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o one ever said riving a tipper is a oft
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job, but there re opportunities out here — especially for ontracted own r rivers.
eviews the risks and pportunities.
Do tipper drivers get a fair deal? At first glance it seems so. No longer the poor relations of the transport industry a 3mbination of better kit and strict health nd safety guidelines has improved their lot abstantially over the past I 0 years.
Air-con. high-power engines, automated tilgates — all the stuff of dreams a decade ago are increasingly common.
Employers have to compete with other )ad transport markets for scarce drivers even more so given the increasing number ['articulated tippers being introduced to a isiness in which payload is everything — so ty and conditions have improved. Large agencies, such as Driver Hire, now number big tipper fleets among their clients and if you are prepared to put in the hours in boom areas such as the South-East there are reasonable wages to be earned,even on day work.
But that's only part of the story.The UK tipper sector on the aggregates, concrete and asphalt supply side still uses a large number of franchised or contracted owner-drivers.
Essentially these contracts are variations on a theme: an owner-driver or small fleet operator works for a single customer and paints his or her wagon(s) in their colours. Some of these customers— typically the big aggregates multinationals such as I Afarge and Hanson -not only provide work, they also arrange deals on truck acquisition and the finances to purchase or lease them.
Lack of flexibility Not all contracts are the same, of course. Some allow operators to work for others when times are slack, but a truck in Tarmac colours can hardly haul for a competitor, and a tipper lacks the flexibility of a curtainsider to handle other types of freight.
There are attractions to this system or no one would sign up. Many aggregates or asphalt plants are in rural areas-the Peak District and Mendips being prime exampleswhere haulage opportunities are limited.Contracting taa big firm should, in theory, mean a steady supply of work, predictable rates and,if you can find a second driver, the chance to doubleshift and really sweat that asset.
The construction industry, like haulage itself, is sensitive to the nation's economic health and it has been doing well for several years so there's currently a lot of work about. But imagine a less happy scenario. Jobs dry up and loads are in increasingly short supply. Your costs such as purchase/lease,repairs, tax, wages and depreciation remain the same but you're in the middle of Derbyshire with a tipper in customer's colours:This system has been .ikened to being an agricultural labourer in a :led cottage,or trying to run a business from -)remises with a restrictive covenant. Even if work isn't scarce, how are loads illocated by the traffic office? What are the Titeria for deciding who gets a long run and vho gets lots of short local loads? Which pays )etter and are your fellow franchisees getting i better rate than you?
There have been a few rebellions by owner!rivers who have grouped together and tried to trike over rates: others have gone bankrupt. "I tried everything," says one victim of this ituation,"but I couldn't make it pay" Nvide and rule °me large companies have brought transport ,ack in-house or contracted to a single large aulier, Employed drivers at a depot might ave a union rep to bargain collectively on leir behalf, but franchised driver negotiations re usually conducted on an individual basis, taking it easy for less scrupulous employers ) divide and rule.
What happens as has been the case -if the ggregate giant flexes its muscles and decides ) alter the terms of the contract part way trough? Or what if it is taken over by an even rger multinational with different policies? an you afford to fight a civil legal case with no gal aid?
CM has talked to both sides of this potential spute although for obvious reasons some :spondents wish to remain anonymous.