chrisdalott:
Is there generally a language barrier to working for Euros firms? Can an English only speaker get work in Dutch German Spanish etc.
I know a little German from my school days but far from fluent
A few years ago I spoke to an American driver for a German firm loading in Malvern - He said that if you didn’t have conversational level German forget working for a German firm as they wont even look at you.
I’ve worked for a Dutch/British firm quite a while ago, to be honest the Dutch office spoke better English than the British office.
kjw21:
A few years ago I spoke to an American driver for a German firm loading in Malvern - He said that if you didn’t have conversational level German forget working for a German firm as they wont even look at you.
Says everything about EU ‘free movement’ rules.It’s possible to foresee a situation in which German employers would try to circumvent EU employment rules to employ an ethnic German American.Rather than a Brit with basic limited German language skills.
kjw21:
A few years ago I spoke to an American driver for a German firm loading in Malvern - He said that if you didn’t have conversational level German forget working for a German firm as they wont even look at you.
Says everything about EU ‘free movement’ rules.It’s possible to foresee a situation in which German employers would try to circumvent EU employment rules to employ an ethnic German American.Rather than a Brit with basic limited German language skills.
[/quote]
That’s the case already. A friend of mine is a qualified teacher and she married a German and moved out there. She is having to get a B1conversational German. She said it is nearly impossible to get a job beyond cleaning without it.
In my uni days, to study at a German uni you had to do a formal written examination, invigilated by either the Goethe Institut or TestDAF, and achieve at least level C1 (not perfect, but pretty ■■■■ good, you can have a conversation about any topic). Without this certificate, you couldn’t do anything, and I imagine a lot of German firms may also demand formal language certifications for foreigners.
German students came to England and came into English lectures without any formal test. As far as I can remember, only non-Europeans tended to do an English placement test, to assess their level of English, and even then the levels were only reccommended, and meant nothing.
Any British driver around here have fluent Romanian by any chance:
kyk:
trucknet member milodon might be very interesting example with his numbers to comment on this…?
While my wage is nothing to write home about, its not a big secret either - I work four weeks on, two weeks off and for that I receive €2400. The key is in the fact that for the two weeks off(or four, or six as I’m taking next week) I get paid nothing. I could change my employer tomorrow and get a hike to €2700-2800 but I won’t even do occasional nights and/or fridges so I’m happy where I am, for now.
In addition to the wage I also get health insurance, new kit (nothing older than 3 years, lately brand spanking new, only biggest cab Scania/Volvo/DAF), working clothes, iPad with free internet and most everything you would need in a tramping job equipmentwise). Job is 95% full loads, no rush and as orders come in by Viber, I only talk to the office on the phone once or twice a month.
As I pay a mortgage of €495 a month for a new 2300 square feet house, €220 for a year of life insurance and spend about €200 a month on food/showers etc when working, it’s not quite the modern day slavery some people make it out to be.
kyk:
trucknet member milodon might be very interesting example with his numbers to comment on this…?
While my wage is nothing to write home about, its not a big secret either - I work four weeks on, two weeks off and for that I receive €2400. The key is in the fact that for the two weeks off(or four, or six as I’m taking next week) I get paid nothing. I could change my employer tomorrow and get a hike to €2700-2800 but I won’t even do occasional nights and/or fridges so I’m happy where I am, for now.
In addition to the wage I also get health insurance, new kit (nothing older than 3 years, lately brand spanking new, only biggest cab Scania/Volvo/DAF), working clothes, iPad with free internet and most everything you would need in a tramping job equipmentwise). Job is 95% full loads, no rush and as orders come in by Viber, I only talk to the office on the phone once or twice a month.
As I pay a mortgage of €495 a month for a new 2300 square feet house, €220 for a year of life insurance and spend about €200 a month on food/showers etc when working, it’s not quite the modern day slavery some people make it out to be.
Thanks for info.
Whats the deal with wheels - tyres?
I know most of the ones from your 3 countries carry spare wheels and change them themselves and some companies charge their drivers for some of that stuff, not exactly sure how and what, but charge drivers.
Whats the deal with fuel efficiency - targets, what if out of targets?
I knwo some have not only bonus schemes but also charge schemes You run mountains so probably nothing much you can save there?
Parking - I guess never paid, all on free options industrial estates, laybys, spaces etc ?
Damage to load, stolen fuel - drivers pay or company cover?
I guess your one is upmarket haulier so terms are better than average?
Yes, we are expected to change the tyres ourself if a blowout happens and if there’s time otherwise, eg a slow puncture and you’re weekended. There are only two types of tyres on the combination - 385/55 on steer,tag and trailer axles and 315/70 on the drive so only two spares needed. In two years I’ve changed two tyres and only because I couldn’t be bothered to find a tyreshop to fix the punctures.
Fuel efficiency is a non-issue for us, but I spoke to a driver from a Latvian company a few months ago, he said they were expected to do better than 7.6 mpg during winter and 8.1 the rest of the year, which in my opinion is insane, as I usually get around a 6.3 winter average and I’m one of the few drivers out of 70 or so who actually cares about the mileage at all. The difference can be 20% between drivers easily, there’s a lot of relatively flat terrain involved as well.
