[MK Chris]

They won't be well paid, regardless of the price of fuel.

[S4B]

I have a few friends who are truckers and, trust me, they earn a damn site more than I do!

Bit like train drivers - they get a fortune!

[AndyJ]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23493660-details/Price+of+petrol+'to+double'+as+fuel+protests+spark+Brown+fears+of+panic+buying/article.do

Motorists were urged not to panic-buy today as fuel tanker drivers prepared to launch a four-day strike from Friday - and unleaded petrol was predicted to soar to 230p a litre.

Warnings that a litre of unleaded could hit 230p followed Russian energy giant Gazprom's prediction that crude oil was set to skyrocket to $250 a barrel 'in the forseeable future'. It peaked last week at a fraction under $140.

Gordon Brown's spokesman said emergency plans were in place to minimise disruption during a tanker strike and stressed: 'We want the public to buy as normal, to avoid creating problems.'

The Downing Street plea comes with diesel prices poised to soar past £6 a gallon.

[S4B]

£2.30! WHAT!? I will have to work from home! This is ridiculous!

[ladbroke]

Surely they can't be badly paid, not with the price of fuel what it is!

I seem to remember that fuel tanker drivers are substantially better paid than ordinary HGV drivers. A great deal of procedures and laws to be familiar with.

[ladbroke]

Apparently they're on about 39k per annum

[S4B]

They won't be well paid, regardless of the price of fuel.

Apparently they're on about 39k per annum

What do you consider well paid then Topher?!

[ladbroke]

I know you asked Topher but I think it's not that well paid when you consider they have thousands of litres of highly explosive fuel behind their backs. Maybe nurses, army personnel etc are just under paid?

[S4B]

They drive! That's it! They drive! I'd quite like to get paid that much for driving! They should be compensated by accident/injury/life insurance for that not by being paid a bloody fortune to drive! How dare they strike because of crap wages! I wish I was paid that much!

[ladbroke]

Yes but should they crash those lorries then the consequences could be awful. They also have to have knowledge of dealing with their cargo in terms of fuel spillages etc and dispensing that fuel into the filling stations. Their professional drivers.

[ladbroke]

Sorry I should of said 'they're professional drivers'!

[S4B]

I still don't think it warrants that amount of money!

You should also have said "should have said"

[Yudster]

I agree that the risks are high and should be accounted for in the salary. However I don't think £39k is an unreasonable level even with that consideration. Disputes over pay and conditions are not always as straightforward as simply "we want more money" though" - there might be many other areas of dispute.

[ladbroke]

I wont be able to sleep with that terrible error on my mind

They're essentially transporting a bomb. I want petrol transported by highly trained, professional drivers, not any Tom, Dick or Harry.

[Yudster]

They're essentially transporting a bomb. I want petrol transported by highly trained, professional drivers, not any Tom, Dick or Harry.

I completely agree. I don't however agree that a salary of £39k isn't comensurate with that responsibility - I believe that it is.

[ladbroke]

I dont believe 39k is a bad salary for the job, but I wouldn't rate it any higher than 'not bad'. To a point if you want the best drivers in the industry you have to pay top money, the same as in any other field of employment. As a single person 39k still only equates to a mortgage of about 160k, and that doesn't buy you a lot of property in London and home counties, or lots of other areas for that matter.

[pjordan2000]

I was just reading on Sky News they actually earn around £32k which they believe hasn't changed since 1992 despite working on average an extra 11 hours per week.

The pay deal they are after will take them upto roughly £39k per annum...

Still a fair bit of money though

[ladbroke]

32k in 1992 would have been a v good salary. If it hasn't changed since then, then I quite agree with them wanting more.

[pjordan2000]

£32k now is quite a good salary compared to mine!

[aporteruk]

I believe the union involved are relatively new on the scene and have only instigated the strike to flex their muscles and show the industry what they can do for potential new members. Unfortunately this has been blown out of proportion by the media and could spark panic buying by the general public. In reality only Shell stations will be affected so you'll only have to drive to the next non shell station to fill up. Panic over!

[foot-loose]

Part of me misses driving. Part of me is glad to be rid of it.

Trains have a lot going for them... at least until winter, then I may complain.

I'm superior thanks to my luxurious long hair...it gives me special powers. My biggest fear is waking up one morning to find Mrs B Stood over me with a pair of garden shears laughing.

I now have this fear as well!

[MK Chris]

I've been talking about this tonight... there's one type of person who this doesn't affect and that's the politician. They vote on their own pay rises for *'s sake!

Excuse me for having a bit of a rant at politicians, but they're * corrupt.. all the stuff going on at the moment about expenses and not having to provide receipts up to £20,000 or something ridiculous.. then they get a mortgage paid for on a second house in London, which by the way, years later, they'll sell for £1,000,000+ and take it for themselves.. we're basically buying them a house and there's nothing we can do about that; we can vote someone else in, but they'll do the same thing. And then they come out with some bullshit about it being in the rules - of course it is - they wrote the rules! Then they make the minimum wage £6 an hour or whatever it is at the moment and those people get no help with that - it has to pay for everything.

Anyway, that's my rant over.

[Sunny So Cal]

My biggest fear is waking up one morning to find Mrs B Stood over me with a pair of garden shears laughing.

I now have this fear as well!

Why? Have you left the wilds of the north and shacked up with them?

[foot-loose]

Are you telling me that waking up to find some random standing over you, with a pair of garden shears, laughing manically wouldnt scare you??

[Yudster]

Are you telling me that waking up to find some random standing over you, with a pair of garden shears, laughing manically wouldnt scare you??

Not some random at all - specifically Mrs B.