JackSoCool

hi there, we're moving to sydney in august on my sponsered business visa, my hubbie is an LGV 1 driver and was hoping to get work when we arrived. We've heard working conditions and pay are rubbish for truck drivers in oz, (compared to UK) any experience/advice on this?

beattun

aye ive been driving in melbourne for a while, the only good thing is that most companies stick to the rules to cover their own arses, so you MUST have a 10 hour break between shifts and you can NOT work for more than 14 hours in any given day. as for pay, it depends who you work for, casual and agency work generally pays about 5 dollars more an hour than full time permanent with a company but obviously you wouldnt get paid holidays, sick pay etc.

the moral of the story is if you work 12 - 14 hours a day even for 5 days a week with a company that pays at least time and a half after 10 hours you'll rake it in.

pomref

I was a Class one from the UK who moved over, Be ready for a big culture shock in transport.

A lot of firms drive C**p Amercian Trucks, with Allision transmission (none syncro) (crash boxes) etc. the Aussies do every thing the hard way money is very poor contions are poor.

There use steel gates to hold the loads in and are really heavy and back breaking as driver has to keep taking gates on and off trailers etc.

best advice try and get into a big company Linfox , Tolls , TnT , stay away from small transport firms as you are putting your life at risk here.

beattun

i will agree on the last point as i was driving along one day when i had to stop in a bit of a hurry and the whole cab flipped forward, mechanic hadnt locked it back in place after fixing something the day before