Thanks great post. San Francisco I must get there again, wonderful city
Absolutely brilliant diary there mate.fantastic pics of your journey. 
Hi, robinhood 1984
Have tried to PM you but message comes up saying you don’t exist !!
Could we do it in reverse and you PM me ?
Cheers Bassman
Bassman:
Hi, robinhood 1984Have tried to PM you but message comes up saying you don’t exist !!
Could we do it in reverse and you PM me ?Cheers Bassman
Very strange. I’ve just sent a PM your way, lets see if you get that.
Great blog robinhood, I enjoyed that (was nearly as good as one of my own from many many years ago 
).
robinhood_1984:
Sometimes I live the dream, other times I live the nightmare. Trucking over here is one of extremes, both good and bad. I do try and make the most of the opportunities I do have to see interesting places because doing so makes the job that much more worth while, especially when you factor in the bad stuff like mileage pay when you’re sitting for days with no work, or stuck in winter storms etc. I know there isn’t that much adventure to be had in the UK but I do often crave the wage security I used to have when on a fixed day rate with night out money etc, I always knew what I’d earn and I’d earn it whether I did 4 hours drive or 10 hours drive a day. Here the driver is completely liable for every thing and it affects your bank account quite drastically.
It takes a long of getting your head round where you can be away for lets say 7 days on two different occasions and the difference in pay between the two can be in the many hundreds of dollars. I personally don’t think its a good and fair way to work and how could any one justify it to their loved ones, being away for x amount of days and then not actually bringing home the bacon? Some bits of the job I love and other bits I hate.
Might well be some folks’ idea of “living the dream” but for me it would be a nightmare. The idea of sitting around in your truck for days without earning anything is ridiculous. I don’t care how nice the scenery is or how big a plot of land my house sits on, there’s no way I’d be entertaining such BS like that. In fact I’d go so far to say that any driver who works on such an arrangement is a mug and off their rocker. I understand from other people’s posts that it’s quite common on there but surely there must be some proper jobs where you are paid by the hour (and a decent rate at that, not buttons)?
Love this post! Thanks so much for taking the time to write it. Every month I check out the UK’s trucking magazines hoping for a feature along the lines of your diary…and very rarely is there anything of interest, certainly nothing as captivating or as honest as your inspiring travelogue. I read it this morning before a full day in the office…and half the time today my mind was in Wyoming, so thanks for getting me through the day…and thanks for saving me a few quid at WH Smith’s!
Brilliant post mate, thanks for taking the time to do it.
I did a similar trip just the other week. No hang on, that was San FranTonypandy. It was the hills that confused me
Rob K:
Might well be some folks’ idea of “living the dream” but for me it would be a nightmare. The idea of sitting around in your truck for days without earning anything is ridiculous. I don’t care how nice the scenery is or how big a plot of land my house sits on, there’s no way I’d be entertaining such BS like that. In fact I’d go so far to say that any driver who works on such an arrangement is a mug and off their rocker. I understand from other people’s posts that it’s quite common on there but surely there must be some proper jobs where you are paid by the hour (and a decent rate at that, not buttons)?
The problem seems to be that there’s no longer enough of that type of long haul East West routed work to make the mileage based pay work.I’d bet the wage issue would look a lot more attractive if those type of runs were plentiful and common enough to give the driver the choice of turning them down as required to get some home time rather than them only being a relatively rare occurrence with most jobs being relatively short haul runs involving lots of loading,tipping and waiting time.
Rob K:
Might well be some folks’ idea of “living the dream” but for me it would be a nightmare. The idea of sitting around in your truck for days without earning anything is ridiculous. I don’t care how nice the scenery is or how big a plot of land my house sits on, there’s no way I’d be entertaining such BS like that. In fact I’d go so far to say that any driver who works on such an arrangement is a mug and off their rocker. I understand from other people’s posts that it’s quite common on there but surely there must be some proper jobs where you are paid by the hour (and a decent rate at that, not buttons)?
