I used to sit for days waiting for a loaded trailer to be sent out on its own to the port of Ouistreham in France, at least it gave me time to wash the bed sheets and tidy the cab, to start fresh for the next round trip to Portugal or Gibraltar, some drivers shipped over for the night as a foot passenger to see their loved ones, but that was only handy if you lived near the port in Pompey.
A lot of firms had open accounts with Brittany Ferries, so you could just jump on and get a free meal then, and a shower too.
A quick phone call to the boss to get it authorised, then on you go.
This is the biggest problem facing the haulage industry but most employers tend to ignore the anti social/family aspects, do what I did tipper driving 06.00-16.00 most days sometimes less also better money,I know you will be looked down by the “big artic boys” but so what!!,have O/D for over 35 years.I hope you get things sorted out as your deserve it.
What about the drivers that arrive too late at a depot on a friday night to be told come back on a monday morning, that happened a lot in Europe, find a beach and some free parking.
Skip driving is not bad , earlyish start and done by 4 , plenty of time for the Mrs an kids an weekends were optional when I did it.
Go on agency,and tell them when you wanna work…rather than the other way round…
There’s plenty of work in your area(especially this time of year)…build up a good reputation,and you’ll easily match what you earn at stobarts.
Im pretty lucky im mon-fri finished by about 16.00 everyday only thing is the early starts. Weekends are optional for a bit of o/t. We don’t have a lot of rdc’s because our sister depot do most of that while we do all the wholesale and their start and finish times are seriously ■■■■■■ up cause of these mental booking in times.
what did you do before driving?
My dad was ill for a long time before he died and we had a good few heart to heart conversations.
He was a grafter and worked three shifts on a local factory and also did painting and decorating around his shifts. He paid off the mortgage in half the time it should have taken.
When I asked him had he got any regrets he said only one - ’ I never saw enough of you when you were kids - I should have watched you grow up and let the mortgage look after itself’
Wise words from a dying man
davidj247:
My dad was ill for a long time before he died and we had a good few heart to heart conversations.
He was a grafter and worked three shifts on a local factory and also did painting and decorating around his shifts. He paid off the mortgage in half the time it should have taken.
When I asked him had he got any regrets he said only one - ’ I never saw enough of you when you were kids - I should have watched you grow up and let the mortgage look after itself’
Wise words from a dying man
On the other hand, maybe he did the best he could with the cards he was dealt, and provided for his family as men of that generation were taught, and none the worse for that.
Sounds like a good man to me, i hope you’re justly proud to be his son…i am of my father, who similarly provided as best he could and kept us safe and fed and watered and instilled similar values which continue in my son.
the job has always been my top priority but now i am changing my priorities with someone new on the horizon. getting older and wiser so she will come first although i am taking a leaf from my mates book. saturday night and sunday is their time together and thats just how it is no matter how much money is offered.
i used to work every weekend but now i am keeping saturday nights free. i make plenty by working sunday night anyway so that is her night whether we meet up or not. consistency seems to be the key
Showed the wife this as we used to have problems, usually when I was on night shift.
She said she eventually realised that I was making more money than before so she put herself in my shoes and imagined doing 15 hour shifts, sleeping in a bunk in a truck, working weekends and all sorts of different shifts.
Then she asked herself what it would be like to come home to someone nagging and complaining, so she decided to get up off her arse and take the slack.
If I could do these things then she could increase her input and since then its been fine, in fact seeing less of each other has helped. lol
I posted in a thread a few months ago warning a guy with a family not to take permanent night shift, how can you have a normal life when you live in a different timezone.
There is no set rule about this work/life balance, every individual is different and every relationship is individual to those two different people.
You have to be wanting the same things from life, if a bit of strain from excess or peculiar hours is going to cause a split, (when you are both presumably working towards raising a family and paying your house off all at once), then the relationship isn’t strong enough to survive any of lives serious turmoils anyway.
Following an earlier post on this thread…this work life balance thing by working all hours the good Lord sends for a very average wage does highlight the importance of not helping a ruthless employer to cut pay and change hard earned and long fought for contracts.
take the missus with you. take the kids now and again.
if the firm you’re on for don’t allow this, then they arn’t worth working for.
the job is what you make it.
I was talking to some of the drivers at my place about this subject and I believe It’s one of the reasons why the average age of commercial drivers is so high.
