Have you had your wages increased yet? If so, by how much?
The company I work for (not a transport firm) is paying all drivers an extra £5k per year on the basic in the form of a fixed monthly payment until April next year, when it’s going to be rolled into the hourly rate. (I guess this is so they can keep their options open, and it takes them ages to decide things normally)
Yes but it’s not by enough compared to other similar local firms so its had zero effect as we can’t attract anyone paying the rates on offer. On a basic week its gone up by £54. Obviously we rarely do basic weeks so in reality it’s more but still…
It’s the Kinaxia way it seems.
Hence why I’ve got three (so far) interview/assessments lined up for next week. Hopefully I’ll return ti work after annual leave and find on August 23rd rates have gone up to a more reasonable level or I’ll be handing in my notice and saying see ya later.
Sensible pay claim negotiations happen every year, being a unionised workforce working for a decent employer we’ve had continual annual rises without fail, so no we haven’t had and won’t get a large one off bung.
Dunno about others but something feels false to me about the current situation, another overegged pudding much like everything else is these day, i don’t blame anyone getting their share of any spoils being distributed but whether things will be like this is another year or more is anyone’s guess, for goodness sake people get any pay rises writ in stone as rises in basic pay which they can’t claw back.
My company has increased basic pay by 5k and overtime rate by £2 p/h
We got over 16% last week [emoji16]
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claretmatt:
Have you had your wages increased yet? If so, by how much?The company I work for (not a transport firm) is paying all drivers an extra £5k per year on the basic in the form of a fixed monthly payment until April next year, when it’s going to be rolled into the hourly rate. (I guess this is so they can keep their options open, and it takes them ages to decide things normally)
Yeah. Hourly rate has now gone from 12.70 to 14.50… that is straight through mind you. And the weekend rate has stayed the same wich is slightly higher than the new rate. I am guaranteed 4 hrs on a Saturday though even if i just run in.
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We got an extra pound an hour plus a couple of one off bonuses and an attendance bonus running for three months and paying out beginning of September.
Better than we’ve had before but still not enough in my opinion.
£50 on basic. Extra £20 on a run in or out. Nothing to get overly excited about. Made a small difference to take home pay, but not stopped the merry go round we are currently experiencing of drivers coming and going.
Juddian:
Sensible pay claim negotiations happen every year, being a unionised workforce working for a decent employer we’ve had continual annual rises without fail, so no we haven’t had and won’t get a large one off bung.Dunno about others but something feels false to me about the current situation, another overegged pudding much like everything else is these day, i don’t blame anyone getting their share of any spoils being distributed but whether things will be like this is another year or more is anyone’s guess, for goodness sake people get any pay rises writ in stone as rises in basic pay which they can’t claw back.
Another strong case for Unions, a quick buck is very nice when you get it as a bonus, that bonus is only a temporary handout and can be withdrawn and more likely will be. A good contract is the way to secure a long term deal and is easier now to secure as companies want to keep their drivers rather than clutch on to them through fluctuating bonuses that only appear to be good through smoke and mirrors. The unions have never had such an easy time of negotiating good long term contracts as they have now. Form a union in your company now and reap the benefits for years to come.
Agency rates since last April have gone from £13hr days (6am-6pm), £14.50hr nights meal breaks paid to £18 days, £20 nights and they still carnt get enough drivers.
To be fair, our gaffer pays very well anyhow, and while it is nice to get any extra, I look at it like this:
He is a 3 vehicle operator, and our trucks are double shifted on ferry trailer work. (Each driver has a permanent opposite.) We do on average a 40 hour week Monday to Friday, and an optional 6th shift if we want it. Day lads if they do a 2nd trailer, get £25 extra for doing it, and he gives them a maximum 4 a week if they are there to do, and gives them 1 day where they finish early.
He uses top spec vehicles, which is strange as we don’t do nights out, and we are waiting for 2x Merc Actros Gigaspace 510’s being delivered next month, and they will have private plates on them.
If we were to ask for anymore, that puts his operation under strain, and that would or could have dire consequences for the long term. We don’t want that.
With all of the above in mind, while I won’t go into specifics, we take home net more than what some trampers do gross for maxxing out each week.
Ken.
2 payrises from £14 to £15.50/£17.50(after 6pm) and now over time @ £22 same as weekend rate. before all that, not had a payrise in 5 or 7 yrs. and drivers still come and go.
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A lot of people are jostling at the moment for better jobs/terms/money etc etc.
On the face of it the wage rises are doing nothing to stop driver movement but eventually it will settle down and those who are paying appropriately will find themselves well stocked with drivers while thise who scrape along the bottom will continue to scrape along the bottom.
No.
