Truckers Forum I know, but I’m sure there’s a few of you that have experienced Euro Van Driving and I’m hoping some of you can help?
Hopefully going to be starting work with a company UK based that does Euro Van work, vans are all kitted out with sleeper cabs that are well kitted out etc so I’m pretty happy not to be sleeping across the seats.
But can anyone tell me what their experiences were like driving Vans in Europe? Did you enjoy it? Was it good pay? Was it relentless?
The company I’m hoping to work for don’t pay day rates, you get a percentage of each job you get, there’s plenty of work I’ve been told, earnings can vary between £1600 to over £2k per month, again I was told it depends on how much work I want, does this sound about right earnings wise? It is a permanent contract so if work ever becomes slack then i’ve been told the guaranteed minimum I can expect to take home and I can cope with the minimum but I was assured that no one has ever received that before so I’m cool with that too.
I didn’t expect it too be mega bucks, at the top rate it sounds like one could earn perhaps £24k+ which I’ve no doubt will probably involve being away a lot, so £24k may not sound worth it but I’m more looking at “being out on the road” adventure side of it really
Any want to chip in or tell me of their experiences then that would be great
£1600 to £2400 per month eh?
You can earn more than that cleaning toilets.
If you are prepared to drive all over Europe for that then you’re either on a wind up or bloody desperate.
I’ll go for the former Tarmaceater.
Grumpy_old_trucker:
£1600 to £2400 per month eh?
You can earn more than that cleaning toilets.
If you are prepared to drive all over Europe for that then you’re either on a wind up or bloody desperate.
I’ll go for the former Tarmaceater.
Not on a wind up, and certainly not desperate
Just after new experiences and a jaunt around Europe for a while after working up and down the UK as a Pylon Painter sounds like a good crack too me like, it’s huge huge wage cut but I’m in my 30’s, and I’ve been climbing these towers too many years now to the point I want to stop before my body is ragged, I don’t want to be crippled in middle/old age Hence why the idea of getting behind a brand new VW Crafter hitting the European roads sounds great too me.
Money was my motivation whilst working away painting the Pylons, and let me tell you it was a fantastic earner, now my motivation is too see Europe, and although money to me is no problem, I still want too make sure I’m not getting totally ripped off.
You’ll be doing some mental long days I’d bet & that is truly terrible money, it’s what the poorer EU country guys would get doing that job, it’s not really a wage, if you work out your hours worked for the £ it’s probably a couple of quid an hour if that.
Ps I’m in EU a lot & mostly in small stuff & I do enjoy it mostly, obvs can be a slog tho, but I don’t do the mental hours, too old for that crap now, but have had some great experiences & been all over & I do prefer the flexibility over being in bigger & on tacho etc, which I also do but less often.
iguana:
You’ll be doing some mental long days I’d bet & that is truly terrible money, it’s what the poorer EU country guys would get doing that job, it’s not really a wage, if you work out your hours worked for the £ it’s probably a couple of quid an hour if that.
Ps I’m in EU a lot & mostly in small stuff & I do enjoy it mostly, obvs can be a slog tho, but I don’t do the mental hours, too old for that crap now, but have had some great experiences & been all over & I do prefer the flexibility over being in bigger & on tacho etc, which I also do but less often.
Thanks for your reply
I’m clearly well out the loop in what a Van driver should be earning in Europe then, there not particularly a lot of info about it on the internet, what’s a typical wage then? £30k+ A year? Even that’s like £2.5k a month which is only £100 a month more than Grumpy’s comment saying it was a joke.
£3k a month or £36k a year more like it?
One thing my soon to be new employer did detail is the long slogs involved, sounds great travelling around Europe of course but I get it’s not exactly easy in the sense it can be very tiring long distances to travel, I get all that.
iguana:
You’ll be doing some mental long days I’d bet & that is truly terrible money, it’s what the poorer EU country guys would get doing that job, it’s not really a wage, if you work out your hours worked for the £ it’s probably a couple of quid an hour if that.
Ps I’m in EU a lot & mostly in small stuff & I do enjoy it mostly, obvs can be a slog tho, but I don’t do the mental hours, too old for that crap now, but have had some great experiences & been all over & I do prefer the flexibility over being in bigger & on tacho etc, which I also do but less often.
Thanks for your reply
I’m clearly well out the loop in what a Van driver should be earning in Europe then, there not particularly a lot of info about it on the internet, what’s a typical wage then? £30k+ A year? Even that’s like £2.5k a month which is only £100 a month more than Grumpy’s comment saying it was a joke.
£3k a month or £36k a year more like it?
