paul b:
you can only assume that is an honest view from the poster on his experiences with the firm but what i will say is in my dealing with them as a potential employee, i certainly couldn’t accuse anyone i spoke to there as painting a rosey picture, far from it, they went out of the way to point out how hard it was going to be, how cold the winters were, how tough it is being away for long lenghs of time etc etc.
perhaps there’s always two sides to every story?
I think maybe the main problem is a lack of miles,no miles, no money,if you look at the big picture OTR driving at CPM is really just agency driving
The reality is that your logbook ratio driving OTR usually works out at:
Log legal 70 hours/week
Actually work 90 hours/week
GET PAID FOR 50 hours/week
Well I’ve been in Canada for 5 months and I’m doing alright and no complaints , Earning good money (more than I did in the UK ) Far better standard of living , See the Rockies everyday ,nice friendly people , Hardly any crime ,Only thing is house as only 4 bedrooms on a lake community and I get to see my wife and kids everyday
And yes I am a trucker … With more than half a brain
Rob K:
:lol: Re the OLT post, it’s just like everyone with a brain has been saying since day 1. They promise you the earth to get you over there and into the hot seat but the reality is that you’re now working twice as hard as you were doing here and now spending twice as much time away from home, but now you’re only getting paid 5 peanuts a year instead of 10.
But you’ve got an 18 bedroom house in the middle of nowhere with 3 billion acres of land for the kids to play on, so that makes it alright then. Not that you’ll see either more than twice a year when they allow you home, mind.
Very true Rob,
I’ve always looked at the cheap houses thing in Canada,yes alot of them are approx a quarter of the price of a house in the UK and ALOT bigger but they are all made of “clapboard” and they cost a quarter of the price to build
How much does it cost to heat that house during the cold Winters and cool the same house during the hot Summers
Many of the Canadian property websites talk about a certain house having “recent new shingles” (new roof) or new fascia boards.
I would say that the maintenance money having to be spent on a Canadian house over say 20 years compared to a UK one would mean maybe in the long run they aren’t really much cheaper at all
KGB:
Well I’ve been in Canada for 5 months and I’m doing alright and no complaints , Earning good money (more than I did in the UK ) Far better standard of living , See the Rockies everyday ,nice friendly people , Hardly any crime ,Only thing is house as only 4 bedrooms on a lake community and I get to see my wife and kids everyday
And yes I am a trucker … With more than half a brain
You’ve got to admit (Kb33?) that your situation regarding being home every night is extremely rare for a Ex-UK truck driver going to Canada to drive trucks.
I’m interested,
Alot of guy’s have said on various trucking forums that $ in Canada will buy you what £ in the UK does,
Does that then mean that your $1000/week take home in Canada will buy you what £1000/week take home in the UK would buy me
Rob and BIGTRUCK are Trolls That’s easy for anyone to work out , What I cant understand is what their agenda is ? What possible motive /reason for them to have such a strong opinion on something they know nothing about , One as never even been to Canada and the other made a brief visit years ago !
Granted there are failures , But also plenty of success stories, I know I have met the families involved , But you lot don’t hear about them because they are too busy enjoying life in Canada to be bothered about people like you , Maybe I should take a leaf out of their book.
Also I don’t think its B.F. fault as to why the dollar is so weak , If the work ain’t there … And its very unfortunate for the drivers involved , But I don’t think B.F. have done it on purpose , No work for drivers = no profit for B.F
Regarding Fozzy’s time off with his family , Well that’s happened at every UK firm I have worked for … and some of those are supposed to be family oriented firms.
If you ain’t happy you can always change jobs W.P. or not , But the fact remains you are still in Canada where you wanted to be in the first place.
BT r.e. your question on $ vs £ … Ive no idea ! All I know is I can live comfortably on the wages I earn .
