My self and one of my fellow company drivers was talking the other day, as you do whilst waiting to be loaded, when the conversation turned to how you get told by other drivers of their weekly take home and how it’s £££’s. Even on here you read of drivers claiming take home wages of £££’s, which makes you think “I’m in the wrong job”. But what doesn’t get mentioned alot is what their actual hourly pay is? And what would their take home be, if they stripped back the bonuses etc that some firms like using to make up a drivers wage?.
Most times the higher the bragging wage the bigger the lie.
Our place is like that. One of our lot worked out how much our hourly is and its drum roll £5.60(ish) an hour.
Does it matter? If you’re happy with the amount you get paid for the job you do then that’s fine. If not, do something about it!
tennantjon:
My self and one of my fellow company drivers was talking the other day, as you do whilst waiting to be loaded, when the conversation turned to how you get told by other drivers of their weekly take home and how it’s £££’s. Even on here you read of drivers claiming take home wages of £££’s, which makes you think “I’m in the wrong job”. But what doesn’t get mentioned alot is what their actual hourly pay is? And what would their take home be, if they stripped back the bonuses etc that some firms like using to make up a drivers wage?.
I can never understand why some drivers use night out money as part of their wages
It’s not its expenses not wages
Roymondo:
Does it matter? If you’re happy with the amount you get paid for the job you do then that’s fine. If not, do something about it!
+1
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
Roymondo:
Does it matter? If you’re happy with the amount you get paid for the job you do then that’s fine. If not, do something about it!+1
I’m extremely happy in my job… altho a few years ago I went thro a bad patch so looked for another job. Got an interview with a specialist lifting company, but when the interviewer looked out how much my hourly rate was, he laughed and said “we don’t pay our drivers that much. Theirs are made up of all sorts of bonuses etc”. I promptly left… even tho I had spoken to one of their drivers before, who said the take home was £££’'s., which got me interested in the job. I decided to ride out the storm and stay where i am.
gazsa401:
tennantjon:
My self and one of my fellow company drivers was talking the other day, as you do whilst waiting to be loaded, when the conversation turned to how you get told by other drivers of their weekly take home and how it’s £££’s. Even on here you read of drivers claiming take home wages of £££’s, which makes you think “I’m in the wrong job”. But what doesn’t get mentioned alot is what their actual hourly pay is? And what would their take home be, if they stripped back the bonuses etc that some firms like using to make up a drivers wage?.I can never understand why some drivers use night out money as part of their wages
It’s not its expenses not wages
That’s what i mean. A mate of mine worked for stobarts on the automotive side. He was constantly bragging about how much he took home. Then I asked him what his hourly pay was and what his take home would be if he didn’t get any bonuses… he soon shut up… especially when his truck was off the road for a few days, his wages that week were beyond crap.
In the bigger scheme of things, there are folks out there that spend far more on quality wine or fine food in a year, than what a typical truck driver earns… The time to boast is when you don’t have to drive a truck to make a living…
Its like a lot of jobs,money is good but just not enough of it for what some have to do to get it.
I don`t consider like some do, 70 +hours a week tear arsing around at full throttle,eating whilst driving,and booking breaks whilst tipping and taking home between £500 -£600 including night out money a well paid job.
Radar19:
Our place is like that. One of our lot worked out how much our hourly is and its drum roll £5.60(ish) an hour.
Could this not be reported for breach of the minimum wage law?
Surely if a few drivers went to the appropriate body with proof of hours worked on a regular basis (timesheets, tacho records) and wage slips, they could get some action taken.
It’s never really bothered me what other people claim to take home, it’s not my business and frankly I don’t give a ■■■■.
Half the people you talk to will fill your ears with bull[zb] anyway, so why take any notice.
I agree with what’s been said about night out money though, it shouldn’t be considered part of your wages any more than meal allowance or tax credits should.
I never talk about money and if I’m drawn into it I usually give a wide ballpark figure. My favourite answer is enough to pay the bills 
Talking about your wages can hurt you in your pocket in different ways!
Not really bothered what others earn, I do care about what goes into my account and what I have to do to earn it.
gazsa401:
tennantjon:
My self and one of my fellow company drivers was talking the other day, as you do whilst waiting to be loaded, when the conversation turned to how you get told by other drivers of their weekly take home and how it’s £££’s. Even on here you read of drivers claiming take home wages of £££’s, which makes you think “I’m in the wrong job”. But what doesn’t get mentioned alot is what their actual hourly pay is? And what would their take home be, if they stripped back the bonuses etc that some firms like using to make up a drivers wage?.I can never understand why some drivers use night out money as part of their wages
It’s not its expenses not wages
some financial institutions will see it as income, IMO night out allowance and meal allowance should be paid in cash, and not go on wage slips
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
Roymondo:
Does it matter? If you’re happy with the amount you get paid for the job you do then that’s fine. If not, do something about it!+1
+2
Rather than worry about what everyone else earns, you need to ask yourself “is my take home enough for me?”. If the answer is yes then your wages are fine. In my opinion it is fine to do a job for £10 an hour compared to a job for £18 when you factor in lots of other things such as distance to work,type of work, length of shifts etc. When I was working containers I worked for a company paying the pricey sum of £7.15 an hour. It was my foot in the door so I had to accept it. But since they were only a ten minute drive from my house and it was ■■■■ easy container work I stayed. My cousin got his qualification to haul oversized loads and was earning £20 an hour but he had a 3 hour round trip to and from work and it could be a 6 hr shift or a 15 and a sleep out meaning he never knew from one day to the next if he would be home or not. To me, the increase in wages was not worth the extra hassle. Its swings and roundabouts.
