karron

for someone who has it all why the **** would you be bothered coming on an expat site and boring the balls off everyone with your bull ? with all this money and free time you have you dont seem to enjoy it and all you seem to get delight in is trolling websites. do yourself a favour and stop embarrassing yourself and enjoy some of your wealth........

nwtrucker

[QUOTE=karron;9273839]for someone who has it all why the **** would you be bothered coming on an expat site and boring the balls off everyone with your bull ? with all this money and free time you have you dont seem to enjoy it and all you seem to get delight in is trolling websites. do yourself a favour and stop embarrassing yourself and enjoy some of your wealth........[/QUOTE

Couldn't agree more. Why the hell anyone who has no interest in going to Canada would even frequent the site is pretty much beyond me!
Just curious as to which company BT works for too! 45k for 3 days a week eh?!! I'd hang on to that job as that pensions gonna be worth jack if George Osbourne gets his way!
Sounds just as dodgy as some of these companies he's 'heard' about!!
I'm pretty staggered that some drivers don't know what there letting themselves in for when signing on the dotted line. There is more than enough info out there to make an informed decision. I've been hanging back until the right opportunity came along. Interview in April. Not one of the usual suspects I hasten to add, wouldn't touch that lot with BT's pole!
It's taken longer to sort out but definately worth it. The sooner we get out of this toilet the better!!

grant r

[QUOTE=nwtrucker;9273929] this thread makes me laugh, all the bitchiness lol from grown men! i'm not having a go at the people who post positive stuff, just the others lol. personally as a "glass half full" bloke i WILL make it work in canada cos what is there for us in the good old uk?? not a lot! and if i have to work 4/4, 6/2, 5/3 or even 12/2, who the f##k cares if thats what i want to do, getting paid to drive and drive and drive, we're lorry drivers thats our job! nwtrucker what company have you got your interview with? would be very interested to know, thanks.

mickfly

There's the problem.

I and many others were willing to drive and drive and drive, but certain companies can't provide the miles, simple.
No miles, no money, and it doesn't matter how hard YOU want to work.

Please tell us all right now, what would you do if the company says, there's no load, you will have to reset (sit unpaid for 36 hours to clear your log) unpaid, although you hav eplenty of driving hours left.

Tell us all right now what you will do when you pass your test, complete your mentor trip and find there are no spare trucks for you to drive.."wait at home/hotel till we call you".

The UK is screwed, but it is no cake walk in Canada unless you have money to see you on, or you find a good honest company who will work you.

I take it that you mean all the settled drivers who come on here and slag of and behave like bitches towards anyone who dares criticise the Canadaian system?
You think that's positive stuff?

nwtrucker

I appreciate the quandry you found yourself in, i.e. willing to work hard but not being given the miles. Is there no way you could have stuck it out and then given the company the finger after 2 years? And just wondering how much it cost to come back and settle back in as opposed to swallowing the BS for a bit. I imagine it is tough under those conditions but I just don't see a future here for us. The UK has well and truly shafted us!

mickfly

Money was not a problem for us, we lived in the truck with a couple of resets in hotels, and I have plenty of brass.
We came back on vacation (we hadn't needed to sell our house) and decided that the amount of unpaid sitting really was a joke, but the decision not to go back was harder than the decision to go in the first place.
We were never homesick for a second and were both comfortable with the actual job (I loved it) and the equipment.

In our circumstances we didn't have to take the BS as we didn't have a young family to re-locate etc.

The final straw for us had been visiting a fellow driver in the mental hospital who had tried to kill himself due to the worry and stress. He's back in UK now and surviving.
The big companies get away with the BS, because people DO accept it, but it doesn't happen to Police/nurses/plumbers etc, just to OTR drivers who are shit scared of not getting PR.
It is not right, and no matter how many who survive it come along and say anyone who can't put up with are losers, it will not change the fact that these companies are treating TFW's like crap.

As a mate said to me who is still there... "We're the Pakis now mate".

