Deveron53 – Member
Just a question: what happens if the van driver is sick and cannot come in that day?

Some fat, middle-class, keyboard warrior will be on STW whinging about not getting his latest toys?

its ok DS he has a way round this you are not employed anymore simple and effective. Now all you Devonians get that working in ethic in gear folk and go to your duty for this nice fella
EDIT: 😆 @ Druidh

right, so i’m not a ‘nice fella’ because i’m looking for drivers that are willing to work on the same basis that i would myself ? even though they would be earning more money than an employed driver in the same job.

prat.

Hmmm, I’m off work with a nasty virus at the moment. Streaming eyes/nose, coughing, sneezing aching back etc, etc. I can’t do my job at the moment and I damn well couldn’t drive a multi-drop round. Therein lies the rub… No sickpay, no holidays, any other ‘no’s?

Sorry trailmonkey, but you are obviously now “The Man”.

Looks like you’ll be first up against the wall come the revolution 🙄

no ambition ?

well put TM

If you can’t fill the jobs as advertised then it isn’t a decent wage. Market forces at work here. How did the people of this fair country break free from serfdom? Because the Black Death caused a labour shortage and the workforce was in demand – wages went up, workers were free to move to where the wages were higher. I’m planning a similar move myself soon, moving to where the jobs are better paid. (Not Devon!)

Hmmm, I’m off work with a nasty virus at the moment. Streaming eyes/nose, coughing, sneezing aching back etc, etc

What’s the doctor’s diagnosis?
Nasty virus?
Streaming eyes/nose?
Coughing?
Sneezing?
Aching back?
Sounds like a bit of a cold to me.

how do you now that the wage is advertised ? you don’t because so far it hasn’t been.

as for serfdom, take a trip down here and you’ll see people working self employed jobs for 12 – 13000 a year, 50 hour weeks. what we’re offering isn’t that at all.

I was talking to a DPD van driver the other day. Same self-employed basis etc. He was stressed and unhappy. The goalposts move a little each month. He’s being squeezed to do more work for less money. He gets fined if he calls in sick. Doesn’t sound a decent life. I think I may have found out why van drivers seem to be angry roadhogs! If I was forced to drive a van in my current condition then a crash might be in the offing. I can’t ride my bike because my balance and spatial awareness are affected. And I LOVE riding my bike!

and yet with your great wage and employment practices you still cant recruit I AM OUTRAGED
PS

you’ll see people working self employed jobs for 12 – 13000 a year, 50 hour weeks. what we’re offering isn’t that at all.

you seem so well informed so why not call some up and explain your great offer they will whoop with delight

how do you now that the wage is advertised ? you don’t because so far it hasn’t been

Well thats your answer – people will assume its rubbish and not worth applying for as you are ashamed to quote the wage.

for surte the crap terms and conditions / self employed will not help but I think thats your major issue.

40 drops a day in rural Devonia or in Exeter/Plymuff?

Sounds like a bit of a cold to me

It’s a bit worse than a cold, not as serious as ‘flu. A virus of some sort. The physical effects of the symptoms make it impossible to do my job. I talk a LOT on the phone. I cannot say more than 3 or 4 words before either a cough or a sneeze occurs.
BUT, If my work colleagues were ill, I’d want them to stay the hell away from work! I don’t want what they’ve got! I work VERY hard when I’m at work and I like to commute by cycle. I’d rather be AT work and able to cycle.

I was talking to a DPD van driver the other day. Same self-employed basis etc. He was stressed and unhappy.

i had a franchise at DPD. i made over 40,000 two years running. i got squeezed for being sick, i got no holiday pay. i didn’t care, i was still making good money.

as for stressed and unhappy, all multi droppers are stressed and unhappy, that’s how the job is, sometimes it’s horrible. i’ve never met a single one that didn’t bitch and moan.

40 drops a day in rural Devonia or in Exeter/Plymuff?

next one up is in tavistock, so mainly urban but i guess 25% would be rural which could be on dartmoor, nice route by the look of it.

It’s a bit worse than a cold, not as serious as ‘flu. A virus of some sort.