I first came out here solely for the adventure and I got it. As I’ve mentioned above somewhere, I’m getting married in August so I do think its time to start being more sensible and be home more. But North America is in the stone age compared to the UK and Europe when it comes to terms and conditions of employment for drivers. Unless you’re doing city work (of which there is practically none in New Brunswick owing to its very rural nature) its all mileage based, and like you I think its ludicrous, adventure or not.
In previous jobs I’ve sat for days on end on a regular basis, but in all fairness, on my current job its exceptionally rare. Things are a bit slower at the moment but I rarely sit around waiting. Often its a case of them having so much work that you’re under pressure to hit the road again as soon as you get back to the yard.
If it’s all paid by mileage over there then how does local shunting work turn out pay wise? One of the regular jobs I do is moving product between 2 sites that are 2 miles away from each other and a 12-15 hour shift can often be a grand total of about 20 miles driving. If that was paid on mileage no-one would ever do it, quite simply.
Carryfast:
The problem seems to be that there’s no longer enough of that type of long haul East West routed work to make the mileage based pay work.I’d bet the wage issue would look a lot more attractive if those type of runs were plentiful and common enough to give the driver the choice of turning them down as required to get some home time rather than them only being a relatively rare occurrence with most jobs being relatively short haul runs involving lots of loading,tipping and waiting time.
Being honest, the best paying work I routinely do is down to Georgia and back. Its never less than 5000km and you can do a round trip within your hours to get back without needed to stop for a reset, just. Sometimes I’ve made it back with 15 minutes to spare. Not that I’d stop if I were so close to home, but it demonstrates how much a trip like that can utilise your driving hours. California was good and I enjoyed the trip, but it will be far from my best paying run.
Rob K:
If it’s all paid by mileage over there then how does local shunting work turn out pay wise? One of the regular jobs I do is moving product between 2 sites that are 2 miles away from each other and a 12-15 hour shift can often be a grand total of about 20 miles driving. If that was paid on mileage no-one would ever do it, quite simply.
Shunting or local city work would be hourly paid. In New Brunswick there is hardly any of that kind of work though and if I were to move to lets say Toronto and earn the going rate there which is round about $20 p/h then I’d be financially worse off as the cost of living there is very much higher than here and when I am driving I’m earning more than $20 p/h when distance is divided by time, and the cost of living here is much less. Though obviously the very nature of getting paid by the mile means its a complete gamble as to what you’ll earn for your time and thats something that I hate. I’m not defending mileage pay, I think its rubbish but until I can find a realistic way out of it, or the hordes of North Americans who dont know any better see that mileage pay is unfair, its here to stay.
Saaamon:
Winseer:
I love that fuel price - $3.94 per gallon, 4.55 litres. I make that 55p a litre! And to think the yanks are moaning about “how high the price of petrol is these days”.!US gallons are roughly 3.79L is i make it 68 ppl.
Oh yeh. I forgot about the US short gallons, short tons, short positions, and stuff. I stand corrected. 
Carryfast:
Rob K:
Might well be some folks’ idea of “living the dream” but for me it would be a nightmare. The idea of sitting around in your truck for days without earning anything is ridiculous. I don’t care how nice the scenery is or how big a plot of land my house sits on, there’s no way I’d be entertaining such BS like that. In fact I’d go so far to say that any driver who works on such an arrangement is a mug and off their rocker. I understand from other people’s posts that it’s quite common on there but surely there must be some proper jobs where you are paid by the hour (and a decent rate at that, not buttons)?The problem seems to be that there’s no longer enough of that type of long haul East West routed work to make the mileage based pay work.I’d bet the wage issue would look a lot more attractive if those type of runs were plentiful and common enough to give the driver the choice of turning them down as required to get some home time rather than them only being a relatively rare occurrence with most jobs being relatively short haul runs involving lots of loading,tipping and waiting time.
