Night out payments

truckyboy:
Rob is correct in what he say, and with the current climate of regulations it should more than double. My take on this has two angles, firstly many drivers include their nights out as a part of their weekly take home pay, ive yet to see a table of what drivers actually spend on a weekly basis for sleeping in their Tin Boxes `

Secondly, this is for drivers who are on international work, £25 a night out wont buy a hotel for the weekend or Fri - Monday as would be the case with the advent of big fines for drivers and company who takes a weekly rest in their trucks…this would now have to be written into the rates for the job…the other issue is food, if we are not allowed access to our trucks…then we cant save money by cooking in the cab ( foreign authorities would possibly fine a driver for working on his weekly rest days lol) …of course the other issue attached is the amount of money a driver would receive…If for example its £25 a night, thats not enough for a breakfast and an evening meal in most euro countries, and therefore would companies make the night out money part of that expense, or pay for a hotel with all food included, drinks however would be from our own pockets, or would the night out money then become a thing of the past, as companies would then pay for all the home comforts a driver gets paid for now…so to speak. Your thoughts please !!

It seems to me the requirement is not that the driver avoids accessing the truck, but that he does not take his weekly rest in it.

No one would say going into the truck briefly for your cigarette lighter, or to get a tin of beans out the cupboard, amounts to taking your weekly rest in the vehicle.

But clearly, there is going to need to be a kind of personal living space available somewhere away from the cab (with a bed, and food, washing, and laundry service), and the driver is going to have to spend the majority of the time away from the cab.

Operators are likely to need proof of compliance, either by making the hotel and food arrangements themselves, or by providing a credit card and checking VAT receipts and such.

It is very unlikely they will get away with providing a fixed amount of cash for the board element, although obviously they might limit any expenses overall (as long as it is reasonable and does not implicitly force a driver to sleep in the cab). It is also unlikely that operators will get away with providing undesirable accomodation that tempts the driver back into the cab.

Whether drivers are then willing to spend their weekends in a hotel unwaged, or whether the employers have to pay additional money, will be up to drivers themselves to decide whether their job is worth it.

We all know that night out money, although notionally for personal expenses, is actually treated as an element of wages for guys who do it regularly, and is the reason they do it regularly, so I’d expect that someone spending the weekend away is still going to want something to show for it - even if they were being put up in the Holiday Inn and had access to a swimming pool and spa.

On the plus side, for drivers it might restore the sort of conditions that almost anyone else in the working world would expect. You don’t get managers on a two-week business trip, being sent out in a company caravan and expected to spend the weekend inside it - although then again, maybe if it was a luxury Winnebago…

It also puts the haulage equation back in favour of drivers who are local to particular freight movements.