What job pays more. Lorry driving or Taxi ?

[Greebo]

. Shell truckers get £48,000k as they had a strike about their pay last year.

That is Class 1, ADR qualified drivers though. And yes, if you get your class 1 (44 tonne) and ADR licence your are good for a minimum of £30k. We have class 1 ADR drivers earning £50k per annum no problem.

A company using our yard for parking recently recruited 6 new drivers for driving lgv class 1 ADR gas tankers. £40k per annum, company contibuted pension scheme, good holidays for a 40 hour week (shift work).

 

[Greebo]

I'm not so sure, - I earn £7.10 per/hr before 6PM and £8.10 per/hr after 6PM - I'm a Class 1 driver.

.

That's appauling rates. We were paying our class 1 drivers £8.50 per hour daytime 6 years ago

 

[MarkDavis]

There's little or no money in mini-cabbing. The competition is ferocious and there are fair number of unlicensed cabs or licencsed minicabs trying to pick up passing trade when they shouldn't be. Don't bother unless there really is nothing else out there or you're looking for just a bit of part-time work.

London black cabbies definitely make noticeably more - around £23k+ based on a 40-50 hour week according to the Guardian in 2002:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2002/nov/10/wageslaves.careers
Not sure how that adjusts for inflation and any increases in competition / congestion etc.

As for lorry drivers, it depends on what type of driving. I used to work a well known drinks company which obviously has a retail distribution channel. From memory, their drivers used to earn around £25k-£30k plus benefits depending on the type of driving / route / shift etc. The role would also involve some loading / unloading as well.

Salaries / earnings for all those jobs vary with geography and the type of company you're working for.

 

[Hotwired]

get the rest of the day off though (I would imagine)

I think I've heard that you get pulled from the job if you have X many people suicide on your train...

Selfish way to go in my opinion. Must be dying for attention (hey a pun).

 

[Django x2]

Thing about Long Haul is they don't often get to spend the money they earn!

 

[manoz]

Foot Rickshaw

 

[Scania]

That's appalling rates. We were paying our class 1 drivers £8.50 per hour daytime 6 years ago

To be fair, we do get £12.50 per shift as a tax free "meal allowance" which bumps it up a bit.

To put it in perspective, I now earn less per hour driving a 44ton Artic than I did driving a Ford Fiesta Van 12 years ago!

 

[[TW]Fox]

So why do it?

 

[bullit in head]

Hopefully Derby EMCC one day...

I'll see you there then.

holy thread hijack....... now back to scheduled viewing


bullit

 

[Scania]

So why do it?

(Assuming this is directed toward me....)

I do it because its my profession! - And having driven for a living for about 18 years now, I can't honestly see myself staying sane if I did much else. Despite the increasing rules & regulations that are slowly killing the job, I can't think of many other jobs that give you the same degree of freedom (so long as you do the required work).

Sure, I could probably get a bit more per hour if I tried to get another job although in the current economic climate, thats not as easy as it once was.

Lots of people from Eastern Europe willing to drive for the minimum wage has not helped the rates of pay either.

On the plus side, I work for an excellent employer who insist everything (and I mean everything) is done by the book, which protects their reputation as well as my licence and I get to drive decent well maintained kit.

I could go back to agency work which does pay more per hour, but, theres no job security.

I'm currently guaranteed 50 hours regardless of what I actually work (usually considerably more) agency work can mean busy one week, flat the next. Ultimately, this is why I stopped working for Culina Logistics and joined James Irlam (who eventually were taken over by Stobart).

Whilst I bemoan the current rates of pay, I'm still happy in my job and still feel that you can work a lot harder to earn less in many jobs.

Also, I guess I'm a confirmed "Lorryist" when I first started driving, I used to look at a big Scania artic from the seat of whatever shed I was in and think "I'd happily pay to get a drive of that!" these days, I'm in my said Scania which is usually near as damnit brand new yet I get paid for hooning around in it! result!

Bottom line, if you must drive for a living, imo, its far nicer to spend 9+ hours driving a Scania than a Fiesta. And, back to the OP, I still feel that its a better job than driving a Taxi and more than likely, better paid.

 

[breman1972]

Coach driver - £9.40/hr with extra .50p/hr after 10pm, with overtime rate as well.

With all the tips we (sometimes) get and about 50hrs a week dont work out that bad, I always have a pocket full of change.

