If you want to home every night, factor in the commuting time.
The law allows shifts of 15 hours with 9 hours off.
For example you finish work at 21.00 and in the next day at 06.00.
Maybe an hour commute each way, home at 22.00.
Eat, shower, in bed at 23.00, don’t sleep well,maybe a few hours.
Wake up 04.00 Am,wash, breakfast.
Then drive for 10 hours, with a 15 hour day.
To save the car petrol, tramping is a viable option, with pay for nights out.
30k and home every night is achievable even in my neck of the woods which is a crap area pay wise, but you probably wont be doing 8 hour days to get it.
You can see from some of the posts above that driving isn’t for everyone, but if you can put up with the (possibly) crap jobs you might be offered initially then most people with a bit of sense and a half decent attitude can find a job that suits them.
Eager beaver mentioned construction jobs, I did not think that it was a troll post.
He has made a valid point, the government have plans for more housing.
Then there is Hinckley Point nuclear power station construction near Bridgwater.
Runway expansion to Lgw or Lhr, as UK airports are 20 years behind the times of the rest of the world.
More smart motorway works that take years to finish,M3 , due to rare crested spotted newts, seen by yoghurt making, woolly jumper wearing goody two shoes, stop the road loony brigade, badger lovers.
Electricians, plumbers, engineers and carpenter’s , all have shiny new vans and earn good money.
Once trained, get a visa to work anywhere in the world.
The general public hate trucks, have no clue about the industry.
Beetlejuice:
ROG:
Beetlejuice:
For the first year you will feel completely deflated .Why?Well you read that the UK has a driver shortage? ,And here you are.It is not true about a shortage of drivers .it is hogwash,Good companies are the rarety believe me …You will pass the tests then face many many rejections .No two years blah blah .no experience blah blah .I’m sure it is all designed to get you down and belittle you into the minimum wages joke that is Trucking.
Good luck pal ,You will need rhinos skin aswellThat is not the experience for all especially for those that are more pro-active in finding work such as going to companies early in the morning and giving CVs by hand to the TMs along with work gear in the boot of the car just in case they say we need you now !
Sorry but this is 2017 ,Do you mean more proactice in taking minimum wages ? And that is my experience having had a lot of jobs in my first twelve months .And I am 150% pro active pal.Haulage is a minefield full of tossers
kcrussell25:
So are you saying that you were a new pass who expected to walk straight into one of the better jobs right off? It seems to sound like that to me
Beetlejuice:
I walked straight into a well payed job .And have also worked for a few low payed tossers ,As stated .Your happy on £8.50 o
Ph good lad well done .
Would you please quote my FULL post and highlight where I said I was happy on £8.50?
I said that I was happy on £33,500 and gave an example as how it works both ways with the hours. Today is going to be another 10 hour day so is turning into a good week.
Last week I put in a time sheet with 58 hours (including breaks) for a top line basic of about 645. I openly say I am happy with that. I am a new pass with no experience. They put another driver with me for 2 weeks and as said before I am not chased or hassled. Even if I use it for nothing more than experience the job is good as starts go compared to some.
If you walked into a well paid job why did you leave? If you got through as many jobs as it sounds I do have to wonder if its the jobs or you? “Good lad”
I must admit for any new driver,Most night shifts pay well .Just prepare for closures .
Good luck if you do it mate .
eagerbeaver:
Don’t bother mate. Housing shortage and HS2 means that the construction game is what you need to get into.Heavy plant machinery; Excavators, diggers, bulldozers etc. £20 per hour Mon-Fri 35 hrs per week and home every night.
Truck driving is no good. The money is crap, the facilities are crap, and the vast majority of people in the industry are crap too. DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY LIKE I DID. GET INTO CONSTRUCTION
You are right about the rates on Plant ,well agency rates anyway, full time not so much. Pretty much the same as on the lorries but 35hrs?!? Maybe if you work for a local company if you get on something like a big muckshift you could be looking at 7 days a week possibly 16 hour days (no tacho’s on plant) going like stink to get the work done.
From my own experience you can do your 45hrs ON SITE but there’s the travelling to and from which can be a good few hours even more if the roads are screwed, usually on a friday as well.
