I am 31 years old and have drove for some tramps in my time i have had the license since i was 21, 2 years ago i went down to Rugby to do some agency work for a few months. I am scottish but i live in northern ireland.
I worked for Dairy crest, Costco, Asda,Tesco and Eddie stobarts and i think out of the lot of them stobarts was the best to work for buy far. The office staff couldn’t do enough for you as far getting people to phone or getting you a phone number, and there own drivers never seemed to bothered about agency staff being there. Unlike Asda’s drivers or sorry clowns that looked down there nose at the likes of me at the time Tesco drivers where no different. I had came from doing work that those people would never dreamt of doing because in my opinion the where spoilt big time and had never had a hard job. They thought going to Wigan from magna park was to much and as for going to Newcastle it would have made them cry.
So i say go on Eddie buy up all round you because the money, if people are honest is not much better anywhere else the what he is paying. But then if you believe all you read on here 90% are on £700 per week working 100% legal and only do one drop and one collection.
i work for stobarts and enjoy it the money is decent enough for me £400 take home for 60 hrs no nights out although i have requested to go tramping planners are the same where ever you work i dont give a ■■■■ about what anyone else is earning or driving i work to put food on the table and stobarts are probably the best firm i have worked for believe me i have been at some cowboys in the past and the old saying is if you dont like it dont do it i would be interested to hear what pay and conditions the stobart knockers get coz i think most of em are on no better…just my opinion of course
I have only worked for one BIG company (nobbys) in Aylesbury they took over ACH and they [zb] all over us. The French [zb]
Big ■■■■:
I have only worked for one BIG company (nobbys) in Aylesbury they took over ACH and they [zb] all over us. The French [zb]
Stop sitting on the fence Bigsexy, tell us what you really feel. 
bradders:
i work for stobarts and enjoy it the money is decent enough for me £400 take home for 60 hrs no nights out although i have requested to go tramping planners are the same where ever you work i dont give a [zb] about what anyone else is earning or driving i work to put food on the table and stobarts are probably the best firm i have worked for believe me i have been at some cowboys in the past and the old saying is if you dont like it dont do it i would be interested to hear what pay and conditions the stobart knockers get coz i think most of em are on no better…just my opinion of course
I’m sorry but how is £400 take home good for 60 hours work? Why do drivers undervalue themselves? I take home on average £2200 a month working nights. Which I think should be the day rate. We are a skilled workforce and should be paid as such!
bradders:
i work for stobarts and enjoy it the money is decent enough for me £400 take home for 60 hrs
That’s not even £7.00 an hr 
they’re extracting the urine out of you 
wibble:
I’m sorry but how is £400 take home good for 60 hours work? Why do drivers undervalue themselves? I take home on average £2200 a month working nights. Which I think should be the day rate. We are a skilled workforce and should be paid as such!
Thats a great deal, any jobs going there??
The agency im on have offered me some weekend work at Stobarts at J15 M6 (nee Irlam) but im always busy and cant accept it. Anyone know what they are like? Given enough notice I could arrange the time to get in.
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bradders:
i work for stobarts and enjoy it the money is decent enough for me £400 take home for 60 hrsThat’s not even £7.00 an hr
Isn’t 400 quid home about £530 top line? or just shy of 23k
I could be wrong but wasn’t alot of the hatred started in the late 80’s early 90’s when Stobarts was slashing rates and not taking companies over but sending them to the wall and doing the job for penny profits, I seem to remember he wouldn’t charge for pulling goods out of Scotland until they got to Carlisle or something along those lines.
I certainly do remember them coming in to cash and carries I used to deliver to back then and thinking they could jump the queues , they’d unload 24 pallets of coke then they would load another 24 pallets back on , talk about stock rotation , or was it free storage lol.
wibble:
bradders:
i work for stobarts and enjoy it the money is decent enough for me £400 take home for 60 hrs no nights out although i have requested to go tramping planners are the same where ever you work i dont give a [zb] about what anyone else is earning or driving i work to put food on the table and stobarts are probably the best firm i have worked for believe me i have been at some cowboys in the past and the old saying is if you dont like it dont do it i would be interested to hear what pay and conditions the stobart knockers get coz i think most of em are on no better…just my opinion of courseI’m sorry but how is £400 take home good for 60 hours work? Why do drivers undervalue themselves? I take home on average £2200 a month working nights. Which I think should be the day rate. We are a skilled workforce and should be paid as such!
I was thinking that, last week I took that amount home for 47.something hours admittedly I’m on nights but the shift allowance isn’t that huge
They went right down in my estimation when they allowed firemen to ■■■■ a snoot at driver hours regs thus getting the fruite of their labour in the form of proffit for all I know it may of gone on for years putting other companies out of buisness
Hi all, new here so be kind!