Goods are moved around 24\7 which was not the case 20 or so years ago, there were some jobs that required night working but on a fraction of the scale we see today, in 1990 I worked for a large firm in Newport and I was the only night driver, running coil up to the midlands, in the early hours the M5 would be virtually deserted now it can get quite busy at night.
Those with young children and both parents working full time are going to face a tough time with the silly start times and long hours, there were loads of young drivers when I started because most firms worked during the day and were closed on the weekend with maybe running in on Saturday or a bit of loading or a local.
We have very few drivers with young families at my place the one’s we do have are constantly tired and always looking to change their start times, how can starting at 00.00 and getting home at 11.00-13.00 hrs be any good for family life, school run get home at around 4 bit of time with the children something to eat, bed at 6 up again 5 hours later for another stint.
I did it for 8 months on the 00.00-04.00 start time and my children are teenagers and it was pure hell, definitely not a job for young family men.
Think it takes a lot of the woman as well & a certain type of woman at that to put up with the hours & start times away all week while they are at home etc
have to be very strong minded as well as a lot of trust on both parts be able to talk thing through good communication easier now we have mobile phones easy internet access
stevieboy308:
what did you do before driving?
I used to work in the construction industry. Highways to be specific. Loved the job but there was no money in it. I came into this job pretty blind and naive. Yes, I love the job, but it certainly isn’t helping at home.
Fileep:
Have you tried adjusting your routine to fit in with your shift so you’re not as tired? When I did nights I came home and straight to bed, have 6 hours kip then up, waiting for another 5 or 6 hours before I had to go to work again! I soon worked out that if I stayed up and went to bed later and then got up an hour or so before my shift then I was alot less tired. That way you’re fresher for your shift and can do stuff when you get in! Just a thought.
I currently get home, between 12.00 & 13:00 then go to bed approx 16.30-17.00 and get up around 22.00. If i did this the other way round and went to bed when i got in, I wouldnt be getting up till 18.00-19-00. kids go to be at 19.30. so i dont feel i would be any better off.
It certainly does put a lot of strain on the wife. She has to do everything in the house at the minute. kids, housework, part time job too. I can understand why she has had enough, I just cant seem to do owt about it. I do the odd bit of tidying up still, just not as much as I should, and used too.
Thank you for all the replies so far, seems its a common thing with this start time.
you’d be better off tramping. more sleep, safer on the road, and you can enjoy your days off rather than recouperating.
haribo4000:
stevieboy308:
what did you do before driving?I used to work in the construction industry. Highways to be specific. Loved the job but there was no money in it. I came into this job pretty blind and naive. Yes, I love the job, but it certainly isn’t helping at home.
Fileep:
Have you tried adjusting your routine to fit in with your shift so you’re not as tired? When I did nights I came home and straight to bed, have 6 hours kip then up, waiting for another 5 or 6 hours before I had to go to work again! I soon worked out that if I stayed up and went to bed later and then got up an hour or so before my shift then I was alot less tired. That way you’re fresher for your shift and can do stuff when you get in! Just a thought.I currently get home, between 12.00 & 13:00 then go to bed approx 16.30-17.00 and get up around 22.00. If i did this the other way round and went to bed when i got in, I wouldnt be getting up till 18.00-19-00. kids go to be at 19.30. so i dont feel i would be any better off.
It certainly does put a lot of strain on the wife. She has to do everything in the house at the minute. kids, housework, part time job too. I can understand why she has had enough, I just cant seem to do owt about it. I do the odd bit of tidying up still, just not as much as I should, and used too.
Thank you for all the replies so far, seems its a common thing with this start time.
When I was married he worked night ( RMN ) I worked full time 2 young kids I done everything including service the car
tell yer missus to stop whinging cos you aint got time to listen to her cos you gotta get up to donny and break the strike that these drivers are having about unsociable hours etc 
i think your quote to them was wake up and smell the coffee
haribo4000:
I currently get home, between 12.00 & 13:00 then go to bed approx 16.30-17.00 and get up around 22.00.Thank you for all the replies so far, seems its a common thing with this start time.
As limeyphil said doing long hours together with home every day/night jobs are a liability.I could see the writing was on the wall for night trunking years ago as the hours were gradually getting longer.The best night trunk jobs were in the days of long distance direct links,no limiters,and job and finish.Start at around 20.00 usually finished by 05.00 sometimes earlier and no traffic to drive through to get home.Then a good sleep between around 06.00 to 15.00 sometimes later.5 hours sleep mixed with driving is a liability and it’s not just the arguments with the wife that you need to worry about with that amount of sleep between shifts.