Truck drivers earning $150 K - Good for them.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: AMONGST BRIGALOW SUCKERS
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Then I hear of Formula 1 drivers (Dan Ricciardo) getting paid $20 million dollars to just sit on their arse and do nothing!
Driving trucks is great fun IMO if the equipment is good. $150,000 incl super is essentially what they earn driving long haul at say 52cpk and doing 4500-5000 km per week. But if your not doing overnight express, you’ll do 15 hour days with loading and unloading probably wasting 3-5 hours per day, and yes, you will have to strap freight down and manage tautliner curtains. Can get physical.
By the time you park up somewhere, do your paperwork, have a shower and dinner, there’s probably 7 hours left before the alarm goes off. It’s basically eat sleep and repeat for 6 days a week and if you get home every weekend, you’re doing great. If you’re doing overnight express, it’s depot to depot work which is nice and 12 hour days but all back of clock.
Compliance is a bullsh#t word, most companies want you to break rules, that’s why their driver ads usually require a ‘can do attitude’! These guys are the hardest working men and women I’ve ever met and severely underpaid. It’s silly to compare that role to pilots who are spoon fed by comparison. Most experienced airline pilots are not shaped and prepared for long haul trucking and would not last long in the job if they had to drive on a fulltime permanent basis. That I’m certain of.
By the time you park up somewhere, do your paperwork, have a shower and dinner, there’s probably 7 hours left before the alarm goes off. It’s basically eat sleep and repeat for 6 days a week and if you get home every weekend, you’re doing great. If you’re doing overnight express, it’s depot to depot work which is nice and 12 hour days but all back of clock.
Compliance is a bullsh#t word, most companies want you to break rules, that’s why their driver ads usually require a ‘can do attitude’! These guys are the hardest working men and women I’ve ever met and severely underpaid. It’s silly to compare that role to pilots who are spoon fed by comparison. Most experienced airline pilots are not shaped and prepared for long haul trucking and would not last long in the job if they had to drive on a fulltime permanent basis. That I’m certain of.
Truck driving isn't percieved the be a glam job. Airline flying is. But it isn't. T&Cs are now pretty crap for someone who may well have borrowed or begged £120K to get a licence. And there is no guarantee of a job at the end.
I must stress the point, there is no glamour in aviation as there may have been 30 years ago. I would rather my son become a builder with his own small company if I'm honest.
I must stress the point, there is no glamour in aviation as there may have been 30 years ago. I would rather my son become a builder with his own small company if I'm honest.
I don’t think you need to tell your kids to be builders, they will do that on their own. My clan are early 20s. I have never advised them how nor have they ever asked me how to do what I do. They will retire at 60 chasing as mentioned above, trade careers. At this stage I will be going until early 70s, potentially will become the oldest pilot in my outfit. Says it all really. However it’s what I signed up for.
Last edited by PoppaJo; 25th Sep 2022 at 01:57.
I'll have enough assets/cash to comfortably retire before 50, all paid for by aviation. Be smart and almost any job will pay the bills. Don't waste time doing something you don't like, then it really is a chore and a job. Most in the industry I see spend tens of thousands on holidays every year, buy expensive cars, if that's the way you want to live, well so be it. But if you are borrowing to live that lifestyle its costing double what it would if you budgeted correctly and are patient in your wealth creation, even if that debt is using the mortgage low rates. Each to their own, but Aviation will pay for a good middle class lifestyle and that's without even being high ranked in QF or VA. TBH I spend more time at home than most 9-5ers, so even the time away is not that bad. If you don't enjoy the pilot lifestyle, then quite probably you chose the wrong job, its not the pay and conditions dragging you down, its doing something that you really don't want to do that's hurting. If my kids want to become pilots, I'd back them 100%, but they don't, so its academic.
Timing is everything, I know some seriously well off pilots, now in their late 50's and 60's who've never been through the industry shock that the young fellas and girls are going through now.
And knocked back 3 years, wait until you have health issues that knock you out of any work for a year or two as you age, no gov handouts, no freezes on debts and rent and such. Guess what, been there, done that as well, still on track for early retirement. The health issues really do make you consider what your purpose is in life and what is really valuable to you, if its still borrowing money to live in a penthouse with 5 Mercs, good for you. The pandemic made my finances drop a little, go backwards? I don't consider my finances as forward or backwards, there's enough or there's not, always maintain a more than comfortable margin. I work with FOs that buy $10k dogs, know QF SOs that owned pubs in their late 20s. If that's struggling in the modern world, well god help us all,
It’s a bit of a lottery really. Depends when you go in and which wave you get to ride. I went in late, previous engineering career prior, didn’t start in GA until 35. The timing worked as I was able to access the hiring wave in the late 00s when I wanted to switch employers. The downside around going in later is you will need to work longer if you are starting a family later on.
It does hurt when you get these black swan events as you start to approach 60 when you finally are getting in some form of financial order….then bang. I do feel for FOs especially those at Virgin who have been waiting a long time and will still be waiting a while yet it seems. Certainly isn’t ideal working until 70 however as many know, the golden seat is needed to fund retirement.
It does hurt when you get these black swan events as you start to approach 60 when you finally are getting in some form of financial order….then bang. I do feel for FOs especially those at Virgin who have been waiting a long time and will still be waiting a while yet it seems. Certainly isn’t ideal working until 70 however as many know, the golden seat is needed to fund retirement.
A lifer FO at VA or QF is still on a huge income. Captains salaries open up a few more doors for lifestyle, but seriously on $100k+ a year is not struggling in any terms. Might not be able to afford an inner city mansion in Sydney or Melbourne, maybe Perths more your scene.
