OK with all the talk of a strike, and the start of the much talked about WTD, also with a recent publication stating that Truck drivers are on par with cleaners and other low paid workers.
lets see who is happy and who isnt! Now remember you may have a great job with great work mates or you may have a crap job with crap workmates, but Try be honest.
In general Are you a happy trucker■■? do you earn what you work for?? are you still doing far too many hours or not enough hours?
Well I haven’t got a job.
Admittedly I did find one recently and quit cos it wasn’t for me and I couldn’t do the hours. I can’t make myself unhappy over a job, I’m not the most stable person going.
When I lived in London I was a 3.5t van driver for a plumbers merchant, I was getting nearly £7 an hour and the job was like a holiday.
Now I live in Yarmouth and can’t even find a job, let alone one that would pay any decent money.
I can live with crap money (I’m lucky to be in that position) if i’m not expected to work too hard (millions of drops, handball, etc). The fact that firms pay crap money and expect you to work like a slave is what annoys me.
I can’t even find a job as a van driver again, even with a C on my licence now. I went for a job driving a 7.5t for £4.90 an hour and didn’t get it.
Agencies are two faced blood suckers, out for themselves, friendly one day, shirty the next.
All a want is a job driving a vehicle on days for 40 odd hours a week. With a fair wage for the work involved. Can’t get one.
No I’m not happy. 
yes,i am happy.there are ups and downs in every job and mine is no exception.
but on the whole i enjoy the job,and the crack with the lads,and it leaves me with plenty of time of my own.
jon
In general Are you a happy trucker
…yes
do you earn what you work for
no
are you still doing far too many hours or not enough hours?
just right
i’m trying to get my boss to come round to my way of thinking.off mon-fri,work sat-sun,for the same amount of wages.but he’s no playing ball 
Im in the same situation as andy with not having a job…Im not sure if i have become real fussy,but some of the jobs i have been to see the last few weeks have been totaly unreal…at one interview i met up with some guy at jcn 15 services (m1 sth) for a coffee and a chat so to speak…he said it was container work out of felixstowe and the money was £500 per week in the bank self employed or £450 paye…so with the wtd in i thought sure ok, its a job to keep me going until some thing better comes along util he said '" when you get done for the day just burn your chart and start again no one will catch on "…my reply to the above was “how much has the truck got to make each week”■■ expecting something like 2000 on a good week…“noo chance,i need at least 3000 to make it pay”!!! (ZB) that was my reply cioa …so No im not happy too…i dont mind putting my hand up to tipping/loading off card, i know i am NOT alone on this one but there are limits…still better luck tomorrow got another interview wish me luck…
jon boy 100:
yes,i am happy.there are ups and downs in every job
True, couple of weeks ago I would have said no I’m not happy, I was on a real downer and had been for a while. It wasn’t all to do with the job though. Now I’m back to being happy again.
TC:
Are you a happy trucker■■?
Yes.
TC:
do you earn what you work for??
I guess so, I work, I earn it.
TC:
are you still doing far too many hours or not enough hours?
The number of hours isn’t and has never been an issue for me in any job I’ve ever done, in this industry or others. I’ll work the number of hours in a week needed to get the job done, I don’t care if that’s 40, 50, 60, 70 or more.
Yes i’m a happy trucker, especialy this week as i was home and finished at 3.30 this afternoon, that being friday. money aint to bad eitther.I’ve had a lot worse. As regards hours i’m not fussed what i work as i’m out all week, although as the weather warms up a bit., its nice to have the time one night to get a drink or 2. You can get a bit to much like a cab rat otherwise.
‘Cab happy’!
So happy, i could ■■■ myself! The hours are not a problem. The pay is ok for now.
jacqueline:
So happy, i could ■■■ myself! The hours are not a problem. The pay is ok for now.
PMSL…
Me too… 
Luv
Chrisie… 
happy as a pig in poop.
have you ladies been driving my truck
This is interesting! its the hauliers that are un-happy, not the drivers.
Most definitely unhappy, the hours are too long even with the WTD. I have to work long hours because the wage is rubbish (£6.18 ph). I could put up with the low wage if it was just local work but found out yesterday that he expects me to do nights out (no chance). I do what I feel is a good days work for a days pay but it seems that is not enough as he always wants more.
Spit me dummy out yesterday and told him what to do with his job but he as asked me to think it over before Monday. Would like to tell him to stick it but will have to be bite the bullet until I find another job which aint easy cos I am real fussy about what I do.
Regards
Westie
In general Are you a happy trucker■■? do you earn what you work for?? are you still doing far too many hours or not enough hours?
Yes I’m happy; I wanted to drive trucks from as far back as I can remember. When I was a kid I’d nick off school to watch a program about Aussie cattle trucks travelling across the outback. They were massive, three or four trailers with a big US looking tractor unit on the front. That was all I was interested in at the time.
