Forum Topic

Petrol drivers' salary

Is £39,000/annum a good enough salary for petrol tanker drivers?

Gerry Tan ● 6179d37 Comments

I see the strike might be over.Shame, coz I had a brilliant solution...

Alan Brainsby ● 6175d

"Perhaps not, but then do civilian tanker drivers get accommodation etc thrown in?"Um.... no  - but they can sleep in their cabs.Perhaps that's the answer though.  Pay them  £16,000 to be on a par with army drivers, give them low cost housing which will equate to no more that £12,000 pa, free Bupa which will add another £1000 to the 'package' -  and you've got them for £29,000 !!  It seems they've been overpaid all along. Maybe we should boycott fuel as a protest?

Steve Taylor ● 6175d

Yes, but after our soldier tanker drivers, and  soldier drivers of vehicles carrying high explosives are trained to kill, are they paid £50,000 p.a.??Perhaps not, but then do civilian tanker drivers get accommodation etc thrown in?

Alan Brainsby ● 6175d

"At least soldiers are trained to kill or else be killed."Yes, but after our soldier tanker drivers, and  soldier drivers of vehicles carrying high explosives are trained to kill, are they paid £50,000 p.a.??

Steve Taylor ● 6175d

"She could have earned a fortune elsewhere and was worth every penny "Sara, you must live in a very different world to the rest of us if you think a £4m pension pot isn't a fortune.

Ed Yelland ● 6175d

I wouldn't say the TV licence fee was cheap for the very occasional quality product that the BBC provides to its audience.

Alan Brainsby ● 6175d

I agree - Jenny conceived and oversaw the only flawless channel launch in the BBC's history - yes, I was part of it too. She could have earned a fortune elsewhere and was worth every penny - and how many tip-top people would have stuck to the same public service employer for 40 years? Am not so sure about Jonathan Ross - but these are cheap shots in the discussion about paying tanker drivers' wages

Sara Nathan ● 6175d

The reason civil fuel tankers don't explode, spill, burn, overturn, or whatever else they are capable of is probably down to the competence of their drivers.At least soldiers are trained to kill or else be killed.

Alan Brainsby ● 6176d

Re;- " When last did we lose a soldier and when last did a civil fuel transporter explode?"          xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx        a very pertinent comment

Tony Price ● 6176d

"I think most of us would not wish to work antisocial hours, many of which involve towing a potential bomb about, for less than £50 000. "So what do our army chaps get paid for driving real bombs (or fuel for that matter) around hostile territory?When last did we lose a soldier and when last did a civil fuel transporter explode?

Steve Taylor ● 6176d

I don't disagree with a reasonable pension but when nearly the whole lot (employee's input and employer's contribution) is funded from essentially a tax on owning television receiving apparatus it is a bit strong.No wonder the BBC doesn't want to be a subscription service!

Alan Brainsby ● 6176d

re:- "Do you have a source that you can point me at for that claim please Tony?"            xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx        only in so far as it was part of the News on TV when the matter first broke, I can't remember which Channel it was,but either BBC1 or Ch 4 most likely.

Tony Price ● 6176d

Thanks Alan I didn't recognise Jennys latest job description,she was my bosses boss at the time of the birth of Radio Five. She has a brain the size of a planet,has saved BBC Radio from serious doldrums (apart from Radio 3 that is!)and could have doubled her salary had she chosen to go to any of the Independants. She's also been at or near the top of the Broadcasting tree (and been paying in for her pension) for 40 years,so no I don't begrudge her seemingly large pension...others will of course. Sadly I have to agree that the BBC TV output is as you describe "Dire",the reason I suspect is the selling off/breaking up of what are perceived as the non-profit making sides of production. If they are so non-profit making,why do companies queue up to buy them? Well to make a profit of course,where does that profit come from? The program budget naturally. I would however willingly put my signature on any petition to rid our screens of that £6 million a year pile of cack that is Jonathon Ross. Outrageous waste of licence payers money.

Tony Wood ● 6176d

Try: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.radio.digital/browse_thread/thread/56d86063a79071efIf these statements are true then it's nice to know that not all the licence payers' money is wasted on some pretty dire programmes...

Alan Brainsby ● 6176d

Do you have a source that you can point me at for that claim please Tony?

Tony Wood ● 6176d

Re :- " If average national earnings is said to be £25 000/annum what would it be if BBC salaries were excluded - £22 000? "          xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx        A fair bit less, I would say bearing in mind the recent revelation of the Head of the Audio Dept, who had been there for 40 years and thus due to retire. Her pension " pot " is £4 MILLION and current salary a mere £ 348,000, if memory serves me correctly. Shattering to learn that the BBC rank the head of a Dept. to be worth  2X that of the Prime Minister, but then it is not their money they are throwing around, it's OURS', laid for them on a plate, come hell or high water, it just pours in. And a lot sticks within, so it seems.

Tony Price ● 6177d

TUPE* might apply but as usual there are cop outs for pension schemes (they have to be at least to a minimum standard).*Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment).As a general question:If average national earnings is said to be £25 000/annum what would it be if BBC salaries were excluded - £22 000?

Alan Brainsby ● 6177d

Do not TUPE (I think it is) regulations apply?

