Refusing to collect Milk

abnormalnorman

Hi Lads,

Milk truck driver says he's got a new bigger truck, and that my yard is now too tight for him to collect the milk, and says i need to bring it to the nearest collection point, at 5:30am in the morning.

Iv a static tank!

I said id make the few changes needed, but he still giving out.

What can i do, or who has final say?

highdef

Do the changes that you have made resulted in him being able to get his truck in?

Mooooo

abnormalnorman wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Milk truck driver says he's got a new bigger truck, and that my yard is now too tight for him to collect the milk, and says i need to bring it to the nearest collection point, at 5:30am in the morning.

Iv a static tank!

I said id make the few changes needed, but he still giving out.

What can i do, or who has final say?

Ring the milk manager in the coop.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Mooooo wrote: »

Ring the milk manager in the coop.

^^^^^^

+1.

Who do you supply? If he's changed his lorry then you would be entitled to be informed beforehand that his new lorry wouldn't be able to collect you and given time to make adjustments to better suit the collections at the very least. And if his lorry can't collect you then there will be some other lorry able to access your yard. As far as I know, there would be an onus on your purchaser to collect as you have done nothing to make it more difficult, the collection company has.

We're collected by the company drivers here and our lad has to reveres into a few yards from the main road on blind bends, some scary moments for him over the years but it's still done every 3 days.

_Brian

Probably covering for a lack of driver skill.

patsy_mccabe

Have any of ye reversed a 40ft blind? Not something you want to be doing in a tight yard. My father collected milk so I've heard all the stories.

abnormalnorman

highdef wrote: »

Do the changes that you have made resulted in him being able to get his truck in?

should do ya. but its just excuse after excuse with him. how far do i have to go . . . knock the house for him. reason is bigger truck he says.

abnormalnorman

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

^^^^^^

. As far as I know, there would be an onus on your purchaser to collect as you have done nothing to make it more difficult, the collection company has.
.

is that definitely correct i wonder?

Mortelaro

abnormalnorman wrote: »

is that definitely correct i wonder?

If it's a CoOp and you are a member, then yes usually
It's the case with Glanbia anyway

Don't fall out with the driver,that's the biggest mistake some farmers make
You'll need them to look after you in severe weather or something
Remember aswell that processors squeeze the haulier as much as the farmer on price so I don't blame them getting bigger trucks
Over the last 30 years my yard is unrecognisable in terms of the changes made to accommodate ever increasing truck sizes
Yes some lads do have to clear old houses or old walls
I'd imagine we're pretty much at peak truck size now
It would be bad form for you not have been told about this well prior
Yes contact the milk manager, I'm surprised they haven't contacted you
Be nice as pie to them too because they too are humans and are helpful!

longgonesilver

Can other trucks turn in your yard?

whelan2

longgonesilver wrote: »

Can other trucks turn in your yard?

This is what oh - who is a lorry driver - gets told. You'll get in no bother sure the milkman flies in and out. He drives an artic and some of the yards he gets sent to he knows there's no way an artic will get in or out. Google maps is great now and he can plan ahead know if he can get in or out.

The Nutty M

_Brian wrote: »

Probably covering for a lack of driver skill.

What a wanky thing to say.

The worst mistake he'll ever make is getting in the first time.

Truckermal

He should have told you in advance as he would have known! He sounds like a bit of a tool box imo!

I think your contract states that the milk will have to be collected so a smaller truck will have to call!

Buford T. Justice XIX

The Nutty M wrote: »

What a wanky thing to say.

The worst mistake he'll ever make is getting in the first time.

We have one driver for most collections and he works away fine in a 70'x40' yard to reverse around the corner to the tank.

The relief drivers generally make it in two goes.

We were told not to make it too easy as the contract drivers will have you plagued taking small drops every day to fill their tank. 3 times they came today to collect milk and still didn't manage to empty the tank so it'll be 6 days between washes. Not an ideal situation for TBCs in my milk:(

Albert Johnson

As stated earlier if he gets in once then he's on the back foot from the outset. I received a bit of wisdom from a local silage contractor / cattle haulier on the subject of narrow gateways and tight yards. He said it was better to knock a pier or fail to get into a yard on the very first attempt, if you get in and out even once then it has been shown to be possible and if you make a mistake afterwards it was obviously lack of attention on the driver's part.

