the doors on the fld definetly ■■■■. i was in edmonton a few years ago when it was -30 f and my toes were freezing. i had duct tape on the outside of the door and my quilt was shoved around the inside of the door. i was very happy when i made it out of there that winter. i agree with the wind too. but i’m so use to this truck i barely notice anymore. the thing that really gets me about europe/ uk is it looks like the trucks are better made, easier on the driver, and i like how your hours are documented on a machine. over here we use paper logs and all too often we have to do favors and run the risk of not getting the good runs if we log what we actually do. it could be a while before i get over there though. i’m working on my bachelor’s and won’t be done for 2 years.
Spardo:
Bet you can’t wait till you get over here, caravan, last time I heard a comment like that was back in the 80’s!
Salut, David.
You are absolutely right, David, I can’t wait to get over there. However every move comes with its benefits and its drawbacks. For instance, I can’t say I am a big fan of tacho. I like your hours of service, I think they are more in favour of better working conditions, respect for drivers and general human rights, if you will, but such strict enforcement… what does one do if he is, say, 2 hours away from home and just at that moment he runs out of driving time??
it seems like the folks on this forum are very reluctant to discuss pay scales. i’m also very interested in how the driver pay is broken down over there. i.e. percentage, mileage (k/mage■■?), or if it’s based off of hours logged on the tacho.
I would guess that the reason people are avoiding the pay question is because it varies so wildly dependant on where you are… 
Even the method of payment varies…I’ve worked on mileage, hours part profit-share, flat rate, and various other schemes…although hourly rate is becoming more and more the norm. That can be anywhere from £6 to £10 an hour for permenant work (more is possible on Agency or nights, but both have their downsides…Agency is insecure, nights are…well, nights…!). Night-out money is usually around £18 in the UK, £24 if on the Continent, both tax free.
An average? Well, if I do 5 days and 4 nights out on UK work (permenant job) I’d expect to clear £450 a week after tax. (Personally I’m paid mileage now, with various extras for local jobs, waiting time over a certain time, and profit share, but that’s unusual.) Having been based in the North East (as now) and the South/South West, I’d say that amount was pretty much the norm.
Supermarket work (usually no nights out) pays about £25,000 a year on average, but it’s too boring for me, and again varies wildly from area to area.
The really big money is in the South East…but then your cost of living is also BIG which cancels things out in real terms.
Hope that helps! 
sounds like pretty much the same thing as what it’s like in my area. which is promising. 450 pounds a week after taxes is more than most guys over here make before taxes. so to me that sounds very promising. in my area of the country the pay is a little bit higher than average but even so, 450 pounds a week would be on the very high end. i’m guessing you are in that bracket. you’re answer was very helpful but you brought about another question. what is your typical pay deductions, i.e. taxes. i’m guessing 40-50%. is this an accurate estimate? fyi, where i live it’s about 25-30%
gorgeousload:
what is your typical pay deductions, i.e. taxes. i’m guessing 40-50%. is this an accurate estimate? fyi, where i live it’s about 25-30%
It’s complicated (as you might expect). Income tax is in various bands. In (very) rough terms, you get your first 5000quid a year tax free, then the next 2000 is taxed at 10%, and then the next 29500quid is taxed at 22%. Everything over this is taxed at 40%. So for the example of 25000/year gross you get 5000 tax free, 2000 at 10% and 18000 at 22% which works out to 4160/year tax or about 17% overall of your gross pay.
Then there’s National Insurance which is worked out on a weekly basis. On a 25000/year gross it works out at about 2300/year which is another 9% of your gross salary.
So totalling those two up the tax works out at about 26% based on rough maths and a 25000 gross income. For more accurate numbers see http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk
Paul
that really surprises me. i thought your taxes were extremely high. in the u.s. our taxes are on a sliding scale too. if you make less than $12000 a year than there is no tax. i make about $40000 a year and get taxed about 20% from the federal, 3% from the state, and exactly 4% from my city. and i pay for health care on top of that. so it works out to about 30% deductions. fyi, 25000 british is about 48000 us.
In my opinion it would be a mistake to think that £25000 would have as much buying power here as $48000 in the US. I usually reckon that the price in dollars there equates with the price in pounds here - so most things here are almost double what you would pay. Partly thats because averything has 17.5% VAT added (basically a sales tax). Some things like petrol (gas) are just ridiculous.
And having paid nearly double, you will then be even more shocked by the UK’s appalling standards of service.
i used xe.com to figure out the exchange rate. i tried finding a cost of living index to compare but i can’t seem to find one that does us and europe. i’m sure money goes a bit farther here though. but i’m more interested in the experience of just going off to some far off land to explore all its nooks and cranies. i’ve seen a good chunk of the us and canada and i’d like to move on. if i like the uk, i’ll stay, if not, i’ll come back.
caravan:
[… what does one do if he is, say, 2 hours away from home and just at that moment he runs out of driving time??
