Becoming a lorry driver
- Thread starter GlasgowTitan
- Start date
I drive a 32 tonne tipper, cant say its a bad job, in fact its the easiest job ive ever had!! agreed with the rest the hours arnt too good im up at 430am 6 days a week and normally walking in home at about 530-6 ish apart from saturdays which i get finished at 130. Only bad thing about my job is i have to change my own wheels in the event of a puncture which happens more times than you would want but cant be helped when your going onto some bad tipping sites getting stuck down to your axles in muck! all good fun tho bit of a different ball game from just driving on the roads all the time, not very often you get 32 tonnes sliding sideways but it certainly opens your eyes!
Money is good, we get a topline of £585 a week not too good when you work it out by the hour, but like i said before its such an easy job get loaded by a 360 digger, got a weighing machine on board so we dont go overloaded take it to a tipping site, pop the pins at the back push a leaver in the cab the body raises and tips out the muck/waste out the body, couldnt be easier! clean the back door secure the pins in place go to next job
Driving is not a bad job tbh i can think of many more crappy jobs that you could do, just remember, whilst your on the road your your own boss to stop where you want when you want which is better than having someone breathing down your neck every other hour
Money is good, we get a topline of £585 a week not too good when you work it out by the hour, but like i said before its such an easy job get loaded by a 360 digger, got a weighing machine on board so we dont go overloaded take it to a tipping site, pop the pins at the back push a leaver in the cab the body raises and tips out the muck/waste out the body, couldnt be easier! clean the back door secure the pins in place go to next job
Driving is not a bad job tbh i can think of many more crappy jobs that you could do, just remember, whilst your on the road your your own boss to stop where you want when you want which is better than having someone breathing down your neck every other hour
Gammo, while it sounds easy £585 per week for 70 hour+ week works out to no more than around £7 per hour.
So yeah might be easy work, but then you are getting paid easy work money.
I'd think long and hard about this as a career choice for the OP, to me it sounds like a LOT of work for little outcome, but then i am a very money orientated kind of person when it comes to work, i am constantly striving to earn as much as humanely possible, for the least amount of my time. A lot of people dont see it quite so black and white as i do.
So yeah might be easy work, but then you are getting paid easy work money.
I'd think long and hard about this as a career choice for the OP, to me it sounds like a LOT of work for little outcome, but then i am a very money orientated kind of person when it comes to work, i am constantly striving to earn as much as humanely possible, for the least amount of my time. A lot of people dont see it quite so black and white as i do.
When you take out the fact of i get up early to travel to work i dont normaly start until 630am and im normaly left the yard by 5 sometime earlier my hourly rate isnt that bad, sry should have made my start and finish time a bit clearer i always get up early to avoid traffic and do my lunch my own stupid fault for not making things clear 
if i lived closer to my job i could easily cut my working hour day down but its not always that easy just to up and move.
Sry for not making myself clear
if i lived closer to my job i could easily cut my working hour day down but its not always that easy just to up and move. Sry for not making myself clear
R124/LA420 said:Its a great jobif you don't mind none of the above and know the tachograph legislation inside out, so, you don't get prosecuted by that "spy in the cab".................
Always reminds me of my old fellas mate in the 'force'. He used to get a lift from a lorry driver every morning to the local nick to log-in. Happened for a good few years, then one day he asked to see the guys tacho disc, found it was invalid (cant remember if it was speed or too many hours!) and promptly did him for it! Needless to say he never got a lift again, plus he copped some right **** from my old fella and all his colleagues for doing it!
Caporegime
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kefkef said:
Yup, sounds like a right w***** to me!!!
Deserves a kicking rather than a non-lift
JediFragger said:
I'll agree 500000000% with you there! He used to hide in the local bus shelter aiming his 'Ray-gun' out of the tiny slit in the side! He was the only copper i ever knew who was proud he hit his 'quota' for the day in the first hour of his shift.
/edit: Yep, he did get a kicking on a few occasions! Strange how the local CID never really put their heart into the investigation and found out who did it (mind you, his 'no one is above the law' attitude, and handing out parking/speeding tickets to the bobbies locally might have had some effect n this)
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Caporegime
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R124/LA420 said:Part timer!
Normally (I'm off this week) I'm up @ 3:15 for my 4AM start and I'll be back in the yard about 6PM - if I'm back that night that is.
I dont mind getting just over 30k a year for a bit of part time work
no way would i do nights out either I know very little about this profession, but have always liked lorries for some reason (had a truck stop of all sorts when I was little) and know a few drivers/managers.
What about approaching a respectable haulage company and asking for a 'work experience' equivalent and spend a couple of days with someone to see if you like it (assuming the company don't have insurance issues). I would say Eddie Stobart, but I heard they relocated their base to Europe for cheaper diesel, and run rigs with huge tanks coming across here.
I did drive a Peterbilt 3 trailer road-train in the Northern Territory, Australia (hitched a lift from NSW to NT) only for a few miles - but it was amazing, as were the cabs. The drivers have games of how many kangerooo's they run over, seem avid talking book fan's, and all are high on something, typically speed (even get asked in interviews on what they use to stay awake!).
I would say that if your a family man, not to follow this career though, as you're away from home for ages.
What about approaching a respectable haulage company and asking for a 'work experience' equivalent and spend a couple of days with someone to see if you like it (assuming the company don't have insurance issues). I would say Eddie Stobart, but I heard they relocated their base to Europe for cheaper diesel, and run rigs with huge tanks coming across here.
I did drive a Peterbilt 3 trailer road-train in the Northern Territory, Australia (hitched a lift from NSW to NT) only for a few miles - but it was amazing, as were the cabs. The drivers have games of how many kangerooo's they run over, seem avid talking book fan's, and all are high on something, typically speed (even get asked in interviews on what they use to stay awake!).
I would say that if your a family man, not to follow this career though, as you're away from home for ages.
Soldato
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just to add light to this... asda is 22k per year based on 50 hour week + OT rate/allowance. this is with no nights out which you get paid for if you do.
easiest job in the world has been bandied about more than once with asda drivers. and seeing as i give them the work i can see why....
some drivers cap themselves to earn less than 40k which is where tax goes up i think.
another way is self employed and he was on 60k a year mknus expenses for 3 days a week to holland and back.
easiest job in the world has been bandied about more than once with asda drivers.
and seeing as i give them the work i can see why.... some drivers cap themselves to earn less than 40k which is where tax goes up i think.
another way is self employed and he was on 60k a year mknus expenses for 3 days a week to holland and back.