My employer (XPO) have put up the night out allowance - which some deluded sheep think counts as wages - and given us a £15 per day attendance ‘bonus’. Which if we were to figure it into an hourly rate for a basic day would bring us into line with what other depots on the same job were getting two years ago. XPO have form for suddenly announcing that monies paid to us were ‘in error’ and get quite nasty about wanting it back. (but never quite as quick as when it’s missing from our wages though). Bonuses can be withdrawn at any or even no notice whatsoever. But the happy clappy cab happy idiots wont be told its not a pay rise until they see how little holiday pay they get, and how little pension contributions are made.
Yorkshire Tramper:
Juddian:
Sensible pay claim negotiations happen every year, being a unionised workforce working for a decent employer we’ve had continual annual rises without fail, so no we haven’t had and won’t get a large one off bung.Dunno about others but something feels false to me about the current situation, another overegged pudding much like everything else is these day, i don’t blame anyone getting their share of any spoils being distributed but whether things will be like this is another year or more is anyone’s guess, for goodness sake people get any pay rises writ in stone as rises in basic pay which they can’t claw back.
Another strong case for Unions, a quick buck is very nice when you get it as a bonus, that bonus is only a temporary handout and can be withdrawn and more likely will be. A good contract is the way to secure a long term deal and is easier now to secure as companies want to keep their drivers rather than clutch on to them through fluctuating bonuses that only appear to be good through smoke and mirrors. The unions have never had such an easy time of negotiating good long term contracts as they have now. Form a union in your company now and reap the benefits for years to come.
Two of the most sensible posts on this thread,but you know and I know not many will take notice but may regret putting their heads in the sand, when the bubble bursts. There will never be a better time to get organised.
Already on a decent rate so got a few percent this last year.
My son however has just had his third payrise since February. What was their overtime rate after 40hrs is now their basic. He works for a small haulier with about a dozen trucks. By the sounds of it the latest one this last week which is only barely a month after the last one was prompted by the rates his boss is getting having gone up across the board and stayed there and them taking on different work than what they normally did. They’re still low for the new normal so I expect he’ll get more rises before Xmas as it looks like his boss is trying to get a feel for where to set the wages without causing the business issues.
Juddian:
Dunno about others but something feels false to me about the current situation, another overegged pudding much like everything else is these day, i don’t blame anyone getting their share of any spoils being distributed but whether things will be like this is another year or more is anyone’s guess, for goodness sake people get any pay rises writ in stone as rises in basic pay which they can’t claw back.
It’s quite funny reading some of the posts on wages, not just here but other truck driving forums, where people bang on about bubbles bursting etc. As a few here know IT and electronics engineering are two of my other fields and I have two siblings with degrees who are on career paths. In many sectors, especially ones that are actual skilled and professional ones, what lorry drivers are doing now is actually the norm. People will start off low to get in, get a couple of years in with an employer then jump ship to go to someone who pays more and then keep doing that every 12-18 months. There are some sectors of IT and engineering and especially the finance sector where you’re considered to be screwing yourself over if you stay somewhere more than a year until you reach management. As a result after several years of doing this they expect and do end up getting paid £400+ per day. What we are doing now is not something that is unique and nobody else is doing, it’s what pretty much everyone who wants career progression and to improve their lives does.
Drivers staying years with companies or not moving to take advantage of other employers paying more is actually an anomoly in this country, not the norm amongst something that is above unskilled work. What we normally do, sitting at an employers for years on crap wages, is what those who are unskilled with little to offer do because they can’t risk losing their job. When was the last time a lorry driver had to worry about not being able to find work if they lost their job, other than from losing their licence? I can’t recall a time in the last 26 years, can you? So why are we not taking advantage of that fact like other occupations and why are we slagging off those who do?
Because union men all hold some deluded belief that the world stops turning without them and that their loyalty is highly valued by their company CEO., hence why they work at the same place their entire lives and miss out on other, better opportunities elsewhere. The reality is that the CEO will chew you up and spit you out without giving a singular [zb] for your 40 years unblemished work record if it will make them more money. See Tesco, Suttons and all the fuel cos.
No pay rise in 5 years for any of us at our place. I guess we all stick around due to how easy the job is and the shift pattern, but some form of pay rise would be nice for some of the crap we have to deal with from time to time.
Pointy shoes at our place dropped our hours from 48hr to 45hr on same pay. 
Has rather upset most of the driving workforce at our location
leo.saphira:
Pointy shoes at our place dropped our hours from 48hr to 45hr on same pay.Has rather upset most of the driving workforce at our location
7.5% wage rise. I know a few where I’m at who would rather take a cut in salaried hours for the same money than a rise.