Graham Weeks ● 6177d

The salaries of CEOs are a matter for their shareholders."Absolutely true....It's also absolutely true that the drivers wages are between them and their employers...So why the question about how much they earn?Either you want a free market economy or you want to control the wages of the workers ...which is it?

Tony Wood ● 6177d

"Why aren't there any howls of protest at the earnings of the CEO of Shell? Somewhere I read that even at £39k/annum,it would take a driver 59 years working to earn as much as the CEO earns in one year."Probably because the lorry drivers don't work for Shell - they work for a company called Hoyer of which Shell is a customer.This is all nonsense anyway - as the papers reported today that the ring leader is already on £43K.

Ed Yelland ● 6177d

It is probably true to say that ALL the Shell distribution drivers are suitably qualified and could produce legally valid documentation to that effect.I do not think that statement could be applied to ALL the doctors who work for the NHS or in private practice.Back to the drivers. Of the 600 the majority worked for Shell before the distribution aspect was off-loaded (outsourced).Do they still get the benefits of a blue-chip company such as a good pension. Probably not.

Alan Brainsby ● 6177d

I thought that directors' remuneration was the province of shareholders and that they(the directors) set any CEO's salary. I could be wrong though, not having been either a director(of a board) or a CEO.  :-(

Gerry Tan ● 6177d

The salaries of CEOs are a matter for their shareholders.

Graham Weeks ● 6177d

" Reasonable point, but getting a top line HGV licence is no mean feat either, and I rather think some lorry drivers are better qualified than some "doctors" employed in this country. "I think you would find it much easier to get a HGV licence that get registered with the GMC.

Graham Weeks ● 6177d

graham wrote: >I think their motivation is to do with their employers raking it in < I believe that they are not Shell employees, but employed by a distribution company that has a delivery contract with Shell.

David Fox ● 6177d

Why aren't there any howls of protest at the earnings of the CEO of Shell? Somewhere I read that even at £39k/annum,it would take a driver 59 years working to earn as much as the CEO earns in one year.  Why do folk that proclaim themselves to be Tories get all uppitty when a few other folk have similar aspirations,is it a class thing,jealousy or what?

Tony Wood ● 6177d

£39k/annum does seem a bit OTT to me.

Gerry Tan ● 6177d

Petrol is both volatile and highly flammable. Other chemicals are one or the other, and some neither though they may exhibit corrosive and irritant characteristics.Petrol tankers are not particularly well armoured. Perhaps they should be smaller and armoured, or petrol to be contained in 10l cans.Pressurized gases, whether medical, are carried in very strong containers in relatively small numbers. They should be carried, and stored, upright with safety chains, not that that some tradesmen take notice of the fact.By qualifications I assume GCSEs, A levels, etc.Reasonable point, but getting a top line HGV licence is no mean feat either, and I rather think some lorry drivers are better qualified than some "doctors" employed in this country.

Alan Brainsby ● 6177d

"I think most of us would not wish to work antisocial hours, many of which involve towing a potential bomb about, for less than £50 000. "Calling a petrol tanker a "mobile bomb" is a bit churlish. It's no more a "mobile bomb" that lorries carrying medical gases, volatile chemicals or anything of the other things transported by drivers who earn a lot less than this lot.The fact is that these drivers have few if any qualifications yet think they "deserve" more than the 50% over the average wage they already get.  Their motivation largely seems to stem from an expectation that they somehow deserve some of the Shell's increased revenue, which doesn't actually come from Petrol retailing, but instead comes from international exploration /business overseas.

Ed Yelland ● 6177d

Perhaps that's the answer.Instead of petrol being brought to us, and dispensed through local retailers, we should drive to the refineries and fill up there.It would be so much safer. Rather than tankers containing  around 20 000 litres of fuel we'd have lots of cars containing only 50-60 l each, so much safer in an accident.The fact it might take a quarter to a third of tank to reach a refinery is irrelevant.

Alan Brainsby ● 6178d

Re :- " It seems the salaries have been relatively static for some years so this merely "catchup".I think most of us would not wish to work antisocial hours, many of which involve towing a potential bomb about, for less than £50 000."          xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx      I think they are saying the 32k was the figure they were getting in 1992, which IF the case, means they were getting too much then ??. But the offered figure of 39K is IMO , more than generous. As to their towing a bomb around, agreed the cargo is  dangerous, but not only to them !!. So maybe the petrol companies should pay us all for having their alleged bombs travelling in OUR midst ?.

Tony Price ● 6178d

I don't understand where national average wage and inflation stand in the pay rise argument.It seems the salaries have been relatively static for some years so this merely "catchup".I think most of us would not wish to work antisocial hours, many of which involve towing a potential bomb about, for less than £50 000.

Alan Brainsby ● 6178d

"Is £39,000/annum a good enough salary for petrol tanker drivers?"Compared to police officers, nurses and other public service employees.......difinitely more than enough IMO! The present offer is I believe, way over the rate of inflation.

Account suspended ● 6178d

I think their motivation is to do with their employers raking it in and not sharing their prosperity. I  know the feeling myself.

Graham Weeks ● 6178d

It's a lot more that the average wage - which is apparently nearer £25,000

Sara Nathan ● 6179d

I have no idea, but I suspect your salary is only enough if you accept it. Anything else is perspective, opinion or politics surely?

Piero Vitelli ● 6179d

Yes

Graham Weeks ● 6179d