A pier was knocked in a neighbor's yard by a bale trailer during the summer, the gateway was the main entrance off the road and should have been widened years ago. He wasn't overly impressed at the time but came to peace with it eventually. I told him it was an ample opportunity to widen the gateway to be told it was plenty wide as it was (this was a 10 foot gate off a narrow road). Sure enough he built it back in the exact same spot only for it to be demolished within the week by a lorry lifting cattle for the factory. I'm fairly confident he'll move it back this time round.

cjpm

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

.....
3 times they came today to collect milk and still didn't manage to empty the tank so it'll be 6 days between washes. Not an ideal situation for TBCs in my milk:(

I'd be going berserk if that was happening here. Tell them they can call as often as they want, but you want the tank empty for a wash every 3 days at peak.

cjpm

Albert Johnson wrote: »

...
Sure enough he built it back in the exact same spot only for it to be demolished within the week by a lorry lifting cattle for the factory. I'm fairly confident he'll move it back this time round.

If he didn't have the cop on to widen a 10 ft entrance first time around I wouldn't hold my breath.....

L1985

cjpm wrote: »

Albert Johnson wrote: »

...
Sure enough he built it back in the exact same spot only for it to be demolished within the week by a lorry lifting cattle for the factory. I'm fairly confident he'll move it back this time round.

I’m convinced someone paid one of our silage contractors to knock a pier in one of our fields. Dad built it a lot wider since and all the contractors are delighted with themselves so I have my suspicions!

cute geoge

Back in the day when kerry co op first starting collecting milk on farms ,every yard had these arrow gates .They had one mad lunatic driver who they sent out to every yard where he widened the entrances on his first collection and it would be a brave farmer who would chalange him

Buford T. Justice XIX

cjpm wrote: »

I'd be going berserk if that was happening here. Tell them they can call as often as they want, but you want the tank empty for a wash every 3 days at peak.

We're generally at 7-10 TBCs so there'll be questions asked if we get a quality test for the next collection. I'll be talking to the manager about something else tomorrow anyway so I'll mention it to him. It's not the first time it's happened here but they could come tomorrow and take whatever's in the tank then.

Odelay

whelan2 wrote: »

This is what oh - who is a lorry driver - gets told. You'll get in no bother sure the milkman flies in and out. He drives an artic and some of the yards he gets sent to he knows there's no way an artic will get in or out. Google maps is great now and he can plan ahead know if he can get in or out.

That’s it. A milk truck trailer is around 30ft long with a steering axle. Try doing in a 40ft. Different story.

uck51js9zml2yt

Reading this thread has made me wonder how old my "fresh" milk is from the supermarket.....anyone want to enlighten me?

cute geoge

Hallie Gigantic Gazelle wrote: »

Reading this thread has made me wonder how old my "fresh" milk is from the supermarket.....anyone want to enlighten me?

lee strand milk takes 36 hours from farm to shop shelf .Kerry agri usually every 3 day collection as this is manufacturing milk used for processing in milk powder etc.

whelan2

Hallie Gigantic Gazelle wrote: »

Reading this thread has made me wonder how old my "fresh" milk is from the supermarket.....anyone want to enlighten me?

Milk collected here every morning. 364 days of the year. Goes for uht milk far far away.

uck51js9zml2yt

whelan2 wrote: »

Milk collected here every morning. 364 days of the year. Goes for uht milk far far away.

Glad to hear it's them foreigners getting our old milk. Might need to be calling over to Buford for the really fresh stuff.

In law's make cheese from their goats milk....it's squeeky when being eaten

Bass Reeves

OP how many cows are you milking and how far to other nearest supplier. Is it a squeeze to get rid of you. However I ring your co-op manager and let him sort it.

