cmetty41

Sure do mind you all the stores are Handy.Never really fancied that Henderson job what with all the crappy wee stores.Got offered the 3pm till finish job on a number of occasions but I wouldn't do it for £9 per hour not worth it.Any wonder why people are leaving in their droves.

Chicken lights and chrome

Is it that bad that they're having to advertise for drivers in Canada?

ontheroadagain

Yep, ontheroadagain... then he is asking if I duplicate my profile, as he did on Trucknet.

"It's words on a screen"?, Mark, you can read between the lines better than that, man. It wasn't just about his reply to curtNIR.

I understand he is your buddy and you have to find excuses for his attitude, I'm pretty sure as well he is a great guy in real life but his usual behavior online leaves a lot to be desired.

I didn't come on here with the purpose of creating trouble or seeking attention (trolling), for years he's been picking on a lot of different people and always barking with the same attitude, sometimes even writing about things he doesn't have a clue about.
It seems like this and the other trucking forums are the private backyard of the same group of people, making it really hard for others to come on here and share their thoughts openly.

About the Loblaw wages... 18$ an hour is not for the driving time, it applies when fueling, pre-trip, post-trip, etc... unpaid time when you do OTR.
If you consider the hours driven in a week (OTR) getting an average gross pay of around 1400$, then it turns out about 20 bucks an hour (70 hours), and let's not talk about border crossing delays, brokers, waiting for reloads... the Loblaw job is a great opportunity for the people who want to spend more time at home with the family instead of doing a "Flying J tour" across the US. It's not better or worse, it's a matter of what you want to do with your life.

Big Truck

Lisburn Rd is a bit of a pain@ 830am and so is Ballyhack!!!

The ten new Axor power-shifts are nice enough but easy to fall asleep using the arm-rests going up to Derry on the nightshifts!!!!
Hear rumours of a new fleet of Volvo's coming soon too.

The "Agency Working Directive" when somebody gets a "stated case" at an Industrial Tribunial will put the wages@ Tesco up 40% for the Grafton/Jark men.

I really enjoyed those small stores at Hendersons as the craic was good but it was the "driver bonus" wage scheme that hacked me off the most.

Reckon you'll enjoy working with the Talliban@ Loblaws?
The Volvo VN's look in good shape BUT those tiny daycabs!!!!!!

Chicken lights and chrome

I'm not fighting Dave's battles, just an observation I made. We all know that Dave gets into it on here, but many times as soon as he posts, the usual suspects pop up and disagree for the sake of disagreeing, often getting personal with it. Usually that lights the touchpaper and it all kicks off

Take your use of OTRA as a user name, you admit to knowing that it is used by Dave on tnet, now I may be wide of the mark, but to me that's a little bit antagonistic, however I'm also quite sure that Dave will find it amusing, as did I

The thing is, many times during this thread, sensible opinions have been spoken, yet they were shot down in flames, purely because of the 'reputation' of the person posting them, that's not balanced and therefore the people stirring the pot are as much to blame for dragging the thread down as the so called bad boys are. In the end all it does is make people look elsewhere for their information

I don't know if you've read this entire thread, maybe if you have some spare Red Bull and a few hours you can, if not I'll summarise some of the more controversial points. Dave, FTTM and I, all called BS on the Loblaw job, we did this because each of us had had contact with the recruiter on BTA, in that he had stated a completely different wage scheme than that quoted to the lads in the UK, it rang the warning bells, for that we all got abuse and the sand in Britain and northern Ireland was full of buried heads

At the end of the day, we were trying to be helpful and make these lads aware that the streets were not paved with the gold they're being promised by the recruiter, to me that's commenable, but it appears I'm wrong

Is the Loblaw gig a good job? No I don't think so, it may get you home a bit more than the OTR tour of Flying Js, but at what cost? The pay structure (whichever one you believe) will mean that you've got to put the miles on and the hours in. You appear to have some knowledge of how things work over here, so you'll know that the hours are long and most days will be full days. The trucks will be double shifted I guess, but the rolling shift patterns will mean slip seating and the chance of getting a 12hr shift or less will be very slim indeed. Looking into my crystal ball, I can forsee it being a hard job, with little time off between shifts, especially in winter and that is what I base my opinions on, if I turn out to have it wrong, then that's good news for the Loblaw lads, but I fear that will not be the case

flat to the mat

These guys will be running Pikes to the Peg and back,which if you had any idea of what you are talking about can't be done in a day,so those tiny day cabs aren't an issue.Your knowledge of the Taliban is only hearsay,and as a practicing Muslim myself I find your comments highly offensive,might wave the racism card and get you banished back to your peat bog where you belong

wire

If they were double shifted they wouldn't be all lined up in the yard all the time that I was there. Late afternoon /evening.

Chicken lights and chrome

Possible, but there may be more daytime routes than nightime or vice versa. Remember going to any grocery retail RDC in Britain, there were always trucks lined up, yet they all work 24/7. The rolling shifts mean they could start and finish at any time, and they have to park for an hour or so at some time, they could even be VOR'd.

