Who has taken them!

[GregW]

Twots indeed.

Never mind £30 max limits, it's a shame a minimum limit couldn't be implemented - £30 minimum no matter how little is put in the tank.

I put whole tank. Saves me time on driving to do it….

Soon there will be £100 contactless on stations too, with face recording camera like grocery store self-service checkouts…

Edit: they working on face recognition payment platform as we speak. That is for pay-point-free shops.

 

[Noel]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-58767230

 

[woodieallen]

... the thought of choosing a profession where you have to study for life horrifies me....

What? Like doctors, you mean ?

 

[doctor Bob]

What? Like doctors, you mean ?

Yes absolutely, I just couldn't and wouldn't want to do it. I have stress due to running a business and it's taken me many years to get a good balance but ultimately I want a simple life with a decent income. but if I had to choose one or the other it would be a simple life.

 

[baldkev]

This shows just how unresponsive our leader ship is, they are like a large wilderbeast stuck in a mudhole, they can see an issue approaching and just start talking about it and having meetings and running around like headless chickens, when they next look that issue has impacted and grown to a huge size so they just shut their eyes like a child hiding under the bedcovers because the wardrobe monster is coming and hope it will just go away.

I agree, they have been mostly useless, but be honest, most politicians and governments are useless, just in different ways. Think of the alternative, a corbyn led uk.... thats why boris won

before 54% of this country decided to evict 6 million skilled/semi-skilled workers “back to where they came from

Its not fair or right to suggest that 54% of the u.k think that way. Sure, theres a lot of uneducated people, racists and more, but most thinking people realise that the u.k needs some degree of influx of workers and knowledge. The problem is actually that the governments ( whoever is in charge ) basically do what they want and not necessarily what the majority of the population want or need. It wasnt a vote to ban foreigners or to import more, its a simple fact that the government chose to be idiots about it.

Just like the proposed 15 quid an hour minimum wage.... how stupid are these people? As soon as low earnings rise EVERYTHING rises because all prices are underpinned by low wages. So food, fuel, clothes, everything goes up and you are worse off than before . The reality is we need to reduce the cost of living by driving down the high earners and 'bonuses' etc and make it a more level playing field. What are solicitors now? 200 an hour? So if you are unfortunate enough to need a solicitor whilst yoy work a dayjob at tesco, you have to work about 18 hours to pay for 1 hour with a solicitor. And you definitely arent buying a house near me.


I'll wind my neck in now

Edits due to poor spelling

 

[Jake]

Seems fair enough Bob. Depends what drives you I suppose and what you like doing.

 

[RobinBHM]

Maybe the terrible traffic is why lorry drivers have left the industry.

I find car driving in the UK…especially near the M25, is awful…goodness knows what it’s like to do it for a living at 56mph

 

[Spectric]

Corbyn is what nightmares are made off, but it handed the torries an election. I think the criteria for any politician is you must be a ditherer, the ability to avoid answering a question outright, be able to lie with a smile on your face and walk a tight line between outright corruption and slight dishonesty.

but most thinking people realise that the u.k needs some degree of influx of workers and knowledge.

Thats how far we have gone down the ubend, we had knowledge and skills that were the envy of the world and many leading industries but have just sat by and watched the rot set in and everything fall apart, did not even put up a fight or any resistance as what was our empire just dismantled our industries and now they are the world leaders.

Could a mere solicitor afford parts of Devon these days, got to be a barrister or higher up so no hope for a tradition fisherman anymore.

 

[Spectric]

I find car driving in the UK…especially near the M25, is awful…goodness knows what it’s like to do it for a living at 56mph

That conjestion and over population is what finaly drove me out of the south, they wonder why there is a mental health crisis, they are obviously not that bright if they cannot figure that one out. Humans are not supposed to be treated like battery farmed hens, saying that hens should not be treated like that either. If you want to see the future of down south then think of a very dirty and inefficient version of Japan.

 

[RobinBHM]

But shouldnt the RHA have been campaigning amongst members to employ and train new drivers rather than rely on "cheap" foreign labour. But of course that might have meant proper wages for the British drivers...........

what makes you think they haven’t.


The problem is big business driving down prices for logistics, decades of weakening unions, increasing Inequality.

the problem is not cheap foreign Labour, but decades neo liberal policies.

