robroy:
It was double time for running out Sunday, and time and a half after 40 hours, so by the time Wednesday came around you were on overtime rate until next weekend.
Years later my son in law started with them after me telling him what great t s & c.s they were on…Turns out the usual classic tactic of offering drivers a vast hourly increase, but same rate right through,
It’s not a vast hourly increase though, that’s the thing. It certainly doesn’t make up for the loss of overtime rate.
All of that came as a direct result of Freedom of Movement and Labour not putting limits on EU migration. Tens of thousands of lorry drivers coming over quite happy to work straight through for basic wage because it was several times what they were getting paid back home. As a result overtime rates went out the window and what was left was turned into a joke. To give you an idea of just how watered down overtime rates got, even though I work at the best paying company in my county earning a basic rate over two and a half times what I was 20 years ago the highest I have ever got paid an hour was in 2001. In 2001 I was on £7/hr on agency and Bank Holiday paid triple time. I’d get paid £21/hr for working bank holiday. Even though my basic now is over two and a half times what my basic was in 2001 if I work bank holiday I get paid just over £20/hr.
What boils my ■■■■ is when people say EU migration had no effect on wages. It’s resulted in massive erosion of terms. Those saying it has had no effect either weren’t young enough to have been in work before the 100,000s turning up willing to work for NMW with no overtime had an effect so don’t know anything different to the status quo or they work in sectors where there’s not very many Eastern European workers.
Goldentanks:
After the big pay rises of last year we are now starting to see reductions in pay. It is very quiet out there as most agency drivers will witness and firms are taking adantage of the opportunity to force agencies to lower rates in order to carry on supplying drivers.
It’s only gone back to where it was before the pandemic. It’s not lower, it’s just back to situation normal. The problem is that we’ve had 2/3 years of ridiculously good Jan-March and a large chunk of agency haven’t been doing agency driving long enough to know what it was like before 2020. Talking to agency where I am all those who started over the last couple of years have been saying how bad it’s been since the end of the annual sale and re-stock in November, I’ve been replying that this is normal and how it always used to be. Those of us who’ve been doing it a fair while both expect it every year and plan for it so for us it was more of a shock to be working flat out after Xmas but very few of us expected it to last.
Agency rates won’t get knocked down but I suspect there’s likely not going to be any real rate rises. I’m lucky enough to be on parity pay at an own account company so we’re getting a decent rise this year but that’s only on this contract, I don’t know how others are faring at my agency.
I found in my area that companies caught a cold at the back end on 2021 when we had a mini boom by relying too much on agency. They couldn’t get bums on seats and had to park up some of their own and bring traction hauliers in.
So over the past year hourly rates especially for the big blue chip companies improved some what and they had a big recruitment drive. At the firm I work they added 30-40 extra drivers so this time of year when it quiet they don’t what many agency .
I have been doing work for them for over 10 years and I would lose 2-3 shifts a month, now you lucky to get a couple of shifts a week. Lucky for me I saw this coming and went over on the books.
I asked a similar question when I first started out. Still bit of a minefield. Still on class 2 a year into this job because I can’t decide if I want to jump up to class 1 when am on 40k anyways?
I used to think it’s all about the money, but I kinda realised it’s not. A decent wage/decent time at home with the kids is good enough for me. I have Tue, Wed and Thur off every week. 28 paid days off etc.
robroy:
It was double time for running out Sunday, and time and a half after 40 hours, so by the time Wednesday came around you were on overtime rate until next weekend.
Years later my son in law started with them after me telling him what great t s & c.s they were on…Turns out the usual classic tactic of offering drivers a vast hourly increase, but same rate right through,
It’s not a vast hourly increase though, that’s the thing. It certainly doesn’t make up for the loss of overtime rate.
.
Ok maybe the word ‘vast’ was the wrong one.
Let’s say it was a lot more than what they were on, and specifically and sufficiently enough to successfully tempt them into a very short sighted decision to accept said rate.
As you say, absolutely not enough to make up for the previous overtime rate and terms.
It was at the time where they were previously virtually guaranteed an annual hourly rate pay raise, but all that stopped the first year after with a ‘You got a very generous and substantial raise last year’ which just went on to carry on for the next few years.
I have heard of that tactic used by many more firms at that time since.
I asked a similar question when I first started out. Still bit of a minefield. Still on class 2 a year into this job because I can’t decide if I want to jump up to class 1 when am on 40k anyways?
I used to think it’s all about the money, but I kinda realised it’s not. A decent wage/decent time at home with the kids is good enough for me. I have Tue, Wed and Thur off every week. 28 paid days off etc.
Really depends which part of the country you live, live down Cornwall £30000 maybe ok, Midlands £50000 on day work about right {gross)
Quoting headline wage figures means little unless you can put them into context, ie the number of days and hours worked and what proportion of premium hours are involved and what sort of graft might be expected, then there’s the interest or not factor, there’s so much more than comparing top lines involved here.