I Know my pay is above the average, I have to work nights and some weekends and I feel I give good value to my employer.
Those who bang on about their pay tend to earn less than they would like, it boils down to the individuals circumstances and what pleases some does not please another, being happy in the workplace takes priority over pay for most.
I personally think living alone without a toilet and taking home £450 is laughable someone else may be perfectly happy, I have been in the game for 26 years and drivers have always inflated their net pay, sometimes its true but I can assure you they are not doing a 40 hour week.
The pay in transport in certain sectors is shocking £8.00 an hour and less, if we must have a discussion on pay look at it historically, we haven’t had a real wage increase for ten years, which is exactly what was said to me when I was 21.
Back in 1989 I hauled steel and coal, I could net £300 a week Mon-Fri with no nights out and be done by 4pm on Friday, I should be earning considerably more probably double that amount, I am not, were it not for the endless pool of EE drivers we would be earring a good bit more.
tennantjon:
But what doesn’t get mentioned alot is what their actual hourly pay is? And what would their take home be, if they stripped back the bonuses etc that some firms like using to make up a drivers wage?.
A mate of mine posted how he was fed up of his job on Facebook. Someone he knows posted their wageslip and said “come work here” showing a £770 take home pay. It then turned out that for that one week he’d done 75hrs, nighted out 5 nights and run in on Saturday. What the muppet didn’t realise is when he posted his wageslip it showed “taxable pay to date” which was £12,000 by week 28 so it turns out he is only actually averaging £430 a week when you take night out money off and for that he does a lot of hours. I made the point that I earned nearly as much as he did, did a lot less hours and was home every night.
The-Snowman:
+2
Rather than worry about what everyone else earns, you need to ask yourself “is my take home enough for me?”. If the answer is yes then your wages are fine. In my opinion it is fine to do a job for £10 an hour compared to a job for £18 when you factor in lots of other things such as distance to work,type of work, length of shifts etc.
I’d like to thank you for your contribution to keeping hourly rates crap and forcing drivers to do 60hrs a week to earn the national average wage. I’m quite sure your bosses love you too… “Just give Snowman plenty of hours and he’ll think he is taking home a decent wage even though we’re taking him for a mug.”
If drivers universally said they’d not set foot inside a truck for less than £10/hr then £10/hr becomes the rate or the truck sits there. Whilst you get muppets who are quite happy to work for barely more than the minimum living wage “because its just 10 minutes down the road” then everyone else will continue to suffer.
Conor:
The-Snowman:
+2
Rather than worry about what everyone else earns, you need to ask yourself “is my take home enough for me?”. If the answer is yes then your wages are fine. In my opinion it is fine to do a job for £10 an hour compared to a job for £18 when you factor in lots of other things such as distance to work,type of work, length of shifts etc.I’d like to thank you for your contribution to keeping hourly rates crap and forcing drivers to do 60hrs a week to earn the national average wage. I’m quite sure your bosses love you too… “Just give Snowman plenty of hours and he’ll think he is taking home a decent wage even though we’re taking him for a mug.”
If drivers universally said they’d not set foot inside a truck for less than £10/hr then £10/hr becomes the rate or the truck sits there. Whilst you get muppets who are quite happy to work for barely more than the minimum living wage “because its just 10 minutes down the road” then everyone else will continue to suffer.
If im happy with what I earn its got ■■■■ all to do with you or anyone else. Ididnt say I was happy I was earning a decent wage. I said I earned enough. Theres a difference
I was turned away by dozens of companies because I had no experience. They gave me the chance. What was I supposed to do? Say no thanks as it’ll upset Conor? I earned enough for the hours and the work involved and I was happy with the job due to high amount of flexibility from the owners and the way they treated their drivers with things like time off, early finish requests etc. THAT is the most important thing to me. And had I continued driving I would more than likely have left to get a better paid job. But whether I did or didnt is STILL ■■■■ all to do with you. Im not forcing anyone to do 60 hours a week. If someone doesnt like their wage they can go find a better one. Im not forcing anyone to stay in a poorly paid job
What guys like you who’ve been in the game for decades seem to forget is how hard it is to get a start with no experience. You shoot your mouth off about “if every driver refused to work for less than £10 an hour” but forget its not that easy for a guy with a new license to take the stand on behalf of everyone else.
And another thing you forget is that if every driver does take a stand and the wage rises to a basic £10-£15 per hour then you can forget flexibility and free thinking from companies. You’ll do it their regimented way with no flexibility or leeway from them. After all, they are paying you a small fortune