I turned down a job today which would have involved a long distance trunk on a friday night (8pm start), 8 hr drive, tip, drop trailer, daily rest, collect reloaded trailer and return on saturday night with one drop enroute, (getting back around 9am Sun), so easy work but unsociable hours. I live in the Midlands bang in the middle near bottom of M6. The rate on offer was £15 per hour, plus, presumably, a night (day) out payment but we didn’t get as far as discussing that.
I expected such a job to pay a “trip” rate of somewhere between 5 and 6 hundred, I was told that he prefers to employ drivers living in the real world!
I did bump into one of his drivers - the bloke appeared to be ill and unsure whether he would be coming in tonight.
Just to be clear I was only looking to do the 2 shifts (or one trip) once a week or once a fortnight as required, on a permanent basis.
I know that similar shifts but harder work put 400+ in my bank account after tax, 15 years ago.
Am I being greedy or over optimistic? Or is he?
You want to work just 2 nights and expect to earn 5 to 500 quid for it. Yes you need to get in the real world. Yes it may be weekend but unsociable hours, bit if that was the case you’d have drivers crying out for such work working a couple of days for 5 or 600 quid a week.
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Fair enough - not the answer I wanted but if that’s the way it is OK, fortunately I can take it or leave it.
Like I said I’ve done similar “out all weekend” work before, for what seemed good money at the time, and the firm struggled to cover weekends. So if what you say is true then it would appear that rates have not gone up significantly over the past 15 years - which I kind of thought might be the case.
So what would you reckon it would have added up to? 10hrs Fri, say 12hrs Sun & 2 night outs? About £330 I make it.
I’m actually with you, 3 days away, working w/e nights should come in at £500+£50 for 2 nights out. But then I do live in cloud cuckoo land. 
Edited due to my lousy maths!
Not sure where it would take 8 hours of driving one way from the Midlands.
I’d guess it’s either a lot of unpaid daily rest waiting for the return trailer and the guvnor doesn’t want to pay for a load of unecessary POA leading into a daily rest period.
‘Or’ it might be a short distance multi drop job being dressed up as a distance trunking job hoping for a mug to take it.
The description ‘tip’ and ‘one drop on the way back’ sets the alarm bells off if it’s supposedly a distance trailer swap trunk run.
If it’s decent work it’s worth taking a lower hourly rate and no one is going to pay a driver £5-600 for one return UK run.
However you might have walked away from what might be a dodgy run that no one wants and that isn’t all it seems, but for the wrong reasons.
Either way it’s not the money that’s the issue 15 quid per hour would be ok for the right job.
While worst case scenario wouldn’t take it at any price.
£500-£550 seems about right.
Probably expected you to do it for £15 straight through
I don’t think that’s asking too much tbh, two nights out and unsociable weekend hours. Not an outrageous expectation I’d say.
22 hours @15/hr = £330 plus ONE night out £30 ? adds up to £360
straight up I was earning more than that 15 years ago
the maoster:
I don’t think that’s asking too much tbh, two nights out and unsociable weekend hours. Not an outrageous expectation I’d say.
I’m not saying it’s too much to ask I’m just saying it’s not going to happen sadly at that kind of money for those hours these days. Maybe there might be the odd place that will pay those kind of figures but it certainly wouldn’t be the norm these days or anytime soon.
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You did right turning that down.
You’re in the real world, t’gaffer thinks its still 2010.
The more that reject the lower paying, harder to fill jobs, the more chance we have of getting the rates up.
Once we have spare money in our pockets we get more chance to force the rates by being able to refuse unattractive job offers.
I’m pleased you could, & chose to, reject the job at a rate you did not consider adequate.
dekka:
I turned down a job today which would have involved a long distance trunk on a friday night (8pm start), 8 hr drive, tip, drop trailer, daily rest, collect reloaded trailer and return on saturday night with one drop enroute, (getting back around 9am Sun), so easy work but unsociable hours. I live in the Midlands bang in the middle near bottom of M6. The rate on offer was £15 per hour, plus, presumably, a night (day) out payment but we didn’t get as far as discussing that.
I expected such a job to pay a “trip” rate of somewhere between 5 and 6 hundred, I was told that he prefers to employ drivers living in the real world!
I did bump into one of his drivers - the bloke appeared to be ill and unsure whether he would be coming in tonight.
Just to be clear I was only looking to do the 2 shifts (or one trip) once a week or once a fortnight as required, on a permanent basis.
I know that similar shifts but harder work put 400+ in my bank account after tax, 15 years ago.
Am I being greedy or over optimistic? Or is he?
Last year - I was working Saturday early doors until Sunday Evening with often the night out saturday night.
05:00-20:00, 9 hours rest in a layby, 05:00 start sunday morning, was home by Sunday tea time, having booked 12 hours on the sunday.
27 hours + night out money @ £12ph.
In that regard, £15ph sounds good… For a two day week, you’ve turned down a good job there…
Juddian:
You did right turning that down.You’re in the real world, t’gaffer thinks its still 2010.
Mines that tight he thinks it’s 1810 
^ that’s almost a quarter past six 
I have seen advertised, not far from where you are, a weekend job for £250 per day. I dont know the details but for that kind of money I doubt it would be anything else than tramping from Sat to Sun.
By the way, the ad is a big banner right in front of the company’s yard and not the Internet bait style.
osark:
I have seen advertised, not far from where you are, a weekend job for £250 per day. I dont know the details but for that kind of money I doubt it would be anything else than tramping from Sat to Sun.
By the way, the ad is a big banner right in front of the company’s yard and not the Internet bait style.
After all the old rubbish about great, great grandad starting with a donkey and a cart in 1810 and all the questions about you, it will turn out that the job advertised has gone, but they have got… simply unbelievable crap on offer for 1810 wages.
Its not TWO nights out,its only ONE day. start Friday sleep Saturday back down Saturday night.As for £15 an hour take off 25% night shift allowance its £11.25 an hour basic
At that rate I can not see him wanting to pay time n half at any time or double time for hours worked on Sunday.
I reality the way Companies operate with the hourly rate the same all through,some are taking the proverbial and some Drivers are being hopeful
As we now live in a 24/7/365 world now, the phrase unsociable hours doesn’t really come into our job any more, as weekend work is part of the working week for a lot of companies.
However, as a traditionalist, I would say your demands are probably what I would have thought, but as a realist in todays world, you ain’t going to get it.
Ken.
Quinny:
As we now live in a 24/7/365 world now, the phrase unsociable hours doesn’t really come into our job any more
It does to mine.
Putting a quid on the flat rate,and then expecting me to work sun-thur,or any five from seven…just don’t cut it.
Let the load stay where it is.
commonrail:
It does to mine.Putting a quid on the flat rate,and then expecting me to work sun-thur,or any five from seven…just don’t cut it.
But there are plenty of people who will, and do, and that is why the job is now 24/7/365, and it has nothing to do with our EU cousins, as it was long before they came over.
Ken.