Wages? Same as Coffeeholic I guess, but we’d all like a bit more. A fair wage for a fair days work and all that. The thing is I’m only on 25p an hour more than what I was earning in 2000 and when I see the gaffers going home a couple of hours before me (and probably started a few after me) in nice new flash cars it bites a bit. Especially, as happens a most places the drivers are left to sort out all their ■■■■-ups.
Don’t know about to many hours yet as the WTD hasn’t kicked in yet. But generally my hours are about right, high forties. The response I got from the top man at our place when I asked him what we were going to do about this ‘WTD stuff’
" It’s OK we’ve got 17 weeks to sort it out " 
TC:
This is interesting! its the hauliers that are un-happy, not the drivers.
not so! i cant get enough hours or the work that i really want. most of the stuff here is delivering to shops which have little room for deliveries. i am at the stage now where i cant earn enough driving so i am thinking about taking an FLT course and going to that side of things instead. trucking isnt an earner around here. even on £7.50 per hour, i cant earn enough on a 5 day week 
Unhappy . Just quit a job because the bosses treat people like dirt. Got a huge £5 a week pay rise this year and the boss and his brother got a brand new range rover each, heard they cost in the region of 50 grand each.
We have to pay 20p for a cup of coffee with no sugar in from a rank vending machine while the TM’s gorge them selfs on free food and drinks from their canteen. You could be sitting in the yard for hours on end and the only drink you can get is that mud.
I would work bloody hard as a local shunter and all I would get in return is more work, more hassle and less money (paid salary so the longer in work I am the less I earn per hour).
On the up side, done a days agency work yesterday and was very happy. Just have to see what goes in the bank now.
Wayne.
Ill be as honest as i can, Im happy with what i do (you cant call it work in my opinion), Im on a flat wage of £280pw for a class2, i get £30 per night out (no parking money) no overtime, no hourly rate. i work for a small firm, only 5 of us including the gaffer.We are dedicated to one customer so backloads are rare, i go out with about 12 drops but theres no rush and if they dont get it today they get it tomorrow.The gaffer is easy going, always gets the coffee in and if im helping in the yard with the steam cleaner breakfast is always taken care of. we deliver plastic pipe and fittings to the water,gas,plumbing and drainage industry mainly to branches but occasionally to site as well. Im not paid to rush so i dont. If i can get back off a run legally i can still get paid a night out . If i get back next morning and theres nothing to do i wash the truck down then park close to my home untill required and dont lose any money.Ive lost count of the times ive ended up moving furniture for family and friends ( for a small consideration of course-- nudge nudge wink wink!!) and still kept within my hours and been intime for loading. So yes, things could be better i.e more pay etc and parking money, newer trucks but beggars cant be choosers can they?
rgds…
roy.
Happy on the whole. Night trunking on a fixed rate. We worked things out a couple of months ago to make sure we are there and back within 9.5 hours. We can usually do that with a 45min break included. The money is OK, could be better, but when couldn’t it! The kit is good - brand new Actros 2544, brand new or nearly new Wilson double decker tri-axle trailer. Never see the boss or logistics manager cos I do nights. Forgotten how to swap trailers - it’s always ready to go! Don’t know where the fuel goes - it’s always filled!
I’m really happy with this job compared to some of the tales I hear on this forum and elsewhere, and I sympathise with many drivers with tons (should that be metric?!) more experience with a much wose deal than me.
All that said, the 297th cats eye on the northbound M50 has one eye missing, there’s a tyre on central reservation of the M4 that’s been there for weeks, and I know every bump on the M5. It is boring doing the same run every single night!
I have been happier!
I don’t like the company I work for, I don’t really like the transport office staff much, so it bugs me to go out of my way for them. They won’t let me drive artics even though I have worked for them for a year. I am looking for a class 1 job but not having 2 years experience isn’t helping. I am not in a position to rely on an agency to find me full time work. The Nottingham Evening Post had NO DRIVING JOBS on job day!
My job is not made easier by the place I load out of (every day). They are useless.
Half the time the stuff is not ready, or there are 4 other wagons waiting to get loaded ahead of me. Then when I am loaded, be it 9 or 12 o’clock, I am expected to go and do a full days work and get to customers before they shut at 5 pm. My company don’t seem to like nights out at the moment so it’s a case of ‘go and see if they are open (even though I know they won’t be) and if not, bring it back’. So it’s OK for me to finish at 9pm again, is it?
No, definately not happy.
Well happy
Just wish for a better wagon, and of course more money.
Oh and maybe a few less hours
but apart from that I love my job
Got to be happy.i have the best job in the world a brewery drayman.good firm,decent money,FREE BEER.