hi, I’m new on Truck net uk.
I be driving class one’s for the last 14 years, at first doing container work, then a bit of wagon and drag trunking but the work dried up so I took a shunting job.
On paper my shunting job sounds great, £9.17 on days £10.17 on nights, four 12 hours shifts working, then 4 days off.However it only averages out at 40 hours a week as you sometimes only work 12 days a months and the bottom line is twenty grand a year, plus we don’t have a proper shunt motor as we have to use it to do the odd change over and port collection, so it can be horrendous on the hips on some days getting in and out of the Iveco cab about three or four hundred times a day.
I’ve been offered a job, back doing container work, and I’ve also had an interview for a car transporter company who will offer training, though the car transporter is better money I’m not sure I fancy it as it’s a big unknown to me.
Centauri:
hi, I’m new on Truck net uk.
I be driving class one’s for the last 14 years, at first doing container work, then a bit of wagon and drag trunking but the work dried up so I took a shunting job.
On paper my shunting job sounds great, £9.17 on days £10.17 on nights, four 12 hours shifts working, then 4 days off.However it only averages out at 40 hours a week as you sometimes only work 12 days a months and the bottom line is twenty grand a year, plus we don’t have a proper shunt motor as we have to use it to do the odd change over and port collection, so it can be horrendous on the hips on some days getting in and out of the Iveco cab about three or four hundred times a day.
I’ve been offered a job, back doing container work, and I’ve had an interview for a car transporter company who will offer training, though the car transporter is better money I’m not sure I fancy it as it’s a big unknown to me.
What do you guys think, stick or twist?
You got to move on, if you don’t you will never know. You can always go back. Shunting in a road unit for all this time must be hell. You will increase your pay by at least 50%, on the car transporters probably double it.
Horses for courses, if it were me I would go for the transporter job, lots of sitting around on boxes and probably lots of 15 hour days and split rests.
Yeah it seems obvious I should move on. car transporter is were the money is though I do worry about…well all the extra things you have to worry about driving them, like damaging the cars and vans from over hanging tree branches for one
Health 1st at all cost if you can. i did shunting and yard work for 18 months. yes nice to go home a set time every day on 4 day weeks. but it starting to bugger my hip and knee (to the point now where I need some attention to clicking knee - so sorting that out now)
But mega bugger doing it in a road unit.
But since I came off in Feb my health has got better (not breathing in the crap) and mentally I don’t hear voices (the radio) during my sleep
leo.saphira:
Health 1st at all cost if you can. i did shunting and yard work for 18 months. yes nice to go home a set time every day on 4 day weeks. but it starting to bugger my hip and knee (to the point now where I need some attention to clicking knee - so sorting that out now)
But mega bugger doing it in a road unit.
But since I came off in Feb my health has got better (not breathing in the crap) and mentally I don’t hear voices (the radio) during my sleep
completely agree, in one way the shunting gets me fit, but on the other hand it is very hard on the hips and knees, I’ve been doing it for over a year now and the though of doing another ten years, well that’s if my hips last that long… so time to get out now methinks, and yes, I do hear people on that bloody radio calling for my services in my sleep lol
As for the container v car transporter work, I have been offered a job back on the containers where as I’ve only had an interview with the car transporter firm and not heard anything back as of yet, though early days yet.
Don’t forget to weigh up your work-life balance as well, it’s not all about money What hours & days will you be working in these driving jobs? Will you be doing nights away?
If your current job is affording you plenty of time at home with the family and your earning enough, you might want to think about that before you go back onto the road.
i would rather containers just because if your away all week the units tend to be more spacious granted you will earn more on cars but sod going back to a little cab if away 4-5 nights, am too old and spoilt after my eurostar many moons ago ( the one before was a turbo tech great truck but no room ).
rob22888:
Don’t forget to weigh up your work-life balance as well, it’s not all about money What hours & days will you be working in these driving jobs? Will you be doing nights away?
If your current job is affording you plenty of time at home with the family and your earning enough, you might want to think about that before you go back onto the road.
I’m single with no kids at the moment so nights away doesn’t bother me so much. four days off is nice, but as i said there is no money in it at all, I average about £1350 take home a month ( I get paid monthly) sometimes two days overtime comes up, but then I work six 12 hour shifts which is 72 hours, and a killer for just over 1560 a month
I would go for it, maybe try containers first then transporters after.
You should clear 2k + a month easy on containers.
Fitness and diet is worth monitoring though as containers can be a lot of time sitting on arse and after a long drive will find your legs don, t work very well. Keeps the old keyboard fingers in tip top condition though, oh and the wrist also.
some months its 15 days. I work 48 hours a week (4 days) but because those days sometimes cut into a new working week, at the end of the month the wage averages at 40 hours pw, and you really need those days off to recover!
12 days a month ain’t bad as long as you earn enough to be able to have some fun in the other 18/19 days you’ve got nothing on.
As its shunting in a unit I’d ditch it anyway but if it wasn’t then I think I’d sign up with an agency and get some extra shifts in on your days off. You’d probably end up earning more per hour and it gives you a way out should you decide you’ve had enough shunting.
I’ve done 4 on, 4 off as a shunter and it was great however I was using a tug, not a unit, and I was also on £27k so had enough money to play with on the days off.
Conor:
12 days a month ain’t bad as long as you earn enough to be able to have some fun in the other 18/19 days you’ve got nothing on.
As its shunting in a unit I’d ditch it anyway but if it wasn’t then I think I’d sign up with an agency and get some extra shifts in on your days off. You’d probably end up earning more per hour and it gives you a way out should you decide you’ve had enough shunting.
I’ve done 4 on, 4 off as a shunter and it was great however I was using a tug, not a unit, and I was also on £27k so had enough money to play with on the days off.
If i was on 27k a year and a proper tug then I wouldn’t be leaving, as it is, sadly I don’t get either of those things!
What hours & days will you be working in these driving jobs? Will you be doing nights away?
it’s hardly lightweight work but I do indeed intend to stop it now 