Currently i work delivering timber (oak in west sussex)
I get £10 ph and the hours are 42hrs pw with no overtime available, i think this works out at £21850 a year I’m sat on the sofa by 1720.
I also get to travel over most of the south of england so only really have 2-6 drops per day.
I’ve just been offered £26500 for 50hrs (works out at just over £10ph) for doing pallet deliveries but just in the RH postcode region. Apparently when your load is done you get to go home so potentially only 8-9 hours on some days. they also offer up to £100 a month in bonuses.
My current boss is prepared to up my wage to £11 ph (just over £24000 per year)
I really like my current job, if I’m honest its a complete doss and easy money.
Has anyone else done local pallet deliveries?
Do they push you to your limits and take the ■■■■? Is delivering roadside with a tail lift a nightmare? I think the deliveries are mainly to houses and businesses. I’m so tempted by the extra money because i have a young lad to provide for now but I’m torn between the money but also want to spend more time at home knowing when i’ll finish.
Just really looking for any local pallet delivery drivers to help with their experiences or anyone who has been torn between two jobs like this.
Thanks.
Stick with what you’ve got, the grass isn’t always greener and you cant get the time back, on pallet work you will end up waiting to be loaded in the morning, flying about during the day (as well as PITA premises) and then sitting about at 4/5pm waiting for collections.
truckertang:
Stick with what you’ve got, the grass isn’t always greener and you cant get the time back, on pallet work you will end up waiting to be loaded in the morning, flying about during the day (as well as PITA premises) and then sitting about at 4/5pm waiting for collections.
Did any one say stick with it ?
Don’t go in to pallet deliveries class 2 as most planners have an habit of sending you to drops only suitable for large van or 7.5t
Stick with what you have,at least you know what your up against.
Pallet work sounds OK until your at a drop that has no F/L and its hanball off or a drop or two has been loaded out of place on the motor.
As has been said pallet work is a PITA, I did some and was usually left the yard for around 8, usually 7/8 drops, some timed too so not usually in a decent straight round run, then you could be back for a 2nd load or sent for collections that can be up to around 5pm, then back to the yard and queue to unload and debrief. Most days would be around 12hrs.
Pallet work is a potential nightmare as people like me order stuff like woodburning stoves and building material on the internet.
It’s delivered by pallet networks. You can end up struggling with a 1 tonne badly loaded pallet on a wonky tail-lift with no guardrails and the truck on a camber.
I used to live in a place where there was a woodpellet boiler. The fuel was delivered a tonne at a time in 20 kg bags on pallets that were sometimes broken. I hated watching the guy dragging it out onto the taillift. One one occasion the pallet was so bad that we had to stack half of it onto another pallet before it was safe to move.
Pallet delivery work can be a nightmare. A lot of it is home deliveries and when you get there, it’s a young lady who lives on the first floor and expects you to carry it up for her. I did this work for three months once as a ‘punishment’ for wrecking my unit. Yes, I was home by 6 most evenings and lost weight but it was bloody hard work!! Making a delivery to a home of flooring where you can’t get the truck close and it’s an old boy is no fun. Then you get the odd person who looks at you and says ‘Put it round the back, driver’. Those type of people got told it was ‘to the front door’ deliveries only lol. Amazing how many people order flagstones and granite etc and you’re expected to manhandle it.
Your boss obviously values you … stay there!!
I spent the last five years of my working life on local pallet deliveries and it was a doddle. Like most jobs, it can take a while to learn, but once you know where all the regulars are, their open and closed times and where the goods-in is, it gets a lot easier. It helps if you have the right approach and make friends with the guys who unload you - one of the other drivers doing the same job as me, described it as ‘being paid to drive around all day visiting your mates’. Yes, you do get some dodgy pallets and even some handball, but if you have a decent boss, they will share the ■■■ around.
Having said all that, I don’t think I would swap a job I enjoy for an unknown for £2,000 a year (£1,500 after tax?)
I have done pallet deliveries for several companies in both rigids and artics - all via agency though. A lot depended on the particular company; some of it I hated while some of it I really enjoyed. There was an advantage in that most of the time I hadn’t a clue about the round (some of it London or suburbs )and just did what I could. With the exception of two companies - the good ones- I made sure that I could not be contacted during the day. I even considered working for one of the two full time, but my own unrelated work picked up. As has been said you will sometimes struggle with really heavy pallets on a slope, other times you will have a job getting the pallet up the kerb and off the road. The private customer hasn’t an inkling that pump up truck wheels won’t go round on gravel and will give you grief. The regular industrial estate deliveries are usually fine, it is only the collections which normally cause a headache - either not ready or eight pallets instead of the two you were expecting. Whatever happens you will not get your own round to begin with so it will take a long time for you to decide whether you like it IF you don’t immediately hate it. Expect long days.
Unless your current position has terrible conditions or the money is just not livable, then better the devil you know - especially if he’s giving you another tenner a day to stay put!
When all is said and done, your kids will appreciate time at home every night more than they appreciate another foreign holiday a year.
