Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Andy B on 17 February 2012, 23:45:17
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I seem to remember that there are some recovery drivers on the forum.
SWMBO's Smart decided to play funny buggers today (best guess says it's crank shaft sensor :-\) so I called Green Flag to bring me back home.
Talking, as you do to the driver, he works four days on & four days off and he tries to get as much overtime as he can get. As I found out he needed it .......... hourly rate of £7.50 but overtime after 6pm gained him a huge 50 pence/hour! ??? ??? The poor lad had even forked £3000 out of his own pocket to take his HGV II & HGV I, he was just coming to the end of a loan to pay for it. Tachographs are apparently not needed if you're within 60 miles of home depot but were worked around by saying they were working from one the bases closest to where they were. I did ask him if he was looking for another job, but it seemed as though he was just glad of the job he had.
The recovery firm works in the north west (of England) and their name sounds like they laid a kind of bitumen road surface. ::) ::)
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Talk about carp wages :o I feel for the lad... But surely there must be other options :-\
I'm offering better wages than that for someone to work for me ;)
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Recovery is one of those trades where there's always someone willing to undercut you on price. And Mr and Mrs Average just want someone to turn up with a spec lift to get them home, without being charged the earth... it's not a job where excellent service is noted as being so unless you're in some way interested. IMHO of course.
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That is not my experience of recovery drivers? OK, going back to the early to mid 90's I went for a weekend Job in Hertfordshire as a recovery driver....Job was mine if I wanted but I could not take it because of when the hours ended, and i also had a full time Job. I had to think very very hard as the money offered, for potentially none stop work, Friday PM to Monday AM was, from memory about double i got paid for a week..... Similar hours if I think about it... ::) ::)
A couple of years ago i was contacted by a member of the family, long story, who was living in a very expensive house, so a lot of money made... :y :y
A local garage to me, i have known the owner since i was about 13 has developed his recovery service from an ex army Austin K9 to a huge fleet, and makes mega bucks.............If I was 25 years younger and did not have the health problems i have, I would happily move from my role as a Professional to a recovery operator, he would give me a job anyway....lots of personal history,they earn about double I do, there is big money in recovery... :y :y
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Green flag cover came with my Diret Line insurance. The staff where always helpfully, just totally hamstrung by the company they worked for. As where the customers. All owned by RBS iirc.
...and yes, complaints still on going re DL. Found in my favour by the ombudsman, DL failed to settle as specified. Complaint raised, found in my favour, DL fai... And on it goes.
Anyway, yes, doesn't suprise me in the least. They're all paying fat cat bonuses and pensions for Fred Goodwin, one way or another. >:(
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When I was doing it (12 years ago!) I was on a £300/week basic. That covered 08:30-17:30 Monday to Friday (workshop and MOT's with brakedaowns and recovery when busy/needed) and then I got a third of what the company got out of hours. My average weekly wage was about £900-1200 :o But that was being on call 24/7 ;) Admittedly we were Tachometer exempt at the time, which made it easier, but extremely dangerous when you go 4 days without actually going to bed :o
I left it after about 3 years because I burnt out! Went and worked for a skip hire company for less than half that but for a third of the hours ;) The money was good, but the hours were killer! Probably a big contributing factor in my divorce ;)
Yes I'm back doing a job with 24/7 cover, but I don't intend to be working solo for much longer ;) Plus, my relationship is stronger now. But I wouldn't want to go back to it now ;)
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But that was being on call 24/7 ;) extremely dangerous when you go 4 days without actually going to bed :o
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I asked him about that, and he said that it would be up to him whether he turned out again after a couple of hours in bed.
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Green flag cover came with my Diret Line insurance. The staff where always helpfully, just totally hamstrung by the company they worked for. As where the customers. All owned by RBS iirc.
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no complaints at all by the recovery, ie time waiting at the road side, although he was only young he was professional & courteous. Just astounded by his low pay for responsible job.