Caravan,
If you want to be sure, you park up. They will do you if they catch you and don’t forget the tacho disc is damning evidence to be kept for a long time. It could come back to haunt you months later, you don’t have to be stopped on the road.
But. Frustrating though that is it is a powerful arguement on your side if the boss is trying to get you to do more than you should - or want.
Salut, David.
in addition to my belief that you guys drive higher quality equipment, i think what has gotten me excited about europe more than being just a new realm to explore, is that it sounds like you guys are respected more by your laws. over here, road drivers get about 4-5 hours a sleep a night. most of us don’t really get breaks out side of that sleeping period. we get a handfull of holidays and more often than not are not paid for these days off. a lot of companies consider a moment at home as a day off. meaning if a company says you can have two days at home, than it’s usually home friday night, out on sunday morning. saturday is usually shot because most of us are so tired we sleep a good part of that day away. i’m sure there are companies like this over there. but i’m convinced you guys, on average, work shorter days and have more days off per year than we do. when i hear that your wages seem to be pretty close to what is paid over here, of course i became excited. and one more thing for comparison about money. $48000 a year puts you in the lower middle class bracket over here, especially if you have a family. you’ll probably drive a used car and constantly be on the lookout for deals at the grocery store.
Caravan and gorgeousload what to expect driving for in Europe.
As as been said many different types of pay and pay rates. Mostly it’s the big distribution companies that seem to pay the best or agencies (who would supply many of thier drivers). However you might find the work a bit boring. It will be day or night runs to Supermarkets or trunking between depots.
Tramping on International haulage would be more like what you are doing, but I think generally the pay will be lower, as international work has to compete with hauliers from other countries especially the former eastern blok where pay rates are much lower. I prefer being paid by the hour.
EU truck are far ahead of US stuff in terms of egonomics and technology. Most are on air suspension, with air suspended cabs and seats and loads of sound proofing. Most gearboxes are syncromesh or semi automatics. However on the down side no sleeper pods, just a bunk behind the seats. Also we also have speed limiters on all HGV’s limited to 56mph, and tahcographs recording your speed, distance travelled, and activity, along with a load of laws on how long you can work and how much rest you must have.
Basically the tacho rule are like this:
it’s max or 9 hours driving can use 10 hours twice a week, max of 90 hours driving in a 2 week period, 11 hours rest in a 24 hours period, can reduce to 9 hours and 45 hours break each week, can reduce to 36 if at home or 24 if away from home. All reduced break have to be made up at a later date.
(this is not a definitive explaination of tahco regs, just to give you an idea of hours and breaks required. )
On the whole it’s a good thing as you boss can’t put the pressure on you if your the hours are out that’s it. The down side is you can’t just do that extra couple of hours to get home. If you do mess up the worst thing to do is to try and cover it up, the ministry take a really dim view of it, better to be honest and take what comes. I’ve been told to take more care and allowed to carry on, 
but it’s a big FUBAR or they are having a bad day then it goes to court. 
I don’t what the traffic is like where you are, but I’m sure once you are out of the main cities it many hours of quiet roads. Little chance of that in the UK especially the South East. The entire road network seems to run at or over capacity for most of the day, including Sunday.
Although pay seems similar I think the cost of living is higher, especially things like accomodation, whether bying or renting, but the driving a secondhand car and looking for bargins when shopping will strike a cord with most on this forum. 
Yup, more bloomin immigrants, hoping the grass is greener over here 
.
Only joking, but seriously. The hours are long - up to 16 hour days. Depending on where you settle and what type of job you get, the pay can be poor. Looking for bargains has been a way of life for so long, I’ve forgotten when it started.
Our wagons seem to be much more comfortable to drive and work in, but the accomodation is much poorer.
Seville, Spain is in the EU . From getting off the boat at Calais to arriving in Seville would take about two to three days driving, depending on traffic, road conditions, weather conditions and the power to weight ratio of your truck and load. There are quite a few long hard climbs on the way there (I’ve been to Valencia but not Seville). A 500+ unit will romp away from me at full weight. With speed limiters differing by at least a couple of kph, I could easily loose at least a couple of hours on a trip of that distance. European work is much more relaxed than UK. The natives, as a general rule, are much more appreciative of what we do. A smattering of each language is much appreciated by the locals as well. Even just the standard greeting is more than far to many drivers can manage.
I find UK work is much more stressful. The roads are much more crowded than Europe. Traffic seems to clog up at the slightest excuse. Making delivery bookings difficult to keep because you are released from the loading point at the last minute. Which is because the customer doesn’t order their load till the last minute. Which is because they don’t have warehouse space to hold stock in, so its one load out one load in. etc etc.
i’m also considering emigrating to france, mais il aiderait si j’ai parle le francais.
JayHoe:
it would be nice to be able to avoid certain basic stupid mistakesWe drive on the left side of the road which is the right side!
but driving on the right side is easier, 