bugcos:
Finished tramping in June 2009, was taking home 500 a week, give or take a pound or 2. 4 nights out at at 25 pound a night. And he sold me diesel for my car less the vat. Can’t believe night out money hasn’t gone up in 10 years.This was on containers by the way.
When I started nearly 20 years ago it was £18.20, I was on a fiver an hour so it was quite a decent chunk, it’s not kept pace with pay
switchlogic:
The only figure I’m interested in is the amount going in my bank on a Friday. You can be on what looks like a crap basic hourly rate but once overtime etc is taken into account can end up being a tidy pay packet at end of week.
+1
Overall package, that’s all that counts.
It’s subjective isn’t it, but I’d look at the hourly rate and I wouldn’t care how it’s made up. You could offer me £12.50ph, or £9ph, plus £3.50ph ‘cup of tea money’, I wouldn’t care how it’s done as long as the total adds up.
I look on nights out, day/night shift and weekends as ‘lifestyle money’, separate from work involved. You pay nights out for the inconvenience, not the work I do. Yet whether we work in a sterile environment of ‘follow the yellow lines’, v nights out and slumming it, as stevieboy says, what matters is what we see at the end of the week. Was the amount of work you did and the lifestyle worth what you see in your hand, however that totals up?
not a tramper, home everyday, drop and swap, 8 hours work a night, 2.5 hours drive each way from depo to main hub with 2-3 hours down time, 2k in bank each month (DHL).
on agency, same gig drop and swap, but 4 12+ hour shifts a week, 512 take home aweek (TNT).
Problem with this ■■■■■■■■ is tho, you get fat. I’m off back to the airport for the hard honest day work.
Reef:
I feel you should measure a “fair wage” against a multitude of considerations and only one of them actually being the money.For example: conditions, attitude (of Boss, colleagues, and to an extent customers) equipment, compliance, work to pay ratio, sweat to work ratio (ie handballing coal or opening doors and reversing onto a loading bay) so many things to take into account to be able to answer “what’s a fair rate”
Now, if you want to know how long a piece of string is then… No, better save that for another day
Agreed. Mob I work for run top spec kit, the work is pish easy and I’m on a set run that I know inside out on a shift pattern that me and my family like. Office are sound, treat me like an respected equal on the rare occasions I actually hear from them and if I’m ever tight for time (barely ever am) they’d rather I let them know than risked running out/going over.
Downside is the money is at the lower end of what I know I can earn. Would I gamble all the things I like about the job (ie everything other than the wage) for another £50 a week elsewhere? No chance.
I’ve seen it with pals who work in other industries. They change jobs or take promotions involving exponentially more stress and responsibilities and effectively ruin their lives for an extra £200 a month.
NEVER include night out or meal allowance money in your take home pay,its what you take home after usual deductions for the hours you work.
£500-550 is crap if allowance money is included
I average 60 hours a week, 4 nights out, no meal allowance, but parking and breaks all paid for, take home is £750.00 a week,
Sapper
lolipop:
NEVER include night out or meal allowance money in your take home pay,its what you take home after usual deductions for the hours you work.
£500-550 is crap if allowance money is included
sapper:
I average 60 hours a week, 4 nights out, no meal allowance, but parking and breaks all paid for, take home is £750.00 a week,Sapper
Any advice in terms of the sort of work I should be looking for and the sort of companies I should be applying to if I’m looking to land a higher paid job?
Bigger firms? Smaller firms? Pay rates advertised? Own account work?
A few of you have mentioned £700+ take home which is a hell of alot moren than I’m on now. Would you say you’re in the minority and found it took a while to find a job paying those rates?
stevieboy308:
switchlogic:
The only figure I’m interested in is the amount going in my bank on a Friday. You can be on what looks like a crap basic hourly rate but once overtime etc is taken into account can end up being a tidy pay packet at end of week.+1
Overall package, that’s all that counts.
+1
thats the one…
whatever you have at the end of the week,or end of the month is the bottom line.
how it gets there has no bearing on anything.
your wages are whats in your pocket when you get home.
if you get a bit less for a bare week on holiday,then who gives a toss unless your a miser.
Redrum:
lolipop:
NEVER include night out or meal allowance money in your take home pay,its what you take home after usual deductions for the hours you work.
£500-550 is crap if allowance money is includedsapper:
I average 60 hours a week, 4 nights out, no meal allowance, but parking and breaks all paid for, take home is £750.00 a week,Sapper
Any advice in terms of the sort of work I should be looking for and the sort of companies I should be applying to if I’m looking to land a higher paid job?
