Spardo:
I always did the job for the love of it, as long as I could afford it, then, when it got a bit less enjoyable - I stopped.
Salut, David.
You can’t argue with that.
The way I look at this is that as far as I’m concerned I have to like my job as I’ll spend most of my life doing it, or I will until the WTD gets the better of me. I don’t really drink so I’m not one of those people who can do a horrible job and plod on my getting wasted at the weekend so they forget about their life. Aslong as I can manage ok on the wage, I’d sooner do a job I love for say £300pw than do a job I hate for £450 because at what price can you put a wasted life? I have become a truck driver for the way of life, its not purely just a means to an end to get money.
ianyng:
Why does everything have to revolve around money?
What happened to doing a job for the love of it?
As long as you take home a decent wage whats the problem?
I personally would never employ a driver who on applying for a job asks “what you payin’?” before anything else.
Go on - call me a tight arse - I don’t care - money orientated drivers are all the ruddy same.
jessicas dad:
also it makes me laugh all the “uk to europe” written on lorries so what
What do you expect to be wrote on the side?
UK to Isle of Grain?
If you go to Europe, you’re gonna have that on the side - yes?
first of all i change my job for a better job and better money i certaintly wont work in crap job but good money. but yes money is top of my list im there to work for ME and ME ONLY im not there there for manager to drive round in fancy cars or to drive fancy wagons. im not money oreinted.
when at an interview i hate it when the manager witters on about this that and the next thing and wont tell you about the money normally its only because he is delaying it cos its a crap wage.
im sorry ian but i need money to pay the mortgage and the bills and have enough left to have some spends.
as for " uk to europe " there are firms running round with "UK TO EUROPE " ON THEIR LORRYS WHEN THEN DONT EVEN LEAVE THE UK. namely knowles containers in leeds and a couple of longs lorrys have the euro flag on them as well and thats just sad.
Jessicas dad…tell me where i can buy 24 cases of carlsberg for £10…and ill be there. What with euro work Rob..the wage being offered is realistic...and for the euro bods it is an easier way of life in the fact that the loads on your back for a lot longer...but basically the same type of work.. At the end of the day its what suits you..its the same as what im taking home now…although we were earning that kind of money 20/30 years ago.
As for the guy quoting 50 grand a year …hes telling porkies…work it out…its almost £1000 a week…who on earth earns that…apart from owner drivers…unless he was one…in which case i apologise…
Go for it Rob if thats what you want…i personally…have a very cushy number now, leave the yard at 0600…drive to Dewsbury…tip…park up for 10/11 hours…re-load at 0100…tip maidstone…load bananas in sheerness…park up go home…its a 5 day week…and my gross is £543…not bad…eh!..and they used to do lots of euro but stopped because of the rates…late motors though…either a FH12 or a MAN tga…i got a man…
routier:
We live in the 21st century when technology has advanced beyond belief, maps will be a thing of the past, Sat Nav is becoming all the more common so who needs Maps when the voice coming out of your dash is directing you to the spot!! And its in English!! Simply tap in the postcode!
When I said maps I was including all kinds of maps, paper and electronic. I agree with you and haven’t had a paper based map in the cab for 4 or 5 years now. SatNav is the way and it doesn’t half save on storage space in the cab.
Roadhog:
i tramp the uk, but take home around £100 a week more than our euro drivers.
they say its easier work, but only when they are avoiding major towns and cities, same as here.
the other week, i did 872km in a shift, going around birmingham and over the thelwall viaduct twice.
uk work is only as difficult as you want it to be.
sort of goes back to the old ‘what makes a good tramper’ thread.
people often ask why i dont go over the water. if im going to a foreign country, where they speak a different language, use a different currency, and puts me further away from my home and family, i want more money, not less.
£944.-/Week before Tax i did once at Heathrow Airport Total Legal
Rob K:
To those who do Euro work from the UK, is £450 guaranteed take home per week (tax & nic paid) good, bad or about right for Euro work to Italy / Spain etc?
Rob, thats about average for 5 days including nights out, you have to think about the work involved though.
you can’t do some parts of italy and back in 5 days legally and the same with spain.
from where you are it’s about 6 hours to dover, it’s then 15 hours to milan, thats 21 hours driving so it’s the same coming back too, put into that your rest periods and your looking at a 5 day round trip to northern italy, if you start going further south like bologna or firenze (florence) then you can’t get home every week.
it’s the same with spain, barcelona is ok if you get quick turnarounds and not too many deliveries and collections but if you are to go to alicante or madrid you will need to be prepared to be away for longer, and like the man says it’s £450 no matter how many days 2 or 7.
ianyng:
Why does everything have to revolve around money?
What happened to doing a job for the love of it?
As long as you take home a decent wage whats the problem?
I personally would never employ a driver who on applying for a job asks “what you payin’?” before anything else.
