In all honesty, experience really doesnt matter as much as it used to. When we were haulage contractors and not this poncey "Innovative Integrated Supply Chain Logistical Solutions" we had to rope and sheet, drive some real awkward stuff with real awkward gearboxes and even had to arrange our own return loads. Its a fact that in these days of trunking between RDCs and fancy motors, you don`t need all that much experience.
Maybe the job is only worth £7 an hour after all!
Its them lot on high who say we must strive to be on a professional level, when in fact the jobs never been easier.
Although the lack of facilities for trampers must be a real pain. Not done it myself for 25 years, but I do feel sorry for anyone who does it.
Well paid? When the figures come out saying the average wage is £26000, they mean…for working a 37hr week.
If your on £26000 and youre doing 75 hrs....youre on about half the minimum wage.
All the while that there are drivers unemployed and constantly chasing employers for the few jobs that are available, then wages will not rise by much (if at all).
limeyphil:
over £700 per week after tax is ok.
but being offered hourly pay is an insult, so i won’t take it.
i’m not the washer up.
Where are these paragons of employment that offer £700 after tax on a salaried basis?
that’s easy. £850 for romania, £650 italy, £600 sweden, £500 northern france, £650-£700 madrid.
on top of that we get another £50 for tipping, and loading our own trailer in the UK, or Ireland. but it’s not worth it, it’s better to give it to someone else, and turn with another decent paying job.
so if you work the job right, you can do a romania, then turn with a northern france, tip and load that one, and there you have £700 per week.
cheekymonkey:
Well paid? When the figures come out saying the average wage is £26000, they mean…for working a 37hr week.
If your on £26000 and youre doing 75 hrs....youre on about half the minimum wage.
Sorry if this post is a bit too truthful.
■■■■ right…proabably is too truthful for a lot of drivers…In fact, if drivers were to only work 37.5 hours a week (the normal basic hours for many), a lot would be earning around £281/week…before tax and NI…
Because the job is generally appallingly paid, drivers HAVE to work long hours…or they couldn’t live…this is fundamentally wrong but drivers are their own worst enemy when it comes to pay negotiation…
cheekymonkey:
Well paid? When the figures come out saying the average wage is £26000, they mean…for working a 37hr week.
If your on £26000 and youre doing 75 hrs....youre on about half the minimum wage.
Sorry if this post is a bit too truthful.
■■■■ right…proabably is too truthful for a lot of drivers…In fact, if drivers were to only work 37.5 hours a week (the normal basic hours for many), a lot would be earning around £281/week…before tax and NI…
Because the job is generally appallingly paid, drivers HAVE to work long hours…or they couldn’t live…this is fundamentally wrong but drivers are their own worst enemy when it comes to pay negotiation…
Nope, still over MINIMUM wage, just under the average wage.
You’re welcome to earn 13k if you want, there’s no law against it, but most drivers would choose to do more hours to earn more money.
i’ve always said drivers wages have been kept low to encourage working 50-60 hour weeks thereby the truck earns more money.
Case in point being most of the major players in container haulage around the southampton area.
Most are paying an hourly rate within a quid of the minimum wage. Now when things were good drivers could make a decent weekly wage by working the maximum hours the tacho would allow. As a result a decent hourly rate was never really pushed for. Now things are a lot quieter drivers money has cut severely but what are the chances of getting a decent hourly rate in these times?.
I know it takes a change in attitude but a decent salary for basic hours is the way to go. It may not bring the big money but it safeguards your family in times like we are experiencing now. Also why should we, as drivers in general, be expected to work 60-70 hours a week to make a wage.
It wasn’t many years ago that a fuss was made about junior doctors working these amount of hours and the potential for patients coming to harm. Now just imagine a tired driver on a busy motorway.
Anybody got a phone number for the Suns scandal hotline. Might make myself a few quid without having to max out the digi.
limeyphil:
over £700 per week after tax is ok.
but being offered hourly pay is an insult, so i won’t take it.
i’m not the washer up.
