Winseer:
“No nights out” isn’t as good as it sounds if you’ve got a long commute either. Even with expenses, 45p per mile doesn’t cover the cost of the fuel, let alone wear and tear to the vehicle, and insurances.
Well if you will insist on driving a V8 Range Rover and ragging it everywhere, what do you expect? 
Fuel costs for my car are around 11p per mile. Tyres add another 1-2p, same again for mileage based servicing.
Standing costs (e.g. depreciation, MoT, tax, insurance) are just that - costs that are incurred regardless of whether I commute once a week or five times a week (or even if I don’t use it for work at all).
Roymondo:
Winseer:
“No nights out” isn’t as good as it sounds if you’ve got a long commute either. Even with expenses, 45p per mile doesn’t cover the cost of the fuel, let alone wear and tear to the vehicle, and insurances.
Well if you will insist on driving a V8 Range Rover and ragging it everywhere, what do you expect?
Fuel costs for my car are around 11p per mile. Tyres add another 1-2p, same again for mileage based servicing.
Standing costs (e.g. depreciation, MoT, tax, insurance) are just that - costs that are incurred regardless of whether I commute once a week or five times a week (or even if I don’t use it for work at all).
Well, I can’t stand 4x4’s personally. The problem with milage is that you might do a 50 mile each way trip, and get awarded the 20% tax rebate on 100x45p which is a measly £9 which is supposed to pay for your 100 mile journey. It doesn’t. You need a Fiat 126 to make any decent money out of a per mile rate that hasn’t gone up in real terms for yonks. 
Even your 11p per mile running costs is losing you £2 per shift on that basis, plus wear and tear on top.
waynedl:
If you think the job you listed exists, you live in dream land - well, it might do if you did the worst hours / weekends / bank hols / xmas shifts available. That’s the only way you’d get 30 grand for under 45hrs in this game
I know a few drivers working afternoons on Wincanton contracts who get just over £29k for about 45 hours. Contracted for 48 but usually average around 45.
It’s definitely possible but far from average or normal I agree. 45 hours nets me about £26k, which I’m fairly happy with.
waynedl:
If you think the job you listed exists, you live in dream land - well, it might do if you did the worst hours / weekends / bank hols / xmas shifts available. That’s the only way you’d get 30 grand for under 45hrs in this game
Au contraire, I’m on a lot more than that for 45hrs P/W. No such thing as a night out, rarely do more than 100 miles a day, furthest destination is 50 miles away. No “■■■■ big cab” but who cares? Finished at 00:30 this morning, that’s a late one for me. Only ever 1 weekend day per week, and not every week. Bank hols are given back in your next rest period, don’t work over Christmas.
I’ve never regretted getting my licence, go for it mate!
I don’t get paid ‘night out or lay over pay’ as you dou in the UK. Most companies here don’t pay anything if you are stuck in your truck, even for the weekend, although looking at our pay contract it states that any driver who is stuck on a 34 hours reset away from home will be given a $100.00 comdata express code (you just go into a truck stop, give them the code and they hand you the cash). I sometimes spend the whole week in my cab and although some of you guys in the UK may dream of having a truck that you can actually walk around in, with a 4 ft wide bed, lots of cupboards and extras etc, but living in one the novelty soon wears off.
I have woken up in some amazing places… Next to the ■■■■■■■■■■■■, on the Pacific coast line, in Las Vegas, LA, NYC, At the very southern tip of Florida staring over the Gulf of Mexico, 8.000 ft up in the Cascades, I parts of Canada and in the coldest weather you can imagine, I have seen sights most of you can only dream of but if I could go way back in time i would NEVER be a truck driver.
Winseer:
The problem with milage is that you might do a 50 mile each way trip, and get awarded the 20% tax rebate on 100x45p which is a measly £9 which is supposed to pay for your 100 mile journey. It doesn’t. You need a Fiat 126 to make any decent money out of a per mile rate that hasn’t gone up in real terms for yonks.
Even your 11p per mile running costs is losing you £2 per shift on that basis, plus wear and tear on top.
Ah - I thought that when you wrote “expenses” you actually meant “expenses” (i.e. where an employer reimburses you for costs incurred on company business). I now see that you were really talking about Income Tax “allowances”. Apologies for confusion.
