Re young ones not wanting to get in to driving, two words career progression. Yes a 25 year old can get a license and earn 40k or what ever, but that’s it. You’ve hit the ceiling pretty much after a few years experience and a couple of job changes, look at how many places have a 60 year old driver and a 30 year old one earning the same money.
Yes a degree might cost more and you don’t instantly walk in to a high paying job, but for the right people there is constant upwards progression.
In our industry you’ve got the option of what? Do a TM Cpc, get a job in the office and take a pay cut, or stay driving earning no more than the new lad…
■■■■■■■ good job I like driving lorry’s for some reason ain’t it.
Conor:
It might be a pittance down south but in other parts of the country it’s a different story.
£14/hr, the lowest rate my agency pays in Hull and the rate that’s starting to become the new floor in the area, puts you above the pay rate of most of the jobs in the city and that includes managerial and professional positions. It puts you above the pay rate of most of the jobs in my town. The wage you get for an average full week in lorry driving puts you above what many professionals are earning. It’ll put you above what junior doctors, teachers, solicitors are getting paid in my area. What I’m on for a 53.5hr week will put you above not only the shelf stackers at Aldi but the store manager.
And all for a job where you need no experience, no academic qualifications, not even the ability to read and write. Just think about that and let that sink in. You can leave school barely able to scrawl your own name on a piece of paper and you can earn more money than people who have had to leave school with good A level grades, go to university and do a 2 or 3 year degree, do additional professional qualifications after that and be a member of a professional body. What else offers that?
And whilst £3k might seem expensive to get a licence it’s the bargain of the century for entry to a job that pays what lorry driving pays. It pales into insignificance to the £18,000 to £27,000 you pay for university to get a law degree, the £17,000 you then have to spend to get a LPC, the £3000 you then have to spend to sit the Solicitors Qualifying exam (that is payable every time you sit it) and the ongoing annual Law Society membership fees all to earn less than a lorry driver who does nothing more complicated than dragging flat pack kitchens and chipboard around the country in a curtainsider.
If anyone in this country currently has a right to complain about how much they paid for training to earn the salary they do it is not lorry drivers by a long shot.
My 1/2 brother went to university paid for by parents , his yearly bonus now would bel way over a lorry drivers yearly wage , he lives in a 1,000,000 + house in London , has a holiday home that’s worth god knows how much ,daughter goes to private school etc etc ere
I’m not sure how you’re comparing becoming a lorry driver / the life you’d be able to afford to what can be achieved bysomeone going to university , it’s on a different planet to what we live on .
I don’t care about 14-15 quid attracting young truckers, however, if they pay me 14-15 then they’ll get an “old Scottish trucker”, with an up to date DCPC back, who also has 27 year of how to load / strap and stay legal, this is the point they all seem to be missing. you can’t put a price on experience? or can you?
LisasGuy:
Our lot have very recently increased the pay and this week taken on a lad in his twenties, it’s a 45 hour week home every night. Overtime at x1.5 with plenty of it if you want it. His basic salary is £44,178 I’d love to see a job that pays that with a few weeks worth of training and a couple of £k
Not all driving jobs pay a pittance.
One of my boys is 23, he spent four years at University getting an honours degree in history and he’s on £18,000 a year. I spent nine days getting my class one and my basic is £32,000.
fridger:
Re young ones not wanting to get in to driving, two words career progression. Yes a 25 year old can get a license and earn 40k or what ever, but that’s it. You’ve hit the ceiling pretty much after a few years experience and a couple of job changes, look at how many places have a 60 year old driver and a 30 year old one earning the same money.
Yes a degree might cost more and you don’t instantly walk in to a high paying job, but for the right people there is constant upwards progression.
In our industry you’ve got the option of what? Do a TM Cpc, get a job in the office and take a pay cut, or stay driving earning no more than the new lad…
■■■■■■■ good job I like driving lorry’s for some reason ain’t it.[/quote
Plenty of drivers at our place have progressed into some very good jobs within the company, regional compliance managers, senior buyers, wet site managers, even our national training manager started as a driver.
To be fair to our company you can actually progress from being a driver and the company will back you, it’s not all “logistic roles” we have a media department IT, gas technicians, Maintenance engineers, we are even building an LPG storage terminal in Avonmouth that has various job roles that don’t involve going near a truck.
Choose a company that isn’t just logistics and there will be roles to move into.
Conor:
It might be a pittance down south but in other parts of the country it’s a different story.
£14/hr, the lowest rate my agency pays in Hull and the rate that’s starting to become the new floor in the area, puts you above the pay rate of most of the jobs in the city and that includes managerial and professional positions. It puts you above the pay rate of most of the jobs in my town. The wage you get for an average full week in lorry driving puts you above what many professionals are earning. It’ll put you above what junior doctors, teachers, solicitors are getting paid in my area. What I’m on for a 53.5hr week will put you above not only the shelf stackers at Aldi but the store manager.
And all for a job where you need no experience, no academic qualifications, not even the ability to read and write. Just think about that and let that sink in. You can leave school barely able to scrawl your own name on a piece of paper and you can earn more money than people who have had to leave school with good A level grades, go to university and do a 2 or 3 year degree, do additional professional qualifications after that and be a member of a professional body. What else offers that?
And whilst £3k might seem expensive to get a licence it’s the bargain of the century for entry to a job that pays what lorry driving pays. It pales into insignificance to the £18,000 to £27,000 you pay for university to get a law degree, the £17,000 you then have to spend to get a LPC, the £3000 you then have to spend to sit the Solicitors Qualifying exam (that is payable every time you sit it) and the ongoing annual Law Society membership fees all to earn less than a lorry driver who does nothing more complicated than dragging flat pack kitchens and chipboard around the country in a curtainsider.