Bigger firms? Smaller firms? Pay rates advertised? Own account work?
A few of you have mentioned £700+ take home which is a hell of alot moren than I’m on now. Would you say you’re in the minority and found it took a while to find a job paying those rates?
Ignore the £750 a week take home heroes mate 
They are either rinsing the death out of the hours (which is sad in itself), or they are talking good old fashioned ■■■■■■■■. Very few indeed are on close to £50k a year(gross) Redders, I know they are ex special forces and barely missed the Herald, but they need to give their heads a wobble 
The bottom line is this; The job will never pay well overall while we have ■■■■■■■■■■ bridge bashers, EE’s, and a general assortment of plankton steering wheel attendants. Find something that suits you and crack on.
I now work for a chap who only has 2 trucks. I met him whilst working for one of my (many 
) previous employers and he was subbing for them at the time. Having a spotless undamaged truck, and being hygienic, pleasant and 100% reliable didn’t go unnoticed 
It’s easy for a diamond to stand out amongst glass fella and these small hauliers pay VERY good money for the right drivers…
Harry Monk:
That would pay around £550 take-home including night-out money.
The sad moral of this story is that one of the most prominent members of this forum posted a rate that is way below what many are earning and many would consider underpaid rate.
Eastern Europeans pay 65-130 Eur per day
40-65 Eur per day is what Ukrainian fresh imports get working for KREISS or any of the millions of Polish hauliers
100-130 Eur per day would be top companies and specialized, far north routes or car transporters
let’s take average - 70-90 eur per day
they get paid for all days they spend in truck for for a full week they would get
707=490Eur
907=930Eur
OK, yes they do long trips several weeks at a time, like for example min. 2 weeks… but the difference between number satisfying old experienced british truck driver which is 550gbp per week and 490-630 Eurper week for Eastern European for full week on long continental run is very small…
The bottom line is that 550 is not enough for Eastern European immigrant to come and work in UK…
If that satisfies experienced professional british driver then that is very sad indeed…
I should really engage in discussions more actively now under improved cenzorship of my posts to make admins actually earn their imaginary ego through sweat while checking through my posts…maybe that will teach some people that experience comes through work and events animal goes through during his life cycle not by filling chinese IQ tests online and anouncing they are the greatest because test said them so…
Haven’t the Gestapo who masquerade as the Inland Revenue started taxing night out money? That’s what I understand from our lot, who have upped the night out dough to £32.50 so you still net £25 for a night away, fair dos to them for that.
stevieboy308:
Of course you look at the n/o money, it’s still paid in money that you can spend on what you want, of course it’s supposed to be for your expenses, but no point doing nights out if you’re spending it all!
Whenever my ex used to moan about me “wasting money” on my hobbies, I used to point out that my wages paid the mortgage and the bills and put the food on the table, and if I chose to eat pot noodles in the cab instead of buying three slap-up meals a day in cafes and service areas, then my night-out money was mine to waste on whatever I wanted. 
stevieboy308:
Of course you look at the n/o money, it’s still paid in money that you can spend on what you want, of course it’s supposed to be for your expenses, but no point doing nights out if you’re spending it all!
Nothing ‘‘supposed’’ about it, it IS expenses.
I aint saying I spend it all on every night out, but the job would be a complete ■■■■ drudge if I stayed in the bloody cab every night like some of you…and in a ■■■■ lay by 
…just to save it. 
I’ve said countless times on here ‘It’s a JOB not a ■■■■ endurance test’’ better to get at least some element of social enjoyment out of it, life’s too short mate.
robroy:
stevieboy308:
Of course you look at the n/o money, it’s still paid in money that you can spend on what you want, of course it’s supposed to be for your expenses, but no point doing nights out if you’re spending it all!Nothing ‘‘supposed’’ about it, it IS expenses.
I aint saying I spend it all on every night out, but the job would be a complete [zb] drudge if I stayed in the bloody cab every night like some of you…and in a [zb] lay byI’ve said countless times on here ‘It’s a JOB not a [zb] endurance test’’ better to get at least some element of social enjoyment out of it, life’s too short mate.
Dude I’ve not said just eat tins of beans in the cab!
I ain’t nighted out in best part of 10 years now, but would regularly go for a walk to get a chinky, or go to a pub for a steak or if at a good truck stop get a meal there and at 1 point I did have an addiction to burger king’s XL big king burgers, although they were paid for with meal vouchers! I’d also buy a cooked chicken and a bag of salad or just cook something, there was a few pot noodles too!