Pat Hasler:
Scanner:
Au contraire, !
Hello Del Boy 
Defense de fumer, darlin’ 
No regrets here.
The two big problems with lorry drivers and their earnings are
-
This shiny big cab thing, whats its all about? Whilst blokes chase the newest flashest lorry, those who own them will lure them in, and in many cases pay peanuts…wouldn’t be the first time that some driver has offered to take a pay cut to get the biggest lorry in the yard…that flash lorry will not pop down the bank and pay the mortgage for you.
If you want a big motor and are prepared to accept crap money then for Christs sake stop moaning about it, its your own fault, cake and eat it?
-
Night out money is not part of wages, nor is expenses, far too many drivers forget to subtract those from their earnings to see what they are really on.
£30+k for less than 45 hours jobs are about but they are never repeat never advertised, invariably the work will be specialised ie car transporters or tanks, in practice transporters pay considerably more top line but more hours and seriously hard work is involved, always max out hours on the cars.
Fancy lorries and easy peasy chauffering style work with no graft or skill involved will invariably pay crap money, end of.
mikeshe:
busteredwards:
DAF_MAN:
Hi,
I am strongly drawn towards a driving career but I recognise a life on the road has a lot of downsides. With that in mind, are there any drivers out there who have made it to the top of the tree (Class 1, <45hrs per week, £30k+ per year, ■■■■ big cab) but wish they hadn’t bothered? Maybe you start to miss your previous job?
For instance, would you swap it for a 37hr/week, £25k office job with public sector pension and bags of holidays?
DAF_MAN
Try & get on the tankers, thats as close as you’ll get to your scenario. I spent 18 years with BP & we were doing between 45 -50 hrs for 30-35k.
No big cabs though & it was shift work.
Don’t think I’d swap for the office job, my other half does that & it aint for me!
My last job was on tankers for a Gas company who were “British” until the Germans got hold of it. They still operate under the old livery. We didn’t have ■■■■ cabs, just heaps of [zb] with private registrations to hide the actual age of the fleet. Only now after 8 years are they getting new motors in…and these are German as well!
I was on it for 20 years, 45 - 50hrs per week, 6 wks holiday per year, £42k for perm nights. Now the Germans are slowly cocking it up, all the decent former management who knew the job inside out were replaced by a bunch of idiots, yes men, university boys and 3rd party logistics morons without any previous experience of transporting dangerous goods by road. Now the management are looking to sack you for the least little thing and they will not be employing any more permanent drivers but instead using agency drivers.
I got out last June with a very good payoff after being reliably informed that enhanced redundancies would cease and was able to clear the mortgage. In the old days it was a good job and we were left to get on with it. It’s still a good job but there’s always some [zb] in management now trying to stitch the drivers up to earn some brownie points.
It seems to be the same wherever you go now, the good high paid jobs are in decline and I reckon within the next 5 years, 10 at the most they will be a thing of the past in transport.
Sounds very similar to BP, I took my money 5 yrs ago due to them slowly whitling away at conditions & pay.
Winseer:
9-11 hours in a layby each day for a measly £25 is less than £3 per hour for your wasted time.
You won’t be “asleep on the bunk” for all that time after all.
“No nights out” isn’t as good as it sounds if you’ve got a long commute either. Even with expenses, 45p per mile doesn’t cover the cost of the fuel, let alone wear and tear to the vehicle, and insurances.
Wages have stood still for over a decade, and have stood still in real-terms (adjusted for inflation) for nearly TWO decades. This discourages new blood to enter the industry, and those with good pensions to draw to hang up their keys first chance they get. Looking at the fact the average age of a driver is now 53, you can see that a lot of “oldies” are not bothering to hang up their keys going into their late 60’s, because their pension has let them down, or the cost of living doesn’t permit them to actually LIVE on a pension.
