A subject which crops up on many different threads on here, is the driver who supposedly will accept a lower wage to drive a top spec. lorry. Just a couple of questions from a retired driver who the nearest I got to " bling " was a Cortina hub cap stuck on the front grille of a Commer 2 stroke ! 
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Do you think drivers of top spec. motors get paid less as a general rule ? How much more, if at all anything do you think a company could pay the driver if it gave him a bog standard fleet spec. Iveco instead of a top of the range blinged up Scania fitted with every accessory in the catalogue ? Not judging just interested.
Regards. John.
I drive a scania which has the top bar and foglights mounted on, not my choice (although i think it looks good on our trucks) but the boss put them on. No other toys really the gaffa makes a song and dance about fitting aircon from factory.
Personally I donât care what toys I get, Iâm cutting my teeth in a P series scania, bit cramped on room to say the least, no fridge, no microwave, no bluetooth but hey, Iâve got a coolbox, camping stove and a headset, what more do I need, I drive the same lorry every day, not bad pay but I know others are on more, but I owe the company for putting me through my class one and I canât fault them.
Would I take a pay cut for some accesoriesâŚno.
I work to pay the bills and enjoy my spending money, why would anybody drive a kitted out lorry for ÂŁ7.50/ÂŁ8.00 per hour is beyond me.
If the money was right for me to start, I would drive whatever I was given, but, no, I would not take a paycut for bling.
Back in the days when we earned around ÂŁ125 a week, one of the blokes i worked with actually offered to take a ÂŁ25 a week pay cut to get one of the DAF 2800âs instead of the 2300 he was driving at the time, my boss of the time told me that, he was as incredulous as me.
There have always been companies who pay poorly but offer top range lorries and they have no difficulty recruiting drivers, there have always been companies who pay over the odds and offer more basic motors, they too have no trouble recruiting staff.
Its the ones who issue ropey ill maintained tackle and pay poor money who struggle for staff, funny thing though they usually end up using agency lads to do the work when they canât get anyone so it costs them more than if they upped the wages, and new lads use them for experience and sling their hooks soon as they can.
I donât think itâs a choice situation as such, where you either drive a standard motor for good wage or a one with all the crap fitted for a poor wage.
Itâs more like that has how it has evolved in some (but not all) cases.
A truck operator will maybe exploit the fact that he knows some are daft enough to work for poor wages if they drive a fancy truck, so why pay them a top wage when there is no need. So Instead he spends the money on kelsas hellas eminox etc etc increasing the value and appeal, not to mention the public image of his fleet.
Then you get those that will do that for him out of their own wage and maybe still work for a crap wage 
âŚHowever I am not even going there as I could not be arsed with all the flak, such as I got last time that I put my comments on it forward 
On the other hand you will get the operator that will provide a top spec motor AND pay a good wage, and having worked for one in the past, I reckon âŚthey are the better ones.
I drive a nice wagon 15 plate Volvo and get paid a very good wage,so the best of both worldsâŚSOME not all employers will justify a poor wage by ensuring the driver that he is indeed a lucky chap to be driving a new/nice wagon and this should be seen as a part payment of wages the other part being a poor actual cash part.
All those paddies that come bombing past me on the A66 with their Scania Topline V8s driven by drivers who look barely old enough to shave and which need 650BHP just to move the amount of bling bolted to them are certainly a good example of getting mugs to work for nowt by giving them a flashy motor.
I did a job where the boss thought âa nice wage and a good truckâ was an 06 reg P series Scania, well past itâs best before date. With a wage propped up by meal allowances that attracted a few letters from HMRC. Thankfully I havenât had any letters since I jacked.
More money and a reliable legal motor for me without rushing about will see me drive something near 15 years old, basic and a bit dirty inside.
Hang on I work there already. 
