Hi everyone just trying to see what the benefits/negatives of tramping are as i may have just stumbled on a new job but have never tramped before the money sounds pretty good but then again i don’t really know what everyone else tramping is on
It depends on alot of things, but boils down to your own personal circumstances and whether or not you want to be away all week.
About sums it up, really. If you’re prepared to use your initiative when it comes to taking care of your personal needs, don’t care what hours you do or where you go, and like your peace and solitude during your working week, go for it.
If you want to be spoon-fed routes, be 100% sure of where and when you will wash and eat, and know your hours from day to day, don’t.
It’s horses for courses. to be honest - I enjoy tramping and would hate to do the same old day work covering the same old areas and roads day in day out…but there are many who will tell you I’m nuts for feeling that way, especially with a young family. They may well be right, but I’m happy. 
One thing I will say, however, is that if money is your sole motivation, you could be making a bad move.
If you’ve got a wife and kids and love them then NO dont do it, if your single and couldnt care less go and do it.
Money is not the be all and end all, i personally think more than 1 or 2 nightsout a week is family neglect.
I thought you were trying to get in to our place?, the recruitment drive is under way at the minute
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If you’ve got a wife and kids and love them then NO dont do it
That’s not fair, Jammy. I love my husband and kids every bit as much as you do…but since as sole earner there is no other way to keep them in a decent standard of living, I have little choice but to tramp.
It’s good for them that I am happy doing that - otherwise their lives would be made miserable by me being miserable, let’s face it.
Now you and I know each other pretty well after all these years, which is why I’m not going into a wholesale rant here…But your comment above is downright hurtful to those of us who are simply doing the best that we can in the best way that we can.
The wages for day work here on Teesside simply aren’t enough to keep afloat financially unless there is a second income coming into the house. We’re not all lucky enough to live in places with a shortage of drivers and an abundance of RDCs. Up here, £6.50 an hour is still considered a reasonable wage…overtime is a new fangled idea that we don’t buy into…and agencies can’t keep you running for more than a wek at a time, with very little financial gain over permanant working if you risk that route. £18,000 a year for night trunking is the stuff of dreams…pipedreams. And if you think that’s bad, check out the rates on Tyneside!!!
I love my family enough to do what it takes to keep them fed, dry and clothed. Better that than present, but hungry, wet and cold.
hallblade:
Hi everyone just trying to see what the benefits/negatives of tramping are as i may have just stumbled on a new job but have never tramped before the money sounds pretty good but then again i don’t really know what everyone else tramping is on
Looking at your location I’d say you should be taking home £450 per week for 4 nights out, Monday to Friday doing max hours.
Jammymut i thought i might try to get in at your place but i am trying to get away from working weekends
Tramping appeals to me a bit at the moment as i only see family for about 1 hour at night as it is.
That’s not fair, Jammy. I love my husband and kids every bit as much as you do
Yeah they love you 2 Lucy,Love to get rid off you for week 
Well yeah…there is that as well… 
hallblade:
Jammymut i thought i might try to get in at your place but i am trying to get away from working weekends
Tramping appeals to me a bit at the moment as i only see family for about 1 hour at night as it is.
Work weekends? dont be silly your thinking of Sainsburys there,
our contract says 5 out of 7 but i havent done weekend shift for 2 years at B&Q unlkess i got overtime for it, some of your lads who came down from Rotherham dont know what to do with themselves on a Saturday and Sunday.
Money is not as important as being at home maybe thats just my opinion, i have been offered a job i loved doing a few years ago which involves 2 nights out a week, but im probably going to stay where i am as im home every day.
Lucy:
That’s not fair, Jammy. I love my husband and kids every bit as much as you do…
didn’t realise Jammy loved rikki that much 
Got to agree with lucy on this one though, I love my kids and dog as much as the next man, but being home every weekend for quality time means more top me than an hour or so everynight.
■■■■■■■ hell look at that bloody avatar, I’m going colin hunting
David5l:
Lucy:
That’s not fair, Jammy. I love my husband and kids every bit as much as you do…
didn’t realise Jammy loved rikki that much
Got to agree with lucy on this one though, I love my kids and dog as much as the next man, but being home every weekend for quality time means more top me than an hour or so everynight.
Each to their own on this one i suppose but i find EVERY minute important even if its only just a few every day/night.
Down in the southwest it is even worse than lucy has it on teeside, £6.50 an hour doesn’t even exist to my knowledge. Artic day work is also as rare as hens teeth in cornwall (especially without the 2 years experience)
I am very fortunate in that I have found a job where I get to call the shots (up to a point) They ask me when I want to work and it usually works out that way (although I am still at home on a sunday cos of 5 breakdowns and my unit being mot’d tomorrow)
I do sunday til thursday which gives me friday and saturday with the misses. And as lucy said, I’m doing it to get a decent standard of living for my family (which incedently will be born in about 3 months) Take home between £350 and £400 which is bloody good for down here!!!
to get back to the original Question of to tramp or not. It is more of a way of life than a job, and the first time I tried it I jacked after 4 weeks (wanted to jack after 2)
IMHO there’s more to it than just being away 4 or 5 nights a week, you have to be happy with the firm, type of work, the way they run etc, thats why 6 weeks in I am still loving this job despite vowing 6 months ago to never do another night out as long as I had breath in my body.
i find it not always the amount of time you spend with the kids[families] its the right times, if i was tramping all week i wouldnt be able to help my girl with her home work in the week. she brings her maths home on mon and needs it back on a wed. but against that i only get to see her for a hour a day[ ilook through it in the day so i can run through it quick when she gets home] , i then work most sats . so i probally spend less time with her than i would if i was tramping.
you can try juggling, families, jobs and money but to get the perfect formula i find is nigh on inpossible .
