jcole2696:
I’ve heard car transporters can make higher than average money.
Juddian is your man for those, but I’m pretty sure he’ll give you the full rundown. Put me off for life even thinking about them and have great sympathy every time I see one of their drivers.
From whats been said, there used to be quite good money on those, but again its gone race to the bottom.
Pretty sure I read one of the smaller ones had lost a contract last year and almost went bankrupt (name is 3 letters but I cant remember it).
Currently there must be a lot of them on furlow as car garages are constantly being told to close, so you can’t transport what people can’t buy. Not sure if that will recover too quick.
Its always tempting to try for the really top money, but like most industries you really only get that with lots of experience or jobs requiring qualifications that few have. General ADR for example does not count these days… unfortunately.
Like petrol tankers the car game is apparently subject to the whims of whatever the head politicos girlfriend/partner of the day wishes.
If Rishi Sunak puts road pricing in place then the car game will be knackered completely, car sales will drop through the floor, and with it fuel usage…where he’ll get the money to pay for this Covid excuse to bring forward 1984 (read the book people and understand) and all that entails is anyone’s guess.
Our OP doesn’t have a class 1 yet, he’ll need at least 2 years general driving experience before anyone on even a scabby specialist cowboy outfit will touch him, and then he’ll have to learn that trade, with car carriers that might mean 12 months if he picks things up quickly or several years if not, but one of the top payers will want to see a few years of proveable constant quality work.
I offer him the same advice as i gave another hopeful recently.
Specialised work is a surprisingly small world, if you start too soon and drop a quarter million £ clanger your name will be known in those circles, better to learn as much as you can about wagon driving before trying for the top earning stuff, its easy to drop a clanger on general work but on specialised work the ease of happening and costs of a clanger rises exponentially.
WORK, WORK retired 6 years ago at 55 loving it, bit of luck bit of hard graft… also hoyer suggestion painfully inserted and will be disposed of soon … regards…
m.a.n rules:
WORK, WORK retired 6 years ago at 55 loving it, bit of luck bit of hard graft… also hoyer suggestion painfully inserted and will be disposed of soon … regards…
Good for you mate, enjoy, i’d have taken early retirement had i still been on the cars (assuming the bloody job hadn’t dispatched me off this mortal coil in the interim ), but, and i know this sounds odd on this forum where every bugger reckons all lorry jobs are now knackered, i like me present job
Didn’t hear the screams, that pineapple must have been a little un
manicpb:
I doubt you’ll top 40k on Supermarkets even with a couple of overtimes a month, you should clear 35k though…however I don’t work for supermarkets so have no solid evidence for that!
I’m presuming your young and cash hungry, but after 6 months of trying to achieve 40k I think you’ll realise there’s little point in earning that kinda money if you’ve no time to spend it!
I drive for a supermarket and many of our drivers earn well over £40K and home every night. Horses for courses regards working shift patterns that include weekends, whether full or part, but it suits me.
Juddian:
Those earning £40/45k+ are usually earning every penny, either by working long hours, or odd shifts, or mucky, or skilled work, or hard work, or a combination of all of the above.
I wouldn’t work for Hoyer on the fuel having seen on these very forum pages the reality of their shift patterns, cruel doesn’t do it justice.
Specialising is usually where the money is, but it can take time and it often means starting on a scabby outfit to learn the ropes before you will be considered by the better companies, the best jobs have always been and always will be dead mans shoes, so don’t expect to be clocking up £45k 6 months after passing your artic ticket, took me around 13 years or might have been slightly longer before i got my break onto the better paying work, and that was pure luck right time right place, i’m still waiting for the TM at Conoco Kingsbury to ring me with a start date, he told me he’d give me a start in 1981 when payphones were still 2p and 10p.
What is going to happen to the economy is anyone’s guess, also anyone’s guess whether Boris’s present Mrs’s green new deal will see the running down of petrol and Diesel as fuels from 2030, when apparently the whole of the transport of the country can be run on wind, or in their case, hot air.
Food is guaranteed to be required whatever happens, but if you specialise in foodstuffs try to make it something essential that won’t been outlawed at the whim of Boris next beau.
I can see a scenario where after January 1st, those foreign artics that used to bring the stuff over here, and then drive all the way to the far end of Blighty to deliver it - might end up dumping it all at the docks, and returning across the channel…
This would presumably then mean “lots more fetch and carry work” for at very least “Containers”, let alone “Fridges”…
manicpb:
I doubt you’ll top 40k on Supermarkets even with a couple of overtimes a month, you should clear 35k though…however I don’t work for supermarkets so have no solid evidence for that!
I’m presuming your young and cash hungry, but after 6 months of trying to achieve 40k I think you’ll realise there’s little point in earning that kinda money if you’ve no time to spend it!
I drive for a supermarket and many of our drivers earn well over £40K and home every night. Horses for courses regards working shift patterns that include weekends, whether full or part, but it suits me.