Apparently Green Flag pay out £57 per recovery irrespective of where the broken down car is going, so presumably reflected in the driver's hourly rate.
NB The Renualt 02 plate recovery truck had 850 000kms on the clock ................. & he reckoned it'd been round the clock! :o :o :o :o :o :o
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going by the thread title and also slightly off topic, i would just like to add that there are proportionally as many p"""s taking employees as employers :y
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going by the thread title and also slightly off topic, i would just like to add that there are proportionally as many p"""s taking employees as employers :y
Indeed, and I have one on my team >:(
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I left it after about 3 years because I burnt out! Went and worked for a skip hire company for less than half that but for a third of the hours ;) The money was good, but the hours were killer! Probably a big contributing factor in my divorce ;)
Yes I'm back doing a job with 24/7 cover, but I don't intend to be working solo for much longer ;) Plus, my relationship is stronger now. But I wouldn't want to go back to it now ;)
Agree, I gave up on-call when I used to do internet hosting, could guarantee 3 or 4 callouts a night. Good money, but after a couple of years, I was just shagged out.
In 1998, all that Y2K debacle, me and the guy I worked with were responsible for all the servers in our area. We did 7am until 10pm all day, every day for about 8 months, often going into work 7am Friday morning, not going home until 10pm Monday night. We had a great laugh doing it, worked really hard, and got it done on target (which was the start of 1999, a target set by the CIO) by completing it around 6pm Christmas Eve. Went to Mums late Christmas Eve, but don't remember the next 2 weeks - apparently it all caught up with me.
In summary, I think you can only push yourself that hard for a limited time, and if you can see the end of it.
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When you cant see an end to it,thats one of the worst possible positions to be in ime.I had several years of extremely long hours,enormous pressure every day,tough physical graft coupled with supervisory responsibility under utterly inept senior management.No light at the end of the tunnel through most of that time and it was a horrible feeling that I wouldnt wish on anyone.
At times I contemplated self inflicted injury,such as a broken arm/leg etc. just to get some time away from it :(
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... i would just like to add that there are proportionally as many p"""s taking employees as employers :y
Indeed, there are various at HJ einz that do as little as possible, often under the banner of 'elf 'n' safety ......... can't do that without scaffolding ........ can't do that - I'm not good with confined spaces ......... or I ain't doing that! :-X
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Green Flag have just changed the way they work. They used to use a network of local garages to cover the country and were paying us £36 for turning out and mileage after 10 miles (hence the reason some of their policies were 10 mile recovery only ;))
Recently they accepted the tender of 4/5 larger recovery companies (probably because of the new rate) to cover the whole country. FWIW, that £57 per job will include everything from flat batteries and wheel changes (which i would frequently do 15+ per day) up to the National recovery. £57 for a jump start is good money ;D
But they were certainly taking advantage of the young lad ::)
As for the mileage... I can well believe it... One of our trucks had been roung twice when I left :o :o And it drove better faster than any of the others ;)
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I just had to have my new "bus" trailered to the garage here in Spain. ALL policies must have full recovery here. I think that is good as it minimises roadside deaths and holdups.
The fellow arrived quickly and took us 15 miles to garage of our choice. He was totally disaffected with his job (but lucky to have one when unemployment here is 30%). His main gripe was the hours and being permanently tired from never getting enough sleep. I think only a younger person could do that.
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going by the thread title and also slightly off topic, i would just like to add that there are proportionally as many p"""s taking employees as employers :y
Indeed, and I have one on my team >:(
Gissa job, I can do that
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.... include everything from flat batteries and wheel changes (which i would frequently do 15+ per day) up to the National recovery. £57 for a jump start is good money ;D .......
I'd feel embarrassed to call a recovery firm out for a jump start!! And I certainly wouldn't expect someone else to change a wheel over for me, not even on the hard shoulder. Part of the reason for joining a recovery service is due to the fact her Smart doesn't have a spare ....... a bottle of out of date goo won't be much use to you when your tyre has blown & is shredded. ??? :y :y
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.... include everything from flat batteries and wheel changes (which i would frequently do 15+ per day) up to the National recovery. £57 for a jump start is good money ;D .......