 

[baldkev]

Could a mere solicitor afford parts of Devon these days, got to be a barrister or higher up so no hope for a tradition fisherman anymore.

A 2 bed house in our town has just come on the market, offers in excess of 550k.....

Most local fishermen are crabbers.... and they actually earn very well ( hard work though ) but generally arent good with their money my brother in law is one of them....

 

[RobinBHM]

I agree, they have been mostly useless, but be honest, most politicians and governments are useless, just in different ways. Think of the alternative, a corbyn led uk.... thats why boris won


Its not fair or right to suggest that 54% of the u.k think that way. Sure, theres a lot of uneducated people, racists and more, but most thinking people realise that the u.k needs some degree of influx of workers and knowledge. The problem is actually that the governments ( whoever is in charge ) basically do what they want and not necessarily what the majority of the population want or need. It wasnt a vote to ban foreigners or to import more, its a simple fact that the government chose to be idiots about it.

Just like the proposed 15 quid an hour minimum wage.... how stupid are these people? As soon as low earnings rise EVERYTHING rises because all prices are underpinned by low wages. So food, fuel, clothes, everything goes up and you are worse off than before . The reality is we need to reduce the cost of living by driving down the high earners and 'bonuses' etc and make it a more level playing field. What are solicitors now? 200 an hour? So if you are unfortunate enough to need a solicitor whilst yoy work a dayjob at tesco, you have to work about 18 hours to pay for 1 hour with a solicitor. And you definitely arent buying a house near me.


I'll wind my neck in now

Edits due to poor spelling

are you a lawyer?

 

[baldkev]

I wish! Im a self employed carpenter / general builder. To be honest, if we hadnt got on the ladder when we did ( high prices, but dead easy to get a mortgage without deposit ) we wouldnt have managed it.... we have a 2 bed house with 2 boys.... and now another on the way so im trying to organise planning for an extension and loft conversion because there is no way we can buy a bigger house... i am however lucky to be on the ladder and we are a few minutes walk to the beach ⛱

 

[Jake]

Someone on a different forum that I'm on runs one of the pallet firms that you may or may not have used in the past.In July, he posted this -

"every kid has a degree now so it is beneath them" seems pretty sour. There is nothing wrong in looking for something more interesting or well paid. Is he claiming that people with degrees have a higher rate of not having any job to avoid a driving job than people without a degree?

 

[TominDales]

Yes absolutely, I just couldn't and wouldn't want to do it. I have stress due to running a business and it's taken me many years to get a good balance but ultimately I want a simple life with a decent income. but if I had to choose one or the other it would be a simple life.

I think it depends on what you enjoy. I have learnt something new every day since I finished my D.phil, its what excites me about work. But I suspect you learnt something new every day, most trades people I work with are also learning, but they take it in their stride. The key thing for youngster is to (i) value/respect different professions/vocations as they all (mostly) do valuable stuff whether its with hands or heads and (ii) encourage youngsters to find things they like. Sadly there are those jobs that people have to do to pay the rent, but if there is more choice these days than before.
The really good news about the shortage of drivers is that it has highlighted the low pay and conditions for HGV. If wages go up and the appalling safety conditions get addressed then something good will have come out of this debacle. We will have to get used to buying a bit less stuff as the price goes up. For most of us we will cope.

 

[baldkev]

We will have to get used to buying a bit less stuff as the price goes up

Theres another thing.... these days there is so much choice, so many 'products' to buy, things to watch, mobile phones, tablets, tv and internet packages, virtually anything you can think of and amazon will deliver it ( ok, in a few days ) even, probably, a hairy ball/ crack scratcher.... I'll have to search for that to fact check myself .... whereas 20 years ago, all this cr@p didnt exist. The major tool suppliers now do battery everything ( battery ball scratchers, leaf blowers, even caulking guns!! ) and often they do at least 4 different models of each!! Lxt ball scratcher, brushless ball scratcher, brushless ball scratcher with led light, brushless ball scratcher, led light and inbuilt pubic hairdrier!!! ( im gonna patent that one )
Why cant they just do 2? A cheap one and a professional one?
The cost of living is high because of all our add ons... im talking to you lot on my mobile, through the wifi broadband package.... and everwhere i look someone is trying to flog me more stuff and sometimes I buy it

 

[Trainee neophyte]

The average age of a farmer is between 50 and 70, depending on which doom - laden report you want to read. Young people are not becoming farmers because everyone wants indoor work with no heavy lifting, and who can afford to buy a farm?. At some point this will become even more interesting, once the vast majority work out that farmers produce food, rather than keep the countryside tidy and footpaths open for townie weekend picnics and pleasant walks.