I can’t comment as I’m not a doctor, what I do know is the number of contract workers who’ll jump at the opportunity of a sick day at the first sign of a sniffle and tell everyone they’ve got the flu. The last time I was off sick was about 4 years ago with gastroentiritis, you wouldn’t have wanted to work with me then, even if I could have peeled myself off the bed. Self employed and the loss of pay will help you decide if you’re really ill or not.
Firing someone for a day on the sick is a bit dramatic though and if it’s an industry norm, I don’t know, I’m not sure if I can see why the OP is having problems. Pay peanuts you get monkeys, treat them like shit and no-one going to admit to being shit!

I recon that 19.5k to drive a van is loads, I’ve just started work as a Doctor and I’m only earning 21 grand before tax. Makes you think it wasn’t really worth the effort!

Firing someone for a day on the sick is a bit dramatic though and if it’s an industry norm, I don’t know, I’m not sure if I can see why the OP is having problems

i’m not really going to fire someone for being sick ds, i just said it to play to the gallery.

i do find some of the reaction on here to be a bit pathetic though. what can i get for not working seems to be more of a motivation than what can i get if i work a bit harder.

i’ve done really well for myself as a self employed driver.

JY, I think we are singing from the same hymn sheet here, or at least regardless if I had or hadn’t opened my mouth earlier, I would be here whole heartedley supporting what you have said, and I think teej is starting to see my point too.

I know exactly what people get paid. I used to be a process/engineering manager on the shop floor charged with increasing throughput/quality and essentially profit. I argued with my superiors that increasing wages upwards from minimum wage would increase quality, whilst they were spending millions on new kit and unproven new processes I wanted to increase wage bill by 100k a year to got bigger gains in profitability. On the shop floor I could see how unhappy people were with crap pay and crap conditions.

No one listened, I know that business went under a few years ago. Anyway I run my own show now and only get paid reasonably because I provide something not everyone can provide. For now.

My point to the OP was saying 19k a year is good money is essentially mis selling becasue it isnt good money, it si actually around about the statistical average for Devon. I understand many of you are happy with this level of pay, fine, but do you not appreciate someone banging the drum to say you should be paid more? I don’t care if you do or you don’t, I will still do it anyway because its better for me if you get paid more.

Makes you think it wasn’t really worth the effort!

In ten years time what will you be on and in 20?

snot often that STW can drive me to drink but I’m glad I got given a bottle of vino for guiding last week.. 😐

edit: 🙂

toys19 – Member
My point to the OP was saying 19k a year is good money is essentially mis selling becasue it isnt good money, it si actually around about the statistical average for Devon.

You do know the meaning of the word “average”?

benjamins11 – Member

I recon that 19.5k to drive a van is loads, I’ve just started work as a Doctor and I’m only earning 21 grand before tax. Makes you think it wasn’t really worth the effort!

If I was paid 22 k ayear whilst still in training I would be thrilled, and the fact is it goes up to 27k in year two and more again after so please don’t talk such bollox. And the moment you go over your 40 hrs you get more pay, mr multidrop will not get overtime.

drs pay scale

My point to the OP was saying 19k a year is good money is essentially mis selling becasue it isnt good money, it si actually around about the statistical average for Devon.

😆

yeah sure it is. a priceless gem that earns you a banana.

You do know the meaning of the word “average”?

No I just used the word for meaningless effect, please enlighten me.

Unemployment rate for UK is 7.7%
Overall for Devon it’s around 5%, quite a bit lower. As other posters have said, if it was advertised in the Midlands, you’d have it filled instantly. The only way you are gonna get decent drivers in that area is to poach from other companies in the same area. You’re gonna have to make the job more attractive and the most popular way is to pay more. You haven’t advertised the wage and it’s true, most unadvertised wages are perceived rightly or wrongly to be crap.

i’m not really going to fire someone for being sick ds, i just thought i’d play to the gallery.

I know, but if the treatment of drivers is a bit shitty, as you know, word gets round. People will know the good firms and the bad firms. 19.5k doesn’t sound too bad for a driver, but for a self employed driver I wouldn’t know as I don’t know what the tax or NI deductions are, so can’t say if it’s good or not. Driving is not a skilled job, but you do need a certain amount of common.
Also remember the crisis shouldn’t be an opportunity to exploit the unemployed with comments like “ok-so-if-theres-a-recession-on-why-cant-i-recruit-any-staff” 😉
If the pay is good, the company is good and has a good reputation and the job is good you won’t have any problems.

yeah sure it is. a priceless gem that earns you a banana.

