What’s up guys?
Lately I have been looking at Plant Operator jobs, I know is tricky to compare jobs but I can’t help myself and ask why is that difference on pay from lorry driving?
Guys on Plant forums laugh at £12 £13 offers while lorry drivers have to hunt and fight for them.
Someone posted here before about then pay of Plant Operators and made me wonder.
Has anyone thought about jumping? Anyone switching time to time between them?
I never worked for less than £11 since passing my class 1 less than a year ago and now on £14 mon fri and £16 weekends but that is night and a good graft but my aim is to be on £16 at least for days (never going to happen as LGV driver as it seems wages are going down instead.)
Appreciate.
Just spit balling here. Is in general plant work seen as more skilled than hgv driving and that’s why it attracts a higher wage?
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Plenty of guys on plant job now work through agency’s,rear tip artic dumpers £13/15,
360 £14/20,dozer £20+,I’ve done self employed in past but PAYE now £16.64 basic,lots of week end work,bout £360 top line,holiday pay,travel,hotels,adds up to a decent wage but,you won’t just jump straight into a decent job,requires fair bit experience,these days seems like people want to give things ‘a go’ then if don’t get big £ straight away,which you won’t,jump into something else
the difference being, operating an excavator, bulldozer etc is highly skilled and not easy, perhaps a articulated dump truck may be close to hgv
In the eyes of the person hiring you, as a driver you are not classed as a skilled worker. Plenty of car drivers with HGV licences. A plant driver however is a skilled job and requires a lot of experience to be any good. A HGV driver is allowed to drive anything anywhere the day he gains his licence. A new pass is looked upon in the same way a driver with years of experience in terms of job and money. Not many new passes on 360 excavators or cranes will be looked upon in the same way.
I wonder how much the plant lads have earned this winter whilst bugger all has been done for weeks on end 
Look lads, stop envying the grass on the other side of the fence it won’t be any greener when you get there, try another tack, make yourselves employable (if you need to be told how to do this, then don’t bother trying) then once you are a good bet go out and find the best bloody lorry jobs and if you manage to land one then for crying out loud look after it, make sure it lasts forever, you might be quite shocked what some on lorries on good jobs are averaging per hour across the board, but what has buggered lots of the once good jobs is drivers taking the ■■■■, sickies plus all the scams to get out of doing any actual work, petty nit picking like a bunch of little girls…he’s got a better lorry/run/whatever than me…plus negligent damage and not giving a ■■■■ about either the job or more importantly the customer 
, you know the customer, that person who pays all of our wages.
Some lorry licence holders are their own worst enemas.
Yes Judds…the same bods who come on here whingeing day after day…and the same ones who tell others looking for a change in career, not to come into this industry…only because theyre not happy with their lot, and a non happy driver doesnt on average, seem to give a ■■■■…about the firm or its customers.
It’s very fickle, if your face doesn’t fit at the job you won’t be back tomorrow.
Irrespective of how good an operator you may be, they’ll offhire you or say you’re no good to get a different driver instead.
Most jobs knock breaks off the timesheet, and often they’ll only want to pay for a 9 hr shift.
Our 360 drivers get supplied a van and fuel to get work and will also get paid if there is no work for them although they are expected to come in the yard and sweep up, clean machines or run errands etc. They might strike lucky and get a good job near to home, but an hour to hour and half travel each way is not unknown and they don’t get paid for that.
I get paid the same rate as the 360 drivers, make my own way 5 miles to work and the get paid all the time I’m there. Some of them might earn a little bit more than me in a year but they must have to put in some long days to get it.