HGV1 Driver Earnings

R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
I'd rather "wrestle" as you put it an Artic than a rigid, or a van for that matter....




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.



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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At last a sensible answer , thx R420LA6X2 . So what your saying is working nights 30k is achievable ?
 
I agree with the chap above.

It's stress free, and suits me fine.

Last week I did:

20 hours of driving (in a very comfortable air cushioned multi adjustable seat)
11 hours of POA (mostly sleeping in a fairly comfy bunk with the night heater on and a CD playing)
16 hours of other work (daily checks, opening and closing curtains, queuing to get tipped or loaded etc)
3 hours and 45 minutes of legally required breaks

I earned £470 before tax.

A pittance to some of you but after doing the multidrop stuff in 7.5 tonners and vans etc this is a breeze.
 
Bald-Eagle22 said:
At last a sensible answer , thx R420LA6X2 . So what your saying is working nights 30k is achievable ?
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Probably, but:

Factor in the costs of getting the licence:

Medical
Theory Test (now in 2 parts)
Cat C course and test
Cat C+E course and test
Driver CPC required by all newly qualified drivers since last September I think.

Even if you passed everything 1st time that is at least a couple of grand maybe three.

Then whilst we are still in recession you may struggle to get a break since a lot of companies will not employ newly qualified drivers.
 
been driving Artics for 21 years now. I was in a good job till Eddiegocarts moved in. I now do day work with no nights out and im on about 26k for the year.
 
Bald-Eagle22 said:
At last a sensible answer , thx R420LA6X2 . So what your saying is working nights 30k is achievable ?
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Not often my answers are described thus! lol :D - Your welcome.

In a nutshell, if you don't mind an average 5 shift week involving 60+ hours (bearing in mind what I said about waiting times etc) then its easily achievable.

No guarantee of the hours though (I'm guaranteed 50 hours per week, anything extra is overtime) this week for example, I have averaged 10 hours per shift, with last nights being 13 hours....

As alluded to by another post, long hours, but you get paid to sit in Air conditioned comfort (I'd far rather drive 500miles in my truck than my car!) and I can think of harder ways to earn £30k+

Its very much a "Marmite" job, it suits some, not others. Very much a way of life rather than a regular 9-5 setup. Some handle it, some don't.

My intention is to go international this Summer, 14years of driving around the UK has not seen the roads get any quieter.


Hodge said:
been driving Artics for 21 years now. I was in a good job till Eddiegocarts moved in. I now do day work with no nights out and im on about 26k for the year.
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People always bash Stobart don't they? - I worked for James Irlam previously, Stobart took them over and thats how I found myself working where I do.

Think what you like about them,but in my experience, I'm no longer expected to "push my hours" , go down the road with a vehicle defect and I drive a truck thats less than 3 years old.

a lot of the ex-Irlam drivers (and many others) hate ESL with a passion, to be fair to them, I've driven for a lot worse.

Imo, the flood of european hauliers & drivers is whats killing UK haulage, not the likes of Stobart.
 
Overlag said:
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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Wahey! Roneo Corner? I'll be seeing YOU later sir!

Tefal...Hey TEFAL..... get a camera!
 
=VTA=MANFACE said:
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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HI manface, could you contact me regarding Scotty Wilson.
[email protected] jimmy ex 3 para
 
Richie said:
How much does mutli-drop pay on average out of interest ??

The likes of TNT/Parcel Force etc etc
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I've worked for parcel force on the books (not subcontracting) for 3 years. It's about £25k pa, I don't work any weekends or nights. Start at 7am and finish at 5 generally although if its busy sometimes 6. However I'm in city centre all day so if I need to do some shopping, get my hair cut etc I do it whilst at work on a break. So my evenings and weekends are to myself, I have no boss watching my every move I just get on with my job. I get a brand new Merc Sprinter every year so not driving a grotty old van or anything. I work for a big company so while all my mates were getting made redundant over the last year there was never a worry and I get a great pension. Edit: also unlike lorry driving i'm running about carrying heavy parcels all day so manage to keep fit considering the crap food and amount of alcohol I drink.

The subcontracting drivers at our place can earn a fair wack when its busy but not worth the hassle IMO of when its not. You get fined for parcels you don't deliver and you have to deliver whatever they give you. So you could get 200 deliveries and either have to pay someone else to help you or you could get 30 and not break even with van rental fuel etc. Also no sick leave or holidays, you want a holiday? You have to pay someone to do it for you. Although whoever mentioned 35p a parcel is way off mark, when its busy he's taking £1000+ a week although obviously van, insurance and tax at end of year has to be paid out of that.
 
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Isn't it ruined these days with health and safety boff's covering every little thing? Having hundreds of checks all the time and the likes of?

My mate told me that and he is a lorry driver.

ags
 
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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Not quite that bad, it was £1.40 a STOP when I was there, plus various enhanced payments for timed services and collections.
Where as every other carrier payed by the the con.

So you can imagine the difference in earnings from say, when I was with ANC delivering 150+ consignments to say, 70 odd addresses, to going to DHL and delivering a 100+ stops for £1.40 each.

I would rattle off 15-20 drops and hour on the industrial estates, and an average of 12 on the residential, used to leave the yard at 07.30, and be done delivering by 1430-1500.
 
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atpbx said:
Not quite that bad, it was £1.40 a STOP when I was there, plus various enhanced payments for timed services and collections.
Where as every other carrier payed by the the con.

So you can imagine the difference in earnings from say, when I was with ANC delivering 150+ consignments to say, 70 odd addresses, to going to DHL and delivering a 100+ stops for £1.40 each.
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When were you there? I had an interview with DHL last week and was told 35p/drop and to expect 10-20 drops a day for the first couple of months. Needless to say I turned it down!
 
Cyanide said:
When were you there? I had an interview with DHL last week and was told 35p/drop and to expect 10-20 drops a day for the first couple of months. Needless to say I turned it down!
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Becuase you were most likely not being interviewed for a van route, more than likely you were being interviewed with regards to being a "tart in a sierra" on a DHL at home route.
 
Cyanide said:
When were you there? I had an interview with DHL last week and was told 35p/drop and to expect 10-20 drops a day for the first couple of months. Needless to say I turned it down!
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:confused:

Very odd all the self-employed at our place are £1.30 - £1.60 a stop (depending on how far their area is from depot) + 35p for every extra parcel in the consignment. And even when its quiet they will get 60 drops minimum.
 
AcidHell2 said:
Some people enjoy it and would go mental in an office.
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This and some more this. I personally couldnt sit in an office enviroment 9-5, would drive me crazy after a week. Same thing day in and day out. I work for Tesco delivering peoples shopping and I thoroughly enjoy my job, no day is the same and so long as you do your job you get little in the way of hassle from management. It can be a chore at times and is fairly hefty (860kg load max being shifted 5 times a day if your lucky :D ) work but for me atleast I work with good people and its always a laugh. Pay could be abit better, just over £7ph but all the benefits of working for Tesco and a fairly good supply of overtime can easily make it up.
 
I work for a flooring distributor and we pay our multidrop drivers 20k (some hgv others just out in 7.5 ton), Thats on a job and finish basis, they start anytime from 7-8.30 am go out and do anything from 12-20 drops, when they get back they can go home, i think 40k said by OP is a bit optimistic tbh.
 
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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What you've forgotten about, mate, I that typically it takes a certain type of person to become a truck driver.....and typically those people couldn't earn better saleries in any other job.
I'm not aware of any other career where the gap between the worst employer/salary and the best employer/salary is anywhere near as wide as it is in transport.
 
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