Where are these paragons of employment that offer £700 after tax on a salaried basis?
that’s easy. £850 for romania, £650 italy, £600 sweden, £500 northern france, £650-£700 madrid.
on top of that we get another £50 for tipping, and loading our own trailer in the UK, or Ireland. but it’s not worth it, it’s better to give it to someone else, and turn with another decent paying job.
so if you work the job right, you can do a romania, then turn with a northern france, tip and load that one, and there you have £700 per week.
Go on, tell us another, this is better than jackanory…ha ha
First weeks take home WELL above what I expected, even without bonus (as I was still learning the ropes).
Ok, I maxed out every day and spent most of the week in stinking laybys and was always aware of the need to get that extra load tipped and reloaded fro the morning.
Limeyphils £700 PW for going all over Europe isn’t far off the mark, if you’re prepared for the pressure and hours. I suppose it all depends on how much you need the money
If you work more hours for a lower hourly rate, then you are only compounding the firm’s boot in your mouth.
One good kick and all your teeth are out. After that, you are so numb you won’t notice doing a job that does nothing but move you closer to your death every day without even pretending to make you rich enough to even pay off the mortgage!
The same applies to agencies expecting drivers to drive a 100 mile round trip for joke rates and then not paying expenses unless you join their wasted money club known as “umbrella”.
I’d rather take only the plum rates, only get 2 shifts a week on average, and make up the rest of my income from tax credits. At present the two shifts can be as little as 8 hours. As of April however, Osbourne has got HMRC to up the average hourage from 16 to 24 hours a week to qualify for the decent tax credit wedge, which will make my life somewhat more difficult come April - and even more reason to be fussy about what shifts I pick up.
I can’t be bribed with “hourage”. I can only be bribed by a good hourly rate!
My ideal working week is a saturday & sunday night 12-13 hours @ top whack. Earns enough in two shifts so I don’t have to work monday-friday doing some near-minimum-wage rubbish elsewhere. Sitting out the other 5 days also means I get back nearly all of the PAYE tax I’ve paid on the wages come the end of the financial year AND not being self employed/umbrella means I actually get some holiday pay paid for by the firm rather than by a pot that only gets filled up by me in the first place! 2 shifts instead of 5 also gets my travel costs down quite a bit too - especially with no “expenses” being paid.
If the boss says he`ll pay you £6-50ph and you refuse it because its an insult, why is it ok to be insulted 65 times?
I thought 60 hours was the max regardless of being paid for breaks or not. Ie. the 60 hours includes your breaks, and rolling average still needs to be 48 hours paid.?
If the boss says he`ll pay you £6-50ph and you refuse it because its an insult, why is it ok to be insulted 65 times?
I thought 60 hours was the max regardless of being paid for breaks or not. Ie. the 60 hours includes your breaks, and rolling average still needs to be 48 hours paid.?
As far as I am aware the 60 hours max does not include breaks, then on top of that you can add POA’s
If the boss says he`ll pay you £6-50ph and you refuse it because its an insult, why is it ok to be insulted 65 times?
I thought 60 hours was the max regardless of being paid for breaks or not. Ie. the 60 hours includes your breaks, and rolling average still needs to be 48 hours paid.?
As far as I am aware the 60 hours max does not include breaks, then on top of that you can add POA’s
Paul
Correct, it’s a 60hr max WORKING WEEK, same as it’s a 48hr max WORKING AVERAGE, hence the POA invention. On containers you could do over 60hrs every week without fail thanks to breaks / poa on door, they’re not self tip so not breaking any rules. Not bad when you’re away all week, and you want to batter the hours to make it worth it, ■■■■ when you’re home at night after 15hrs, sometimes at 10 or 11pm
i can’t believe some people on here. they think that £700 per week is some super wage, only earned by dodgy dealings.
if you are away for 7 days a week, it’s only right.
and when i said northern france for £500, it’s not as easy as it may appear, i’m NOT tipping and loading in calais, usually running across to the oyster farms in brittany.
the italy work isn’t so cushy, you have to work for it, 6 drops, 6 collections.