There's also the scenario that they don't have enough drivers to double shift everything yet, hence the need for recruitment of top drivers from overseas

cmetty41

The Agency directive will not be happening mate.Tesco's got Grafton and Jark drivers to sign an opt out form saying u won't be paid the same as a Tesco driver.either sign or leave.Tesco's have the new Axors in now as well and they had a trial with the new volvo which was a super wagon.Im looking forward to getting out to Loblaws soon.As usuall people on here slating slagging and giving off about it.Again I spoke to the Transport manager 10 days ago and he has stated quite clear our training will be paid at $18 per hour rising to a minimum of $23 per hour.All newwagons will be in place in the next 6 weeks.We are doing runs from Regina to the Peg single manned,unload 2 trailers head down for a few hours then return to Regina,maybe that will shed a bit of light on people thinking we are 2 up driving non stop.Loblaws are in the middle of a massive change (quote) from the locaL mayor and their hub is getting bigger and better,hence they want good quality drivers in place for the change.

flat to the mat

In reality,you'll be pulling pikes,so stopping every hour to check tires(monitored by satelite),355 miles into Winnipeg,unload,have 10 hours off and drive back to Regina.How many trips are possible in a 70 hours/7 day or 120 hour /14 day time scale?

Joking and piss taking aside,you must be due to arrive shortly,so if you want any help/info feel free to contact me.Best of etc etc.

Big Truck

All it will take is a SINGLE case to the Industrial Tribunial via "Less favourable treatment" Act and stating the AWD legislation and things will have to change @ Tesco/Sainsburys/Asda etc as Euro equality law will demand it.

I along with others have just settled a similar case taking on the might of a Government employer over equal pay and WON!!

Best of luck with your move and hope you and all the others do well.

MrYak

If its more than a days drive to Winnipeg and back, where are you meant to take your rest?
Across the seats in a day cab??

Chicken lights and chrome

Mr Yak, they'll either have a sleeper cab, or Loblaws will have an arrangement with a motel in Winnipeg, the hotel sounds nice, but in reality the sleeper would be better, there will be occasions in winter when the roads are shut down, better to have a bunk to stretch out in when that happens, rather than trying to get comfy in the driver's seat all night.

Cmetty, there's a few lads doing the Regina-Winnipeg turnpike run already, I know one of them (friend of a friend) he does 4 on 4 off, but has taken a drop in money from OTR, but he is home every other night. As has been said, that doesn't sound all bad, obviously the money is not fantanstic, but you're not working all the hours God sends.

BUT.....And this is the part where everyone is getting their knickers in a twist. Are you guaranteed to get on the turnpikes? Most companies, especially the reputable ones, that run double trailers require their drivers to have a couple of years at the company driving regular artics before they let them loose in a turnpike double.

That could be the old carrot and donkey trick, it's common practice by recruiters over here, and everywhere else for that matter, you only find out when you get here that the turnpike positions have A, all been filled, or B, you need a certain amount of experience to get on them.

Loblaws also need drivers to do store deliveries all around their area, there are a lot more places they have stores than Winnipeg and they will be regular single trailer drops, ending up on those runs may not be as exciting/easy as dragging a couple of 53' trailers down a straight road.

That's what has set the alarm bells ringing, which is why it's been put up on here, nobody wants you lads to come over and find out that it's nothing like you were expecting

cmetty41

Mate I hear where your coming from.The reason Loblaws came to the Uk was to recruit 25 drivers for the Regina to Winnipeg run driving 2 53 feet trailers,in brand new sleeper cabs,which where being made from scratch.Training is being done there in a 4 week period,then onto the runs we go.Would you or anyone else on here really think Loblaws would bring 25 drivers and maybe some of their families over from the UK then tell them sorry that's not what you are here for???.I have spoken to Shaun on the phone and he tooo has said all of the above will happen,the wages have been discussed loads of times with them and I get the same answer yes the money is correct as stated at the Interview.Most of Loblaws driving work was contracted out hence the reason they now want their on drivers with their own fleet.The shifts I have been told I can do are 6 on 2 off or 5 on 2 off.But at the end of the day Mate I and the others are all grown up men and if it all fails it's only 9 Hours to get home,but I have afeeling all will go great.

Chicken lights and chrome

Unfortunately, yes I can believe that the job will be totally different from what has been promised, now I base this on personal experience and the experiences of many others too. Trust me it isn't sour grapes, it isn't about anything other than trying to let you know that all is sometimes not what it seems. Mostly when something looks too good to be true, it unfortunately is. Especially when dealing with recruiters, it's their job

Like you, I hope it works out for you lads. I know you'll enjoy the first few months anyway, I remember when I came over, I loved every minute, it was a dream come true, however reality sank in after a while, that's when it started to be a bit of a nightmare, but a change of jobs sorted that out. So don't worry too much about the 9hr flight home bit, there's a wealth of opportunities if you decide the Loblaw gig isn't for you, especially in the Regina area now the oil patch is kicking off big time

Hopefully all the bitter and twisted stuff is over now, as FTTM said, we're here to help if we can, there may be a little piss taking too, but even that is good natured most of the time