Perhaps if transport costs go up, food miles will come down? I have accidentally bought some Vietnamese catfish recently - it looked like ******* -it tastes revolting, has a nasty texture, and was pulled from the Mekong river, so who knows what pollutants, heavy metals etc are in it. But it was cheap, so shipping it halfway around the world must be good. I'm planning on growing my own carp - we'll see how that goes. In the meantime, no transport means no food - plastic Chinese novelties will take a back seat.

 

[Pineapple]

I'm really disappointed with the BBC. On Monday they were saying all day that the fuel issue was caused by 'a shortage of HGV drivers'. It wasn't. Nothing had changed from the week before when a handful of petrol stations of one supplier were having problems - that were being addressed within 24 hours. The shortage of fuel was caused by panic buying whipped up by the BBC's own incorrect and irresponsible reporting. Talk about self-fulfilling prophesies! Meanwhile ambulances are being caught in gridlocks around petrol stations, people are missing hospital appointments, nurses and care staff are worried about getting to work and all the rest. All entirely unnecessary. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

In an Efficiently-Run Health Service All ambulance stations would have their own bulk-fuel-tanks & pumps.
The government could then aggree bulk-purchase prices for the fuel and contracts which would Prioritise NHS Fuel-Deliveries. - It's just unfortunate that the overpaid managers within the NHS haven't realised this !

 

[Adam W.]

I like continuous learning, which is why I've gone back to university for the fourth time and certainly not the last. I also have a trade, so I'm more than happy to be a handy academic and I don't look down on anyone who knows what they're either doing or talking about, regardless of their qualifications.

I do have an strong aversion to those who suffer from Dunning-Kruger, thobut.

I could also see myself driving an HVG at the weekends ( not in Britain though, because the wages and conditions are shiz) and making art stuff during the week.

 

[Pineapple]

There is bound to be some shortage simply because of lockdown. I think I read that there are c 700,000 drivers. If 5% leave each year (retire, move on, etc) you need 35,000 to keep up. During lockdown there was no hgv driver training and no tests for many months, I think testing took a long time to come back on stream. If it works out as a 12 month hiatus and the industry can't replace leavers then there is a shortage. During lockdowns full and partial net demand probably fell: lots of activities we didn't or couldn't do including filling our cars to get to work or go on trips, restocking high street fashion stores, etc etc. although home delivery boomed. Now demand is back 'plus some'. So part of the shortage must be covid related, the rest a mix of long term decline in numbers and the unmentionable B word.

I wonder, and its a genuine wonder, what effect rules on intra-country working have had. Under EU rules, any carrier (and airlines are a good example) could trade between any 2 points - a Norbert Detressangle truck could have come to the UK with French goods, drop them in (say) Leeds, take a UK load from Leeds to Dagenham, then a return load to France. But now we are no longer in the EU I don't think they can do that middle bit - UK to UK - and maybe that affects capacity.

I do have one partial answer. One driver - one truck so it makes sense to have the truck as full as possible. I'm sure schedulers are very good at that, it's the way to make the whole system affordable and profitable. But what does full mean? Capacity is limited by weight and volume.

You can't do anything about weight - a ton of bricks is a ton of bricks - but if you look around a supermarket you realise a lot of volume is just air. Stop shipping air. Sugar Puffs minus the puff. Corn, not cornflakes. Ban pasta that has a hole - spaghetti fine, penne is space inefficient. Suck the gas out of bags of crisps. Trebor mints, no Polos. As for the ambassadors Ferrero Rocher, pass them between heavy rollers and sell them as slabs. Marsh, without the mallow. Gouda good, emmental bad (space wasting holes). Nice cuboid choc ices, no wasteful delicate cornettos. I bet we can save 40% of the lorry trips to supermarkets, and there must be other ways to save space on a whole load of goods.

PS - RYVITA is 13% ingredients ! - The rest of the bulk is the air-bubbles !
Aero chocolate is similar....You have a very good point !