Was out with a mate yesterday, he’s now back at work so the topic of conversation was about money etc. He asked me how much I earn vs how many hours I do. He’s a plumber so it doesn’t compare but he’s stubborn like that. When I told him I earnt in the past week £414 after tax for 48 hours he nearly fell off his chair. He then called me an idiot for working for that low of a wage but from my position its better than what others pay around my way vs what the job is like.
Now for the record, its class 2, multidrop but not any of those Palletline stuff. I average about 2 nights a week, sometimes more but the work isn’t exactly brain taxing. I don’t have 20+ drops, I normally get 4-5. I regularly do 7-8 hours of driving a day so the majority of my day is spent on my can, staring out of the window. I did speak to another driver from another company that deals with Palletline or Palletways and while he earns more a week than I do, he’s doing plus 60 hours+ running around like a blue-arsed fly, 3-4 nights out and a Saturday run to make it all up.
I should also add that I lose an extra £20 odd a week due to paying off my student loan and paying into a pension scheme, I pay about £100 a week in NI and tax. I am also on bonus’s so the money I get each week fluctuates from £414 to plus £500 if I’m been away all week and done a Sunday run.
Now back to my original question, is it right to accept low pay when the job is a complete doddle in comparison to whats available?
No point in earning twice as much if you need to do three times as much work and/or more zb work v decent to earn it.On that note a lower hourly rate can obviously actually mean more in real terms.As for student loans why did you need a student loan to be a driver and is that wage threshold high enough for you to need to pay it back ?.
horses for courses mate. I’m young (23 ) so left driving to work on the production line at JLR for the £££ and I sweat my knackers off day in day out but I’m paid accordingly very well and only work 37 hours p/w. I get 2 15 min breaks and almost no downtime, this means no toilet breaks too unless absolutely desperate outside of an allocated break. the old boys call the line the iron horse because it never stops
aslong as your happy with your lot and it suits your wants and needs who cares what others think
Mate if you’re happy then don’t worry about it. Seriously its no ones business but yours. I’ve often had mates question what I earn down the pub etc, telling me they get so much more money, for less hours. But I just don’t care, because I do everything straight, and more often than not, those in the trades like your mate don’t. That’s not to say they are wrong, far from it, but the tax man won’t ever be after me.
No one else does your exact job, and has your exact outgoings, and your exact quality of life, or even your exact expectations of life.
Besides if you get that Class one you’re hoping for, your ■■■■ will grow 2 inches, and your wage earning prospects only increase.
One mans meat etc, what you like or enjoy i might detest and vice versa, all our requirements from the job differ as will our life work balances.
If you’re happy and you can pay your bills and you can see yourself doing this for the forseeable future then the job is right for you and thats all that matters.
I’ve chased the money previously by specialising in car transporters but is was seriously hard work and my joints could tell you how hard it was if they could speak, luckily i was able to drop on much easier and shorter houred tank work that pays very well, so i’ve been lucky (luck plays a big part in the life of a lorry driver in so many ways)…i wouldn’t recommend anyone to do the hours and graft i have in my time, but needs must, sometimes you get dealt a set of cards that mean you have to do what you have to do.
So long as you’re happy Radar carry on mate.
■■■■, my willy never grew 2 inches when i got me class one, wrong queue when they were dished out too…
If your happy that’s the key, to be honest that’s a good screw for class 2 and those hours.
Consider many class 1 trappers do not get much more than £550 a week.
Different for everyone. Work and life needs a good balance. I’m not particularly in a job i enjoy BUT it is pretty easy but would like to earn a bit more. Although I Drive a van for a better hourly rate than most Class 2 jobs, maybe some Class 1. 33 days a year holiday + bank holidays, home every night and some days if im on early shift im home for 1430!
Downside is low-ish contracted hours and no overtime going.
It is a bit like the old oranges vs apples debate, but in answer to your final question - unless you’re chasing the money, it’s generally better to have a bit less money vs a lot less stress (whether that’s physical or mental). Apparently it’s called “having a life”, although can’t remember what that feels like.
To give examples, when I switched from a previous job in IT I also lost about £10,000 a year in top line or 1/3 of my salary (although it’s gone up a bit since then). However I switched because the new job was less mentally demanding and the old grey cells were struggling to keep up and am glad I did before the old job blew a fuse.
