Hay everyone. was intrestested on hearing from anyone who’s every worked on a septic tank lorry. what’s the pay like ? avrage working hours in a week ? Whatsnthe job like as a hole other then its smelly. A lot of people on here say small famerly firms offen do take on new drivers with on expirance. And afew of these septic tank firms seem to be small / famerly run type firms so woundered if anyone got a start by driving the septic tanks. Any feed back would be great. Thanks
Pack a spare set of clothes and good quality ruuber gloves that go up to the elbows.A boiler suit is an idea too.Some hand steriliser and if you get a cut on the hand there is s risk of infection.The loading places will be a bit tight to turn.Some eye wash if get splashed.Nobody will steal the load if parked overnight and no hassle from the police or Vosa.You will get used to the smell.
its a ■■■■ job 
That’s a real ■■■■ job where every day is taking he p155
I remember dealing with an old boy in Suffolk who emptied the tank at a house I lived in.
His immune system must have been superb after all those years - the worst bit was when he reached into his cab at the end of the process to give me the invoice, grabbed a sandwich out of the cab, and then offered me his hand to shake!!
I used to do it with another guy when I was on for Leeds City Council. The job sounds a lot worse than it actually is. Truth be known I quite enjoyed it but I put a lot of that down to having a good craic with the other guy who I was paired up with. We got to see pretty much every corner of rural Leeds postcodes as most of the customers were out in the sticks.
A few tips :
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never reverse onto customer’s driveways to get better access no matter how tempting it may be. The weight will likely crack the surface and your company will get the bill and you’ll be out of a job.
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always chuck on another 30ft of pipe to whatever distance is stated on the job sheet. In most cases you’ll be glad you did.
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that “firm” ground that you need to drive on to access the tank at the back of the property can quickly turn to unfirm ground once you’ve got 10t of slop on.
i can only talk for myself but i did a 6 month stint driving them.
best advice i can say is stay away from them.
dirty job at it best and you will get covered one day.
the place i worked for could not get paid overtime and would ring me last min. at end of the day to do another job. most places will expect you to be on call out duty at least once or twice a wk.
i would not do it again, as one lad at a house said to me you wont get any lower than this.
make sure u get the company to send you and pay for your injections. only good thing for me about this work is can be a good laugh working with other lads as you could b out with other lads a lot
thanks for the feed back, very much aprisate it. some great sounding advise there. so theres a chance thay might take on new drivers if thay have a people not staying long doing the job then. not to worried by the smell or the dirt. hear it can be quit a good earning if managed right of couse. thanks again
Have you thought about teaching English…■■ 
Truckulent:
Have you thought about teaching English…■■
I know we were thinking it but you didn’t have to say it harsh! .
To the op I would imagine the will be more spare septic tankers to drive than most, if you don’t mind getting dirty and putting a days graft in I’m sure you’ll find a job easily enough.
Have a look here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=94950, some differing perspective advice on the driving side of it too!
My advice was in general working with sewerage, you can take or leave that, it’s upto you. But defintely do the injections, you could regret it one day on the job, if you don’t!
Rob K and Toby1234abc, gave some great advice there. Some will say I’m mad for saying it, but it’s all true.
Best of luck
C
I worked for a septic company for about 4 months in 2001, I mostly drove a truck and trailer delivering new tanks etc, I did the odd day on the tanker, it was a smelly job and not the best pay but the company was run by British people and the workers were the greatest team I worked with in this country.
If the pay went up I would go back … but shower twice a day
Karl86:
Truckulent:
Have you thought about teaching English…■■I know we were thinking it but you didn’t have to say it harsh!
To the op I would imagine the will be more spare septic tankers to drive than most, if you don’t mind getting dirty and putting a days graft in I’m sure you’ll find a job easily enough.
Sorry - I couldn’t resist it. There is bad spelling and grammar and then there’s the OP’s orthography…
I’d have thought that driving around in a tanker that’s gone septic is fairly unpleasant as experiences go!!
I’ll ■■■■ off now!!!
What are the hours like ? Gess there’s a lot of weekend work available. Classed as hazzadouse load too is it ? Means an ADR training ? Do you also have to have bulk liquid training like with petrol or milk tanker driving?
Dieseldave is the ADR man and will advise you soon.Milk can be a danger to fish and river life if it gets in there.If a milk tanker crashes the the team from the Enviromental Agency turn up to check the drains but milk is not Adr.
Sewerage is not Adr.But should be under toxic and infectious substances.I have not seen orange plates on the tankers.
The hours and weekend work will depend on how busy the employer is like any other job. Not a lot of evening/night work on septic - most domestic customers are easier to access during the day - less traffic, less disruption etc to neighbours with noise/smell.
It’s not ADR work, and it’s low hazard - otherwise you’d need ADR training to have a crap!
toby1234abc:
Dieseldave is the ADR man and will advise you soon.Milk can be a danger to fish and river life if it gets in there.If a milk tanker crashes the the team from the Enviromental Agency turn up to check the drains but milk is not Adr.
Sewerage is not Adr.
Correct so far Toby, but who mentioned milk? 
You won’t see orange plates on the tankers because sewerage is not a dangerous substance.
toby1234abc:
But should be under toxic and infectious substances.I have not seen orange plates on the tankers.
So why “should” it be counted in UN Class 6 when people far wiser that you and I have already told us something?? 
ADR training to take Crap lol Like that one 
Great feed back I’m liking this septic tanking idear. Sounds like it might suit me quit well. I’v been looking for a job where no one even wants to go near me so I can be left alone in peace 
This sounds perfect, like riding round on a giant scunk all day. The smell will put everyone off wanting to hassle me.
I did this work on agency for a few days.As has been said ,take particular care of your own hygiene.When getting out of the cab put your gloves on and they NEVER come in the cab.You will be blocking narrow country roads every one telling you that the last man reversed up a small dirt track without any trouble.They wont know that the honey wagons have got bigger and heavier over the years.If you cant get a start elsewhere give it a go,but keep looking.
Yes.Leave as much muck as possible on the tanker as this will deter the wheel tappers.They will smell you coming from twenty miles sway.The anti truck nimbies will leave you alone too.Any nonsense from them just ask them where they live to deposit your nice load.