HGV1 Driver Earnings

To be honest all this overtime stuff makes it sound a lot better than it is.

You too can earn £32k - if you do 60 hour weeks! Great. If you are going to do that then why not do an office job and an evening job and earn the same.
 
[TW]Fox;15851181 said:
You too can earn £32k - if you do 60 hour weeks! Great. If you are going to do that then why not do an office job and an evening job and earn the same.
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Because overtime is more limited in office jobs compared to drivers, or so it seems.
 
[TW]Fox;15851181 said:
To be honest all this overtime stuff makes it sound a lot better than it is.

You too can earn £32k - if you do 60 hour weeks! Great. If you are going to do that then why not do an office job and an evening job and earn the same.
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Exactly my point, it seems a lot of people have trouble reading between the lines with it :(
 
[TW]Fox;15848812 said:
There is a guy on here who works for Eddie Stobart and says he gets paid £6.50-£7.50 an hour.
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christ almighty i get paid more than that for being a "team leader" at tesco. :eek:

and to think i was going to try moving into Lorry driving! (sick of tesco/retail) :(
 
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it depends who you work for who you are going to work for I should say, and what type of loads your looking at tanker particularly if carry nasty stuff you should get paid more.
 
Jez said:
Given that a person whom actually does this for a living has divulged his hourly rate right here, i don't think so. That is not much different to the hourly rate to that of an office admin (or even higher end retail).
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I have to agree. I got more p/h as a retail bitch at PC World when I was 18.

I would however, love to have a go driving one :p.
 
Jez said:
Exactly my point, it seems a lot of people have trouble reading between the lines with it :(
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So you are actually arguing that office admin assistants earn 22 - 25k a year?

I don't think I've ever seen an advert for more than 14 - 15k and I'd say most have been lower. I don't tend to go out looking for office admin job ads though.
 
I am not likely to be getting touchy about a conversation as unimportant to me as lorry driver salaries. The point is correct and something i still do not understand, at the low end it is an awfully convoluted way to earn a living.
 
Jez said:
I am not likely to be getting touchy about a conversation as unimportant to me as lorry driver salaries. The point is correct and something i still do not understand, at the low end it is an awfully convoluted way to earn a living.
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Some people enjoy it and would go mental in an office.
Also two jobs is not great. One job with overtime is much better, can take it as and when you please.

Although I agree those wages do suck and I was earning more doing part time jobs at school.
 
I use to drive tankers on a self employed basis -£900 -1000 per week, before tax.
Other jobs 4 days £500 - 625 per week before tax.

My mate was saying after getting soaked and frozen one day, there's a lot to be said about driving... Music, scenery, comfort, cruise control, heat or air con...lol
 
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Cyanide said:
The self employed stuff with DHL gives something stupid like 35p/parcel. No hope of earning any real money, you'd be lucky to break even
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I'm not so sure about those rates.....When I was on tankers, I am the mate of Scubascorpion who used to drive tankers (see first page of thread), a guy on the same shift as me said his wife earned way more than us and all she had was a Vauxhall combo van. :confused:
 
I think some people on here just need to get over the fact that most lorry drivers cannot and do not want to work in office jobs; they find their job more fulfilling and enjoyable.
For similar money you would be filing for other people, data entry and other such boring and mindless tasks.
 
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atpbx said:
wrestling a artic around all day.
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I'd rather "wrestle" as you put it an Artic than a rigid, or a van for that matter....


Bennie-Mac said:
I know if you are brave enough to drive dynamite around in a truck you get 200k+ :)
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And then you woke up? - I know of somebody who does carry explosives and gets about £170k p/a LESS than your quoted figure! - Admittedly, £30k pa for the 30 odd hours per week he does is pretty good.

Jez said:
never a night away? :confused:
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Last year (the £32k I quoted) I did not stay overnight - well I work nights but you get the picture I'm sure - but did not spend my "off time" in the truck once.

I forgot to add that Stobart pay £12.50 per shift as a "Meal allowance" which is tax free and adds to the weekly wage, alas, this is not in Holiday pay. :(

A while back, I got a job as a "Transport Supervisor" managing 30 drivers in a frozen food depot, £28k pa, 9-5 hours and a shirt & tie job. I hated it with a passion and went back to my old employers (SCA Timber) who kept my old job (and Scania!) open for me.I've not once regretted it.

I'd come off the road for £40k but not for what I earn now even if I work a lot of hours for it.

People forget a lot of the time is spent waiting around, some shifts I can easily book 5+ hours of "Periods of availability" - i.e. waiting about plus my break.....

12 hour shift, 6 hours sat reading / watching films / sleeping. Tough eh? ;) :D Ok, its not always like that, far from it tbh, and you never know one shift to the next whats in store for you, it all adds up to the "fun" I guess.
 
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