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Welcome to the CM summer sizzler! We hope you enjoy our bumper issue – and particularly our exclusive first drive of
the new Mercedes-Benz Actros (p28).
We all know that working in road transport is the finest job under the sun, but sometimes it might not feel that way. So, with our tongues firmly in our cheeks, we count down the 20 worst jobs in haulage (p36).
There are some that might feel they have the worst job in haulage, and we are sure that hire and reward operators will read with interest that drivers (and drivers’ mates) went on strike at own-account operator Matthew Clark on Monday, having rejected a final offer of a 2.5% pay rise with additional holiday (p6).
We have been here in the drinks sector before: earlier this month distribution staff at Coca-Cola Enterprises voted in favour of industrial action following a dispute over pay, while Carlsberg drivers rejected a pay offer of 2.75% in May.
As the majority of businesses in road transport are smalland medium-sized, a strong trade union is not a problem many operators will have to face. For those that do, realism on both sides is required. Pay rises in current market conditions will continue to be low, and employees will continue to be frustrated by high inflation.
The fact is that working in haulage is not the worst job in the world, and it is not the most glamorous either. But it is a job that thousands take pride in and, for that, we should all be grateful.
Christopher Walton