Conor:
All those paddies that come bombing past me on the A66 with their Scania Topline V8s driven by drivers who look barely old enough to shave and which need 650BHP just to move the amount of bling bolted to them are certainly a good example of getting mugs to work for nowt by giving them a flashy motor.
Yeah cos you know what the Paddyâs pay
Back in the 70s a certain big Company from Barrow had a depot in Felixstowe,offered some of our guys a new Scania Vabis and ÂŁ28 p/w Needless to say it was turned down as they where earning ÂŁ42 pw driving noisey old Guys and Seddons with 220 â â â â â â â and Rolls Eagle no power steering
Itâs all a myth.
Its a tool for a job! I dont care what I drive as long as its legal and the hourly rate meets or beats my demand which has gone up recently. I am currently driving what they jokingly call âthe pride of the fleetâ which is a 59 plate DAF CF. The other guys have 63 plate Volvo FH13s or similar age other marques. I am only doing around 117kms per day but getting a good basic rate so they can have the newer, better spec units 
tango boy:
Conor:
All those paddies that come bombing past me on the A66 with their Scania Topline V8s driven by drivers who look barely old enough to shave and which need 650BHP just to move the amount of bling bolted to them are certainly a good example of getting mugs to work for nowt by giving them a flashy motor.Yeah cos you know what the Paddyâs pay
Trip money? !!
tango boy:
Conor:
All those paddies that come bombing past me on the A66 with their Scania Topline V8s driven by drivers who look barely old enough to shave and which need 650BHP just to move the amount of bling bolted to them are certainly a good example of getting mugs to work for nowt by giving them a flashy motor.Yeah cos you know what the Paddyâs pay
I do because there was a thread in the past fortnight where a couple of our resident Irish drivers said what the Irish hauliers were paying for running from Ireland to France. I believe it was ÂŁ100 a day.
to be honest I have never had a firm say if you take that v8 super mega giga cube there its x rate or if you take the old Iveco in the corner it increases by y amount.
having said that if there were 2 firms paying a similar amount (few p per hour) and the âextrasâ made a difference then I would go for the extras if it made my life more comfortable and easier.
but if it had to take a pay cut or lower wage for spotlights, chrome bars or frilly velvet curtains then sod that not a chance.
I think its about the boss himself in most cases. There is some bling i like to see on trucks so as a boss i would fit them to my fleet as standard, then there are drivers who with the bosses permission bling them up themselves, but i dont believe that a driver should earn less because the boss blings up.
Conor:
tango boy:
Conor:
All those paddies that come bombing past me on the A66 with their Scania Topline V8s driven by drivers who look barely old enough to shave and which need 650BHP just to move the amount of bling bolted to them are certainly a good example of getting mugs to work for nowt by giving them a flashy motor.Yeah cos you know what the Paddyâs pay
I do because there was a thread in the past fortnight where a couple of our resident Irish drivers said what the Irish hauliers were paying for running from Ireland to France. I believe it was ÂŁ100 a day.
LOL if you are going to quote me at least get the figure right thought you were better than that The tedium of trunking must be affecting your memory cells more than you think
What about the unpaid overtime, spent cleaning the motor to show the boss your gratitude for sleeping in a Scania P cab with a dreamcatcher dangling in the cab and an All Ride steering wheel cover that exfoliates your hands everytime you turn the wheel?
Come on that swirly graphic that blocks part of your side window mustâve cost at least a tenner or twenty if bought at Truckfest.
If the boss wants to bling his motor he can pay for it! As long as it clean and legal and fitted with what I need to get the job done Iâm happy. Unnecessary bling means extra work keeping it all clean and working.
Had a bit of a discussion with a bloke on the CB back in the early 90âs, he was talking to his mate about money and stuff , going on about his Daf 95, so I asked the question, if you boss offered you and extra ÂŁ100 per week to drive an older truck would you drive it? Not a chance he said. Just shows you, I could tell you who he drove for, but they get enough stick as it is, and people this was a true conversation, i kid you not.