Currently working for an agency on a very easy job doing between 6 and 12 hours per day which is fine for me the company have now offered me full time with them on £23000 for 48 hour week with overtime if you go over. I have also been offered another job away from driving but only lasting until at least the end of feb next year 35 hour week £23500.
Which one do I go for I would like to get away from driving but don’t know if I should give up a easy job for a 8 month contract but in 8 months I would have experience in something else. What do others think got until midday Wednesday to decide.
You can go back into driving anytime, good drivers will always be in demand, if you want out of driving the choice is obvious.
As a bonus with such a short working week you can easily do the odd driving shift to keep your hand in and to put some money in the bank in case this coming winters downturn lasts till early spring as it sometimes does…which may or may not happen depending on how many who gobbed off about not doing the hated DCPC carry through on the threat and leave driving completely.
Course if you get on well on the temp contract that may be extended to long term/perm.
Icing on the cake is that you won’t personally be aiding and abetting a parasite agency to make money from working people.
The full time @ £23k for 48 hours is not good enough IMO, at least £7k under for Mon to Fri normal hour days.
Take the job that runs out in Feb, as stated you can always driving part time or get back into later, my old man had a job which only had a year to run 8 yrs he managed in the end so you never know what’ll happen.
I’ve ditched an agency to go take a permanent job/go self employed more than once. When that ended I just phoned up the agency again. One point it had been over 2 years since I’d worked for an agency I went back to.
The economy is on the up and so will the demand for drivers. Now is the perfect time to drop out for a while if you want to see if the grass is any greener.
What is the definition of a ‘good driver’, does anybody know?
One thing I do know is that a employer does not have the same opinion as some GOOD drivers …had one working for me who could never reach his no accident bonus paid yearly ever …
cliffystephens:
One thing I do know is that a employer does not have the same opinion as some GOOD drivers …had one working for me who could never reach his no accident bonus paid yearly ever …
Right…so what is the definition of a good driver…?
Juddian:
You can go back into driving anytime, good drivers will always be in demand, if you want out of driving the choice is obvious.
As a bonus with such a short working week you can easily do the odd driving shift to keep your hand in and to put some money in the bank in case this coming winters downturn lasts till early spring as it sometimes does…which may or may not happen depending on how many who gobbed off about not doing the hated DCPC carry through on the threat and leave driving completely.
Course if you get on well on the temp contract that may be extended to long term/perm.
Icing on the cake is that you won’t personally be aiding and abetting a parasite agency to make money from working people.
The full time @ £23k for 48 hours is not good enough IMO, at least £7k under for Mon to Fri normal hour days.
Really??
If paid for breaks, that works out to around £9.20 per hour (23000/52/48), if deducted breaks it works out to roughly a tenner per hour (23000/52/44.25).
Personally, if you want a break from driving take the other, if it’s all about the money, still take the other… If the other ■■■■■ arse, you can always return driving but that perm job will probably have been taken so god knows where you’ll end up…
How is that not good enough, seriously depends where you’re from and what this ‘easy’ job is, but I start a new job on hazardous tankers next week that isn’t paying that much.
Do you think £9.20 let alone £10 an hour is too much to expect for a class 1 driver, at least 8 hours of the 48 hours will be at overtime rate, anytime before 6am should be at overtime rate even if basic hours, as should Saturday up to midday.
This should all be factored into the salary calculations.
Hazardous class 1 tanker, any tanker, should be paying no less than £10 an hour basic days anywhere in this country.
Without knowing your personal circumstances and commitments it’s hard to comment. Also hard to comment on as we don’t know about the other job. Are HGV jobs scarce in your area? If so them makes the descision a little tougher. If this new job could lead to something else within that field by the experience you would gain doing it then maybe worth a shufty? Is this other job something that you’ve always fancied doing that rarely comes along? HGV work will always be there even if not locally, by its nature and you are experienced in doing it. Stepping off the driving merry-go-round for a year won’t be an issue but if this new job is a break into something you’ve always fancied then those opportunities may not always come along.
Do you think £9.20 let alone £10 an hour is too much to expect for a class 1 driver, at least 8 hours of the 48 hours will be at overtime rate, anytime before 6am should be at overtime rate even if basic hours, as should Saturday up to midday.
This should all be factored into the salary calculations.
Hazardous class 1 tanker, any tanker, should be paying no less than £10 an hour basic days anywhere in this country.
This is precisely why drivers need unions.
I’m not saying that’s what I think or agree with, but in reality that’s the way it is.
The tanker job I start next week is barely over 8 quid an hour, there’s a tanker firm near my house that pays just over 7 quid an hour, and I’m in the Manchester area, so not exactly a low paid area compared to some.
Freight Dog:
Without knowing your personal circumstances and commitments it’s hard to comment. Also hard to comment on as we don’t know about the other job. Are HGV jobs scarce in your area? If so them makes the descision a little tougher. If this new job could lead to something else within that field by the experience you would gain doing it then maybe worth a shufty? Is this other job something that you’ve always fancied doing that rarely comes along? HGV work will always be there even if not locally, by its nature and you are experienced in doing it. Stepping off the driving merry-go-round for a year won’t be an issue but if this new job is a break into something you’ve always fancied then those opportunities may not always come along.
Update not had to decide today as the person dealing with it is of work sick. The job is a signalman on the railway so totally different to driving but they are closing signal boxes so the job will last until it shuts might be 1 year could be 5. The pay quoted is the basic but you also get shift premiums on top plus overtime. I’m 55 years old with no mortgage so can wait for another good job if it finishes.
