The scenario is you have no previous experience driving class 1 or class 2 trucks, you don’t even have experience driving a 3.5t van but you’ve just passed your class 2 and looking for your first job, what is a realistic salary?
Same scenario as above except straight after passing your class 2, you pass your class 1 and start looking for class 1 jobs.
I’m thinking £20,000 for class 2 and £23,000 for class 1, would this be fair? Do you know anyone who got offered more than this for their first job?
I am a new pass and can only tell you my experience so far… I have just got a job with a company doing Class 1 work, after only having my Class 2 for 2 months and Class 1 for 2 weeks, with no experience in either and I’m earning £10ph which will increase to £11ph once I am competent on my own (currently with the company’s driver trainer everyday, they’re paying his wages and mine for only one truck working so that’s more than fair). I’ve been told I’ll be doing between 50 to 60 hours per week (did 60 last week, my first week). That works out to £600 per week (at £10ph), which multiply by 52 weeks is £31,200. Of course, that could go up or down depending on holidays, hours worked, pay increase and nights out.
Again, this is just my experience as a brand new Class 1 driver, perhaps I’m lucky or perhaps others are on more, I really don’t know. I’m happy with what I’m getting. Granted it is long hours compared to an office job or my previous job but I couldn’t do 60 hours doing what I used to do, whereas in the truck it’s a lot easier to do the hours, the time seems to fly by.
I passed Class 2 then Class 1 two months later. I worked in a supermarket and got chatting to the drivers with one of them doing a recommend a friend scheme for me. Luckily got in with no experience as they don’t take new passes per se.
I started on £36,500 a year basic and its easy work, time and half overtime and 12hr night premium. Drive from Yorkshire as far as Birmingham and Northampton, and as far north as Alnwick and Glasgow.
TommyT8:
I am a new pass and can only tell you my experience so far… I have just got a job with a company doing Class 1 work, after only having my Class 2 for 2 months and Class 1 for 2 weeks, with no experience in either and I’m earning £10ph which will increase to £11ph once I am competent on my own (currently with the company’s driver trainer everyday, they’re paying his wages and mine for only one truck working so that’s more than fair). I’ve been told I’ll be doing between 50 to 60 hours per week (did 60 last week, my first week). That works out to £600 per week (at £10ph), which multiply by 52 weeks is £31,200. Of course, that could go up or down depending on holidays, hours worked, pay increase and nights out.
Again, this is just my experience as a brand new Class 1 driver, perhaps I’m lucky or perhaps others are on more, I really don’t know. I’m happy with what I’m getting. Granted it is long hours compared to an office job or my previous job but I couldn’t do 60 hours doing what I used to do, whereas in the truck it’s a lot easier to do the hours, the time seems to fly by.
Thanks for the insight, for sure 60 hours in an office is enough to kill a man but 60 hours on the road I think would be doable.
Congrats on the job, always reassuring seeing people being employed with literally no experience, gives me hope for when it’s my turn
stuwozere1:
I passed Class 2 then Class 1 two months later. I worked in a supermarket and got chatting to the drivers with one of them doing a recommend a friend scheme for me. Luckily got in with no experience as they don’t take new passes per se.
I started on £36,500 a year basic and its easy work, time and half overtime and 12hr night premium. Drive from Yorkshire as far as Birmingham and Northampton, and as far north as Alnwick and Glasgow.
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I can’t imagine earning that much straight away but I guess it does happen. So when I’m looking online at vacancies they don’t typically list the hours but the salary instead like £13 per hour or £125 a day etc. Is it common to do 50+ hours a week like the poster above is doing? I’d happily do 50 - 60 hours a week.
I’m thinking £20,000 for class 2 and £23,000 for class 1, would this be fair? Do you know anyone who got offered more than this for their first job?
I started my first agency work for one of the big supply chain international companies as Class 2 multidrop driver (18 and 26 tonners) having absolutely no experience whatsoever. Working through an agency and getting £10.5/hr with a slightly higher rate for Saturdays and bank holidays (all PAYE). I reckon they are paying now £11.35 and struggle to find new drivers they are desperate for. After a few months I got a contract which is £28,109 for a 48hr week (actually, it’s 48hrs + 5x 45mins as they don’t pay as for breaks). Overtime at 1.5 and widely available. I’ve been doing well over 60hrs a week.
TruckerWannabe123:
Thanks for the insight, for sure 60 hours in an office is enough to kill a man but 60 hours on the road I think would be doable.
Congrats on the job, always reassuring seeing people being employed with literally no experience, gives me hope for when it’s my turn
Thanks, it’s certainly possible, just need to find the right company who will give you a chance.