Parking is paid but as there are only very few places around, who charge for parking, it’s not a big expense for the bossman.
The gps-tracker also keeps an eye on the fuel, so an office bod gets an alarm if somebody dips into the tanks, which means it’s not the drivers problem if and when any fuel gets stolen. As for the cargo we don’t carry anything worth nicking and any damage to the load is covered by the company. As is the damage to the equipment, if it doesn’t happen too often.
Our terms are good, but thanks to some fiddling with the taxes my future pension or possible sick pay will be based on a monthly salary of only €400, which is low compared to some other firms. But I am guessing that the age for retirement will be around 110 in 30 years when I’ll be 63, so no too fussed about it
kyk:
trucknet member milodon might be very interesting example with his numbers to comment on this…?
While my wage is nothing to write home about, its not a big secret either - I work four weeks on, two weeks off and for that I receive €2400. The key is in the fact that for the two weeks off(or four, or six as I’m taking next week) I get paid nothing. I could change my employer tomorrow and get a hike to €2700-2800 but I won’t even do occasional nights and/or fridges so I’m happy where I am, for now.
In addition to the wage I also get health insurance, new kit (nothing older than 3 years, lately brand spanking new, only biggest cab Scania/Volvo/DAF), working clothes, iPad with free internet and most everything you would need in a tramping job equipmentwise). Job is 95% full loads, no rush and as orders come in by Viber, I only talk to the office on the phone once or twice a month.
As I pay a mortgage of €495 a month for a new 2300 square feet house, €220 for a year of life insurance and spend about €200 a month on food/showers etc when working, it’s not quite the modern day slavery some people make it out to be.
Thanks for info.
Whats the deal with wheels - tyres?
I know most of the ones from your 3 countries carry spare wheels and change them themselves and some companies charge their drivers for some of that stuff, not exactly sure how and what, but charge drivers.
Whats the deal with fuel efficiency - targets, what if out of targets?
I knwo some have not only bonus schemes but also charge schemes You run mountains so probably nothing much you can save there?
Parking - I guess never paid, all on free options industrial estates, laybys, spaces etc ?
Damage to load, stolen fuel - drivers pay or company cover?
I guess your one is upmarket haulier so terms are better than average?
Most companie have limit 32 litre/100 km or it is about 9 miles per galon.For new Euro 6 mainly about 26-28 litre /100 km or 10.5 miles/galon.
parking -some companies pay,some not but it is not bigest problem.
Damages to load-i never heard who somebody pay for this.
Stolen diesel-so so.Most companis have gps in petrol tank and more.
milodon:
Yes, we are expected to change the tyres ourself if a blowout happens and if there’s time otherwise, eg a slow puncture and you’re weekended. There are only two types of tyres on the combination - 385/55 on steer,tag and trailer axles and 315/70 on the drive so only two spares needed. In two years I’ve changed two tyres and only because I couldn’t be bothered to find a tyreshop to fix the punctures.
Fuel efficiency is a non-issue for us, but I spoke to a driver from a Latvian company a few months ago, he said they were expected to do better than 7.6 mpg during winter and 8.1 the rest of the year, which in my opinion is insane, as I usually get around a 6.3 winter average and I’m one of the few drivers out of 70 or so who actually cares about the mileage at all. The difference can be 20% between drivers easily, there’s a lot of relatively flat terrain involved as well.
Parking is paid but as there are only very few places around, who charge for parking, it’s not a big expense for the bossman.
The gps-tracker also keeps an eye on the fuel, so an office bod gets an alarm if somebody dips into the tanks, which means it’s not the drivers problem if and when any fuel gets stolen. As for the cargo we don’t carry anything worth nicking and any damage to the load is covered by the company. As is the damage to the equipment, if it doesn’t happen too often.
Our terms are good, but thanks to some fiddling with the taxes my future pension or possible sick pay will be based on a monthly salary of only €400, which is low compared to some other firms. But I am guessing that the age for retirement will be around 110 in 30 years when I’ll be 63, so no too fussed about it
Thank you very much for sharing info…
Maybe it’ll be useful for someon eelse, not only me.
By the way, some companies in UK also demand drivers to change wheels
Re Lithuanian company… There’s one in Rainham Essex wants Drivers…As says Language… ROMANIAN…what indigenous man speaks Romanian.Thats why I. voted out had enough of the EU and it’s rules and commie block drivers doing sabotage.■■■■ was taken out of us that’s why we’re willing to take whatever pain so that we control our borders and,be selective who we let in
milodon:
While my wage is nothing to write home about, its not a big secret either - I work four weeks on, two weeks off and for that I receive €2400. The key is in the fact that for the two weeks off(or four, or six as I’m taking next week) I get paid nothing. I could change my employer tomorrow and get a hike to €2700-2800 but I won’t even do occasional nights and/or fridges so I’m happy where I am, for now.
The money is for a month or for every six weeks? If it is what you get in your bank account every month, then you would’t have much more working for the average norwegian company.
You run mountains so probably nothing much you can save there?
