mac12:
I know night out money ends up in your bank but it should not be called wages
only if you want to pay tax on it
I stay away alot with my job in the rail sector,and our company are one of the best for sorting this out, but its still crap really.
They pay for the hotel for us, and we get £15/day for meals (very rarely is breakfast included in the hotel booking). If we stay away for 3 or more nights in a week, they will pay us £80 for stopping away, but this is not tax free like night out money. If your a part time employee (zero hours contract) you pay for your food up front and claim it back on expenses up to the max of £15, if your full time you have a company credit card to book the food on, but they will deduct anything over £15 from your wages. No alcohol is allowed to be claimed for at all.
The vast majority of our industry leave it upto you to sort your own digs and food out and won’t pay expenses or hotels at all.
mac12:
switchlogic:
Leaving out the accomodation issue, if you don’t like sleeping ‘tin boxes’ then don’t, there’s no shortage of day jobs, you’re left with £25 for food. And trust me, my office working friends get a lot less than that for their evening meal when staying away. I’ve no idea what drivers think the world outside driving is like but for many it involves staying in the cheapest hotels possible and eating second rate food to keep within a budget. This ‘us poor lorry drivers, we’re so hard done by’ is getting tired. It may be news to you but for lots of people it’s hardly a bed of roses, not just driversNo one is forced to live in a truck. There are plenty of jobs out there that don’t require nights out. The real issue is the fact that companies subsidise poor pay with night out money
Do companies subsidise poor pay with night out money or is night out money paid at the rate of £2 per hour to get you to give up your home life to look after there truck. I know night out money ends up in your bank but it should not be called wages
Oh, we’re onto ‘looking after their truck’ already. As pointed out, don’t like it, don’t do nights out, simple
claretmatt:
holliefabbabe:
charge for a shower ?What I’m saying is, if we’re expected to live in our lorry all week, our employers ought to be obliged to provide basic things like access to washing facilities and reasonably priced food. We’re treated worse than animals, why do we put up with it?
Cause drivers are ■■■■■■■ and all they do is ■■■■■ and moan they have no balls to stand up for themselves
Simple dont tramp if its so bad
im allowed to park at moto or roadchef, the snap account just gives me more choice of where i can stop… i dont get meal vouchers at the services so why should i at a snap lorry stop? the snap system just makes less paper work for the lorry companies rather than loads of recipts to sort from drivers every week.
my firm have nearly every services on account and the only 2 that i know to charge for a shower is lymm and south mimms however if you walk down to the main building at south mimms there is a shower in the toilets left open 
I think a lot of drivers on here must have pretty ■■■■ poor home lives, judging by the love for being stuck in a truck for £25 a night.
It’s true, you don’t have to do it. If drivers weren’t so willing to spend umpteen hours a night in a truck for such little money, firms would have to offer a better deal, or not employ trampers.
I am aware of several companies that pay for their staff to stay away from home. Not always four star, certainly. But in each case not one of them is expected to:
a) Guard a truck/load all night
b) Park in some ■■■■■ layby for the night or grim service area/truckstop.
c) Either use a bottle/ stand behind the trailer or leg it across a car park in the middle of the night because you need to go!
d) Cook for themselves
Twenty five quid for a night out is an utter joke. It’s tax free so you are happy. The boss is even happier, 'cos he’s got a bloke looking after his truck and perhaps a load as well, ready to roll again ASAP for a couple of quid an hour.
As nearly there says, ‘don’t tramp if it’s so bad’.
It is. So sounds bloody good to me. 
Truckulent:
I think a lot of drivers on here must have pretty ■■■■ poor home lives, judging by the love for being stuck in a truck for £25 a night.It’s true, you don’t have to do it. If drivers weren’t so willing to spend umpteen hours a night in a truck for such little money, firms would have to offer a better deal, or not employ trampers.
I am aware of several companies that pay for their staff to stay away from home. Not always four star, certainly. But in each case not one of them is expected to:
a) Guard a truck/load all night
b) Park in some ■■■■■ layby for the night or grim service area/truckstop.
c) Either use a bottle/ stand behind the trailer or leg it across a car park in the middle of the night because you need to go!
d) Cook for themselvesTwenty five quid for a night out is an utter joke. It’s tax free so you are happy. The boss is even happier, 'cos he’s got a bloke looking after his truck and perhaps a load as well, ready to roll again ASAP for a couple of quid an hour.
As nearly there says, ‘don’t tramp if it’s so bad’.
It is. So sounds bloody good to me.
Let me reveal something to you that may shock and surprise you…some people enjoy tramping. Just because you don’t doesn’t mean it’s crap, it just means you don’t like it. Stop being so judgemental about everything that you don’t like. You might find you lead a happier life as a result. Live your own life and stop getting so concerned about how others live theirs
I have tramped on and off for 20 years and still look forward to each week, this is not a job its a way of life!!! you’re either cut out for it or not. if its that much of a problem for you I thing a change of career is in order
Truckulent:
a) Guard a truck/load all night if anyone wants my load they can have it, if they want my fuel they can have it will just ring the old bill and sit on the horn till they arrive with the doors locked, told by the boss never put yourself in harms way
b) Park in some ■■■■■ layby for the night or grim service area/truckstop. never park in the services unless last resort, only a layby off the road will do thank you
c) Either use a bottle/ stand behind the trailer or leg it across a car park in the middle of the night because you need to go! always plan ahead use the services before parking up, if a pee is required after parking always try and find a drain or somewhere away from where people are going to walk every day, never use a bottle can’t find one with a big enough top
d) Cook for themselves love cooking and enjoy the challenge of making something fresh and different every night, at least I know whats gone into it unlike some of the muck you can get served!!!
claretmatt:
I realise some of you will say just cook in the cab, buy yourself a fridge and stop moaning, but this situation is getting out of hand. If I’m on a 9 hour stop following a 15 hour turn, the last thing I want to be doing is breaking out a gas stove and cooking a meal, then tidying it up after. There is a basic human welfare need here that is simply not being met by our employers.