Well it seems that monkeys pay bananas not peanuts, still just as bad.

I provided you with the link above from 2006 that showed average earnings in Devon were 19k. Can you not read? Or does a verified survey not cut any ice with you. I guess your preference is unproven anecdote.

Don simon -If the pay is good, the company is good and has a good reputation and the job is good you won’t have any problems

Exactly

You’re not getting any applicants because it’s a crap job to do. Anything with a decent quantity of rural drops is an absolute nightmare. I also fail to see how you made £40,000/yr out of working for DPD unless you had 5 or 6 vans on the go if not more.

I did courier work for a long time working for my brother inlaws business and I would not do it again for any amount of cash. Enjoyable when your young, but hard hard work.

yeah but as already said it doesn’t take 5 years to learn to drive a van, lots of graduate jobs start at 19.5k. 19.5k is really not a bad wage for an essentially unskilled job.

p.s. doctors are ‘in training’ for about 10 years post qualification – we are seeing patients and prescribing drugs and the NHS couldn’t function without us, so to say that you would be chuffed to earn that whilst you were ‘in training’ shows little understanding of whats going on.

evidence, shmevidence.

devon has loads of exremely rich residents and semi residents that earn loads and skew the average totals. reality is that centuries of non unionised labour mean that wages across the west country are pathetically low, as all semi literate, average workers like myself will tell you.

You’re not getting any applicants because it’s a crap job to do.

Not if you’re an experienced driver it’s not.

Anything with a decent quantity of rural drops is an absolute nightmare.

no it’s not but i respect your right to be wrong all the same

I also fail to see how you made £40,000/yr out of working for DPD unless you had 5 or 6 vans on the go if not more.

so i’m lying because you’re not in posession of all the facts ?

you are aware that this makes you look a bit of a prat aren’t you ?

fwiw, myself and others made shedloads as we took on our contracts just on the cusp of the advent of internet mobile phone sales and the collection of faulty phones. drivers that had the ambition to be self employed made a fortune. those that were more concerned with sick pay just ended up with longer days for a little overtime a week.

Good: of high quality; excellent.
average:a typical amount, rate, degree, etc.; norm.

HTH

doctors are ‘in training’ for about 10 years post qualification – we are seeing patients and prescribing drugs and the NHS couldn’t function without us, so to say that you would be chuffed to earn that whilst you were ‘in training’ shows little understanding of whats going on.

Thats all fascinating however the question was about your earnings/wages. So what about the wages at the end of your training?
40 k ? 50k ?? seriously what will it be and the average for the 10 years 35 k or more??

I’ve just started work as a Doctor and I’m only earning 21 grand before tax.

about what a junior HO is worth. 😉

What are the hours that you’re asking them to do? Start and rough finishing times?

My CV is going in on Monday to a company in an area where unemployment is under 2% and guess what? The wages are decent compared to similar work in other areas of the country where unemployment is high. I’m doing a Tebbit and ‘getting on my bike’.

Yeah sure the pay at the end is good. The point remains though that 19.5k is knocking on the door of early graduate money so I don’t think its bad pay ergo somebody should want to do it.

It is a crap job, even if you’re experienced (i was) there are many better paying driving jobs out there with far better hours. Rural roads, especially around holiday times are a nightmare – I know this my route was mainly rural roads. You still didnt say how many vans you had to make £40k/yr.

Only a prat would start calling people a prat because they didnt agree with them.

benjamins11 – Member

Yeah sure the pay at the end is good. The point remains though that 19.5k is knocking on the door of early graduate money so I don’t think its bad pay ergo somebody should want to do it.
Posted 4 minutes ago # Report-Post

I think this actually shows that you have no idea what is going on – in your own job. The reason why your starting salary is average is that you are an as yet unproven worker, if you make it through the first year then you will be worth more, but you are still essentially a trainee. Almost all grad training programs start on average wages, and accelerate. Mr multidrop, if he even makes 19k, will find it hard to do much better.

about what a junior HO is worth

That valuable? 😯