If anyone in this country currently has a right to complain about how much they paid for training to earn the salary they do it is not lorry drivers by a long shot.
My 1/2 brother went to university paid for by parents , his yearly bonus now would bel way over a lorry drivers yearly wage , he lives in a 1,000,000 + house in London , has a holiday home that’s worth god knows how much ,daughter goes to private school etc etc ere
I’m not sure how you’re comparing becoming a lorry driver / the life you’d be able to afford to what can be achieved bysomeone going to university , it’s on a different planet to what we live on .
Kudos to your step brother, but I absolutely guarantee that for every one graduate who made a massive career success there are forty others who despite degrees coming out of their arses are still saying “would you like to go large for 50 pence?” for a living.
dozy:
My 1/2 brother went to university paid for by parents , his yearly bonus now would bel way over a lorry drivers yearly wage , he lives in a 1,000,000 + house in London , has a holiday home that’s worth god knows how much ,daughter goes to private school etc etc ere
Congratulations you’ve found an exception that proves the rule. For every one like your brother there are 10,000s who aren’t and for those who are it’s pretty much effectively one thing, Comp Sci or Software Developer. Outside of that very few who do degrees are going to be getting the kind of money he is.
I’m not sure how you’re comparing becoming a lorry driver / the life you’d be able to afford to what can be achieved bysomeone going to university , it’s on a different planet to what we live on .
Almost every teacher has a degree. For quite a while now even to be a nurse you have to have a degree. Junior doctors have degrees and for all of those jobs their salaries are available for all to see online and they’re less than lorry drivers are now earning.
I can compare being a lorry driver to what is achieved by someone going to university because I went to university and did a BEng degree, one of my brothers did his law degree and has been a teacher for 10 years and my other brother did a business degree and is a manager of his department in the local authority along with his wife my sister in law, who also has a degree and is the manager of her department in the local authority. My uncle and aunt both had degrees and were teachers, my aunt was head of year. 2017 i decided to bin driving to go work for a software company. Quite a few people in that company had degrees. With the exception of the co-founders of the software company I earn more than all of them ever did driving lorries if I do a 5 day week.
dozy:
My 1/2 brother went to university paid for by parents , his yearly bonus now would bel way over a lorry drivers yearly wage , he lives in a 1,000,000 + house in London , has a holiday home that’s worth god knows how much ,daughter goes to private school etc etc ere
Congratulations you’ve found an exception that proves the rule. For every one like your brother there are 10,000s who aren’t and for those who are it’s pretty much effectively one thing, Comp Sci or Software Developer. Outside of that very few who do degrees are going to be getting the kind of money he is.
I’m not sure how you’re comparing becoming a lorry driver / the life you’d be able to afford to what can be achieved bysomeone going to university , it’s on a different planet to what we live on .
Almost every teacher has a degree. For quite a while now even to be a nurse you have to have a degree. Junior doctors have degrees and for all of those jobs their salaries are available for all to see online and they’re less than lorry drivers are now earning.
I can compare being a lorry driver to what is achieved by someone going to university because I went to university and did a BEng degree, one of my brothers did his law degree and has been a teacher for 10 years and my other brother did a business degree and is a manager of his department in the local authority along with his wife my sister in law, who also has a degree and is the manager of her department in the local authority. My uncle and aunt both had degrees and were teachers, my aunt was head of year. 2017 i decided to bin driving to go work for a software company. Quite a few people in that company had degrees. With the exception of the co-founders of the software company I earn more than all of them ever did driving lorries if I do a 5 day week.
Not all degrees are equal.
My boy got his in Computer Science and IT.
His very first job he was headhunted and at the age of 21 was on 26k for a 38 hour week.
He is now 26 and his salary is 34k for 38 hour week.
If mugs are stupid enough to ■■■■■ their money on worthless degrees such as media studies etc etc then more fool them. There are plenty of degrees that will steer you into a well paying job and a proper career with progression.
I retired 10 years ago,my P60 for year ending April 2011 was £29,800 for an average of 45 hrs p.w so the money has not gone up much if at all in some places.
The Company I worked for had young Drivers trained from out the warehouse,it made no difference to their age 21 or not they got the same rate irrespective of being a “newbie” if they found that driving was not for them they either left or went back in the warehouse
Providing Tesco have not contracted out £45k is pretty good,
lolipop:
I retired 10 years ago,my P60 for year ending April 2011 was £29,800 for an average of 45 hrs p.w so the money has not gone up much if at all in some places.
The Company I worked for had young Drivers trained from out the warehouse,it made no difference to their age 21 or not they got the same rate irrespective of being a “newbie” if they found that driving was not for them they either left or went back in the warehouse
Providing Tesco have not contracted out £45k is pretty good,
Not contracted our at Dav Frozen. Well not yet anyway
It’s hard to qualify a salary as its so dependent on your premiums but at my premium my absolute base salary with no overtime whatsoever is £38.9k for 42.5hrs. Last week I ended up doing six hours overtime over the course of the week just through doing the job so I can’t see that changing much. But just that alone is an extra 6k per year. Bang a few rest days in too if desired and it could be quite a bit over 50k.
See I make it sound amazing but others like adam277 work in a different depot and hates it. But then I don’t do stores and all I do is haul deckers from my place to various Tesco DCs and return back.