I'd feel embarrassed to call a recovery firm out for a jump start!! And I certainly wouldn't expect someone else to change a wheel over for me, not even on the hard shoulder. Part of the reason for joining a recovery service is due to the fact her Smart doesn't have a spare ....... a bottle of out of date goo won't be much use to you when your tyre has blown & is shredded. ??? :y :y
It used to happen all the time. Wheel changes are sometimes not allowed by companies (H&S strikes again ::)) so company car drivers have to call Roadside Assistance to change it for them ;)
Plus there are more and more people on the road who don't know how to change a wheel ::) I was doing a fuel drain a couple of weeks ago and a young lad in a Corsa had a puncture... He didn't even know how the jack worked :o :o As he was in my way I just changed it for him (FOC)... Worked in my favour as the garage staff saw me do it and said that they would make sure the manager knew how helpful I had been :y :y
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i thought basic car maintenance type stuff was now part of the theory test and whatnot?????? like, specifically, how to change a wheel.... ??? no???
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i thought basic car maintenance type stuff was now part of the theory test and whatnot?????? like, specifically, how to change a wheel.... ??? no???
Just because it's part of the theory, doesn't mean they can actually do it ;) ;)
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i was also a ex recovery driver, i remember being on call and not getting any sleep, one that comes to mind is id worked all day around leicester area, got home at 10pm bed about 11pm to get a call that someone had broke down on donnington services, going to glasgow, i got them there turned round pulled into first services and slept on back seat of truck for 7hrs, company then stung me for 2 grand when i left by not paying wages
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i was also a ex recovery driver, i remember being on call and not getting any sleep, one that comes to mind is id worked all day around leicester area, got home at 10pm bed about 11pm to get a call that someone had broke down on donnington services, going to glasgow, i got them there turned round pulled into first services and slept on back seat of truck for 7hrs, company then stung me for 2 grand when i left by not paying wages
Yep... The long hours were a killer :o Worst "run" I ever had was from 05:00 Thursday to 03:00 Monday without actually getting into bed :o :o :o Just hour long "Power Naps" as and when I got the chance ::) Made a lot of money that weekend though... over £2k :y :y
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.... Made a lot of money that weekend though... over £2k :y :y
Bit of a bugger to spend it though if you'd fallen alseep in the outside lane ........... ;) ;)
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.... Made a lot of money that weekend though... over £2k :y :y
Bit of a bugger to spend it though if you'd fallen alseep in the outside lane ........... ;) ;)
Indeed. Fortunately(?), I've never been someone who needs a lot of sleep... 4-5 hours/night is normal for me, often broken, and I'm very good a "Power" Naps ::)
It was foolish when I think about it and I wouldn't want to do it again, but sometimes needs must ;)
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It was foolish when I think about it and I wouldn't want to do it again, but sometimes needs must ;)
Hindsight is wonderful, and yes, if you need the money you do what's asked of you ............. exactly the case of the young recovery driver - he was 25 with 3 little ones & obvioulsy every quid mattered. :y :y
I've only ever fallen asleep at the wheel once. A very frightening experience. If you went towards Pompey on the A34 and followed the signs for Gosport, the signs (used to) put you on the M27(5?) for a junction, the ON slip very quickly became the OFF slip for Gosport ie by-passing Fareham. It is/was only a very short distance but I found myself in the outside lane when I opened my eyes! This was the best part of 30 years ago & was in the early ours - not something I'd like to do again.
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most the new rules came in after the recovery driver who fell asleep on m25 nr to heathrow, killed him and if im right in remembering 6 passengers, im sure if i wrong to number of deaths ill be quoted as so
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I just had to have my new "bus" trailered to the garage here in Spain. ALL policies must have full recovery here. I think that is good as it minimises roadside deaths and holdups.