It seems long hours, I mean I’m not fully used to these long days yet (my old job was about 43 hours a week mostly manual work) but in a typical day I might do 6 hours of driving, 3 hours on break/waiting to get loaded and another 3 hours actually getting loaded and tipping (I get the trailer ready and then just sit there until it’s finished pretty much)… of course different driving jobs might work differently… I also get paid for all the breaks unlike my previous job which was 1hr unpaid each day…
I think typically truck driving is long hours as you might get stuck in traffic, waiting ages to load or unload, etc.
stuwozere1:
I passed Class 2 then Class 1 two months later. I worked in a supermarket and got chatting to the drivers with one of them doing a recommend a friend scheme for me. Luckily got in with no experience as they don’t take new passes per se.
I started on £36,500 a year basic and its easy work, time and half overtime and 12hr night premium. Drive from Yorkshire as far as Birmingham and Northampton, and as far north as Alnwick and Glasgow.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
I can’t imagine earning that much straight away but I guess it does happen. So when I’m looking online at vacancies they don’t typically list the hours but the salary instead like £13 per hour or £125 a day etc. Is it common to do 50+ hours a week like the poster above is doing? I’d happily do 50 - 60 hours a week.
We’re on £14.02 an hour basic. Paid 4 weekly on a 190hr contract anything over 190hrs is time and half. Last month (4 weeks) I did 228hrs. Any extra shifts are paid out at time and half and do not count towards 190hrs.
Night premium is £1.73 an hour between 6pm-6am. We literally do nothing all night compared to my last job of slogging my rear off for minimum wage stacking shelves. Hardest work we do is class 2 multi-drops to our small shops and even that is easy
I passed my class 2 in June, got my first job in July on class 2 general haulage. I dont get paid a great hourly rate as a new driver but I do a shed load of long hours and a couple of nights out a week so the wage isn’t bad but I dont half work for it. I take home around £500 a week usually.
I passed my class 1 at the start of August with the intention of moving onto the artics once I got some experience in a rigid (strapping,using the tacho, how things work out on the road and at depots etc.)
I’m currently looking at new pass class 1 jobs in my area and the going rate is around £11-12ph so I’m gonna look to move from where I am and get on the class 1 as didnt get the license to sit on it.
I think though once you get a bit of experience doors open for you and wages increase. By the sounds of it some people landed into some nice roles to start off!
stuwozere1:
I passed Class 2 then Class 1 two months later. I worked in a supermarket and got chatting to the drivers with one of them doing a recommend a friend scheme for me. Luckily got in with no experience as they don’t take new passes per se.
I started on £36,500 a year basic and its easy work, time and half overtime and 12hr night premium. Drive from Yorkshire as far as Birmingham and Northampton, and as far north as Alnwick and Glasgow.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
I can’t imagine earning that much straight away but I guess it does happen. So when I’m looking online at vacancies they don’t typically list the hours but the salary instead like £13 per hour or £125 a day etc. Is it common to do 50+ hours a week like the poster above is doing? I’d happily do 50 - 60 hours a week.
Depends a bit where you are in the country as well.
Not o e of my drivers came from an advert, so I’d ask drivers you meet what their firms are like and if they sound good, ask about vacancies. And there is the old fashioned knocking on doors.
I took two lads on that had passed their test with the Army but had no commercial experience, both under 25, earned circa 43 k 6-7 years ago when they started. Hours varied from 40 - 80, lot of PoA on the longer hours when actually driving/working would be circa 30-35 .
Other tip is never judge a book by its cover. If you ever walked into our office off the street you probably would have thought we were just a very small scruffy outfit scrabbling to make a living when reality was a bit different.
In my case i passed my Class 2 early june this year and managed to find work within 2 weeks. Could have been alot quicker but i wanted to get paid atleast 11£/h so i waited until one of the agencies i contacted agreed to pay me that much, bold move i know since i don´t have any experience to be making demands but i am a firm believer that you must value yourself and ask for what you believe you are worth.
After that i worked for 2 months for 2 companies, under the agency contract, and decided i wanted to get Class 1. Told the agency i needed some days off to go for the class 1 Training+ Exam wich they were completely ok with and even told me they would have immediate work for me if i did indeed manage to get it. I failed the first and second Exams unfortunately but managed to pass the third one and they stood true to their word. The very next day after i got my Class 1 license i was working in Artics with a 12£/h wage doing 50-60 hours per week.
I have developed a great relationship with the agency’s representatives and always make sure they are up to date with what’s going on in the companies i work for. As an example, one of the companies i worked for offered me some “under the table” Saturday work wich i refused for ethical reasons (glad i did that because they now owe more than 10K£ in wages to their own employees).
I try to always be professional and on time and this i believe has made my position with them very clear that i am gratefull for what they have done for me and i won´t just switch what i built with them over for an extra pound an hour.