Tell me this then,
why is it that every large trucking company in Canada have trucks parked up at their terminals waiting for drivers
How much profit must there be for those companies that they can afford to do that while making payments on those trucks
Would it not be a better business practice to stop paying for trucks with no drivers and pay the drivers that they already have a higher wage
Pay them wages that are better than the average of $900 (£450) take home for working approx 6 full days/week 12 to 15 hours/day “on duty” time
KGB:
Rob and BIGTRUCK are Trolls That’s easy for anyone to work out , What I cant understand is what their agenda is ? What possible motive /reason for them to have such a strong opinion on something they know nothing about , One as never even been to Canada and the other made a brief visit years ago !
Granted there are failures , But also plenty of success stories, I know I have met the families involved , But you lot don’t hear about them because they are too busy enjoying life in Canada to be bothered about people like you , Maybe I should take a leaf out of their book.
Also I don’t think its B.F. fault as to why the dollar is so weak , If the work ain’t there … And its very unfortunate for the drivers involved , But I don’t think B.F. have done it on purpose , No work for drivers = no profit for B.F
Regarding Fozzy’s time off with his family , Well that’s happened at every UK firm I have worked for … and some of those are supposed to be family oriented firms.
If you ain’t happy you can always change jobs W.P. or not , But the fact remains you are still in Canada where you wanted to be in the first place.
BT r.e. your question on $ vs £ … Ive no idea ! All I know is I can live comfortably on the wages I earn .
ps I see BT is an expert on building houses now
The thing is, Kevin, is that you only left working for Tetley’s in Leeds through Taskmaster at the end of August and have only been out there 5 months like you say.
What you have failed to mention on here is that you are not doing general work. You went out there and got your equivalent of our ADR and now pull fuel tankers for Westcan where you are earning good money (in comparison) and are home fairly frequently.
As you pointed out to Shane when he went out there end of last year, there’s decent money to be made on the tankers but, if Shane is relaying the info correctly, you said that to forget going out there if you’re not gonna drive fuel tankers because the money is [zb], the work is hard, the hours are long and you’ll be expected to be away for weeks at a time . So, unless you’d now like to change your tune or call Shane a liar…
How is Shane anyway? Haven’t spoke to him for a couple of months now and I’ve lost his number .
Big Truck:
Tell me this then,
why is it that every large trucking company in Canada have trucks parked up at their terminals waiting for drivers
How much profit must there be for those companies that they can afford to do that while making payments on those trucks
Would it not be a better business practice to stop paying for trucks with no drivers and pay the drivers that they already have a higher wage
Pay them wages that are better than the average of $900 (£450) take home for working approx 6 full days/week 12 to 15 hours/day “on duty” time
I’ve no idea , I do the job and take the money home , That’s all I’m concerned about , If the job turns crap I leave plain and simple. I don’t get involved in the politics and I don’t think too much
ps I see BT is an expert on building houses now
[/quote]
No,
I’m no expert far from it but building a house from “clapboard” compared to building a house from brick/block is a quarter of the price, roughly.
Ask your house insurance broker in Canada and I think you will find they give your house a lifetime scale of 40 years
Why do you think that timberframe houses are cheaper than those built with cavity wall block/brick in the UK
As you pointed out to Shane when he went out there end of last year, there’s decent money to be made on the tankers but, if Shane is relaying the info correctly, you said that to forget going out there if you’re not gonna drive fuel tankers because the money is [zb], the work is hard, the hours are long and you’ll be expected to be away for weeks at a time . So, unless you’d now like to change your tune or call Shane a liar…
Eeh… I never said anything of the sort, I let Shane make his own mind up. I maybe said I wouldn’t go work for H&R or Yanke . And FYI any driver can get a job pulling fuel in Canada , Qualifications from the UK don’t mean anything . Some drivers are just not happy pulling fuel that’s their decision and the money is no different on tankers anyway , Its just that I prefer that type of work but the hours are still long and the work is still hard but I enjoy it 75% of the time . <other 25% I just ■■■■■ and moan like the rest of you >
Pretty sure they are built from wood because there is a lot of it in Canada And the houses are nothing like the cold damp draughty things you get in the UK I know I’m sat in one !
