I hate this job

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
41

beefy4605:

ETS:
Work nights, work weekends, work bank holidays … no time for social life

Why are you working these hours / shift patterns ?

Are you the "new boy " in the door , learning the runs , taking the shifts nobody else wants .

I do fridges atm - the people want to eat, no one wants to go in the store in the morning and find empty shelves because Mr. ETS didn’t feel like working nights. Actually to be fair I don’t work weekends strictly speaking, I do Sunday nights however and if I do a 6th shift on a Friday night that finishes into the Saturday effectively ruining the weekend - yes yes, stop doing overtime I know. Except the choice is either do overtime Fri (when possible) or get a split shift 5 day week with 2 single rest days and still work Fri OR Sat

It’s not a large company with 100s of routes to pick from, I’m trying to strike the right balance between hours/pay; so far the hours are right at about 50-53 per week excluding OT, however it’s frigging nights and it’s killing me because apart from that it’s an awesome position where I’m at right now but I will have to leave if I want to live.

Again it’s mostly distribution centres around here who expect you to work 25 hours a day for a fixed £38k and free parking

42

I went for another job doing days and got offered the job, before I said yes I contacted my boss to ask if I could do days for 5mths (summer) and do tramping the other 7mths, he said yep no problem [emoji106] and I get to stay in my truck[emoji106]

Work/life balance sorted

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

43

beefy4605:
Never be scared to leave

^ With the benefit of hindsight that is reasonable advice.But economic pressures still obviously make it an understandably difficult decision.

While ‘awkward’ hours and shifts shouldn’t be discounted out of hand because sometimes they have to go with the territory of operating a truck, especially if it’s otherwise good quality work.But there is a point where, like other less attractive aspects of the job, it gets to be too much of it and that’s the point to start looking for an exit strategy to move on even if it means taking a financial risk to do it.
But in general most drivers will be looking for the same thing of day shift, distance tramping/trunking, full loads or few drops/collections as possible and far between.In which shift length is governed more by the driving time limits.
Or local work like bulk Waste Refuse work which is governed by council depot and landfill site type operating hours.
Rather than the ‘flexible’ start times and shift patterns found in the retail distribution sector etc.Or the now less attractive hub system night trunking sector.
So don’t expect the job search to be an easy one of limitless opportunities in that regard.

44

ETS:

beefy4605:

ETS:
Work nights, work weekends, work bank holidays … no time for social life

Why are you working these hours / shift patterns ?

Are you the "new boy " in the door , learning the runs , taking the shifts nobody else wants .

I do fridges atm - the people want to eat, no one wants to go in the store in the morning and find empty shelves because Mr. ETS didn’t feel like working nights. Actually to be fair I don’t work weekends strictly speaking, I do Sunday nights however and if I do a 6th shift on a Friday night that finishes into the Saturday effectively ruining the weekend - yes yes, stop doing overtime I know. Except the choice is either do overtime Fri (when possible) or get a split shift 5 day week with 2 single rest days and still work Fri OR Sat

It’s not a large company with 100s of routes to pick from, I’m trying to strike the right balance between hours/pay; so far the hours are right at about 50-53 per week excluding OT, however it’s frigging nights and it’s killing me because apart from that it’s an awesome position where I’m at right now but I will have to leave if I want to live.

Again it’s mostly distribution centres around here who expect you to work 25 hours a day for a fixed £38k and free parking

Fridges mean crap hours - everybody wants theres stuff at 6 in the morning - that said its a dependable job - as you say people want to eat and they expect it on the shelf ,fresh food is a 24/7/365 job so hours and shifts ain’t going to be the best out there if you don’t get it to the shelf you can be sure somebody else will - your replacable so don’t be scared to replace where your wages come from .
You say its not a large compaany - what options are there ? any work that dosent involve fridges ?sometimes ambient deliveries to the same places are at more sociable times - many fresh warehoushes work 24 hrs a day but the ambient only from 8 - 5 :bulb:

45

Just come off nights.

46

Carryfast:
Or the now less attractive hub system night trunking sector.

All of our night hub drivers seem to enjoy spending six hours of their shift asleep.

47

“Less is more” concept:

If you earn the same in three anti-social shifts across a weekend as you could get working 5-6-5-6 day shifts…

You also save on less commutes per week

You also save on crappy work food/vending machine “Products”, etc per week.

You also have more entire days to spend with your family each week.

You also spend less holidays to take time off, if you have a contracted 3 or 4 day week (ideal, but rare at present…)

You also get to pick other shifts to work on agency at least, if and when a particular source dries up at a certain time of the year…Eg. A quiet january for most places, might mean a busy time to be working at some dockside industrial yard…

If you get docked an hour for breaks, you lose 6 hours per week if you do 6 shifts, but only 3 hours per week if you do 3, despite earning more per shift on those fewer shifts…

From April 2022 - we’ll have to pay an extra 1.25% national insurance stamp.
This doesn’t sound like much, but it is in fact a 12.5% increase (from 10% to 11.25%)
This is also an unmaskable tax, which means you cannot get out of it using “Expense Offsets”…
If you are self-employed - you’re presumably going to have to pay both ends of it still, as well…

Wouldn’t 2022 therefore, all things considered be a good time to get on the optimum comfort zone shifts, and thus improve your work/life balance, and concentrate on NOT DROPPING wages, rather than trying to seriously increase them…?

If I work 3 shifts - I keep most of it.
If I work 4, I lose nearly a day’s pay.
If I work 5, I lose a day and a half’s pay.
If I work 6 - I lose half of it!