A few years later, I’m trying to switch from my current job (asbestos removals) and expect another albeit much lesser pay cut to class 2 driving again on health grounds due to massive amounts of very heavy manual handling in horrible conditions (almost as bad at the average RDC ). Yeah I’d like a pay rise and a class 2 job, but sometimes your health comes first…can’t drive a truck if you’re dead, usually.
Carryfast:
No point in earning twice as much if you need to do three times as much work and/or more zb work v decent to earn it.On that note a lower hourly rate can obviously actually mean more in real terms.As for student loans why did you need a student loan to be a driver and is that wage threshold high enough for you to need to pay it back ?.
I went to uni because I wanted a job in TV. Came out and found that its not what you know, its who you know. Didn’t make it so ended up on the dole for a while, then got a job in a cafe for a year then my online gaming friend who’s on containers straight up said go get your lorry licence. Did that, found that it was a job I enjoyed so I stuck with it. I believe my loans were £3,330 a year odd so I think I needed to be earning more than £15K a year before I start paying it back.
Carryfast:
No point in earning twice as much if you need to do three times as much work and/or more zb work v decent to earn it.On that note a lower hourly rate can obviously actually mean more in real terms.As for student loans why did you need a student loan to be a driver and is that wage threshold high enough for you to need to pay it back ?.
I went to uni because I wanted a job in TV. Came out and found that its not what you know, its who you know. Didn’t make it so ended up on the dole for a while, then got a job in a cafe for a year then my online gaming friend who’s on containers straight up said go get your lorry licence. Did that, found that it was a job I enjoyed so I stuck with it. I believe my loans were £3,330 a year odd so I think I needed to be earning more than £15K a year before I start paying it back.
That’s valid for everywhere Radar
Its a balance, what you want to do, let me tell you its never one or the other. I’ve done both ways in US, a lot of money that came from a lot of work, who cares about the money when I had no time to spend them. Working tramping, 4-6 weeks on the road, 2 days at home. Then switched to 3 on 4 or 4 on 4 depending on the schedule…man that was great, had decent money, parties, sport activities and gun games etc.
So are you happy with you salary, do you want more money or more free time, that’s what you have to answer yourself.
Radar19:
I should also add that I lose an extra £20 odd a week due to paying off my student loan
Same here ha
Im happy as im not on the mega bucks and im not on the crap stuff. I just get probably average pay but the job/location/hours/boss etc suit me perfect so i would need loads extra £££ to move.
I look at other job adverts but the top payers are too far away, want you out all week starting Sunday, max hours, working weekends etc and i don’t want any weekend work really as i want to party/drink with my mates.
I was made redundant after 30 years with the same company and I am now earning half the money I was but I am twice as happy doing it however I am now more settled financially and if I was struggling to pay the bills I might feel differently.
I could earn more money, but I like only working Mon-Fri with 6/7am starts, being home every night and only doing 1 or 2 hits a day with plenty of time on the bunk. I’m earning enough to pay the bills, save and go on holiday every year, so I couldn’t care less what anybody else thinks about my pay to be honest.
I value my completely stress-free doddle of a lifestyle & often consider myself quite lucky to earn the salary I do whilst I see mates living and breathing stressful ‘proper’ jobs.
Like everyone else had said this job can be easy very easy. It also depends how much stress is in another job.
My uncle (who I didn’t know very well) died from stress, he commited suicide and my father always said stress will kill you oneday. My uncle had his own building business for many years but was under immense stress so I heard.
It really gets you thinking, stress on lesser terms can make you go bald too. Think about it money or stress ? What jobs don’t have stress ?
Stress:- avoid it. I guess I’m more biased than most cos I taught Secondary for long enough to develop a memory problem and decided to give it up. The doctor I saw said it was a brave! decision to take as too many struggle on and have major breakdowns. After a spell with a local psychological service I did some supply work, then went self-employed as a handyman, but decided on driving as I’ve always enjoyed it. Now I do days, no weekends apart from two halfday Saturdays a year (stock-take), 3 - 10 drops a day (Moffett), Cat C and like my Class 2 job, although I’ve only done a year.
And I get paid!
and is that wage threshold high enough for you to need to pay it back ?.
) so left driving to work on the production line at JLR for the £££ and I sweat my knackers off day in day out but I’m paid accordingly very well and only work 37 hours p/w. I get 2 15 min breaks and almost no downtime, this means no toilet breaks too unless absolutely desperate outside of an allocated break. the old boys call the line the iron horse because it never stops 
). Yeah I’d like a pay rise and a class 2 job, but sometimes your health comes first…can’t drive a truck if you’re dead, usually.