The fellow arrived quickly and took us 15 miles to garage of our choice. He was totally disaffected with his job (but lucky to have one when unemployment here is 30%). His main gripe was the hours and being permanently tired from never getting enough sleep. I think only a younger person could do that.
oooh not good!!! what was wrong with it?? done my fair share of recovery driving and got the sack for fixing cars at roadside rather than transport them hundreds of miles!! cant see the sense in that meself but it was a lesson learnt!!
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i used to repair over recover, always baffled me the people over here who think they got full recovery with there car insurance policy, 99% of time it just a roadside policy with 10 mile tow, recovery companies made a killing off them, when i was in essex working the operators in office used to see who could sting people most
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i used to repair over recover, ....
You'd have been more than welcome to replace the crank sensor at the road side for me .......... ;) ;) ;)
Not quite as straight forward as a V6 ::) clicky (http://www.fq101.co.uk/how-to-guides/fortwo-450/engine/571-crank-position-sensor-change.html)
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i used to repair over recover, ....
You'd have been more than welcome to replace the crank sensor at the road side for me .......... ;) ;) ;)
Not quite as straight forward as a V6 ::) clicky (http://www.fq101.co.uk/how-to-guides/fortwo-450/engine/571-crank-position-sensor-change.html)
:o :o :o
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i used to repair over recover, ....
You'd have been more than welcome to replace the crank sensor at the road side for me .......... ;) ;) ;)
Not quite as straight forward as a V6 ::) clicky (http://www.fq101.co.uk/how-to-guides/fortwo-450/engine/571-crank-position-sensor-change.html)
:o :o :o
Every thing under the engine lid is a right royal PITA to get at! :( :(
Great car to play in on B roads though. :y :y
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nearly as good as my recovery truck, for some unknown reason it never had a limiter on it, one night i was going to a priority job for police in southend, passed boss at 85 on the a127, next day pulled into office for a lecture lol
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Green Flag have just changed the way they work. They used to use a network of local garages to cover the country and were paying us £36 for turning out and mileage after 10 miles (hence the reason some of their policies were 10 mile recovery only ;))
Recently they accepted the tender of 4/5 larger recovery companies (probably because of the new rate) to cover the whole country. FWIW, that £57 per job will include everything from flat batteries and wheel changes (which i would frequently do 15+ per day) up to the National recovery. £57 for a jump start is good money ;D
As for the mileage... I can well believe it... One of our trucks had been roung twice when I left :o :o And it drove better faster than any of the others ;)
We lost our GF contract late last year; we were getting about £40 per call, with mileage if recovered over 15 miles if the customer had cover - many don't. GF's big attraction used to be the quick response time, which came from using local contractors. As some of my colleagues now work for the London based contractor now covering Kent, Sussex and Surrey, they are expected to go from job to job, no matter where it is. That's a bloody big area to get to inside of an hour! Plus, they 'do' it using small Renault vans with the Rapid Deployment Trailer like the AA use. A big/heavy/automatic car like ours is out of the question. Then you'll be waiting for a truck. Plus, the original driver won't get paid for the job! It's not unusual for drivers to be paid on commission only; now 20% of £57 doesn't look so good for what could take over an hour to do(arriving, doing the job-jump start, wheel change, etc,etc) now does it?
When my original boss sold up 8 years ago, he showed us paperwork(which went in the bin) that the rates hadn't gone up in almost ten years, and they only did last year! He reckoned that as a small, family owned firm he couldn't afford to keep going, yet we had the local big contracts, and the Police work, where serious money can be made, but also lost(many jobs don't get paid at all, and many long term ones are only chargeable for once the car is cleared, which is years in some cases).
Mileage? My '10 reg Canter(put on the road 18/12/10) now has over(can't be exact, been on holiday the last two weeks) 53,000miles on it, and it was a quiet year. The tacho exemption was necessary; we'd all regularly done several days on the trot, or had a 500 mile round trip at 3AM after doing a day's work. Those rarely happen now.
Recovery is a right laugh!