So why not just work 3, and call it a week? Less deductions, less overheads, more time to enjoy your life… Once things return to “Normal” elsewhere at least…

48

Harry Monk:

Carryfast:
Or the now less attractive hub system night trunking sector.

All of our night hub drivers seem to enjoy spending six hours of their shift asleep.

I couldn’t get on with palletwork, because every time I went to a hub, I’d be queing for HOURS whilst drivers who knew how to get past the queues were parked up asleep…

By the time I got tipped, encouraged to “take 15 whilst doing curtains in the queue” - I’d barely have time to park awkwardly somewhere for my remaining 30 legal requirement, have a ■■■■, no time to get some grub, dog-tired because it’s 3-4 in the morning and I started at 6pm, and still have a 3-4 hour drive back to where my car is parked…

I quickly came to hate Palletwork, needless to say… I’ve done Fradley Park (Palletways) Burton (PalletExpress) Brum Airport (SMS Tonbridge) and the best one… Fortec Pallet behind watford Gap services - a firm called Prospect Commercials, which alas went ■■■■-up years ago… I drove for them during the summer of 2011, queing alongside the NorthWest fastline, and actually able to park up and get a proper break there… The forkies like Synchronized Swimmers, all moving at once with rotating police-style lights, a tall roadsign thing picked up by forks, presented to your driver windows for your keys, and then quickly whisked away… I didn’t have to leave my cab, even to do my curtains there - but of course that job didn’t last…

49

Harry Monk:

Carryfast:
Or the now less attractive hub system night trunking sector.

All of our night hub drivers seem to enjoy spending six hours of their shift asleep.

Depends if anyone prefers a longer shift made up of 6 hours of pointless sleeping/tele watching etc, to a shorter shift made up of mostly driving ( especially during warm short summer nights windows down radio on watching the scenery go by bathed in evening and dawn light and sunset and sunrise ).We generally do the job because we like driving in that regard.
Also bearing in mind the possibility of any guvnor out to make a name for themselves saying we’re paying them for POA why not use them for ‘other duties’ while they are parked here going nowhere.
Hub systems are the devil’s work.

50

stu675:
So what is the best way of find the best jobs?

Refuse to do the crappy ones, and don’t compromise yourself. :!: :exclamation: :wink:

If you tell them you don’t need the money, it is amazing how much the money then goes up by, and how many more shifts you’ll be offered over some bod who says “Gotta get 50 hours a week Guv… Got bills to pay…” only to be offered those 50 hours at crap pounds and ■■■■■■■■ pence per hour, that you took “because you were desperate”…

Don’t be a mug - anyone in a suit running a transport outfit can see you coming a mile off!

51

I’m 5 miles from work and only work Monday - Fridays. Occasionally Saturday mornings are asked but it’s always optional.

0630 starts and finish most days 1630-1730

Had a 1930 finish 13 hour day before Christmas but that was a shocker, usually any finish after 1800 is due to something such as a breakdown or road closure. Work is mostly regional and typically a 2 hour stint driving would be a long one, occasionally get a longer run but never in 15 years had to worry about running out of driving time or taking reduced rest.

Pay was always very good for area, recently I have seen other jobs advertised that are getting close / similar but whether conditions would be comparable is doubtful.

It’s HIab and plant movements,

52

what I decided to do was say id work nights Thurs to Sunday and bank holidays
This maximised my pay and means I get a few weekdays at home to grow a business
Then ill slip away from the HGV driving again
Its a means to an end for me and a way to pay the bills but it can be a tough job when 15 our days kick in

I think ive been lucky enough and found some clean work with relatively short runs

53

shpro:
what I decided to do was say id work nights Thurs to Sunday and bank holidays
This maximised my pay and means I get a few weekdays at home to grow a business
Then ill slip away from the HGV driving again
Its a means to an end for me and a way to pay the bills but it can be a tough job when 15 our days kick in

I think ive been lucky enough and found some clean work with relatively short runs

Where’s the connection between length of run v 15 hour shifts.It’s obvious that 15 hour shifts are all about other work/POA not driving time.
It’s more likely that max driving hours direct trunk run or a few bulk drops shouldn’t need more than a 10 hour shift 12 at the most.

54

Indeed website,isnt it…
Its all Ive ever used

55

The only surefire way to get any sort of work life balance is to avoid the for profit sector altogether, unless you want to drive a dust cart or a skip lorry or similar your going to have to do the hours.

Get in somewhere where the vehicle is used in support of the business not as the primary source of income, sure there are some niche specialist jobs but these are fairly difficult to get onto.

I enjoy every day in my job its varied interesting and a total holiday camp, there are a good number of my peers who actually think its work I consider it to be a hobby like woodworking or fishing and as equally relaxing, like Del Trotter said only fools and horses.

56

beefy4605:
Chase the job that makes you happy - not the pay cheque.

I’ve found that the higher payers over time, are those firms that hassle you all the time, and generally pay higher because they constantly have a high turnover of staff, either because they are sacking people left,right,and center for “walking on the cracks in the pavement” kind-of offences, or the drivers themselves are chucking it in, thinking “The top dollar being paid here - isn’t worth THIS hassle!”…

The hardest thing to do imo is to chuck in a well-paid job, to take a considerably lower-paid one but that then leaves you alone, makes you feel valued, and the goodwill more than makes up for having to work 5-6 shifts instead of the 3-4 you could work elsewhere for the same wages.

You also get to live a few years longer as well, as “Stress” still kills a larger number of Professional Drivers than actual RTAs. “The Hidden Killer” - is still at large, alas.

57

mike68:
I enjoy every day in my job .

I don’t understand why so many posters think everyone reading knows everything about them and what they do? [emoji2369]