Clubs to beat poor drivers' conditions
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Uniting hgv drivers and improving their conditions is the aim of most drivers' clubs. Jack Semple reports on the progress some of them have been making recently
CLOSE by the big name personalities, flashy trucks and trade exhibits at Truckfest this month, a group of drivers formed what amounted to a mini-show of their own. They were from truckers clubs, and had come from as far away as Cornwall to meet, talk and recruit. They promoted themselves in a row of tents and caravans.
Playing host was the Diesel City club. It is not immediately obvious where it comes from, but it is centred on Peterborough and is named after that city's major manufacturer, Perkins Engines.
Drivers clubs are not in themselves new. The Al Truckers Clubs is probably the best known, and there cannot be many long distance drivers in Britain who have not heard of it or seen the screen stickers used by its members. But in the past three years there has been a substantial increase in the number of truckers clubs and in their memberships, each with its own character. The common factor is simply that members must regularly drive a lorry.
The Al club meets at a pub near the bottom of the Great North Road and serves as a meeting point for drivers who use the route. It is modest in its ambitions, but successful none the less. It draws members from throughout the country.
Most of the clubs draw members from a single area. One of the largest is the South West Truckers club, with almost 500 members in six areas, from South Wales and Bristol down to Cornwall.
The club was started in 1982 and has an active social calender in most of the areas, which helps to get wives involved. In addition it does a lot of work for charity. Last year it raised £1,500 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution through a series of events which included a parachute jump by 15 mem )ers, and a 40 mile sponsored :ycle ride. The ride is being re)eated again next weekend, rom four starting points and inishing up at Okehampton.
When a member was killed ast autumn while driving in 3elgium, the club raised £1,200 or his widow. In addition, the ■ ubscription of £7 a year infludes a £1,000 death benefit, Ind personal accident cover. The club acts as a focal point • or drivers in the area to iiscuss, for example, the attiude of local traffic examiners, Ind it has had correspondence vith the traffic area in Bristol m enforcement matters.
The main stated aim of the 3outh West club is to unite Myers and truckers clubs in 3ritain to help improve condiions and facilities. It is an amAtious, albeit common aim, )articularly as the club is non)olitical and is not affiliated to my trade union. But it does ake active interest in facilities or drivers in its area. There is )resently a plan to open a coweratively-run transport stop n Devon, with club members iolding shares. This would )ffer showers, a lounge, hard ;tending and bar as well as ..:afe facilities.
Next door to the South West 7.1ub is the Southern Truckers 7.1ub. This has just 100 mem)ers but similar aims: an inwrance scheme, and better orry parks and washing facili:ies. It covers the Portsmouth, 3outhampton and Salisbury areas, which are notoriously badly off for lorry parks.
The West Midland club is tryIng to draw up a list of truckstops away from its area ovith the co-operation of clubs in other areas. (West Midlands County Council publishes a list of approved stops and overnight accommodation.) The clubs remain very loose associations of drivers. "We've got members in Manchester and Rochdale who run down regularly to Sussex and Kent," Chris Coleman, of the South Coast club, points out.
Views often expressed are that the Transport and General Workers Union does little and could not care less for its members, and that the clubs, albeit on a very small scale, can do something to improve facilities.
In this it makes common cause with the Routiers Drivers Club, a national organisation affiliated to the Continental Routiers, and with many international drivers among its 3,000 members. It regards drivers as the "worst treated professional group in the country", paying over the top for facilties, and having to park on bomb sites.
Membership fee is £25 a year, and members qualify for an extensive legal insurance scheme.
About one third of Routiers' membership, and a rather smaller proportion of the truckers' clubs, are owner-drivers and small hauliers who drive.
Citizen Band Radio has probably been an important means of communication in setting up truckers clubs. Many members use it, but they are keen to stress that truckers clubs are not CB clubs.
The biggest drivers club is the Diesel Drivers' Club run by Shell. Is free to join, has a free magazine six times a year through which it runs competitions and special offers, and claims an astonishingly high membership of 45,000, built up in just over two years. Membership continues to grow at around 200 a week the club clearly fills a gap in the market.
The Shell club identifies a feeling among drivers in all sectors that has been growing in recent years as the lorry comes under increasing attack. They feel essentially undervalued.
The club discount service has proved very popular. Vouchers are collected when the driver buys Shell derv. Although they have no cash value in themselves, these vouchers are needed to take advantage of the discounts on offer on a range of good quality sweatshirts, jackets, travel bags and so on. The magazine is mailed directly to drivers' homes, a point which is highly valued by them.
At Truckfest, Shell mounted a large members-only marquis cafe and darts comptition hosted by Jim Bowen.
A similar club on a smaller scale has been set up by Leyland for drivers of its trucks. With membership (£2.50) standing at more than 5,000, it is proving a considerable success.
The commercial clubs and the truckers clubs have a common factor in membership. Drivers as a rule very much live their jobs, which can be fairly solitary.
The vehicles they drive and the standards expected of drivers are changing and have never been higher. The opportunities to talk to other drivers, during working hours, CB Radio apart, have never been fewer, as the eight-hour driving day comes under increasing pressure.
When it comes to pressing for better lorry parks and facilities for drivers, few of the truckers clubs have the resources to make a substantial impression, although they can make the drivers' views be heard. Whether they succeed in this area or not, they remain a good meeting point for drivers who are enthusiastic about the haulage industry.