Theres plenty of long distance work avalible infact theres firms importing drivers from all over the world to do it.
The problem esoecaly working for big firms like h&r and big freight or swift and c r England in the states is they lease the trucks at rock botton prices due to the amount they have only let drivers idle if it gets stupid cold and dont pay while sitting so it doesnt cost much to sit trucks for a day or two and they will do it.
Mileage pay is fine if you work for a firm who maje sure you dont sit around which i did which was good its just the breakdown with no pay that annoyed me but thats there way.
I think the fairest way would be a daily rate with a bonus on top but i csnt see it changing anytime soon.
kr79:
Carryfast:
Rob K:
Might well be some folks’ idea of “living the dream” but for me it would be a nightmare. The idea of sitting around in your truck for days without earning anything is ridiculous. I don’t care how nice the scenery is or how big a plot of land my house sits on, there’s no way I’d be entertaining such BS like that. In fact I’d go so far to say that any driver who works on such an arrangement is a mug and off their rocker. I understand from other people’s posts that it’s quite common on there but surely there must be some proper jobs where you are paid by the hour (and a decent rate at that, not buttons)?The problem seems to be that there’s no longer enough of that type of long haul East West routed work to make the mileage based pay work.I’d bet the wage issue would look a lot more attractive if those type of runs were plentiful and common enough to give the driver the choice of turning them down as required to get some home time rather than them only being a relatively rare occurrence with most jobs being relatively short haul runs involving lots of loading,tipping and waiting time.
Theres plenty of long distance work avalible infact theres firms importing drivers from all over the world to do it.
The problem esoecaly working for big firms like h&r and big freight or swift and c r England in the states is they lease the trucks at rock botton prices due to the amount they have only let drivers idle if it gets stupid cold and dont pay while sitting so it doesnt cost much to sit trucks for a day or two and they will do it.
Mileage pay is fine if you work for a firm who maje sure you dont sit around which i did which was good its just the breakdown with no pay that annoyed me but thats there way.
I think the fairest way would be a daily rate with a bonus on top but i csnt see it changing anytime soon.
If the work is there on the basis that you can keep rolling as much and wherever you choose I can’t see the problem.The issue of not being paid for unforeseen circumstances like breakdowns is probably something that just has to be accepted under that type of pay structure.As I’ve said the proportion of the rate for the job available to pay the driver’s wages is going to be a constant anyway and it would be the same wether that rate is arrived at by dividing the rate by the miles run or dividing it by the hours spent doing it regardless of circumstances and unforeseen problems.But in general if the wheels aren’t turning then a truck isn’t earning wherever it is in the world.
Everything else that pays a driver to be parked up for whatever reason will just be a case of smoke and mirrors.Which is why we’ve got examples of hourly rates here for class 1 work that are around the minimum wage.While if pay is an issue,in an environment of the reasonable truck speed limits and the flexibility of using log books instead of tachos,that applies in North America,then it can only really be a problem related to the amount of available work.
Brilliant mate. Thanks for that, I’m almost envious, it’s certainly a lot more interesting that driving up and down the A1 every day!
I was in Nevada back in March. Las-Vegas, the place is spectacular… A shot of your truck on the strip would of been mint!
Again. brilliant. 
What is the likelihood of making this blog a regular feature here, robinhood?
Rob K:
What is the likelihood of making this blog a regular feature here, robinhood?
Much of my work is no where as interesting as this trip and people would soon lose interest.
robinhood_1984:
Rob K:
What is the likelihood of making this blog a regular feature here, robinhood?Much of my work is no where as interesting as this trip and people would soon lose interest.
Let us be the judge of that!! 
robinhood_1984:
Rob K:
What is the likelihood of making this blog a regular feature here, robinhood?Much of my work is no where as interesting as this trip and people would soon lose interest.
Nonsense! I am confident there would be a unanimous vote for you to make this a regular feature, regardless of where you end up in any given week. 