Agree about all the rules and regs getting in the way now though, It is getting harder, But who has about 6 hrs free time per day, whilst getting paid?

 

[leoncc]

I'll see you there then.

holy thread hijack....... now back to scheduled viewing


bullit

You work there now bullit?

 

[bullit in head]

yep....But I work Down stairs in the windowless room.....I very occasionally manage to break out to the signalling floor.... just for someone to talk to...


bullit

 

[Glaucus]

very much depends where you live, what taxi licenses you can get(ie areas, councils limit you to certain areas).
And with councils giving out more taxi licenses and less people going to eh pub/restrauns. Some taxi drivers are finding it hard. Or at least in Bristol.

 

[[TW]Fox]

On the plus side, I work for an excellent employer who insist everything (and I mean everything) is done by the book,

Not everything - some of the roadcraft exhibited by a couple of Stobart trucks on the M1 last night was really bad. Have to say though its the first time I've seen them driven badly, usually Stobart trucks are well presented and courteously driven.

 

[andyp]

So why do it?

Because he obviously enjoys it, and is happy with his work. Simple as, it's not a difficult concept to grasp at all. Money isn't the be all and end all.

Same as me, driving round in one of these all evening --> http://www.man-mn.co.uk/datapool/mediapool/300/MAN_18.240.pdf

As it happens I get paid more for doing that but it doesn't matter - I provide for my family, and we have some left over to save and spend. I'd rather earn little in a job I enjoy than earn a lot in a job I despise.

On another note, I owe a Stobart driver one massive, massive thank you for saving my bacon last week.

He stopped his truck dead in the middle of the road to give the other HGV trying to overtake him uphill an angle to get back over to the correct side of the road whilst I was barrelling down the hill stood on the brakes waiting for the impact.

Scary stuff.

I've been with my company for just over a year now, mainly doing estate and town work but a large smattering of big A-road work too, so I see the daily dose of retarded driving, usually borne of nothing more than impatience -- but nothing as downright dangerous and inexplicable as trying to overtake another HGV, up a decent incline in the middle of the night on a NSL with another large vehicle lit up like a christmas tree clearly coming the other way.

We had a very nasty fatal accident round our way last year:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/7942601.stm

When I got home that night I just couldn't get it out my head how close I'd come to being involved in another, borne of similar circumstance.

So thank you Mr Stobart Truck Driver Man - I have no idea who you are (wouldn't it be strange if it was our resident trucker!?) but well done on seeing the situation early and reacting accordingly.

 

[chaparral]

Over here in guernsey..lorry drivers get payed around £13 an hour in normal hours 8-5pm etc

 

[Scania]

Not everything - some of the roadcraft exhibited by a couple of Stobart trucks on the M1 last night was really bad. Have to say though its the first time I've seen them driven badly, usually Stobart trucks are well presented and courteously driven.

Had you decided to report them, the incident would be investigated and the drivers would be in hot water.

You don't even need to give a reg number, the trucks are live tracked and it would take a matter of minutes to identify the vehicles involved.

The trucks (assuming they are 08 or newer reg Scanias) , have telemetry that will tell the "office" how the trucks being driven, right down to braking, throttle use etc etc.

Many other hauliers would not give a toss and thats the difference imo.

There's every possibility they were "agency drivers" and possibly foreign ones at that!

You always get bad apples..

Because he obviously enjoys it, and is happy with his work. Simple as, it's not a difficult concept to grasp at all. Money isn't the be all and end all.

Well, more would be nice.... but, thats pretty much it I guess...

So thank you Mr Stobart Truck Driver Man - I have no idea who you are (wouldn't it be strange if it was our resident trucker!?) but well done on seeing the situation early and reacting accordingly.

Not me, but nice to see a positive Stobart comment..... people tend to notice any incidents involving Stobart trucks imo, its hardly difficult to miss them I guess....

 

[Scania]

Double Post.

 

[andyp]

Not me, but nice to see a positive Stobart comment..... people tend to notice any incidents involving Stobart trucks imo, its hardly difficult to miss them I guess....

I see loads of your girls on my nightly travels, one of the services I run on a regular basis takes me straight across the roundabout at the Marr junction of the A1M in Doncaster - there's always a Stobart either on the road or parked up resting in the rest areas.