same day!

As I don’t do regular nights out I don’t know very many of the good/quiet places to park, so I searched the usual places on the web, Dug out the HA Truckstop guide (which I soon noticed didn’t cover Wales!) and read my Truckers Handbook looking for somewhere suitable! To be honest after doing that I wasn’t much further forward! Apart from the two M-way services (which I already knew) there seemed to be a small place near Newport and a cattle market where my sleep would probably be disturbed by ladies looking for ”business” !

As the chance of getting into a MSA at 9-10pm is almost nil, (which is strange as everybody moans about the cost of parking in them!) I resigned myself to trying to find a space in a lay-by, in conditions that the average member of the British public would want Oxfam to start an appeal for if it was abroad!!

Unfortunately, plentiful safe parking with good facilities is something we can only dream about in this country.

In the end the gods looked down on me “favourably”! By the time I’d done all the pick ups (which always takes longer than it should, and today took 7 hours! ) paid the £15.90 to cross the bridge, unloaded and washed out there wasn’t very much time left of a 15-hour day! So a quick chat with the Security guy (who was unlike some of the ones you read about on the web – he was quite helpful!!) found me a nice corner of the abattoir to park up and a toilet, a shower room and a mess room with a kettle and microwave to use! So it was a case of a quick shower, cup of tea, finish the sandwiches, break into the emergency food supplies that I keep under the bunk, get some kip and be ready for the next day!

Denis Fuller is a owner-operator based in the South West, running a single truck on livestock and agricultural haulage

Dear Mr Livingstone
 
I left school at age 15 back in 68, to join the transport industry via Suttons of st Helens, seemed the most natural thing to do, after all my old man worked there, and I could walk to work in 5 minutes from where I lived in Sutton Heath,

It was either Pilks(Pilkington glass) the pit, or Suttons or the dole    why transport? Why not, at 21 I passed my HGV 1 and  off I headed, first for the continent in those days it was run by the British, with foreign lorries,  scania 140s, and 141s if you were lucky and Volvo 88 and the odd 89, I drove a Magrius Deutz,  column change, day cab, and did Torino and Milan in that for a outfit in Barking Essex , don’t ask me !   but not a foreign word was spoken.

 Any way, as I said, goodbye, all my lorries are in the Commercial motor this week, thank you labour and particular Livingstone, I hope you sleep well in your lefty beds.

l built my removal business from scratch unlike you Livingstone, I didn’t play the system, I got on my bike and turned my life around from the grubby little council house the butler sink and the outside bog, I bought an old two hundred quid tranny, delivering parcels for parcel line then a Luton followed by a 7 and half ton cargo then another I obtained my CPC under grand father rights because I worked like a miner at the coal face roping and sheeting in the freezing cold, changing tyres on the M54, well before the operators licence.unlike you Livingstone and your cnd banners and your so called support of the working classes, your probably having tea with lady Thatcher.

You’re a traitor to your original cause, but maybe not maybe the temptation of  that £180,000 salary is a temptation too much for any mortal.

Well my little fleet are for sale now, 38 long years of hard sweat and tears down the swanny, and for what ! 1 mile down the road a new sign suddenly appeared and I say suddenly because unlike Sainsbury’s Tesco and Asda we didn’t even get a years notice.

I bought my 17 tonner from Pickfords  and I worked hard for it, lugging boxes to the top floor flat with no lift, for what ! what was the point? Livingston’s biggest lie was about to hit the streets of London. What did I spend nearly two grand having it beautifully sprayed for,? How much Mr Livingston do you imagine it cost me to have it sign written? how many moving jobs running up and down stairs with both hands full and the woman’s dressing gown, wrapped around my neck?

why did you introduce another tier of autocrats or beaurocrats  ‘transport for London’ ’the environment agency’ and another silly ‘think tank’, how the hell did we manage before, the green lobby and the pink lobby and no doubt by this time next year there’ll be no lorries and for that` matter no cars either.

John Hayes owned and ran Redbridge Removals Employing 5 drivers and 10 porters. His vehicles travelled throughout the UK and Europe. After 38 years in the industry Redbridge Removals closed it's doors at the end of january 2008

I learnt a valuable lesson, despite all my previous thinking, I now realise that attaining quality contracts in this business has nothing to do with price, service levels, image or marketing.