Once i get the “2 year’s experience” usual requirement for well paid positions i might consider looking for other work opportunities, but for now i am more than happy with what i have got.
Good luck to you OP, opportunies are plenty you just need to find the right one
Starved:
In my case i passed my Class 2 early june this year and managed to find work within 2 weeks. Could have been alot quicker but i wanted to get paid atleast 11£/h so i waited until one of the agencies i contacted agreed to pay me that much, bold move i know since i don´t have any experience to be making demands but i am a firm believer that you must value yourself and ask for what you believe you are worth.
After that i worked for 2 months for 2 companies, under the agency contract, and decided i wanted to get Class 1. Told the agency i needed some days off to go for the class 1 Training+ Exam wich they were completely ok with and even told me they would have immediate work for me if i did indeed manage to get it. I failed the first and second Exams unfortunately but managed to pass the third one and they stood true to their word. The very next day after i got my Class 1 license i was working in Artics with a 12£/h wage doing 50-60 hours per week.
I have developed a great relationship with the agency’s representatives and always make sure they are up to date with what’s going on in the companies i work for. As an example, one of the companies i worked for offered me some “under the table” Saturday work wich i refused for ethical reasons (glad i did that because they now owe more than 10K£ in wages to their own employees).
I try to always be professional and on time and this i believe has made my position with them very clear that i am gratefull for what they have done for me and i won´t just switch what i built with them over for an extra pound an hour.
Once i get the “2 year’s experience” usual requirement for well paid positions i might consider looking for other work opportunities, but for now i am more than happy with what i have got.
Good luck to you OP, opportunies are plenty you just need to find the right one
Thanks for the reply, seems like some areas are crying out for drivers! Do you mind me asking which area you were based out of with the agency? I’ve never worked through an agency so I’m not sure how it works but I remember years ago my brother worked as a refuse collector and it was “we’ll ring you if we need you” kinda thing so it was a few days here, a few days there, no regular schedule etc. Is it still like that today?
My lot will take on new pass class two and you can expect to earn 32k easily, most likely more.
Class one I’m looking at about 42k for the current year.
There is no starter rate, if anyone joins they get paid what I get paid etc etc
Those are some attractive starting salaries for sure. I’m based in the Colchester area but I’m absolutely willing to relocate to almost anywhere in the UK if the salary is right.
Starved:
In my case i passed my Class 2 early june this year and managed to find work within 2 weeks. Could have been alot quicker but i wanted to get paid atleast 11£/h so i waited until one of the agencies i contacted agreed to pay me that much, bold move i know since i don´t have any experience to be making demands but i am a firm believer that you must value yourself and ask for what you believe you are worth.
After that i worked for 2 months for 2 companies, under the agency contract, and decided i wanted to get Class 1. Told the agency i needed some days off to go for the class 1 Training+ Exam wich they were completely ok with and even told me they would have immediate work for me if i did indeed manage to get it. I failed the first and second Exams unfortunately but managed to pass the third one and they stood true to their word. The very next day after i got my Class 1 license i was working in Artics with a 12£/h wage doing 50-60 hours per week.
I have developed a great relationship with the agency’s representatives and always make sure they are up to date with what’s going on in the companies i work for. As an example, one of the companies i worked for offered me some “under the table” Saturday work wich i refused for ethical reasons (glad i did that because they now owe more than 10K£ in wages to their own employees).
I try to always be professional and on time and this i believe has made my position with them very clear that i am gratefull for what they have done for me and i won´t just switch what i built with them over for an extra pound an hour.
Once i get the “2 year’s experience” usual requirement for well paid positions i might consider looking for other work opportunities, but for now i am more than happy with what i have got.
Good luck to you OP, opportunies are plenty you just need to find the right one
Thanks for the reply, seems like some areas are crying out for drivers! Do you mind me asking which area you were based out of with the agency? I’ve never worked through an agency so I’m not sure how it works but I remember years ago my brother worked as a refuse collector and it was “we’ll ring you if we need you” kinda thing so it was a few days here, a few days there, no regular schedule etc. Is it still like that today?
I’m based in Tamworth, close to Birmingham, and i believe it no longer is like that regarding agencies, the demand is such that you can easily get ongoing work and good rates.
If you don’t get it with the one you are working for you can always look for another agency to find you that kind of work.
What i have noticed is that you may indeed get hired as a new pass by companies, instead of agencies, but for a lower pay most likely. So in my case i chose the agency first, company later route wich is proving to be a good choice since i’m earning alot better pay than i would working for a company directly.
But dependent on area i’m sure your situation can differ from mine. Good luck !
but I guess it does happen. So when I’m looking online at vacancies they don’t typically list the hours but the salary instead like £13 per hour or £125 a day etc. Is it common to do 50+ hours a week like the poster above is doing? I’d happily do 50 - 60 hours a week.
