in my extensive 4 month career as a class 2 driver, i cant help but to notice that the flashier the truck, the crapper the wages.
i worked for a local haulier near cardiff and let me tell you, the loverly new trucks are kept immaculate by their drivers inside and out. Painted tyres, polished tanks etc. (i even saw one guy polish the footmat in his volvo).
the guys found time to do this whilst sitting in the yard all day on POA waiting to get a load. There was great competition (or arselicking to be precice) to get the furthest load so as to gain a milage and night out bonus to top up the £250 (class 2) basic wage per week.
yet, another local company is paying a £355 basic week with other bonuses on top driving muddy wagons.
is this the way of the industry?
do people really enjoy polising their bosses trucks in their own time?
did i do my cat C licence to drive for £5.00 per hour then polish my bosses fuel tanks in my own time?
I think you’ll find it quite common, (although not every haulier with flash kit will be like this)
I like to keep my truck clean and tidy, but I don’t really care to much about what I drive as long as it’s legal and tidy and I have little interest in having loads of lights and other bling.
It’s just there are some drivers who will work for lower wages if it means they get a top of the range truck with loads of lights etc.
Am I going to slag them off? Nop it’s upto them, they love thier trucks, love their job and who am I to say that’s wrong, just not my style.
spanker:
yet, another local company is paying a £355 basic week with other bonuses on top driving muddy wagons.
Instead of berating others for what they like to do, or are prepared to work for why don’t you go and work for the better money in the dirtier trucks. Some people have different wants, needs and standards to others. Is that a problem?
i got given a 9 year old truck and a brand new tautliner about a year ago, i keep the alcoas shiny and the truck and trailer clean where possible, theres no bling, just that i take pride in what i drive and when i move on the next bloke can say, wow this bloke really took care of his gear
sometimes when im sitting in queues at DCs i get bored of reading or sleeping so ill jump out and give the wheels a tub, ill get no thanks from the boss for it nor do i want thanks from him, im happy enough to set off down the road knowing that the plant looks as good as it can.
one of my collegaues comes in on his days off and fits custom mudflaps and lightbars and all sorts to his truck, anything i do is on the clock, dont give my time away for free for nobody.
ive had random people come up to me off the street and say wow that truck looks really good / clean etc, and i appreciate that.
Usually you’ll find a lot of the guys offering flashy motors dont pay the best of cash due to you having a tidy motor which needs paying for unless your putting in the mileage… All Flash but No Cash is the MOTO…
scottishcruiser:
Usually you’ll find a lot of the guys offering flashy motors dont pay the best of cash due to you having a tidy motor which needs paying for unless your putting in the mileage… All Flash but No Cash is the MOTO…
Or there are the ones who have flash trucks and decent money, but they don’t need to advertise as they keep drivers and new drivers come by word of mouth.
Coddy:
Welcome to the wonderful world of Road Haulage…
Very true coddy things dont change.When i was driving over 30 odd yrs it wasnt polish it was,you can have that daf 2800 over there or for £50-00 a week less you can have that new 3300 in the corner.Got to admit this only happened rarely but some drivers did take the bait.
Lol something like that being 23 and the new boy iv got the oldest motor on the fleet and will have to wait my turn to get an R series …but at least iv got a job(well atm i have)
A well turned out “older” lorry certainly looks better than a " paint still wet, blinged up flashy truck" in my opinion.All down to personal preferance i suppose but if i had to make a decision between driving a “blinger” with an average wage or an “older motor” on better money, i know what i would chose, so if you see a Bedford Tk on your travels, give me a flash
For a w reg dogthehunter that scania looks in very good condition.
I like cleaning my vehicles up and i think seeing tidy motors on the road is a good advert for the transport industry and you never know it may attract some new blood. I always wanted to drive lorrys because of the vehicles i read about and saw at events like truckfest. Most of those had all the bling on but i thought it would be great to be a ‘pilot’ of one of those one day!
Its like why do people buy really fast cars when you cant really use them to their full potential. That Brain Palmer Volvo is very nice and i dont thinks its over the top. I wouldnt turn it down. He runs a very smart fleet.
This debate will last as long as there are trucks on the road.
I no that a big shiny truck dosen’t put food on the Table but these guys dont no any better 
…
…but at least iv got a job(well atm i have) 
i should buy curtains to hide behind