Is there anyone who seriously enjoys working 60/70 hrs a week for 5/6 ph???Please Please explain WHY you do it I SIMPLY CAN`T GET MY HEAD ROUND IT IN THIS DAY AND AGE. 
I wonder why anyone would work for 40 hrs at that rate.
As you may have heard UK is said to have longest working hours in EEC. Now we all know how long we all toil to earn a crust, but I have wondered on many occassions if all the other people that claim long hours are counting hours at work (place of employment) and how many add on their commuting time. 
I work on average 65 hours pw and my top line is Ā£420 not the best money in the world i admit and i dont like working that many hours but my circumstances mean i have to and round where i live there isānt much else better for a class 2 driver with no nights out and no weekend work so until im better off financualy iāll keep doing it
simon
PS no need for any long lectures about how i should fight for more money and less hours donāt you think i already know that but unless your willing to chip in towards my mortgage iāll keep doing it.
Oh and im happy enough to keep doing it
I probably average around 60/65 hours a week, from the early 50ās this time of year, up to 70 and beyond in harvest. Have done for 8+years. And no, i donāt like it. I donāt like not being able to plan anything during the week, i donāt like not seeing friends and family as much as iād like to, i donāt like the fact that some nights if iām home i have just enough time to shower and cook/eat before i have to be getting to bed, and i donāt like the fact that most small companies need their drivers to do this to make a living and keep the wheels of industry turning The sooner i can get a job that pays me a fair amount of money for a fair amount of work the better. I realise that a great deal of companies are coming around to this now that the wtd is about to kick off, but i can see it all being a right abortion for the first few months at the very least. Anyway to re-cap, no i bloody donāt!
I think you guys might find a very big reply and debate to this one i mentioned in another post i couldnt understand anyone wanting to work more than 40 ish hours in a week, there are those that apparently are sick minded and actually enjoy it and there are some who don,t .
For me i had enough of driving trucks and cannot remember ONE traffic guy saying thanks for the little bit of extra effort i put in, i could mention the payrise this year from a boss who appreciates my efforts, but i dont want to gloat.
Theres guys on here who just moan and moan and are stuck in the truck for the rest of their lives and there are some who realise they have potential in other jobs ( no offence) its up to you guys but for ā ā ā ā sake in these days of speed cameras,
mobile laws,
congestion charges,
extortionate parking charges,
them guys in the blue people carriers(whats theis name)?,
arrogant goods in clerks,
traffic jams (everywhere),
gas attacks abroad,
truckers in french and turkish prisons,
threats of immigrant labour,
10 people dying on the roads EVERY day,
the wtd looming,
and new Foden,s can you still say you enjoy the job?, oh and theres the 60/70 hours to deal with as well.
No thanks not for me, get out IF you can RIGHT now its the only way the people who run trucks will listen is when they actually DO have a driver shortage not the little regional one thats about now.
If you are still enjoying the job then i take my hat off to you i USED to.
jammymutt:
I think you guys might find a very big reply and debate to this one i mentioned in another post i couldnt understand anyone wanting to work more than 40 ish hours in a week, there are those that apparently are sick minded and actually enjoy it and there are some who don,t .For me i had enough of driving trucks and cannot remember ONE traffic guy saying thanks for the little bit of extra effort i put in, i could mention the payrise this year from a boss who appreciates my efforts, but i dont want to gloat.
Theres guys on here who just moan and moan and are stuck in the truck for the rest of their lives and there are some who realise they have potential in other jobs ( no offence) its up to you guys but for [zb] sake in these days of speed cameras,
mobile laws,
congestion charges,
extortionate parking charges,
them guys in the blue people carriers(whats theis name)?,
arrogant goods in clerks,
traffic jams (everywhere),
gas attacks abroad,
truckers in french and turkish prisons,
threats of immigrant labour,
10 people dying on the roads EVERY day,
the wtd looming,
and new Foden,s can you still say you enjoy the job?, oh and theres the 60/70 hours to deal with as well.No thanks not for me, get out IF you can RIGHT now its the only way the people who run trucks will listen is when they actually DO have a driver shortage not the little regional one thats about now.
If you are still enjoying the job then i take my hat off to you i USED to.
The best bit of advice i have heard on here
Put up or shut up!
dwjinuk:
:As you may have heard UK is said to have longest working hours in EEC.
That quote is the one most laughed at over here. It might be true taken as an average over ALL workers in ALL professions but it certainly isnāt true of drivers. I averaged 50 hours a week in my last year (2002) but that is only driving and other working time. It did not include all the time hanging about waiting to tip, waiting to load and waiting for a load. Donāt know how they squared that with the law because we were supposed to be limited to the French WTD of 35 hours!!
The grass is always greener, but when you get there itās still grass!