To set the scene, I have never been a “sporty” person, indeed my idea of healthy exercise has been walking to the bar for a diet coke for the beloved. However the beloved, in collusion with the doctor has decided that my somewhat rounded figure needs slimming down. And golf was suggested (I say suggested because the beloved presented me with a set of clubs, a day guest pass for the local golf club and kicked me out of the door one Sunday morning). Now to be honest the idea of hitting a ball as far as it will go and then walking after it seemed a bit silly, after all, don't hit it at all, it goes no where and you save yourself all that effort. To my surprise I seem to have a knack for knocking little white things far away and actually enjoy the now regular Sunday outing.

A couple of weeks ago I partnered up with another member of the club who I didn't know, but was looking for someone to have a round with, introductions were made and we set off to dole out punishment to the golf balls ( and in his case a fair amount of grass). About half way round we had ran out of the usual chats about golf, family, holidays, cars etc. and the conversation turned to what we do for a living, This gentleman it turns out is the distribution director for a large national company with its head quarters nearby my yard. For a long time I have attempted to get my vehicles in there, as the work is supposed to be steady, they have a reputation for paying on time and treating the contractors well. But all my calls/marketing/letters had always failed to get a response.

Yet by the 15th hole I had learnt they had been looking for a new express delivery partner for deliveries and returns to and from Benelux, and hadn't found one suitable. Indeed despite my small fledging business being ideal for their needs they hadn't even looked at any of the leaflets/letters, consigning them straight to the bin. His transport manager, despite knowing the company was looking for a courier firm locally exactly like mine had never mentioned our existence.

By the 18th Hole I had an appointment to meet with the man on Monday morning, and by Wednesday two of my vans were on contract to them.

Is this the way business should be done?, I am a traditionalist and believe that my companies work record should be enough to gain me new opportunities. But it seems it isn't. This industry still seems dominated by “Who you know than what you know”. Fair? Professional? Probably not but I wont turn down the work just because the way I found it feels slightly off.

My suggestion to all those struggling to find work? Save your money, don't buy fancy leaflets, spend hours making fruitless cold calls or telephoning, Join a Golf Club, it's healthy for both your body and your wallet. And ignore your conscience

Paul Mcbride runs a small courier business running 5 light vehicles on urgent deliveries throughout Europe

David Preston, Managing Director Prestons of Potto

The British Road Transport industry has never had a good image in the eyes of the public. However, the current demand for reality television programmes may be able to change this.

The Canadian Ice Road Truckers show seems to have captured the imagination of the average viewer. In fact more people seem to be talking about this programme than ‘Dancing on Ice’ with its celebrities and skimpy outfits. Whilst Suzanne Shaw is certainly better to look at than the ‘polar bear’ after a while one twirl on the ice looks pretty much the same as the next and whilst slipping on the ice may be painful, it does not have the same danger as breaking through the ice on a frozen Canadian lake.

The Canadian truckers do seem to not have the same driver’s hours regulations as ourselves, driving for 30 to 40 hours at a time with the ‘dash for cash’ as the main motivation and not a digital tachograph in sight. Speed cameras are also not needed. Excess speed is self-policing as it causes a bow wave in the ice resulting in cracks in the ice road and a penalty far worse than 3 points and a £60.00 fine.

The antics of these drivers when securing their loads would leave the UK Health and Safety Manager in need of rehab but with frostbite setting in after 15 minutes; speed of operation is paramount.

I wonder if the programme has tempted any UK drivers to move to Canada. The ice roads are wide and congestion free, although tea caravans and lay-bys were somewhat scarce. The offloading crew at the diamond mines certainly seemed more grateful than your average grocery distribution centre that their load had arrived with no chance of a refusal if you were an hour late.

The drivers are certainly a hardy bunch sometimes driving trucks with no heating in temperatures of –50°F unlike some of their British counterparts who would not drive a truck in the height of summer without a heater capable of creating sauna type temperatures. Perhaps if global warming as some scientists predicts creates arctic temperatures in the UK (we are on the same latitude as Canada) ice roads may solve the UK congestion problem.

The river Thames used to freeze solid in 17th century and would provide a useful back up to the M4. However in our country they would probably put tollbooths on it and the Greater London Council only allow vehicles pulled by reindeer to use it.

Founded over 50 years ago Richard Preston and Son Ltd is one of the most recognised transport companies in the UK. Better known as Preston's of Potto it is a multi faceted transport company operating over 220 vehicles. Preston's has 4 depots throughout the UK serving most sectors of the industry. Preston's offers a large amount of warehousing and also provides total management solutions for its varied clients.