Of course your welfare need is being met by your employer. You get night out money don’t you? That is why you’re paid night out money so you can PAY for a shower and PAY for a meal in a restaurant.
You’re just whinging because you’re a greedy git who wants to get night out money but put it in your pocket instead of using it for what it is intended.
Truckulent:
But in each case not one of them is expected to:a) Guard a truck/load all night
You’re not expected to. Its a daily rest and you are free to dispose of your time as you wish.
b) Park in some ■■■■■ layby for the night or grim service area/truckstop.
You’ve chosen to do that.
c) Either use a bottle/ stand behind the trailer or leg it across a car park in the middle of the night because you need to go!
You’ve chosen to do that because you’re a lazy git.
d) Cook for themselves
You’ve chosen to do that. You get money to buy a meal and anyway how is that any different than cooking your own dinner at home?
switchlogic:
Leaving out the accomodation issue, if you don’t like sleeping ‘tin boxes’ then don’t, there’s no shortage of day jobs, you’re left with £25 for food. And trust me, my office working friends get a lot less than that for their evening meal when staying away. I’ve no idea what drivers think the world outside driving is like but for many it involves staying in the cheapest hotels possible and eating second rate food to keep within a budget. This ‘us poor lorry drivers, we’re so hard done by’ is getting tired. It may be news to you but for lots of people it’s hardly a bed of roses, not just drivers
Quite, and I’d rather sleep in a tin box in a bed only I sleep in rather than in a poxy scummy Travel lodge, at least I know the linen has been changed and the bed bugs are all mine 
Conor:
Truckulent:
But in each case not one of them is expected to:a) Guard a truck/load all night
You’re not expected to. Its a daily rest and you are free to dispose of your time as you wish.
So you’d leave the truck all night then? And do what exactly? Do you regularly leave your truck all night then? And, if so, does your boss know?
b) Park in some ■■■■■ layby for the night or grim service area/truckstop.
You’ve chosen to do that.
Nope. No choice. If not the above, where else is there to park? How many threads have we seen complaining about the fact there is nowhere decent?
c) Either use a bottle/ stand behind the trailer or leg it across a car park in the middle of the night because you need to go!
You’ve chosen to do that because you’re a lazy git.
Lazy? For needing a dump in the night?
d) Cook for themselves
You’ve chosen to do that. You get money to buy a meal and anyway how is that any different than cooking your own dinner at home?
You’re missing the point. The point was that other staff staying away from home aren’t expected to cook so why should a driver? Also, I thought the money was payment for being out all night with the truck? So if you use the money to buy a meal, you’re left with how much exactly for truck minding?
Amazing how drivers defend the whole nighting out issue tooth and nail, wasting half your life in a truck stop or wherever, not seeing family and friends, and yet if expected to do 7 hours a year sat in a classroom on some ■■■■■■■■ course they’re up in arms about it.
Ffs I’m not “minding” the truck. I’m sleeping in it as you can’t legally drive from my yard in Barking, to Glasgow, and back again in a shift. It doesn’t say anywhere in my terms and conditions that I am expected to mind the truck or load at night. Neither am I held responsible if anything happens to it. As for the money, it is called a night out allowance to allow you to purchase a meal etc 
Truckulent:
Amazing how drivers defend the whole nighting out issue tooth and nail, wasting half your life in a truck stop or wherever, not seeing family and friends, and yet if expected to do 7 hours a year sat in a classroom on some [zb] course they’re up in arms about it.
Maybe because one is through personal choice, the other most certainly isn’t.
OVLOV JAY:
Ffs I’m not “minding” the truck. I’m sleeping in it as you can’t legally drive from my yard in Barking, to Glasgow, and back again in a shift. It doesn’t say anywhere in my terms and conditions that I am expected to mind the truck or load at night. Neither am I held responsible if anything happens to it. As for the money, it is called a night out allowance to allow you to purchase a meal etc
So your gaffer would be happy for you to leave it in a layby while you jumped on the bus to the nearest town to a B&B then?
Night out allowance. Not wages. We’ve got it in writing at last!
the maoster:
Truckulent:
Amazing how drivers defend the whole nighting out issue tooth and nail, wasting half your life in a truck stop or wherever, not seeing family and friends, and yet if expected to do 7 hours a year sat in a classroom on some [zb] course they’re up in arms about it.Maybe because one is through personal choice, the other most certainly isn’t.
Not always. If the gaffer says nights out required, how many will argue…?
My boss is fine with me leaving my truck and finding alternative sleeping arrangements. It’s insured so he doesn’t give a monkeys. I’ve never included my night out money in the wage. I do the job as I’d rather have a nice drive to plymouth/Edinburgh/Dorset etc than drive a shopping trolley between dagenham and Romford twice a day. It costs me my night out money to be away all week but that suits me just fine
The firm I worked for adopted snap for a while to make life Easter for us .but I carried on parking where I wanted to park and they still payed up. have you asked them if you have to use it