I don’t regret getting a class one licence at all. I just regret successive governments both left and right that have tinkered with the transport industry to such an extent, that we are now “scumbags barely above estate agents and bankers” in the public’s eyes. They’ve buggered the industry the same way they’ve buggered the NHS. People now go to hospital to die if really ill, or make trouble as hypochondriacs and self-harmers in the casulty waiting rooms. . “New” Full time jobs for truckers are always on “The Boy’s” rates nowdays, else they’ll be so long-houred, that it’s only a matter of time until we lose another of our number from rear-ending his convoy mate.
but nobody you give extra 45 p per mile.you can claim 45 pence tax free.it is mean who you don t pay tax from this money.realy you save about 10 p.if you claim 200 mile for 45 pence .it is 90 tax free.you save just 18 pound,because after you pay less tax.
DAF_MAN:
Hi,
I am strongly drawn towards a driving career but I recognise a life on the road has a lot of downsides. With that in mind, are there any drivers out there who have made it to the top of the tree (Class 1, <45hrs per week, £30k+ per year, ■■■■ big cab) but wish they hadn’t bothered? Maybe you start to miss your previous job?
For instance, would you swap it for a 37hr/week, £25k office job with public sector pension and bags of holidays?
DAF_MAN
I swapped an office job (good wage, plenty of perks) for a Class 1 Licence - do I regret it - no way, not for a minute. If you go self-employed / Limited Co you’ll enjoy it even more!!
Hi Juddian
Oh how I agree with your last post. Too many drivers seem to think the be all and end all is a big shiny truck that they can live in from Monday to Friday and spend all day Saturday (unpaid ) polishing the bloody thing.
I do not try to beat some one who is enthusiastic and takes a pride in his gear down,but while drivers are prepared to work for a fiver an hour and a tin of polish,just to get the new truck in the yard, the rest of us will alway’s struggle to get a good wage.
In my opinion “night-out” money is not part of the wage, it’s compensation for being tied to a lump of metal 24hrs a day of which for 9 or 11 hrs. you are a security man for the bosses equipment,again not paid any extra cos that would mean you are still technically working and not getting your legal rest.
To me the conditions of the job and the pay come first, you don’t put a shiny Scania on the dinner table on Sunday and carve it up, the food on that table is paid for by what a truck earns you, and the more pay you earn and in the conditions you want to work in mean there will be more meals eaten by happier drivers.
Cheers Bassman
I have just binned my 37hr week, 25k, plenty of hols and a pension to go tramping (reefers) as from 3rd June. Ok mine wasn’t an office job but I couldn’t bear to work in an office anyway. I got sick of the civil service bureaucracy and senior management sticking their nose into a job they had never done. TBH I can’t wait to get started, i’m 51 yrs old and about to start an adventure I’ve wanted to go on for over 30 years. Its more money with more hours, less hols, away from home and a pension after 6 months if I want it.
…it’ll do for me 
Tazbug
Tazbug:
I have just binned my 37hr week, 25k, plenty of hols and a pension to go tramping (reefers) as from 3rd June. Ok mine wasn’t an office job but I couldn’t bear to work in an office anyway. I got sick of the civil service bureaucracy and senior management sticking their nose into a job they had never done. TBH I can’t wait to get started, i’m 51 yrs old and about to start an adventure I’ve wanted to go on for over 30 years. Its more money with more hours, less hols, away from home and a pension after 6 months if I want it.
…it’ll do for me
Tazbug
Sounds ideal, Tazbug! Good luck with it. I’m jealous. How long have you held your licence?
Terry T:
waynedl:
If you think the job you listed exists, you live in dream land - well, it might do if you did the worst hours / weekends / bank hols / xmas shifts available. That’s the only way you’d get 30 grand for under 45hrs in this game
I know a few drivers working afternoons on Wincanton contracts who get just over £29k for about 45 hours. Contracted for 48 but usually average around 45.
It’s definitely possible but far from average or normal I agree. 45 hours nets me about £26k, which I’m fairly happy with.
You’re definitely winning me over. Not that I needed much convincing. I really enjoyed passing my Cat C and can’t wait to get started with the artics. That Wincanton contract sounds sweet! I also read about Maritime guys doing 3 x 15hr shifts over the weekend and getting paid very handsomely as they return home for their 4 days off.
Your setup sounds pretty good too, Terry. Can I just check…you say your job NETS you £26k. Not gross? You’re taking home over £2,100 a month after paying tax and NI?