But if I was spending more or just all that I got for night out money, then what’s the point■■?
Plus you don’t eat for free at home, so there’s no way anyone needs to be getting anywhere close to all their night out money as an extra to what you’d have spent if you were at home.
I also wouldn’t change my habits if I swapped jobs and my wage went down by £20 but my night out money went up by £20 or vice versa, or just my night out money doubled, if I want a chinky I’ll go get one.
Anyone who days it’s purely can expense, then surely if it went up a fiver a night you’d spend the extra just for the sake of it, makes no sense to me
Surprised no one has mentioned payment by salary?
I know exactly how much I’ll earn in pay each year. (Not enough!)
As I leave home on a Mon morn and normally return home Fri afternoon it’s mostly 4 nights out pay per week too. Easy to budget without “hiding around the corner” or sweating on getting a few extra hours in. No extra for rare occasions running in on a Saturday (but an extra N.O. payment) however no loss if driving my car home at 08-00 Friday. Swings/Roundabouts.
Whether I have a salad in the cab, or full meal in a Routier Restaurant the N.O. money covers it. Some nights I just want to read a book and chill other times it’s a wee glass at the bar and eat and talk with others.
I don’t know what my hourly rate is. I do know my salary will pay all my bills. If I’m on hols or sick I get the same so no worries. My night out monies will feed me all week, be it pot-noodles or Restos. If I’m not at home it matters little if I “work” a 2 hour spread a day or 15. That’s how I look at it.
Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
I work for a small firm, 2 artics and 5 rigids, and a sprinter.
Gaffer struggle to fill a class 1 role despite paying £12 hr, paid breaks, min 50 hrs week etc. 1-3 nights put p/w. Good for Manchester area.
Reason he says he struggles? Well for starters he doesnt do agency as too many duffs in past. We don’t run new kit, the tractors: one is 7yr old the other 5. Some of the rigids is 9 y.o Some of the drivers we do get have a crap attitude as we are general haulage and go to some “interesting” places. Not just your Tip Aldi bay reload Travis Perkins.
So is money the most important factor for many? Or is it more important to have an easy (boring) lifestyle driving new wagons that you can light up and take pride in polishing someone else’s fuel tank.
(Still looking for class 1 if anyone interested p.m me (I am a worker not the gaffer!!))
Me and a mate have arguments about salaries, he maxes out almost every week, and is always struggling with his 90 per fortnight…My question to him is WHY? when in real terms the more he does, his rate per hour is going down.
I’m a cynical ■■■■, but if I was on salary it would be 13 absolute max every day.
Apart from the fact we know firms will sure as hell plan for this to get their value for money,… but if I offered him a tenner to do my garden until say dinner time, and say you can carry on to 3 if you want but I won’t be paying you any extra, I know what he would tell me to do, so what’s the difference.
At least with hourly pay you know you’re getting paid for everything you do.
Suedehead:
albion:
Our work is a bit random, might be home every night, might be out 5 nights on Euro. Earns around 45-53k a year gross. We pay night out at £30.00, but it’s taxable so included in the gross figure.So you pay the same for 5 nights out or being at home every night
It’s an hourly rate, so no.
The nature of our work is very variable, so some weeks it is very quiet, other weeks very busy. We make it clear at the interview, though the new driver knows as we never advertise and only take on recommendation.
kyk:
Harry Monk:
That would pay around £550 take-home including night-out money.The sad moral of this story is that one of the most prominent members of this forum posted a rate that is way below what many are earning and many would consider underpaid rate.
Eastern Europeans pay 65-130 Eur per day
40-65 Eur per day is what Ukrainian fresh imports get working for KREISS or any of the millions of Polish hauliers
100-130 Eur per day would be top companies and specialized, far north routes or car transporterslet’s take average - 70-90 eur per day
they get paid for all days they spend in truck for for a full week they would get
707=490Eur
907=930EurOK, yes they do long trips several weeks at a time, like for example min. 2 weeks… but the difference between number satisfying old experienced british truck driver which is 550gbp per week and 490-630 Eurper week for Eastern European for full week on long continental run is very small…
The bottom line is that 550 is not enough for Eastern European immigrant to come and work in UK…
If that satisfies experienced professional british driver then that is very sad indeed…I should really engage in discussions more actively now under improved cenzorship of my posts to make admins actually earn their imaginary ego through sweat while checking through my posts…maybe that will teach some people that experience comes through work and events animal goes through during his life cycle not by filling chinese IQ tests online and anouncing they are the greatest because test said them so…
You’re comparing gross to net so this is inaccurate