don’t wont to pee on your bonfire BT but timber frame houses aren’t cheaper in the uk, they’ve gained popularity because the end result is a house of better build quality! brick n block is an english invention that has never worked, thankfully now being phased out due to ever increasing u values being required for building regs, fact is, a timber frame with 200mm insulation even if clad in timber is a far warmer and hence cheaper property to heat than anything built from brick by some considerable margin.
KGB:
Pretty sure they are built from wood because there is a lot of it in Canada And the houses are nothing like the cold damp draughty things you get in the UK I know I’m sat in one !
Yes, built with timber surrounded by plastic “clapboard”
As for NS,
never said I wouldn’t buy one but I’m still of the opinion that over say 20 odd years you will have far higher maintenance cost with a Canadian house over a UK one,hence your house may not be the bargain that you first thought.
BTW,
my own house here in NI is certainly not “cold damp and draughty”
paul b:
don’t wont to pee on your bonfire BT but timber frame houses aren’t cheaper in the uk, they’ve gained popularity because the end result is a house of better build quality! brick n block is an english invention that has never worked, thankfully now being phased out due to ever increasing u values being required for building regs, fact is, a timber frame with 200mm insulation even if clad in timber is a far warmer and hence cheaper property to heat than anything built from brick by some considerable margin.
I can only speak for houses in NI and timber frame are cheaper to buy according to the OH who works for “Ulster Property Sales” and there are very few new builds going up here with timber frame.
Did “Barretts” house builders not have alot of problems a few years ago about the build quality of timber frame houses
they certanly did, not least because they tried having the frames made from cheap white wood instead of pine, now all the major builders use timber frame, which btw originated from canada.
i know your on some sort of “eveything canadian is crap” campaign but i’ve gota tell yer they’re a long long way in front of us in terms of building heat efficent housing which is no suprise really when you consider how cold it gets every winter.
paul b:
a timber frame with 200mm insulation even if clad in timber is a far warmer and hence cheaper property to heat than anything built from brick by some considerable margin.
Got to go along with that. My house here is timber framed made in prefabricated panels by a local firm and is warm/cool and dampfree. When I look at the damp patches creeping over the walls of local brick builds I know which I prefer. My neighbour lives in one of these built only 9 years ago and has had no end of problems with interior walls as well.
paul b:
i know your on some sort of “eveything canadian is crap” campaign
Don’t know where you got that from
I have readily admitted on this forum and others that I have an aversion to the OTR Canadian trucking companies coming to the UK and taking drivers and their families over on false promises only to have ALOT of them come home destitute.
I’m not so blind as to deny that the dream does come true for plenty of drivers who have gone there and good luck to them, but I still maintain that a large percentage end up giving up within the first year.
I have posted time and again I’ve nothing against Canada per say,clean country,friendly people,low crime rate,cheap houses and good standard of education for children.
i hear what your saying, one thing i do know is that it’s very difficult to get a clear picture from anyone, it’s human nature for those there to big it up a bit and the more people that question wether it’s worth it the bigger and better it seems to get, equally those that’ve come back will never say it’s because they weren’t cut out for it or they didn’t look into it closely enough, they talked their partners into going when they didn’t really want to etc it’s always because the firm lied to them, the money wasn’t what was promised or they didn’t get paid for this that or the other and so on.
personally before our lass pulled the plug, i was going to a firm simply because it was a setup in a province where it was possible to obtain pr very quickly, with the thinking i could stand anything for six months or a year by wich time i’d be gened up on what was the best work for earning money and life in general.
not sure what your motives are though, you seem to spend an incredible amount of time looking for negatives to post on all of the forums?
have you had some sort of knock back to stop you going?
.