Does anyone know what these are like to work for? Asking for a friend, found older threads but any current drivers that have any info? Hours and management etc. Average earnings looks decent but does this include nights out? Cheers
Good bits: Decent terms and conditions and money isn’t bad. Paid right through, time and a third after 10 hours. Fiver ish a day meal allowance which is paid with any nights out on a weekly basis. Salary is paid monthly though, not sure why. Day work will pay mid to late thirties a year, over 40k with a few Saturdays. Trampers are well over 40k a year. Sick pay, good pension, lots of holiday.
Bad bits: fairly clicky company, work can be very stressful. Draw bar drivers might go out with 6 or 7 deliveries, all residential addresses. Think cul de sacs, country lanes barely big enough for a car etc. Expected find somewhere to drop trailer, tranship load and deliver goods front end if access is bad. Imagine having to do that when every delivery is in London. Up to your knees in mud at times too. Motors are getting on a bit although they are updating the fleet slightly. Planning is done from head office up north so they have absolutely no local knowledge relevant to your depot.
All in all, turnover of drivers is fairly low. Its not the easiest job nor is it the best paying anymore. Having said that, the full package is definitely one of the best out there.
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talknonsense:
Good bits: Decent terms and conditions and money isn’t bad. Paid right through, time and a third after 10 hours. Fiver ish a day meal allowance which is paid with any nights out on a weekly basis. Salary is paid monthly though, not sure why. Day work will pay mid to late thirties a year, over 40k with a few Saturdays. Trampers are well over 40k a year. Sick pay, good pension, lots of holiday.Bad bits: fairly clicky company, work can be very stressful. Draw bar drivers might go out with 6 or 7 deliveries, all residential addresses. Think cul de sacs, country lanes barely big enough for a car etc. Expected find somewhere to drop trailer, tranship load and deliver goods front end if access is bad. Imagine having to do that when every delivery is in London. Up to your knees in mud at times too. Motors are getting on a bit although they are updating the fleet slightly. Planning is done from head office up north so they have absolutely no local knowledge relevant to your depot.
All in all, turnover of drivers is fairly low. Its not the easiest job nor is it the best paying anymore. Having said that, the full package is definitely one of the best out there.
what sort of hours are you looking at averaging on days with no nights out? He hasn’t done hiiab/crane on hgv but previously worked as overhead crane driver… persume they will provide the training etc. Are management fair enough? Appreciate all the info cheers
Varies depot to depot. Rarely if ever spoke to the tm when I was there. Generally always left to get on with it. Management were quite laid back. If your mate keeps his/ her head down and cracks on they’ll be grand.
Hiab training is all paid for so is a moffett ticket if required. There is more than enough flat work to keep drivers busy while they wait for hiab training.
Average day is 12 - 13 hours. 15’s were rare. Its a job and knock type deal. Sometimes sent out with a days worth of deliveries on your back (drawbars especially) or expected to complete 2 straight loads. Being on the artics is the easiest way of life on there. Drawbars is much more challenging and handy to get a few more hours overtime as you can’t have a trailer pre loaded like the artic lads.
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Marshalls at Halifax are [zb]ers for sending you out with a load to Manchester at 2pm when you’ve been on since 5am. It’s one of those places where you ring in when you’ve completed your job and they’ll look for someone else for you to do. You’ll have no life if you’re wanting a job with relatively fixed hours. Also it’s H&S mad to the point where you can’t even do your job. Unless you get the trailer within 2mm of where you’re dropping your bricks, the crane will lock out on you because it thinks the reach is too far. 
Thanks for all the info, I’ve passed it on, he’s wanting summit with sensible hours maybe a couple of nights out, but not if he has to.