One thing my soon to be new employer did detail is the long slogs involved, sounds great travelling around Europe of course but I get it’s not exactly easy in the sense it can be very tiring long distances to travel, I get all that.
Long slogs and 2k a month doesn’t sound appetizing to me.
When they say “long slog”, that suggests you’re expected to get there in as short a time as possible. Vans don’t have tachos, so you can’t argue that you don’t have enough driving time. So it’s boot down and keep it going till you HAVE to pull over for a kip. That isn’t a pleasant way to see Europe and getting paid into the bargain. That’s just motorways and industrial estates, which are all much of a muchness wherever they happen to be. If it was 2.5 - 3k a month, that would seem reasonable for flat out work, 1.6 - 2+k, I wouldn’t be going for it.
I’ve only got artic work to compare it against. 5 days on the road, 2 days off I was doing better than that, and that’s working from Scotland where pay rates are lower. But it’s only a van ? ■■■■■■■■, you’re still away from home, working long hours for not very much at that kind of income bracket.
I’ve just decided to leave the industry after 37 years of European truck driving, in my late 20s when I started I was probably as excited as you are travelling round Europe and getting paid for it.
HOWEVER, there were no mobile phones, trackers or satnavs so once you left the yard the only pressure put on you was if you put it on yourself, there was no gaffer watching where you are and ringing you wanting you to go do extra collections and genuinely giving you grief as happens now.
Parking up early where you knew other drivers were and having a nice meal and wine with drivers that you meet frequently and sleeping in the next morning as the gaffer didn’t know where you were.
It wasn’t all play it could be hard work at times.
Wind forward to today, it’s all go, it’s employers push, push, push to get you back so you can start again, if you think you’re going on a long European holiday and getting paid (poorly by the sound of it) then think again.
Used to be a few van drivers who parked up at the Hotel L’Angolo at Carisio in Italy at weekends in recent years, good lads they were but I’m not sure they were on big money.
I would seriously consider if I were you wether to throw in a decent paying job for a poorly paid job that you will no doubt be run ragged.
Like the Grumpy Ol’ [zb] above, I USED to do it in the 90’s, both on tacho 7.5t and in 3.5t Lutons. I was very well-paid, and on full expenses. I loved it! But eg. London-Rome non-stop, then sleeping across the seats etc can get a bit ‘old’! … (The Rome trip I had my girlfriend with me. My credit card suddenly did not work in Italy, and I had little cash… She was not a happy bunny, bless her, her romantic whirlwind trip to the “City of Love” was not quite what she had expected. Especially as she was Crohn’s/gluten intolerant, so Pizza, Pasta, and bread were off the menu! Happy days! (ps Truck-blankets are ITCHY!)
But it can be fun, for the right employer.
I suggest following a guy called Ciaran the Euro-Courier (@donnyc1975) over on Twtter. He often tweets about the job.
Good luck!
Mod’s edit:
Please have a read of Forum Rule #3. dd.
Thanks for your input guys, massively appreciate it.
I’ve checked those guys out on Twitter and TikTok too, thanks for the heads up.
Is it normal or relatively common to be paid a percentage of each job instead of an hourly rate in this line of work? Do people try and avoid companies that offer that sort of payment method?
^^^ I used to pay a percentage to my guys, but I only hired young, hungry and greedy people to run from the North East to most of Europe but mainly Zona Franca in Barcelona and they were regularly earning a grand a week back in the early 2000’s.
Grumpy_old_trucker:
I’ve just decided to leave the industry after 37 years of European truck driving, in my late 20s when I started I was probably as excited as you are travelling round Europe and getting paid for it.
HOWEVER, there were no mobile phones, trackers or satnavs so once you left the yard the only pressure put on you was if you put it on yourself, there was no gaffer watching where you are and ringing you wanting you to go do extra collections and genuinely giving you grief as happens now.
Parking up early where you knew other drivers were and having a nice meal and wine with drivers that you meet frequently and sleeping in the next morning as the gaffer didn’t know where you were.
It wasn’t all play it could be hard work at times.
Wind forward to today, it’s all go, it’s employers push, push, push to get you back so you can start again, if you think you’re going on a long European holiday and getting paid (poorly by the sound of it) then think again.
Used to be a few van drivers who parked up at the Hotel L’Angolo at Carisio in Italy at weekends in recent years, good lads they were but I’m not sure they were on big money.
I would seriously consider if I were you wether to throw in a decent paying job for a poorly paid job that you will no doubt be run ragged.
Got to agree I think our generation of drivers had the best days in the job.
(Never done light Van’s over there btw.)
It has turned from a job with lots of freedom and enjoyment with free time, to a monitored and tracked rat race.