Now I am the type that would go mad being home every night! Working for the likes of Tesco’s or Sainsburys would do my head in and I suspect I would last no more than an hour.
I have always tramped but then our daughter is 30 now and so there is just the two of us at home.
I personally think, wifey would go mad at having me ‘under her feet’ every night of the week lolol
As it is I am often away for 2 weeks at a time, home for a day and then off for another couple of weeks. Last December I was away for nearly 3 weeks and then left again the day after Boxing day for another 18 days.
It is horses for courses. These days, it is simple to get in touch with home no matter where you are in Europe. Wifey often phones me during the day from work and as I now have SIM cards for Spain and Portugal, the cost is not prohibitive (cuts out the paying both ways like when using a UK SIM card).
Tramping was harder in the old days of no mobiles or trackers (and more fun lolol). Was possible to spend a day on the beach and blame the delay on Spanish Custom lolol
This is post i put on LDF the thread being “why do nights out”
I do 4 a week most weeks Mon- Fri, £80 a week tax free, which is the equivalant to about £115 a week prior to tax and insurance being deducted.
I travel 36 miles to work which would just not be ecenomic if i were not tramping.
The loclal haulage companies in North Norfolk pay crap money, but the guy i work for pays good wage for the area.As for the family, well it is a pain when the Mrs’s has problems with the kids and needs some moral support, and i do miss her and our 2 nipper’s, but the wage i earn is enough to mean that she can stay at home and be a full time parent, which is what she wants to do, and is something she didnt have herself, and doesnt want to do to her children. The kids seem pretty relaxed about it, and help to pack my bags quite often, i suppose its a kind of stability in that theyve never known any different.
Some of you say that £20 a night doesnt give you a lot of change, once you’ve brought meal and may be a pint or two, but you dont have your meal put on your table for free at home, some where along the line you’ve paid for it, and if you can tell me where you can drink for free that would be much appreciated . If you do a bit of self catering and some times eat in staff canteens, aswell as transport cafes, you’d be surprised how far it goes,
Some one said on here that they would feel like they were allways at work, well you do know how to switch off, i allways sit in the passenger seat at night, and have the telly out if i’ve not got to get up to early in the morning, and that seems to work for me
Its the each to theyre own, in truth i would prefer to come home at the end of every shift, but we like where we live, and jobs that pay a living wage dont exist in this area. So by working away i can support my family in the way that we want to live our lives, and when i do get an early finish on a friday, and get home in time to have tea with the kids, the way they jump around happy to have me home makes you feel quite special
Might answer some of the querries you have about trampimg
If you’ve got a wife and kids and love them then NO dont do it, if your single and couldnt care less go and do it.
Money is not the be all and end all, i personally think more than 1 or 2 nightsout a week is family neglect.
What makes you think youve got all the right answers Jammy 
At the moment i’m doing nights so i can be home every day, whilst the Mrs is unwell. My boss has been more than accomodating under the circumstances, maybe its because he apprecieates the work i do normaly. Would your bosses bend over backwards to help you out Jammy 
eddie snax:
What makes you think youve got all the right answers JammyAt the moment i’m doing nights so i can be home every day, whilst the Mrs is unwell. My boss has been more than accomodating under the circumstances, maybe its because he apprecieates the work i do normaly. Would your bosses bend over backwards to help you out Jammy
Who said i have all the right answers?, its an internet forum which involves the views of many people which is one of thereasons i put this line in
> Each to their own on this one i suppose
, If people dont want the views of others then they should keep their views to themselves.
As for my boss?, I have been having a few problems at home since moving in to a new house and since January i have had 6 days off with full pay and not taken out of my holiday allowance, if i ask for an early finish i usually get it, I hasve been working nights for 3 years and my boss hasd tolds me if i want to go on days i just have to let him know.
I personally think my bosses appreciate my experiance and attitude towards the job and i dont work for a 5 truck cowboy outfit i work for one of the very big boys.
If i was getting £6.50 an hour i would be working in a warehouse or driving a forklift i wouldnt lower myself to that pathetic kind of money, thats Eastern European drivers money.
jammy what makes you think someone who runs five trucks is cowboy
thats pretty wide and generalising comment to make. dont forget there are a lot of big firm who give there subbies totally unrealistic delivery scheduales these are given to subbies as they know there own drivers could not do it within there time. Im not saying all large firms out the do this. But it does happen.
Also it seams that that larger firms make it very hard for smaller subbies to get paid ie one discrepency on one invoice can lead to 3 months invoices not being paid. tesco have been one big boy that has done this in the past.
to say someone with five trucks is cowboy just dam right stupid and shows a lack of understanding of the industry
alix776:
jammy what makes you think someone who runs five trucks is cowboy
thats pretty wide and generalising comment to make. dont forget there are a lot of big firm who give there subbies totally unrealistic delivery scheduales these are given to subbies as they know there own drivers could not do it within there time.
Are you saying the subbies can do it then?, just outside their time?.
It could have been 1 truck or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 i chose 5 as a random figure, and i do know a little bit about the industry and smaller hauliers having to break the law to make a living or would you say thats not true?, are the smaller hauliers all living in luxury with their drivers doing 2/3 hours work a day?.
I also find it very difficult to understand that anyone married with children going away from work all week whether its in a truck or not or whether its to earn £6.50 for all them hours i just COULD not do it, I love my kids far too much to be away from them for 4/5 nights at a time, maybe one day when you breed you will understand.
One day i might have done it but not now my kids are like an addictive drug i need a fix at least once a day, some parents dont I DO thats my opinion on this public forum.