Niche generally means good t&c’s. I did a few years moving medical trailers (mobile breast screener, CT, MRI etc) and that was a nice gig for a while. The company built the trailers so delivering or moving between sites was an add on to the initial build cost and to keep the customer/NHS trust happy as in 10yrs or so they will want a new one. I currently move class 1 explosive adr loads all round Europe and Scandinavia, obviously we don’t make the products but we use specialist trailers and need the adr licence, security check (took 6 weeks for me to be given the green light to work here) amongst the licences that the company needs. So we are lucky that we don’t have to worry about general hauliers trying to muscle in which protects my companies investments so in turn protects my (what I consider) good wage and t&c’s.
elsa Lad:
I love all the frills and Bing and fairy lights on the V8 mega cab lorries. When I moved to the Midlands I started working for a small supermarket chain. Wow what a difference to general haulage, no pressure, good wages and well looked after.
This was 20 years ago, since then I mainly worked for blue chip companies either agency or on the books.
There are loads of plus and minus working for these companies, the disadvantages are poverty spec trucks, 5 out of 7 working week, H&S overload and not allowed to think for yourself, you have a 20 year old line manager for that . The advantages are no pressure, day work, very rare getting near maxing your hours out, very good wage package.
Every now and again I fancy going back to container/General haulage until I see the pay rates…I was looking at one big haulier based at felixstowe and rate offered £11.30hr plus bonus think I stick to what I doing.
Usually find these kind of companies (supermarkets etc) have no qualms sorting issues or faults on trucks when reported or removing cages when overloaded. That’s my experience anyway.
Own account and unionised is probably the best bet, the upsides far outweigh the downsides the pay the holidays the length of the working day everything is done for you and everything is paid for training medicals licences etc decent pension scheme properly maintained equipment simple work and so on.
When considering what you want from a job the pay is the priority as that’s what we are there for however many other factors come into play lots of drivers like their own truck that won’t happen lots of drivers don’t like all the rules and regulations that go with this type of work the tracking and the constant surveilance the Microlise and all the general silliness, I’m happy after 30 odd years to be retrained in winding up the trailer legs or shown how to climb in and out of a cab I’m happy because I’m being paid for it.
However there’s lots of weekend work and silly start times and you will have to work alongside individuals that do things like fill the engine up with screen wash and turn up at a delivery with an empty trailer and leaving any equipment they have used in a wrecked and stinking state or despite appearing to be relatively healthy are on a medical support plan with a long list of tasks they are exempt from doing on any given day that ends in the letter Y.
ETS:
So if you learn to operate the crane you can double your pay instead of sitting around all day?
Havent got the brains to be a crane Op- too much maths involved- besides which very happy doing what I am doing, trot along all day at 40 mph on cruise, while every other truck is dashing past on the limiter, abnormal load bans every where during rush hours, so have to park up and drink coffee for three hours- and yes the crane ops do get better money (deservedly so) but I do nowhere near the hours they do
you sat at lym services for your weekly rest ( 45 hrs ) , I’ve done some stupid things in my time lorry driving ,but that beats anything I’ve done , my weekly rest has always been at home
Each to their own mate - but I have always been happy to be away from home, from on Murfitts travelling all over Europe and Eastern Bloc , could be out 6 weeks at a time seeing places and meeting people and getting paid for it, while others pay for a week in the sun,loved working for projects on heavy haulage in countries and people I would never have met and getting paid to be there, and even now just in the UK I can still be out for two to three weeks regularly, working on jobs that excite me, and because I am happy to do that, and my wife and family know thats the job and are used to it, This year my top end will be well above the average drivers pay- that easily pays for our house, cars, kids unversity, holidays and puts money in the bank every week without taking out any loans - you may think its stupid buts its the driving life I have done for many a year and by doing it has got me where I am- getting top dollar for doing something I enjoy
I’ve seen first pay slips ( payroll got sort code wrong ) since changing from agency -to employed , tramping to days , I’m £200 net less pw than when I was on agency , I’m surprised to be honest it’s that close , but I do sun - thurs so I’m guessing Sunday does make a fair bit of difference , starting at midnight / 1 am I get 5/6 hrs at night rate taking into account I would put £100 out of that £200 away for hol pay it’s £100 difference , now I get full sick pay , cpc , uniform , medical etc paid for there’s not much in it , and I go home every night which is nice , but not nice at midnight / 1 am when I get up , especially at midnight / 1 am on a Sunday
I’m not convinced I’ll stick this job , middle of night starts , but the change from agency to employed , tramping to days was 100% the right decision for me ,
dozy:
’ve done some stupid things in my time lorry driving ,but that beats anything I’ve done , my weekly rest has always been at home
Some of the best and most memorable weekends I’ve ever had have been spent away from home. Red Square and Gorki Park in Moscow, Dolbamache Palace and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, going up a mountain in a cable car in Switzerland with my 9-y-o son who was along for the ride, the Celtic Festival in Lorient, laying on beaches and by swimming pools in Spain etc etc etc.
I kind of see the point about Lymm Services though.
. The advantages are no pressure, day work, very rare getting near maxing your hours out, very good wage package.
think I stick to what I doing.