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DB surrender further contracts ?


br2975
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The fact that sadly DB are shedding between 700 and 800 Driver's is part of this.

 

To be fair though, DB management wanted to "dismiss" all the staff a year ago and invite them back on new contracts. That included all train drivers who didn't possess a road motor licence who were expected to train themselves up then reapply. From what I understand many DB staff have left and gone to other TOCs and FOCs. Hardly a surprise if DB management wanted to treat their employees thus. 

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To be fair though, DB management wanted to "dismiss" all the staff a year ago and invite them back on new contracts. That included all train drivers who didn't possess a road motor licence who were expected to train themselves up then reapply. From what I understand many DB staff have left and gone to other TOCs and FOCs. Hardly a surprise if DB management wanted to treat their employees thus. 

So your telling me that you have drivers who cant drive a car ?

 

Regards Arran

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You can only compete with road haulage if your costs are low enough!

 

The road freight industry has taken advantage of EU enlargement to recruit large numbers of drivers from Eastern Europe on very low wages and who are willing to put up with some pretty awful conditions. For example https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-39196056

 

How exactly is railfreight going to compete against such practices?

The same thing is happening here in Newhaven, Romanian drivers are driving lorries from the Port to Car factories in the West Mids. Heard from a source in the Port the tricks they get up to, using Motorway laybys as a place to cook a meal on the tractor unit is one story that springs to mind.

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The irony of this is that in conversation with a DBC controller around the Southampton area it was stated that trains are being cancelled because they haven't enough drivers.

I've a friend who works for GBRf and he's been covering DBC trains into and out of Newhaven Town yard on the fly ash.

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So your telling me that you have drivers who cant drive a car ?

 

Regards Arran

 

Oh yes. There are train drivers that don't have road licences. A mate of mine drives 125mph expresses but has never had a desire to drive a car. 

 

DB wanted to bring their train drivers into competition with the likes of Freightliner, Colas and GBRf  who I believe are all able to drive motor vehicles. This means that a train driver can drive a company vehicle to where their train is and then drive the train. It was never fully in EWS conditions of service, which DB inherited. DB had to bite the bullet, but it is a moot point as to how they went about it last year.

 

I am sure "Big Jim" could tell you all about driving his van to and from jobs.

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So your telling me that you have drivers who cant drive a car ?

 

Regards Arran

 

Back in the day I knew plenty of drivers who couldn't drive a car; there was no real need if you lived close to or had easy access to your home depot.

Though that was when train drivers drove trains most of the time rather than tootling about the country in a little van.

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Oh yes. There are train drivers that don't have road licences. A mate of mine drives 125mph expresses but has never had a desire to drive a car. 

 

DB wanted to bring their train drivers into competition with the likes of Freightliner, Colas and GBRf  who I believe are all able to drive motor vehicles. This means that a train driver can drive a company vehicle to where their train is and then drive the train. It was never fully in EWS conditions of service, which DB inherited. DB had to bite the bullet, but it is a moot point as to how they went about it last year.

 

I am sure "Big Jim" could tell you all about driving his van to and from jobs.

 

 

Plus because it was never in the terms and conditions it's likely the union enforces no car/van driving for all drivers, even if they can drive, else that could cause discrimination in the types of work that is offered to some drivers and where.

 

Around where I live you see other FOC drivers do crew changeovers at out of the way local stations or even in loops rather than in some traditional, often town centre, signing on point.

 

Must make life easier all round.

 

DB were obviously trying it on with their drivers but, in a situation where an employer is looking to loose a significant number of jobs it can give them the upper hand.

 

The standard trick is to try and implement a bad thing, wait for the horrified reaction, then offer something that is not quite so bad (and is what you intended all along) and wait for the "Oh that's not quite so bad then" response.

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I rather suspect if Macron gets his way cabotage is about to disappear within the EU as well.

 

One or two other EU nations are making a fuss about this because the drivers (and other workers) pay their taxes back home, not in the host country, and the respective revenue authorities have woken up to the fact it's costing them a lot of lost revenue.

 

Only ridiculously cheap cabotage would disappear. What Macron is proposing is merely to enforce existing EU rules, whereby if someone's normal, or majority, place of work is in another country, then they should be paid the minimum wage of that country (or even going rate - I am not sure what the rules say on that exactly) and should pay taxes accordingly. But in that respect, few countries have been able to enforce it, as the drivers concerned are rarely registered in the host country. It will mean a vast increase in roadside inspections and recording, in a period where French Gendarmerie and Douane forces are horrendously busy on more critical matters.

 

But, before this practice became common, it was the Dutch who dominated international lorry traffic, not on low wages, but on supreme efficiency of their logistics, but you see a Dutch lorry as rarely as a British one these days.

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The only problem I can see for any of the other three operators (don't rule out GBRf) haven't got much in the way of yard facilities. Freightliner have East Usk, or so it would seem from the number of wagons stabled there, but Colas and GBRf don't seem to have anywhere. DBC have ADJ and Tidal Sidings; I don't know if Network Rail or the ORR could compel them to hand these facilities to potential competitors.

 

Cardiff Tidal Sdgs, East Usk  and Newport AD Junction Sidings were included on the list of DBS leased sites that were proposed for sale (of the outstanding lease period) back to NR back in 2014.  Assuming these leases were brought out by NR there will be no problem with any operator using the sidings with the agreement of NR as they will now form part of the Network.

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Technically all freight yards are still owned by NR - they were leased in a long term basis to the FOCs upon privatisation, but a couple of years ago quite a few were handed back to NR.

 

Not quite as simple as 'handed back'.  The outstanding portions of the leases, many of which ran until 31/03/2119, were brought back by NR for £Millions, netting the relevant FOC's a significant windfall albeit under the guise of opening up facilities for use by other operators and generally assisting the expansion of railfreight traffic.  Each party will have had their own real reasons for progressing the deal, such as covering up for short term losses, increasing property rental income and paying off internal company debts, as the largest beneficiary DBC / DBS will no doubt found the significant injection of cash to be very useful.  Of course the FOC's will only benefit in the relatively short term as the substantial property income involved now passes directly to NR, this of course being a reason for the leases to have been handed to the FOC's at privatisation as it was recognised that any rental income (from terminal operators etc.) would help to subsidise loss making yard and terminal activities.

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The standard trick is to try and implement a bad thing, wait for the horrified reaction, then offer something that is not quite so bad (and is what you intended all along) and wait for the "Oh that's not quite so bad then" response.

AKA, the Bucket/Spoonful of **** scenario.

 

But the problem with mass downscaling and reorganisation is an employer rarely gets rid of or keeps exactly who they want, as the resultant job insecurities makes employees of all grades actively look elsewhere.

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AKA, the Bucket/Spoonful of **** scenario.

 

But the problem with mass downscaling and reorganisation is an employer rarely gets rid of or keeps exactly who they want, as the resultant job insecurities makes employees of all grades actively look elsewhere.

 

which is pretty much what has happened at DBS. A lot of good , knowledgable staff have left , either to other companies or taken retirement where their age permitted. Those that remain may not share the work ethos that the management would prefer.

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