Well, the van driving job turned out to be ■■■■■! Zero hours contract, i told them to forget it. But, the same courier is now advertising for a 7.5 and a class 2 driver. Both of which are guaranteed 40 hours. Seems much better. My dilemma is that i need more money than my current gig pays, in short, I need more hours.
I rang the guy and he told me that its an average of 50 hours, but some weeks are 60+ which is what i need, and there are no nights out which i like.
Im not totally sure that i want driving though. I know about the stress the job brings with the office staff and other road users. Basically i know all the pitfalls.
What i would like from you guys is your opinions as to why you guys do the /want to do the job. I want help deciding if i want to be a driver again, as i have had the cushiest shunting job in the world. And i need help deciding which of the many flavours i want to try. Heavy haulage seems to appeal. And what class would i like to drive? One or two? Both have advanages and disadvantages.
Crikey Khadr, that’s a tough one. Whatever anyone says, it’s still going to be down to you.
My reasoning between 1&2, would be 1, as you should get more on the hourly rare and more firms run artics than rigids.
As to wether you want to drive, with the right gig, it’s better than being stuck in four walls. I’d suggest you try a couple more firms if you can to get more of a flavour of how things run in other companies. And I’d not be back to the other company with the van, as if they run zero hour on vans, it doesn’t reflect well overall.
What have you done previously? If all you’ve done is for profit general haulage bottom of the barrel work I don’t blame you for hesitating to go back on the road.
Sounds like supermarket/shop work would suit you reasonable hours, reasonable pay and no nights out.
Heavy haulage appeals to most people but you don’t walk into a job like that. Extensive plant/lowloader experience or someone putting the word in for you gets you in. Nights out are part and parcel of that work. Away 4-6 weeks is not uncommon.
Thank you guys. To be honest I’ve had a couple of unexpected bills and I’m in a tough place for money. This is why I want to max my hours. But I can’t decide if driving is what I want, I now have a telehandler license or I could go in a warehouse vna driving which would mean no limits to the hours I could work. But it would be boring by comparison.
I know the tm of a local heavy haulage firm, in fact I drink with him every Saturday afternoon. And there are a couple of other heavy haulage/machine movers/plant firms in my area to look into.
I know doing max hours is labourius and that being in the wrong job can get to you. I also know that I need a decent payday each week. I am currently in a shunter job for a small family run firm. It’s a good hourly rate, but it is a strict 40 hours per week. Overtime has to be authorised and we don’t know that overtime is needed till 3am, try getting someone on the phone at that time! There is no manager on nights, so nobody to authorise it.
There are 2 shunters on nights, the other guy works 9.30 to 6.30 so there is an overlap too and my chances of getting regular overtime are nil.
I do enjoy the job and get on well with the guy I work with, we have got areal good team dynamic going and I don’t want to let the firm down as they have been good to me, but financially I have to look after myself and my family first.
Also, the firm has been brought out by another firm and things don’t look so good for the future. They were in financial trouble and that’s what brought about the sale of the company. There will be changes as the 2 businesses merge, we will be producing new product lines and there is real unrest among the staff as to whether our jobs will be safe. Granted I could ride it out to the end and go agency, there is stacks of agency work in my area. But I don’t want to do that and I also worry about the company going bust owing me a months money and possibly a years holiday pay. My first responsibility is to my own family and staying with my current job jeopardises that.
I would like to stay on nights. I have done nights for years and my biological clock is set to nights, with summer coming up, I would like to be out and about again. I really don’t know what to do? The reality of doing 3x15 hour shifts on the bounce worries me, but I’ve done it before and it doesn’t kill you, I am sure that I can get used to it again. I have good memories of being on the road and some bad. Likewise I have good experiences of being on class one and bad, I’m not so worried about what I drive, I am open to any offers.
Could you find some night trunker work, suits your bodyclock and you should be able to find some that is regular, say 12 hours if you have reservations about 15 hours?
As for vans, you might be able to do mega hours (illegally) but your pence per hour will surely be down? There’s £3.00 per hour difference on basic between van and truck here, so that’s £120.00 plus whatever the difference in overtime is.
If the firm has been bought out because it was losing money, then the new people will have to make changes, unless they bought the firm so that they could lose money in a different way .
You’re absolutely right, the vans was mega hours but home every night. Maybe a night trunking job would suit, I have already looked at a few. 15 hr shifts don’t bother me, it’s just going to take me a while to acclimate.
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