Gremmie

All your info is based on a very few accounts from a very few drivers tales. Your stories are not a representation of the whole immigrant community of drivers & companies, youve taken a few hard luck tales of woe and are using them as the norm. I would advise any one looking to come to Canada to read your post's and take them for what they are. Worst case scenarios blown out of proportion and extorted too look like the whole truth. So in the 5 moths you drove over here a few times you did not get aload when it suited you and had to sit, well big WHOOP there is a rescesion on. I know companies that had to resort to having drivers work a week on a week off so they could keep the staff from. In a resecion some times drastic measures have to be taken.

nwtrucker

Ok cheers for the explanation. Sounds like the transport industry here 20 years ago! I agree it is totally wrong to treat workers like that and hopefully things will change for the better. If you were surviving though, I still can't quite fathom why you felt coming back was better in the long run! I suppose it depends how much you really want to make it work. As for your mates comment, has he been back to the UK lately?! lol

mickfly

There are a handful of drivers on here who are doing ok with the big companies, are you suggesting they represent the whole immigrant community?
"I know companies that had to resort to having drivers work a week on a week off so they could keep the staff from. In a resecion some times drastic measures have to be taken."
Yo have NEVER mentioned that before!

Gremmie

1 company last year for about 2 months when things got really tuff, they are back to 100% and have recently taken over to other companies.

kb33

There are a handful of drivers on here who are doing ok with the big companies, are you suggesting they represent the whole immigrant communites




I tell you what , there are hundreds that came over on the Pnp and have made the move a success they just can't be bothered with all this BS

In four years I know of one driver that went home and he was single and wanted to try Australia !

If I was having such a bad life out here why don't I just go back home ??
With the exchange rate now I would be financially better off !
Till I started working in the uk that is

nwtrucker

If you could actually find a job in the first place!

garvs11

Ive been over in Canada for nearly 18 months and have had some pretty good highs and a lot of lows,ive put up with the way things are done over here and yes got on with it, obvisiously voicing my opinion along the way to my company,and to be fair they have basically let me do what i like.Yes there have been times i wanted to drive my truck through the office window but dont we all have days like that.This isn't Europe and sometimes the sitting around does pee me off, but it swings and roundabouts isn't it,things got better the longer ive stayed but ive seen guys bail out a couple of months after coming here saying its not for them,you can either do the job or your not cut out for it that includes the sitting around bit (unpaid).Alot of people i have seen think just because they had the odd night out back home can handle weeks away at a time away from the family and can't hack it then blame the company for not caring about there family.I speak to alot of drivers from various companies including H&R who are happy working for them you will always get drivers leaving and slagging off each company thinking the grass is greener from my experience it seldom is.Canada for me is ok dare i say it "boring",plenty of work for those wishing to work but sadly i think it isn't for me.Not because of the company or because of the work( i love the Long Haul, my ideal job would be Coast to Coast, North to South USA with my wife unfortunately she has other ideas about that Lol)i definately would come back and work for Bulk again only to drive USA even after all the bad press they have been given.America pushes all my buttons and i feel if im going to try to relocate anywhere thats where i would want to be.

Gremmie

what do you find boring ?? Canada in general or just PEI,as beautiful as it is I cant think there's a great deal to do there ?? Have you thought of relocating to some where with a bit more life

garvs11

Gremmie, A very good question and hopefully i can explain without contradicting myself,As yourself i have travelled most provinces and feel i do have a little experience in this so can comment without condemnation off others.Yes although PEI is beautiful its also quiet but i couldn't see myself living here,but driving Canada for some reason bores the pants off me, as soon as i hit the USA border its like a huge weight has been lifted off me and im free.I thought about other provinces wondering whether it would make a difference and i suppose that will always be in the back of my mind. but i feel if im going put any energy into relocating like i said The States would be the place, The Carolinas or Virginia really does it for me whether it be the people or the history or the coast, the cost of living, it seems to push my buttons.I don't have a downer about Canada i think ive given it enough time but i feel its sort of second best in North America.I suppose i wont know until i return to England (May)how much of Canada i will miss,although im already dreading the thought of not being able to hop back into the States every week.