There are good points though no drivers hours rules, not many cyclists but its probably no different from driving or most jobs really people will always want more money better hours etc there’s the same gripes everywhere i reckon.
Ro-ro skips or builders merchants seem like a good fit to you, but you’ll be flat out from start to finish.
I don’t know much about day work to be honest, as I wanted to and did go tramping right away.
Factor in newbie time to begin with as well - you will take much longer to do the same amount of work as experienced drivers do. You’ll just have to ■■■■ that up, the only way to get faster is with experience and I don’t mean driving faster, it’s all the other bits.
If you want to drive lorries for the money, you’ll have a bad time. If you want to be a lorry driver, you’ll more likely find your niche in time.
slowlane:
If you want to drive lorries for the money, you’ll have a bad time. If you want to be a lorry driver, you’ll more likely find your niche in time.
Thats one of the most sensible lines i’ve ever seen written here, pertinent post too 
It can take years before you crack the big money, for many it will ever happen.
Juddian:
slowlane:
If you want to drive lorries for the money, you’ll have a bad time. If you want to be a lorry driver, you’ll more likely find your niche in time.Thats one of the most sensible lines i’ve ever seen written here, pertinent post too
It can take years before you crack the big money, for many it will ever happen.
Amen.
Sent from my mobile, sat on a terrace drinking a well chilled Muscadet, watching the sun set behind the truck park. Dinner soon. Found my little niche anyway. [emoji2]
Cheers Franglais, i raise a salute to you with a cold bottle of Sol, here at home in the bosom of me little family sat on me arse surrounded by three bonkers dogs beside a woman who thinks the sun shines out of said arse 
Ive been driving just over a year now. Started out on pallet network and earning minimum wage per hour, and working ■■■■■■■ hard for that money! Just started my second job a few weeks ago and its nights(Which I always said I would never go back to 
), on £12.30 an hour and its fridge work. Easier job and hell of a lot better pay every week. Plus im actually enjoying nights. Like above, nights there are always closures on routes including last night when a tree had come down and police shut the road.
ItsJoe:
eagerbeaver:
Don’t bother mate. Housing shortage and HS2 means that the construction game is what you need to get into.Heavy plant machinery; Excavators, diggers, bulldozers etc. £20 per hour Mon-Fri 35 hrs per week and home every night.
Truck driving is no good. The money is crap, the facilities are crap, and the vast majority of people in the industry are crap too. DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY LIKE I DID. GET INTO CONSTRUCTION
Can we keep the trolling out of here please?
[/quote]Am assuming because you didnt like his reply then it must be trolling??
[zb] next time i feel like voicing an opinion ill run it by you first CHIEF
Eagerbeaver has a jaded opinion of the haulage industry, maybe justifiably from his experiences and he is right there are loads of crap jobs out there. But like others have said there are good jobs out there, but you have to go out and find them and you’ll also need a bit of luck. Your niche might be different to mine, but I’ve found a niche where I get well paid get to go to interesting places, work with some great people who do treat me properly, but I’m away a lot and for long periods and there can be a fair bit of physical graft, which I do understand wouldn’t suit everybody, but works for me.
However I didn’t get my licence and walk into this type of work, I worked for small haulage companies, where you’re normally treated like a person, but pay and kit might not be up to the same level as the big companies, I worked for agencies where I got paid well, but never knew if I was working from one day to the next, I even left the industry and went to work in IT for a few years, but wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.
muckles:
Eagerbeaver has a jaded opinion of the haulage industry, maybe justifiably from his experiences and he is right there are loads of crap jobs out there. But like others have said there are good jobs out there, but you have to go out and find them and you’ll also need a bit of luck. Your niche might be different to mine, but I’ve found a niche where I get well paid get to go to interesting places, work with some great people who do treat me properly, but I’m away a lot and for long periods and there can be a fair bit of physical graft, which I do understand wouldn’t suit everybody, but works for me.However I didn’t get my licence and walk into this type of work, I worked for small haulage companies, where you’re normally treated like a person, but pay and kit might not be up to the same level as the big companies, I worked for agencies where I got paid well, but never knew if I was working from one day to the next, I even left the industry and went to work in IT for a few years, but wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.
