would just like to know do alot of companies expect drivers to stop out overnight, or is regular just day work fairly common (by this i mean like 6am till up to6pm.
cheers for any replies in advance
ian
bigcheese:
would just like to know do alot of companies expect drivers to stop out overnight, or is regular just day work fairly common (by this i mean like 6am till up to6pm.cheers for any replies in advance
ian
Hi bigcheese, I wouldn’t have thought that nights away is something you’d need to worry about at such an early stage in your career.
Most firms will probably want to keep an ‘eye’ on you in the early stages. 
just asking pal cos ive no desire to stop out at all ever- maye i should asked is there plenty of only day work around up to maybe one night aweek ?
cheers for advice dave
bigcheese:
just asking pal cos ive no desire to stop out at all ever- maye i should asked is there plenty of only day work around up to maybe one night aweek ?cheers for advice dave
Hi bigcheese, yes mate, there’s plenty of day work, but my tip would be for you to not be thinking in terms of putting restrictions on what you’ll do, cos you’ll probably end up limiting your appeal to employers.
If you opt to do agency work, as is most likely until you gain experience, you can ask for day work only and it shouldn’t be a problem.
That’s what I found anyway, but there’s nothing set in stone here. 
cheers pal, i see your up early, nice to see a driver in a job, ha!
i will have to take what i can to start obviously to get on the ladder but once im on i dont really wanna be working out all week tramping, thats bad **** for anyone, don’t know how they stick it !
cheers for the repiles much appriciated
ian
Being out all week CAN have a serious effect on family life especially if you have young children.
Being single or the kids have left home is probably the best time to go tramping.
Generally, it’s up to the individual and whether it fits into their personal circumstances.
strongly agree rog couldnt have said it better myself as i have 2 kids now its not for me, no way i could miss out on watching my kids grow up. athought like you said its really good money and ideal for say a single lad !
ian
bigcheese:
strongly agree rog couldnt have said it better myself as i have 2 kids now its not for me, no way i could miss out on watching my kids grow up. athought like you said its really good money and ideal for say a single lad !ian
I missed a lot of my daughter’s first few years from the late 80s into the early 90s because I was doing very long DAY WORK 
This is before the WTD & digi tachos etc came in.
The drivers, myself included, used to start between 4 and 5am, get back in the yard about 6pm and thn do warehouse work, sometimes till 10pm.
The foreman would splash out for the chippy etc about 730pm.
No clock cards - just time sheets and tachos only used when we started driving and then pulled when we got back to the yard 
I used to do 6 or 7 days a week (mainly truck maintenance on sunday - greasing/washing it etc) and the timesheet usually had between 80 & 100 hours on it
Did I want to do it? - YES - my Wife was at home bring up my little girl and it was my job to provide so that is what I did.
They did used to come with me on runs some days which meant that I got some time with them 
sounds like you provided a great living for them growing uo although im pretty surei wouldnt mind the long days (your examples were extreme tho) i just dont want any nights out at all if possible
ian
i’m sure if you dont wany any nights out that would be ok in most companies, there is always going to be someone there that will take them for you (money grabbers, escaping problems at home, fancy a change and so on). i love being on the road and if it entails a night our or two then all well and good but i dont thik i could do it all week every week.
its nice to have the choice!
why do you want to drive 
if you want set start and finish times work in a office nothings guarateed with the traffic example i used to do west brom every day 1 day seven hrs to do 2 n half hr jouney that was just one time it happened a lot more than that 
I agree with dreva, dont set times in stone. I’m a tramper with a young family, the youngest just a year old, but I have to think about the money not the life.
If you say to a future boss you dont want to work after 6:30pm I can probably guess what they would say and you wouldn’t get the job. As I tell all the new starters with the firm I work for, “take the rough ith the smooth,” sometimes you’ll get an early finish, sometimes you’ll still be on the road at 7pm or even 9pm. Sometimes you might not get home at all, depending on traffic and other factors, so always carry night out gear, even if you dont need it.
I ended up tramping as a stopgap when I started nearly 10 years ago and have been doing it ever since, so don’t knock it 'til you’ve tried it. In that time I’ve gotten married and had two kids, so you can do family too.
I’ve tried day work a few times briefly, but to be honest I found I was too tired to do anything other than snap at everyone within reach of an evening, so I’m better off getting a decent rest in the wagon and having more energy to spend time with the family at weekends. It’s quality, not quantity that counts - and the whole battle becomes pointless anyway when you finish after they’ve gone to bed and start before they get up.
My kids are now 3 and 6, and the older one is now at an age where she has a big map of the UK so she can keep track of where I am and where I’ve been, which she loves. On the rare occasion I run a Sunday she also comes with me for the first half hour and my other half follows in the car and picks her up at an agreed point. The youngest gets really confused when I’m home during the week eg. on Bank Holidays because he’s never known anything else (neither of them have, but Alice is older so past the confused stage). They both tramped themselves for 8 months whilst I was pregnant, too! 
The more you limit yourself, the harder it’ll be to get a start with a shiny new licence. If you stay open minded you may just end up surprised. 
Im still trying to work out just what the hell tramping is? Are trampers self employed?
It basically just means you run out at the start of the week and come back at the end, staying in the truck in between.
Lucy:
I ended up tramping as a stopgap when I started nearly 10 years ago and have been doing it ever since, so don’t knock it 'til you’ve tried it. In that time I’ve gotten married and had two kids, so you can do family too.
Fair enough…,
…but that might be due to the training regime mentioned here though…
Elsewhere, Lucy:
There are many effective alternatives to a choke chain or half-choke for teaching…
So 2+2=5■■ No?
Blimey, there’s my coat exits at stage right
Taxi for the one with a deathwish… 
Lucy:
Taxi for the one with a deathwish…
That’d do nicely if it were capable of the interstellar flight needed for my escape.
Otherwise, I’m stuffed.
i already have a good job with set times etc i want to move into driving cos i love trucking and would say im very flexible with hours althought i wouldnt want to tramp out monday to friday all week like some of the lads do.
bigcheese:
i already have a good job with set times etc i want to move into driving cos i love trucking and would say im very flexible with hours althought i wouldnt want to tramp out monday to friday all week like some of the lads do.
Day work can often have quite long hours, especially as an agency driver. You can have quite long distances to cover before and after a shift. Then it might all have to be fitted into a 9 hour rest period. Driving can also involve unloading and or loading your wagon yourself and be quite physically demanding.
By the time you get home, your knackered, you want to spend some time with your kids, eat, get cleaned up, sleep and get to your next assignment, all in a 9 hour break.
Trampers will usually be away all week, starting at x-o’ clock Monday morning and arriving back home Friday evening or Saturday Morning. In some jobs, tramping can be 2 x 3 day (or 3 x 2 day) stints, with a night at home in between.
Because you’re living in your cab, a 9 hour rest means, parking up, walking across to use the facilities, walking back to your cab to sleep.
When you do get home for the weekend, you have had decent rests all week, so your more capable of spending quality time with your kids, instead of crashing out in your favourite comfy chair.
Its worth bearing this in mind, when deciding what is or isn’t for you.