I drive for many firms as Im an agency driver, and Ive driven for Stobart. No complaints, but “why the hatred?”…sadly its only a sign of the times. There are those who think they are a cut above the rest because they have a nice lorry or a big wage or they get to wear a tie or whatever. Its stupid.
Take the petrol tanker driver whos on £35000+ and looks down his nose at the rest of us, he gets made redundant....and guess what hes worth? Correct!! £7-8 per hour, just like us.
The Tesco driver who hates Stobart drivers, then becomes one when the depot gets taken over.
My point is a lorry driver is just that, nothing more. Ive had good jobs and not so good jobs in my time, the thing certain is nothing stays the same. Be careful who you deride. You may end up as one! What does concern me however, is a previous post, "i work for stobarts and enjoy it the money is decent enough for me £400 take home for 60 hrs". Drivers need to start thinking like a factory worker. i.e. 60 hours = 70 hours (20 hours at time+half), that is nearly TWO weeks pay not one. I believe we are where we are because theres too many drivers who will do what amounts to 21/2 weeks work for 1 decent weeks money. For instance…“my rate of pay is rubbish, but I can get loads of hours in”!!
cheekymonkey:
Hi all, new here so be kind!
I drive for many firms as Im an agency driver, and Ive driven for Stobart. No complaints, but “why the hatred?”…sadly its only a sign of the times. There are those who think they are a cut above the rest because they have a nice lorry or a big wage or they get to wear a tie or whatever. Its stupid.
Take the petrol tanker driver whos on £35000+ and looks down his nose at the rest of us, he gets made redundant....and guess what hes worth? Correct!! £7-8 per hour, just like us.
The Tesco driver who hates Stobart drivers, then becomes one when the depot gets taken over.
My point is a lorry driver is just that, nothing more. Ive had good jobs and not so good jobs in my time, the thing certain is nothing stays the same. Be careful who you deride. You may end up as one! What does concern me however, is a previous post, "i work for stobarts and enjoy it the money is decent enough for me £400 take home for 60 hrs". Drivers need to start thinking like a factory worker. i.e. 60 hours = 70 hours (20 hours at time+half), that is nearly TWO weeks pay not one. I believe we are where we are because theres too many drivers who will do what amounts to 21/2 weeks work for 1 decent weeks money. For instance…“my rate of pay is rubbish, but I can get loads of hours in”!!
Welcome Cheekymonkey. You’ll get no grief from me about what you’ve just posted, I’ve been telling drivers for years who tell me “I get £xyz a week” that “no you don’t, you get £abc a week but you do two weeks work per week”
…“my rate of pay is rubbish, but I can get loads of hours in”!!
Quite correct! having sat in on wages negotiations in the past I have been amazed at this attitude. Another similar point has been “how many nights out can I get”
Its been a long, long time since drivers have negotiated for a decent basic wage, most being content to work at least a week and a half every week for a reasonable" wage.
However, I can’t see it altering in the near future.
Why hate Stobbies - because like certain football teams they like you to know how successful they are. Now unlike some of the dinosaurs we used to work for they have spotted changes in retail and it worked for them. Having done a few shifts for them they seemed ok, I’ve worked at other places where they reckoned they were REALLY special to find that they’re not, they generally pretty crap. Stobbies pay is average round here, but as there are virtually no jobs round here any job is good. ND have a new Zero hour contract - no g’teed hours, no holiday pay - just work when you’re told. Between the two I know where I’d go.
As for the “I earned 40 grand last year” brigade, I met one in Wakefield the other week. Funny he seemed to have to work 24hrs a day and even then his wages didn’t seem to add up…
Mackem:
ND have a new Zero hour contract - no g’teed hours, no holiday pay - just work when you’re told. Between the two I know where I’d go.
Really, first Ive heard of it 
DAF95XF:
Mackem:
ND have a new Zero hour contract - no g’teed hours, no holiday pay - just work when you’re told. Between the two I know where I’d go.Really, first Ive heard of it
Me too. 
Not too popular here either 
rte.ie/news/2009/1215/tesco1.html
DAF95XF:
Mackem:
ND have a new Zero hour contract - no g’teed hours, no holiday pay - just work when you’re told. Between the two I know where I’d go.Really, first Ive heard of it
Had it confirmed to me by the contract manager in Sheffield. They’ve already got some at Wakefield on this apparently. Quality…
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bradders:
i work for stobarts and enjoy it the money is decent enough for me £400 take home for 60 hrsThat’s not even £7.00 an hr
did you read it right-take home after tax- what are you on then