robthedog:
This bloke tried !!
I dont blame him. With a schedule and workload as they have, I’d want to go for a lay down halfway through the shift…
dieseldog999:
im sure tailschwing should be along after a suitable time lapse to elaborate in bin driver etiquette seeing as he gets £700 per week for doing half shifts .
or possibly he wont in case you nick his job.
Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint. 
I’ve done a few weeks agency on the council and am now almost 18 months into commercial dustcarts. Pay is decent at £12.60 p/h with a £20 daily bonus - 9.5 hour days which usually end up being 10 as I’m prepared to ‘go the extra mile’. 
I enjoy it generally, although lately it’s been a bit of a stress due to all our rounds changing and pressure to complete - I actually did a 12 hr shift the other day!
On the council I had a few stoners but they were generally pretty hard working. On the commercial side I now work alone which I prefer but it’s not like domestic in terms of workload. I usually drive 5 mins and then tip a bin, then repeat. However, despite most of them being narcoleptic, most of my loaders have been good when required. Best ones gave been the older ones tbh - best by far was 61 yo. All of them are like walking road maps in my experience and have been a real asset to me.
My driving has improved no end. I admittedly snagged a lamp post the other day whilst rushing, but it’s the only bump I’ve had in past 18 months which I don’t think is bad as a fairly new driver who does dozens of reverses a day.
[Edited for typos].
Some of the guys who’ve been with the company a couple years are on £14 p/h I found out yesterday, so seems there is room for progression.
Tailschwing:
I usually drive 5 mins and then tip a bin, then repeat.
You had me salvating until right about here I will be doing a shift tomorrow for one of them councils, praying that they’ll send a guy or two with me. It’ll probably be a one off anyway and not nearly as well paid as yours but I’ll give it a try because boredom (and bills…)
Horses for courses and all that.
I’ve never been one to enjoy sitting down for too long. As I train in the morning before work, I found that my lower back was killing on the council work after a couple of hours if I’d hit the heavy squats or deadlifts that day.
Mind you, I’m not sure I’d enjoy doing general waste on my own. With DMR it’s never very heavy and I can usually back right up to the bin so I only have to push it a foot. The other depot let you have a loafer but you got £25 more a day for going solo.
Most of my work is industrial estates so not too hectic.
Loader not loafer (although some of them were defo loafers!).
In the future you could also look at things like driving an FEL. Less drops a day and usually industrial as little shops etc don’t tend to need huge containers. You wouldn’t have to get out the cab too much with them either (most of our FEL drivers are fat knackers).
Carryfast:
As someone who counts myself among the absolute elite of bulk refuse and plant haulage and 24t motorway gritter council drivers do not go for residential refuse collection bin wagon work.Those like Harry will look down on you for the rest of your days including in retirement and that’s even without differentiating the above.It really is no problem to just cold call for international work where numerous operators including 18t are enthusiastically taking on new inexperienced drivers and trust me ( him ) you’ll be out there enjoying the open road throughout Europe within a week after you’ve done a local multi drop run or two to show that they can trust you.
Only Carryfast could turn a thread about a guy asking about driving bin lorries into a whinge about the fact he couldn’t get a job driving across Europe.
And then in his second post just below his first has a subtle dig about the “pecking order” to get such a job.
This was the most boring job I’ve had in my life (and I’ve worked as night time security too)
Drive/stop every 10m, literally all you do with the occasional reverse oh and you have to switch to neutral every time you stop or the lifters won’t work in auto mode 
Plenty of rushing about too as loaders want to be done and home as soon as, quite understandable really. Hardest part was keeping my eyes off the dashboard clock; apparently the cab was a working prototype of a time machine - it had the ability to slow time down to a near halt. Einstein would’ve loved to pick it apart.
It’s not a very smelly job, except when tipping at the depot which we only had to do once.
Oh, and it’s tacho exempt which I was surprised to find out
Been driving them for 2 1/2 years now coming off Class 1 tramping and I love it. Technically at our place we are employed as a ‘Driver/Loader’ but you only really get out occasionally if there’s bins near you and its worth doing. As others have said it’s pot luck what your loaders will be like but management like to try and keep everyone happy and if you’re all on the same wave length then that’s half the battle won. I’m on the garden waste side and there can be some heavy days in the summer (picking up 20+ tonnes a day) but you are then rewarded with an easy winter and early finishes.
The rear steer can take a bit of getting used to, and our Merc Econics can be a little twitchy fully loaded, but are also a lifesaver when it comes to getting in some places. Also having prangs is expected by management making it ideal really for newbies in a way.
I second that. Our new driver (5 months Class 2 experience) has had four bumps in three months, including two in the last fortnight. Yesterday he took out the custom branded/wrapped 18 plate and bent the wing so that the lift doesn’t work as it’s now snagging. Management are just going to send him out with an assessor and maybe have him go out with a few experienced drivers.
On my round I rarely collect more than two tons of DMR.
It’s pretty obvious that the job varied wildly between councils. We have wheely bins here and I have watched how the guys work. They are a team of three, with a driver and two loaders. The loaders work one each side of the street where traffic is not a problem, and always do two bins at a time (why else have two lifters?)
On busier roads, they work one side at a time, with one guy working ahead pairing the bins up and the other loading them. From observation only, they seem happy in the job, with a bit of banter going on etc.
Tailschwing:
I second that. Our new driver (5 months Class 2 experience) has had four bumps in three months, including two in the last fortnight. Yesterday he took out the custom branded/wrapped 18 plate and bent the wing so that the lift doesn’t work as it’s now snagging. Management are just going to send him out with an assessor and maybe have him go out with a few experienced drivers.On my round I rarely collect more than two tons of DMR.
All new drivers make mistakes it’s part of learning it’s what you take away from your mistakes that makes you a better driver.
When I first started on the bins the rear steer got the better of me an I destroyed a brand new £30k car. I was petrified I’d loose my job. The manager said to me if any driver hear tells you they’ve never hit anything they’re a liar we all make mistakes and its what we learn from them. All I had to do was fill out the accident form and that was it.
Being the type of work it is done narrow streets with worked cars it’s going to happen.
Like tailswing says they will normally put you with an experienced driver for some mentoring.