How to say No
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T_Tere we go again, another lowner-driver crying all the way to the bank ("It ain't fair, the big companies don't treat us right"), Sound Off, CM Aug 3-9).
Let's look at owner-drivers. Why do they do it? A typical answer: "I've been driving long enough for someone else and now I want to do it for myself. I will put all my savings into a truck, twill love and cherish it, and a nice man sitting behind a desk is going to give me lots of work so I can earn lots of money for myself'.
Yes, and pigs might fly.
The man behind the desk is looking for mugs and there are plenty about. Maybe someone who has just been made redundant, someone who loves lorry driving, someone who has only ever done the job because they enjoy it. They won't bother to ask how much, and when they will get paid. They won't make a business plan and a cash-flow forecast and they won't make checks on the big company they are going to work for. And then they come unstuck. You can't turn an employed driver into an owner-driver overnight.
How can owner-drivers and small companies ever get a fair chance? They can't! Big companies become big by being ruthless. They have the best lawyers and the best accountants. Everything they do is costed out, the balance sheet at the end of the year must add up.
So what if we all get together and fight it? Good idea, but when are you going to get together? The next load is waiting to be picked up, the lorry's due in for a service, and you've still got to go on that Haz,chem course. Mr Boss behind the desk can organise his meetings into his weekly diary: you have just got to pop down to Spain.
There is one very much under-used word in the English language, and that is NO. The next time you get a phone call offering a load, and the figures don't add up, USE IT! But will you?
Ilona Richards Lady Truckers Club.