And that seems a reasonable expectation. Some seem to find a job that suits them very soon after getting their license, but they are in a minority. Most of us try different jobs, get experience, maybe change our minds about what we`re really looking for, but with such a variety of opportunity most will find something to suit them. It may take some time sifting through all the waste first though.
Also worth bearing in mind that 2 drivers can work for the same firm, one guy gets run ragged because he doesn’t know any better, doesn’t know what he can or can’t get away with and ends up hating the job, while the more savvy driver does know the score, learns what he can get away with, manages his time accordingly, and has an easy time of it.
Sometimes the job is what you make it
General haulage is absolute cack. I have tried various stuff, done a bit of flat work, done roof trusses on low loader flat’s, fridge work, containers etc, and Muckles is correct- I am completely jaded with it after 3 yrs of class 1. I am only doing a bit of driving at the minute to keep me going until I can get into the construction game ( hopefully heavy plant ).
But with that said, if I could get onto powder tanker work with sensible hours, I wouldn’t mind a crack at that. The decent jobs in haulage usually require a little thinking and aptitude and will invariably pay more dough. Heavy haulage is also something that would tempt me.
Running 26 pallets of Cola into Morrisons Gadbrook will only challenge those with a brain that is similar in power to an elastic band.
So basically it’s dependant on your expectation, circumstances and views regarding pro’s & con’s. Ask yourself if you could handle another 25 years of crap conditions and dealing with bellends on a daily basis…I did, and the answer was NO!
If you don’t mind hard graft, there is also dray work which is what I’ve gotten myself on atm. Anywhere from 8 hours to 12 hours a day I’m only doing 7.5 tonne at ours at the moment waiting for the supposed expansion and more class 2 vehicles. Our class 2 drivers are on over £11pph. 2 man drops means less driving hours
I wont say it every ones cup of tea lugging 65kg kegs about. Keeps me fit and haven’t had to pay for a gym in ages
Is there an element of repetition that gets to you too, beaver?
I’m guessing that working on days you’re going to have a sort of “catchment area” that you can work in, which limits where you can go/what comes next?
Over the last week I’ve done movements at various places between Glasgow and Brighton, with about a 60/40 split on places I’ve been before and new places. But you choose to go home every night and I choose not to, do a bit of swings and roundabouts.
slowlane:
Is there an element of repetition that gets to you too, beaver?I’m guessing that working on days you’re going to have a sort of “catchment area” that you can work in, which limits where you can go/what comes next?
Over the last week I’ve done movements at various places between Glasgow and Brighton, with about a 60/40 split on places I’ve been before and new places. But you choose to go home every night and I choose not to, do a bit of swings and roundabouts.
Yeah, there definitely is repetition Slowlane but it’s also the hanging around and inane nature of performing extremely simple work around very simple people 
For me to continue on the wagons, I would have to find a more ’ niche ’ job with decent money and hours, along with some element of thought and skill involved. I have had enough of sifting through the turd 
eagerbeaver:
slowlane:
Is there an element of repetition that gets to you too, beaver?I’m guessing that working on days you’re going to have a sort of “catchment area” that you can work in, which limits where you can go/what comes next?
Over the last week I’ve done movements at various places between Glasgow and Brighton, with about a 60/40 split on places I’ve been before and new places. But you choose to go home every night and I choose not to, do a bit of swings and roundabouts.
Yeah, there definitely is repetition Slowlane but it’s also the hanging around and inane nature of performing extremely simple work around very simple people
For me to continue on the wagons, I would have to find a more ’ niche ’ job with decent money and hours, along with some element of thought and skill involved. I have had enough of sifting through the turd
I can see where you’re coming from, I know for me that it’s the driving that engages me, not so much the rest of it. Without the steady supply of long runs I’ve got, itchy feet would set in.
I’ve followed your progress on here from the P&H days and, funnily enough, heavy plant is my plan for when it’s time to come off the road. Best wishes for your move, I’m sure you won’t struggle to turn your hand to it and I hope it engages you in the way you’ve been looking for the last few years.