Pat Hasler:
I don’t get paid ‘night out or lay over pay’ as you dou in the UK. Most companies here don’t pay anything if you are stuck in your truck, even for the weekend, although looking at our pay contract it states that any driver who is stuck on a 34 hours reset away from home will be given a $100.00 comdata express code (you just go into a truck stop, give them the code and they hand you the cash). I sometimes spend the whole week in my cab and although some of you guys in the UK may dream of having a truck that you can actually walk around in, with a 4 ft wide bed, lots of cupboards and extras etc, but living in one the novelty soon wears off.
I have woken up in some amazing places… Next to the ■■■■■■■■■■■■, on the Pacific coast line, in Las Vegas, LA, NYC, At the very southern tip of Florida staring over the Gulf of Mexico, 8.000 ft up in the Cascades, I parts of Canada and in the coldest weather you can imagine, I have seen sights most of you can only dream of but if I could go way back in time i would NEVER be a truck driver.
Thanks to everyone who has replied and offered good advice. Some interesting insights, mostly encouraging… surprisingly!
Pat, you should be very content with your achievements, out there seeing all the wonders of the USA! Sounds amazing. Even though you’re saying you would NEVER be a trucker if you could go back in time, I can’t help but be inspired by your story.
If you’re fed up with being out on the road doing cross-country, have you not thought about being a Truck Driving Instructor? There must be other things you could do.
DAF_MAN:
Terry T:
waynedl:
If you think the job you listed exists, you live in dream land - well, it might do if you did the worst hours / weekends / bank hols / xmas shifts available. That’s the only way you’d get 30 grand for under 45hrs in this game
I know a few drivers working afternoons on Wincanton contracts who get just over £29k for about 45 hours. Contracted for 48 but usually average around 45.
It’s definitely possible but far from average or normal I agree. 45 hours nets me about £26k, which I’m fairly happy with.
You’re definitely winning me over. Not that I needed much convincing. I really enjoyed passing my Cat C and can’t wait to get started with the artics. That Wincanton contract sounds sweet! I also read about Maritime guys doing 3 x 15hr shifts over the weekend and getting paid very handsomely as they return home for their 4 days off.
Your setup sounds pretty good too, Terry. Can I just check…you say your job NETS you £26k. Not gross? You’re taking home over £2,100 a month after paying tax and NI?
£26k gross, before tax and NI. Man I’d love to take that home 
I could do, some are on over £40k per year but they live in the truck 5 days per week. I could hit £30k if I did around 50 hours which is pretty good IMO.
Oh and I gave up well paid 37.5 hour engineering work to become a driver so no, no regrets
Something I have not seen mentioned in this thread is the stress that some people have in jobs outside of truck driving that for me does not exist within the job.
I have been an engineer responsible for trouble shooting what others can’t fix whilst also being their supervisor with all their work/employment/personal issues to deal with. I was then in the Public Sector for 30 years, again with a target driven culture amidst austerity cuts and increasing workloads. Again supervising a team and answering to a senior management team who add their own level of targets and demands within a discipline culture that impinges upon your work and private life 24/7.
I was well paid and walk away with a good pension because I paid upwards of 11% of my pay into it each month. But don’t think for a moment that didn’t come at a cost way beyond the financial because it takes its toll on you physically, mentally and personally.
I now drive a truck, where I do not have and do not want any responsibility for managing others. My responsibility starts at loading point A and finishes at unloading point B, anything outside of that is someone else’s problem and something for them to stress about. Woe betide anyone who tries to pass on their responsibility or their stress to me because quite simply, I don’t get paid to accept it.
Compared to what I was earning, the money I get for driving is peanuts but I enjoy every minute of it and it will see me through to state pension age.
To those who say I am lucky to be in this position, well you’re entitled to your view. I know that I have worked very hard on very unsociable hours and 24/7 shift patterns, back in the day, I was up at 5 to catch a bus, to catch a train, to change trains to then catch another bus to be in work for 8am. I then had the same journey home at the end of the day, 6 days a week. No mileage rate and no pay for those extra 6 hrs each day, just a wage that was just enough to pay the bills and support my family with few frills.
So before anyone jumps out of this job and into something else simply because it pays more, I urge you to consider the true value of such a move rather than the financial cost.