Well done mate, shows it can be done if you keep your eyes peeled for the right number.
Build5:
M65Chris:
I’ve got 3 kids all under 5 and currently work nights doing RFC work. Easiest job I have ever had, max 4 hours driving, 2 or 3 drops with at most, 10 cages per drop, often just 1.£12ph, and I sleep for at least 2 hours of that.
11pm starts, 7am finish. Home to see kids before schools, then sleep, wake up and see kids in the evening. Relax with the missus and as I leave for work, she goes to bed. I can even watch the football before work!
Currently doing 4 days a week. Could do 5 but 4 works. It’s not all about the money right now and I’m very happy with the balance.
Won’t be doing nights forever and plan to get my class 1 soon, with one eye on doing Class 1 for the same company.
I’m off every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night which I am sure most will agree is pretty ■■■■ good.
And that’s not bad for an unskilled worker. Do you consider yourself unskilled?
Ask yourself how much it would cost you to get a plumber, electrician, locksmith, vehicle locksmith out after 5pm?
£12 an hour…and the rest!
Now do you see why I wouldn’t advise any of my kids to follow me into this “trade” it’s not even being sold as a trade. You’re a body. Nothing more.
I know truckers are worth more.
It seems some of you guys are saying we’re not.
My mates an electrician. Gets paid a bit more, been doing it 15 years. Gets around £35k from the council.
Works close to double the hours I do. Do I need to do the maths for you?
This is something many are confused about.
I’ve mentioned before my brother is a software dev (I’ve been one before myself, though wasn’t for me, which I’ll get into).
He takes home a healthy £45k. Sounds pretty ■■■■ good doesn’t it? So what is he expected to do for that?
Works 9-5… Well, on paper he does but in reality it’s more 7-9/10. Every day. Including when he’s supposed to be on holiday, or the day his son is born… Yes. Why?you might ask. Well it’s simple, things break frequently in software and need to be repaired, immediately. So beyond being a junior developer, any developer will be required to monitor his software at all times and be ready to go in a fix it.
We worked out he averages 74 hours per week. Which gives him a rough hourly rate of £11.70.
Now he could work for a big firm and drop his wage to £28-35k. That’s possible.
You can do this for many high paid professions and the real hourly rate will surprise you. Of course there are some who have it good, often after many years of doing the hard graft, working every waking hour and shaving 10 years off their lives. But for many, high salary jobs come with the addition of being expected to work ridiculous hours.
You will also find many places have an optional WTD, where you can ignore the 48 hour maximum working week. And most do just that.
I am fairly proficient in PHP and SQL, and worked for 2 years as a dev. Started on £22k, after a year bumped to £25k with added responsibility. Got a call on day 3 of my holiday in Gran Caneria back on 2019 because the database had a security bug, which a new client had found. Spent 3 days trying to locate the bug.
No thanks.
Absolutely spotopn M65Chris, salary figure itself means little unless you know the hours and graft involved.
Been saying on these very pages for years now, the only way to compare jobs and wages in our industry is to divide the top line by the number of hours you work, factor in unsocial hours and weekend working and amount of graft required to the calc and also whether the job is enjoyable, forget night out pay because unless you live like a bloody hermit locked inside your own vehicle self catering you’ll spend most of it.
The thing about pay is, yes we all need it, but if the very top pay means becoming a performing clone and there’s no enjoyment or job satisfaction or no pride can be taken in the job, then it becomes a drudge.
Personally i could earn a better top line elsewhere, but i’d not equal my average hourly pay rate (using the above calc) anywhere else unless i went back on the car transporters and then i’d be working infintely harder, and anyway i enjoy my job.
There’s something out there for everyone, and thankfully everyone’s different.
Well said…Couldn’t agree more with both of you.
Lots has happened in the industry it seems since i created this post.
Still interested in starting the training though.
No reason not to give it a whirl if it interests you. I was where you are about 16 or 17 years ago, I can’t say I’ve regretted getting my Class 2 or Class 1 at all. And don’t worry about some of the crappy jobs and situations you read about on TN.
Sure some jobs are horrible, but they’re just motivation to find something else. Truck driving is one of the few occupations where all you need is some experience and a clean(ish) licence, decent attitude, and someone will give you a start. Once you’ve got the all-important experience, you don’t need to put up with a lot of the garbage you hear about on here.
I worked for one firm for eight years, it was pretty decent for most of that, but then a new gaffer came in and it got steadily worse and worse. Then one day I told the cowboy gaffer to stick his job and his “eight weeks notice”. I was working the next week, no worries about a bad reference, no panel of three or four people grilling you (unlike some interviews in other jobs I’ve had). How many jobs/careers can you do that with?
A friend of mine was from a wealthy background when he was young, had every opportunity but tended to squander it - like a lot of spoiled rich kids do - his parents drew a line in the sand and made him get a job - he spent a short while working in retail and quickly realised how much that ■■■■■ and that he’d better get his ■■■■ in gear. Now he’s working in the private sector of scientific research, financially doing very nicely indeed, but he hasn’t forgotten it was a crappy job that made him motivated.
I no longer do nights but do 4 on 4 off. Just had the full bank holiday weekend off.
EaLeft the nights behind and couldn’t be happier. Earn significantly more which will make Build5 happy…
M65Chris:
I no longer do nights but do 4 on 4 off. Just had the full bank holiday weekend off.EaLeft the nights behind and couldn’t be happier. Earn significantly more which will make Build5 happy…
It does make me happy everyone is being paid more. We’re worth it.
Personally not a fan of the 4on 4 off if it’s rolling 7 days. Too much weekend working for zero extra pay. A nice ‘fixed’ 4/4 is definitely something I’d consider though.
Build5:
M65Chris:
I no longer do nights but do 4 on 4 off. Just had the full bank holiday weekend off.EaLeft the nights behind and couldn’t be happier. Earn significantly more which will make Build5 happy…
It does make me happy everyone is being paid more. We’re worth it.
Personally not a fan of the 4on 4 off if it’s rolling 7 days. Too much weekend working for zero extra pay. A nice ‘fixed’ 4/4 is definitely something I’d consider though.
A ‘fixed’ 4/4 rota when a week has 7 days 
. I think you’ll be waiting a long time for that.
As for ‘too much weekend working for zero extra pay’ you make sure that the money on offer compensates for 4 weekends out of 8. It’s really quite simple.
DCPCFML:
Build5:
M65Chris:
I no longer do nights but do 4 on 4 off. Just had the full bank holiday weekend off.EaLeft the nights behind and couldn’t be happier. Earn significantly more which will make Build5 happy…
It does make me happy everyone is being paid more. We’re worth it.
Personally not a fan of the 4on 4 off if it’s rolling 7 days. Too much weekend working for zero extra pay. A nice ‘fixed’ 4/4 is definitely something I’d consider though.
A ‘fixed’ 4/4 rota when a week has 7 days
As for ‘too much weekend working for zero extra pay’ you make sure that the money on offer compensates for 4 weekends out of 8. It’s really quite simple.
You know what, this is the sort of thing CPC should cover. They should cover every shadey, dirty, underhanded, lying bullcrap you’re likely to come across in transport and agencies and how to read between the lines.
It would save so much heartache for drivers and probably for firms as well when a driver does a couple of days and just doesn’t turn in because the penny dropped he’s being worked over.