I’m not on £40k but I work with plenty who are too. Some earn over 50k even. One bloke showed me his hours sheet last week and he hit 1300. OK so he’d maxed out for 6 days but it’s definitely doable to earn £40k.
manicpb:
I doubt you’ll top 40k on Supermarkets even with a couple of overtimes a month, you should clear 35k though…however I don’t work for supermarkets so have no solid evidence for that!
I’m presuming your young and cash hungry, but after 6 months of trying to achieve 40k I think you’ll realise there’s little point in earning that kinda money if you’ve no time to spend it!
I drive for a supermarket and many of our drivers earn well over £40K and home every night. Horses for courses regards working shift patterns that include weekends, whether full or part, but it suits me.
I’m not on £40k but I work with plenty who are too. Some earn over 50k even. One bloke showed me his hours sheet last week and he hit 1300. OK so he’d maxed out for 6 days but it’s definitely doable to earn £40k.
Maxing out for 6 days.
3×15= 45
3×13= 39
Totals 84 hours per week.
What these clowns forget, is that you need to compensate somewhere down the line. Like some of our drivers, who were told one day that they were taking a week or so of f next week, because they maxed their hours for the reference period.
manicpb:
I doubt you’ll top 40k on Supermarkets even with a couple of overtimes a month, you should clear 35k though…however I don’t work for supermarkets so have no solid evidence for that!
I’m presuming your young and cash hungry, but after 6 months of trying to achieve 40k I think you’ll realise there’s little point in earning that kinda money if you’ve no time to spend it!
I drive for a supermarket and many of our drivers earn well over £40K and home every night. Horses for courses regards working shift patterns that include weekends, whether full or part, but it suits me.
I’m not on £40k but I work with plenty who are too. Some earn over 50k even. One bloke showed me his hours sheet last week and he hit 1300. OK so he’d maxed out for 6 days but it’s definitely doable to earn £40k.
Maxing out for 6 days.
3×15= 45
3×13= 39
Totals 84 hours per week.
What these clowns forget, is that you need to compensate somewhere down the line. Like some of our drivers, who were told one day that they were taking a week or so of f next week, because they maxed their hours for the reference period.
Better explained than I could put it.
Let me guess they were eastern European and are only here for a year or two before they return home and buy a mansion to retire in? Those hours are not sustainable and not something anyone should strive to achieve as a regular work pattern (just my opinion, I’m not a qualified doctor or economist).
£35k can be achieved on less than 45 hour weeks (on supermarkets), so who’s the mug for earning 15k for an extra 40 hours?!?
The OP said he wants to earn more money (in a better paid role), not just work more hours.
jcole2696:
Hi everyone , I’m currently driving a class 2 soon to do my c +e license as I’m looking to make a bit more than I do currently. At the moment I make around 30-32k a year with some overtime included driving a 18tonne and I’m looking to try to make 40-45k a year. Do you think this is realistic driving fuel tankers or would you recommend another type of driving job?
Hope this made sense!
Thanks guys
I wouldn’t bother with Fuel tanker work the job has been going down hill for years and with the announcement by the government banning petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 it’s only going to get worse. Not just the wages but the shifts and treatment of drivers.
Like others have said and for me the ONLY type of HGV driving to do is in a specialist areas.
Alot depends on where you live and what you are prepared to do, if you’re in the golden triangle then £40k is easily achieved without breaking sweat. Op
Another option would be to look at Propane work with Calor or Flogas, class 2 Drivers can make 50k a year with working flat out in the winter and having an easy summer, I know of Class 1 drivers getting in the high £60’sK.
The biggest demon will be when you’re earning decent money you live to them means and leaving becomes hard as it’s downwards on the pay, A friend of mine is caught in exactly this trap his marriage is breaking apart but if he quits his job he can’t afford his lifestyle, he clears 4k a month and has a mortgage to match.
This thread has been really helpful. I have been considering going for my ADR, but it doesn’t seem to be worth it unless you are able to get specialised work.
MLT1985:
This thread has been really helpful. I have been considering going for my ADR, but it doesn’t seem to be worth it unless you are able to get specialised work.
Correct.
I binned my ADR when Hauliers didn’t want to pay me extra for using MY ADR ticket.
One boss was desperate to employ me because I had the ticket but flat refused to pay me a little more than his other non ADR drivers in case they found out.
Well I weren’t going to say anything but he still refused to pay the premium so I said goodbye.
manicpb:
Let me guess they were eastern European and are only here for a year or two before they return home and buy a mansion to retire in
He’s from this country and has a wife and kids. I’ve know him years and he’s always been into his overtime. He doesn’t do those hours every week but he’s not a standard hours then go home guy by any stretch. Your typical money grabber. I’ve done it in the past but only to get a deposit for my house.
£35k can be achieved on less than 45 hour weeks (on supermarkets), so who’s the mug for earning 15k for an extra 40 hours?!?
That doesn’t quite add up. Our OT rate is over £20 an hour so an extra 40 hours would give you over £800 which over a year is a lot more than £15k. Those hours are unsustainable for several reasons. But Hitting £40k is very easy if you either do an hour or so each day or a few rest days per month.
… regards…
), but, and i know this sounds odd on this forum where every bugger reckons all lorry jobs are now knackered, i like me present job 