Go on - call me a tight arse - I don’t care - money orientated drivers are all the ruddy same.:
I’m not goimg to call you a tight arse, but as an employee your main purpose for taking on the job is pay, you have to enjoy the job to put up with the [zb] thrown at you, so one of my first questios is wage related, because as you point out “as long as you take home a decent wage” there is no point continueing the interveiw if at the end the wage is poor,
As for Euro work its never come into my line of sight, round here those that offer it pay rubbish, and i’m not lowering my standard of living just to drive on the wrong side of the road, As for only working 9 or 10 hours a day, well i dont want to be sat in my cab for 14 or 15 hours between shifts,I want to be working and earning, plus those that i’ve known who do or have done Euro work, dont allways reckon to do less hours, though theyre paid per day or trip, also i dont reckon much to this weekend away business either. So unless a 5 day week euro job on equivolant money to what i earn now turns up i’ll be staying UK side
im amazed at the drivers on here who have posted roughly as follows.
paragraph 1… i wouldnt do continental work because it is worse than driving in the uk
paragraph 2… i’ve never actually done it so i dont really know what i am talking about
each to his own, but if you like to eat a meatpie what has sat under the halogen lamp at alconbry all day, go all week without a shower and sit in traffic jams all week then i would DEFINITELY say continental work is not for you…
There are a lot of reasons why someone would choose between Euro and UK and money is not the main one for me
Scenario (a) I drive all day to my destination after fighting with traffic and accidents, 330 kilometres today I eventually get to the drop and am told “we are waiting for that load” “but your booking reference is wrong”. so go and stand in the corner “You cannot park here”, “No” “drivers are not allowed in the toilets”
“Im not arguing” which you clearly are
Scenario (b) I drive for 3 days through 5 countries seeing the cultural differences and remember the pleasant meal I had last trip at the next restaurant on the clean roads.
I arrive at the drop, 1200 kilometres and 2 ferry crossings later At the security gate the guard welcomes me in my own language. He gives me a map of the factory showing the toilets, restaurant, showers and parking area. almost as an afterthought, he points out the goods inward bay
The goods inwards reception notice that the booking reference is wrong, so they unload the goods and put them aside till they can speak to the supplier in the morning
once went for an interveiw (not a driving job) and after the compulsory rubbish like me telling him i was the best thing that ever walked through his door and him telling me how it would be the best job i’d ever had we finnally got down to money, “so what you paying” i asks “how much do you need”? he replies “as much as i can possibly get” says i “oh” says he looking a bit confussed “well we all get out of bed to earn money” i explains “yes but how much do you need to live”? he asks again “think i’ll leave you to work that one out for yourself” says i, as i went out the door!
anyone who says they don’t work for the money is either rich, never had a bill through the door or never had kids!
i’m with wheel nut on this.
i’ve done european work for the past 15 years and despite the problems i faced when i first started out (language, customs clearance, running red diesel, backhanding officials and trip money that encouraged the breaking of the law) i don’t think i would take a uk only job.
i was offered recently a fantastic number in the uk, i needed to take another test for various plant machinery and i would probably still be away all week but this time in hotels or lodgings but the money was almost twice what i now earn top line.
after all the deductions i would probably be around £250 per week better off and only have to work half or one whole day more every week.
i had to think hard about it but decided to stay where i am, i have a good job, my employer is a brilliant bloke to work for, the company that we sub to generally leave me alone to get on with the job, the money is good for the work involved and i drive top kit, it was specced by me after my boss consulted me on what i wanted in my new truck.
maybe i’m lucky i don’t know but i think i would have to travel a long way to find the kind of work and working life that i have now.
i sat down and weighed up the extra £250 per week and decided that i manage very well on my current earnings, i have just about everything i want and really didn’t fancy the change to something unknown to me.
i enjoy driving but most of all i enjoy traffic free driving.
i have 2 bad days every week, tuesday trying to get out of this country and saturday trying to get home on the m20/m25/m1.
i don’t cook anything in the cab as i much prefer the delights of food cooked by somebody else and there are a lot of truckstops abroad that you can actually see your meal being cooked for you in the open plan kitchen area.
when i worked at rh freight there were lots of drivers that screamed they wouldn’t be caught dead over the water until they did it and then almost everyone of them didn’t want to do uk work anymore and many became european experts (in their minds) after just one trip.
LOLOLOL I love threads like this!! It brings out all the folk who think there is no place like home. Thank God there are people like Coffee, johnny, wheelnut and Muckles around.
You ‘drivers’ that only do the UK really have no idea … roadhog, have you even been on holiday abroad in the last 10 years let alone driven there?? I do mainly Spain and Portugal and I just cannot get my head around the Spanish language (am competent in French etc) yet two weeks ago, I sat in a restaurant with 3 Spanish drivers who spoke the tiniest bit of English and I got detailed instructions how to get into a difficult drop on the south side of Madrid (Leganes which is nearly all industrial). People do speak English the other side of the Channel, you know!!!
There are guys saying £450 is not a lot but remember this … if I am driving to Portugal, I get up when I want and invariably do no more than a 12 hour day (3hours driving, 1 hours break, 3 hours driving, 1 hours break etc till my max is up). Since I have been with my new boss, I have NOT done a 15 hour day and only done a couple of 13 hour days. You arrive at a drop and you are met with civility … none of this ‘hand your keys in, driver’ rubbish. Quite often if the facility is there, you will be offered a shower while they tip or load you!! To me, it is not the pay but the environment that makes a job and the environment over the water is 100 times better than in the UK.
MSA clampers?? What are they?? H&S Officers?? What are they?? 4,5 and 6 hour waits at RDC’s?? What are they?? Pig ignorant Goods In staff?? Never met one.
Yep, you guys keep on earning your £550 a week wages and when you have retired with heart and ulcer problems, I shall still be meandering back and forward to Spain and Portugal.
Look at Truckyboy!!! By his own admission, an old goat or old timer but he has been ‘doing’ the continent for years and at what I assume to be nearly retirement age is still chugging about and as I read it, itching to get the sand between his toes again. Purely because he hasn’t had to deal with the dilemnas that comes with being a UK only driver.
Rob, I have sent you a PM
i think its about time this thread is wrapped up everyone seems to have their say and general opion is each to their own. them that do you euro like doing it and dont mind earning a bit less and them that doing uk dont mind working a bit harded of a bit more cash.