Salut, David.
we all know that the hours are crapā¦but the thing that gets my goat is the holidays dont even compensate for the extra time general worker 37-45 hours 20 days how about driver 50-65 hours 30 days holiday
hitch:
we all know that the hours are [zb]ā¦but the thing that gets my goat is the holidays dont even compensate for the extra time general worker 37-45 hours 20 days how about driver 50-65 hours 30 days holiday
Now thereās an idea! my boss looks in on here sometimes so I will point him to this post and see what he has to say, canāt really see him going for it though 
You may notice that most tight fisted transport bosses only pay flat 8 hours hol pay,most other jobs get a hol suppliment based on hours worked.It is time drivers awoke to the fact we get shafted at every turn 
THEY MUST THINK WE ARE ALL MENTAL DEGENERATES WITHOUT THE NOUNCE TO WORK THESE THINGS OUT
TONY:
Is there anyone who seriously enjoys working 60/70 hrs a week for 5/6 ph???Please Please explain WHY you do it I SIMPLY CAN`T GET MY HEAD ROUND IT IN THIS DAY AND AGE.
To be honest Tone, I dont enjoy 70 hours at all, but I enjoy the majority of them! And, I would very much like to be able to do say 55, and still have me own truck not share it, go all over the place, and have 4 nights out a week. But, thats always proven to be impossible for me to get so far, so Iād say I tolerate the hours, because its part and parcel of the job I like to do.
Now, if you can give me a few contructive pointers as to how I can still tramp on container work (or something just as easy as Im bone idle, so its a must really), but only do 55 hours over 5 days, and still get my Ā£400 + expenses, Im all ears mate! 
Oh, itāll have to be in the Cannock vicinity! And if those pointers are succesfull, Iāll stand you more than a few beers! 
Mal.
ive got to say that even though the money is ā ā ā ā ā ā and i like a moan,(dont i guys), i cannot see myself working in any other enviroment til the day i retire, (roll on) ive told the wife as long as i can still hold a fishing rod drive my car and hold a pint when i reach 65 i will be reasonably happy. its a way of life that i niether wish to ar could see myself leaving behind. Ā£400/Ā£5oo, in me pocket every week , freedom to call home for a sly hour or two if i,m passing, stop for a kip if i want to. go to bog when i want to, have a ā ā ā when i want to, no supervisors moaning at me, eat when i want to, U getting the picture yet, CAN U SEE WOT IT IS YET 
ā¦yip i,ll moan but haway man, where else do you get this freedomā¦i,m qualified as a chef but would never dream of working in a kitchen again, was a good concrete finisher for amec civil engineering, you wont see me on another airport runway/building site ever againā¦ KEEP ON F.TRUCKIN
Mal:
I dont enjoy 70 hours at all, but I enjoy the majority of them!Mal.
It has to be better working 60+ hrs with just a few hours each week that you donāt enjoy than working 40 hours and hating all of them 
that is why most of us are driversā¦
What I dont understand is this; If you hate the hours and the pay this much, why do you still do the job. There is other work out there. Get a job in a RDC, work your way up the ladder to the goods-in office and then you can treat the drivers as they deserve to be treated. This way you can do your 40 hours a week and do a bit of overtime if you so wish and be home every night.
Before I passed my HGV about 10 years ago I was a digger driver. I am qualified to drive 180 and 360 degree machines and without blowing my own trumpet too much I was good at it. About 2 years ago, I packed up driving because I couldnāt get a decent job running to Italy and that is what I wanted to do and went back driving diggers. After 14 months on the same site doing the same thing day after day, digging footings and drainage, I returned to driving a truck. Less money and more hours but it is what I WANT to do. I earn enough to pay my bills, put a few quid in my pocket and go on holiday every year.
If you are not happy with the money or work in your area, you have a number of choices.
- Change location, move to an area where the money is better.
- Change employer, move to a company that pays better.
- Change career, move to a different industry.
You are not forced to drive a truck for a living, it is your choice, if your not happy then move. Remember the choice is yours.
pecallā¦HERE, HERE!
PAUL
After only just 1 year of driving HGVās for a living I am sick to the back teeth with working 60-70 hours each week.
I am also sick of stupid start times ie 3 or 4 am, add on the fact that I am sick of spending hours on end sat in RDCās waiting for a bay and that I hardly see my wife and son, except at weekends when I feel to tired to do anything around the house.
But I do enjoy the driving side, just need to find a better job with less hours and more money.
Think I have more chance of winning the jackpot on the lottoā¦
Bring on the WTD.
Wayne.
Thank god it is NOT only me Wayneā¦Can`t fault a word of that mateā¦Toneā¦
I forgot to say that working looooong hours I still only just manage to pay the bills and keep a roof over my familys heads.
Before any one says āwell do something else thenā itās not always that easy, is it?
TONY:
Thank god it is NOT only me Wayneā¦Can`t fault a word of that mateā¦Toneā¦
Cheers Tony
TONY:
Thank god it is NOT only me Wayneā¦Can`t fault a word of that mateā¦Toneā¦
Its far from only you Tony!
this critic canāt wait till the WTD.
Its the equvalent to the so called truckers revolution as far as i am concerned!
Bring it on!!!
Thecritic:
[this critic canāt wait till the WTD.Its the equvalent to the so called truckers revolution as far as i am concerned!
Bring it on!!!
Dream on!!
Salut, David.