PMU

in new zealand the lorries have to be able to drive up to the tank, no reversing.
And they are half and half tankers mostly

Mooooo

PMU wrote: »

in new zealand the lorries have to be able to drive up to the tank, no reversing.
And they are half and half tankers mostly

The coop supply the tanks tho afaik. A lot cheaper to do a turntable than buy a bulk tank

Panch18

A pain that they didn’t tell you there was a new truck coming, but would you not sort out the area for the truck anyway??

solerina

Hallie Gigantic Gazelle wrote: »

Reading this thread has made me wonder how old my "fresh" milk is from the supermarket.....anyone want to enlighten me?

Also they are not refrigerated....imagine milk sitting in tankers for hours on end waiting for the tanker to get to the creamery....esp last June !!

Truckermal

solerina wrote: »

Also they are not refrigerated....imagine milk sitting in tankers for hours on end waiting for the tanker to get to the creamery....esp last June !!

It don't be sitting there hours on end, it's not like the old day's when we stop at the pub for a few pints on the way to the Creamery!

Odelay

solerina wrote: »

Also they are not refrigerated....imagine milk sitting in tankers for hours on end waiting for the tanker to get to the creamery....esp last June !!

The milk could be in the cow longer than the truck. Cows aren’t refrigerated either....yet!

Mooooo

solerina wrote: »

Also they are not refrigerated....imagine milk sitting in tankers for hours on end waiting for the tanker to get to the creamery....esp last June !!

Once the lorry is full it goes straight to the coop, it may be filled in a number of stops or just one or two. It wouldn't be in the lorry long at all with temps recorded and samples taken at each farm

Buford T. Justice XIX

solerina wrote: »

Also they are not refrigerated....imagine milk sitting in tankers for hours on end waiting for the tanker to get to the creamery....esp last June !!

The milk is collected at 2-3 degrees C and stored in an insulated tank for a few hours. The milk intake points where my milk goes for collection takes in the milk from my round at 3 degrees C about 2 hours after being collected on my farm so there's a negligible rise in temperature over the course of 3 hours, even during the peak temperatures last year.

I know because I was at the collection point last July as my milk was delivered and had the chance to follow it from delivery to storage pre processing.

uck51js9zml2yt

Odelay wrote: »

The milk could be in the cow longer than the truck. Cows aren’t refrigerated either....yet!

Maybe that's a job for someone in the guntering thread

K.G.

Milk lorry is the most important visitor to your yard and regular.do whatever needs to be done to get in and out quick

whelan2

K.G. wrote: »

Milk lorry is the most important visitor to your yard and regular.do whatever needs to be done to get in and out quick

We are lucky yard is lorry friendly, always leave a good Christmas bonus for lorry driver too. He collects milk here at 4am every morning and has woken me to tell me of cows in difficulty calving a few times.

GrasstoMilk

whelan2 wrote: »

This is what oh - who is a lorry driver - gets told. You'll get in no bother sure the milkman flies in and out. He drives an artic and some of the yards he gets sent to he knows there's no way an artic will get in or out. Google maps is great now and he can plan ahead know if he can get in or out.

Some lads just cant drive though.
We stopped buying fert off glanbia because the lad that hauls it from gouldings is just a big moaner and cant negotiate a 90° bend on our road.
Use 2 other companies who have longer artics and they get around it in the one run.
The last time we got fert through glanbia he dumped it in the local branch and it was 3 days before we got it into the yard after waiting s week longer because your man was pushing out bringing it!

K.G.

whelan2 wrote: »

We are lucky yard is lorry friendly, always leave a good Christmas bonus for lorry driver too. He collects milk here at 4am every morning and has woken me to tell me of cows in difficulty calving a few times.

You have to wonder.i find all the drivers in our yard are grand lads.

Truckermal

What was the outcome? The Bulk Tank must be fairly full now....:p

Still waters

whelan2 wrote: »

This is what oh - who is a lorry driver - gets told. You'll get in no bother sure the milkman flies in and out. He drives an artic and some of the yards he gets sent to he knows there's no way an artic will get in or out. Google maps is great now and he can plan ahead know if he can get in or out.

Same here, got told the same manys the time doing collections/deliveries, I'd ring ahead and ask farmer if truck and trailer would fit in his yard, no bother hed say sur the milk lorry comes in and never a bother, yea, a 30 foot tanker with a rear steer axle, I'd have a walk in first and if it was too tight I'd leave trailer outside gate, some lads just wouldn't have a clue