I have come across the odd pilot that has partied and spent their money on enjoying life get to 50 and suddenly think about retirement, but that's a life choice we can all make. Very few people I would have sympathy for because they have no money at that age through no fault of their own, very few in Australia that is.
Someone said to me you build wealth by spending on things you need and more importantly not spending it on what you don't. How much you earn is irrelevant beyond a point, if you waste enough, you'll never have enough.
And before someone says that's locking yourself in a room and boring. Needs include holidays and stuff for your health, including mental health.
I have come across the odd pilot that has partied and spent their money on enjoying life get to 50 and suddenly think about retirement, but that's a life choice we can all make. Very few people I would have sympathy for because they have no money at that age through no fault of their own, very few in Australia that is.
Someone said to me you build wealth by spending on things you need and more importantly not spending it on what you don't. How much you earn is irrelevant beyond a point, if you waste enough, you'll never have enough.
And before someone says that's locking yourself in a room and boring. Needs include holidays and stuff for your health, including mental health.
Last edited by 43Inches; 25th Sep 2022 at 05:39.
Trust me, it’s a struggle on that lifer wage. A dual income at that wage, then sure. I don’t think you could save for retirement from a VA FO wage with kids about.
100k is not a comfortable income if you have children to educate. Nor will it get you a mortgage on anything worth living in.
All of my builder mates are lately charging $900-1200/day wages plus whatever profit is in the quote. I have a friend with a crew of three erecting sheds that makes as much as a widebody captain. He is home every night and every weekend.
On edit…my daughter’s former school now costs $30K ++. That’s with after tax dollars too. And being the poorest kid in class does them no favours either.
All of my builder mates are lately charging $900-1200/day wages plus whatever profit is in the quote. I have a friend with a crew of three erecting sheds that makes as much as a widebody captain. He is home every night and every weekend.
On edit…my daughter’s former school now costs $30K ++. That’s with after tax dollars too. And being the poorest kid in class does them no favours either.
I was paying off a half million mortgage with a wife not working and 2 kids at school on $100k. Still had holidays and enough to pay back almost double the repayments, which is why that mortgage is almost gone. But seriously, have some gonad control and don't have kids until you can afford them, they are a luxury like a car or a dog that has costs and is purely a choice you make to have them.
To make ends meet in the past my grandfather started work at 8, father at 12, I started at 16. If you think they had it better, pfttt... Grandfather had no choice in what he did, just work in the same factory his parents did, bet on pigeon/horse races for passing the time. all go on holiday to the same place the whole factory went to during the same two weeks off everyone got. I feel like a lazy prick just thinking about it.
To make ends meet in the past my grandfather started work at 8, father at 12, I started at 16. If you think they had it better, pfttt... Grandfather had no choice in what he did, just work in the same factory his parents did, bet on pigeon/horse races for passing the time. all go on holiday to the same place the whole factory went to during the same two weeks off everyone got. I feel like a lazy prick just thinking about it.
My kids have only just recently finished school. They mostly went through the public school system. A few forays into some more expensive private schools, but they didn't seem to offer anything better, except $5000 worth of uniform to prance around in.
To put it in perspective, my first house cost me around $220k, had to borrow $160k, was earning an income of $35k. Latest house around $1mil, $500k loan, $100k income to start with. Owned a few houses in between, but they don't make money, just helped stay in the game.
Luck is more for the small business minded, starting up and having a niche to slide into can be very much luck. Working as an employee, you can roughly work out what is going to happen money wise on a regular income that's not going to change massively, building gradual wealth is not luck, its management and control. Luck is more related to the get rich quick schemes and high risk options.
The other thing is to get a partner that has a good job, if you are both on $100k then no probs at all.
To put it in perspective, my first house cost me around $220k, had to borrow $160k, was earning an income of $35k. Latest house around $1mil, $500k loan, $100k income to start with. Owned a few houses in between, but they don't make money, just helped stay in the game.
Luck is more for the small business minded, starting up and having a niche to slide into can be very much luck. Working as an employee, you can roughly work out what is going to happen money wise on a regular income that's not going to change massively, building gradual wealth is not luck, its management and control. Luck is more related to the get rich quick schemes and high risk options.
The other thing is to get a partner that has a good job, if you are both on $100k then no probs at all.
Last edited by 43Inches; 25th Sep 2022 at 06:20.
Its funny reading the ongoing debate about pay being connected to the complexity/responsibility/training etc required in a job. Isn't it all just supply and demand? The US aviation industry is a pretty good example.
Kudos to the QF pilots. I’ve put my Ansett wage, as an F/O in 1994, into the RBA Inflation calculator, and QF F/O’s are on the mark or better. Well done. Sadly you can’t buy the terraces on Oxford St and Royal Parade that I did that secured surviving the misery of a few redundancies. But you guys are bullet proof anyways.
The rest, not so good. Hopefully it gets better.
The rest, not so good. Hopefully it gets better.
Out of curiosity, which FO pay are you referring to?
Sh/ Lh, and what hours worked?
There is a fair difference between SH min guarantee, up to A380 FO with some overtime.
Sh/ Lh, and what hours worked?
There is a fair difference between SH min guarantee, up to A380 FO with some overtime.
Kudos to the QF pilots. I’ve put my Ansett wage, as an F/O in 1994, into the RBA Inflation calculator, and QF F/O’s are on the mark or better. Well done. Sadly you can’t buy the terraces on Oxford St and Royal Parade that I did that secured surviving the misery of a few redundancies. But you guys are bullet proof anyways.
The rest, not so good. Hopefully it gets better.
The rest, not so good. Hopefully it gets better.
Low rates for inflation is ike poking a sleeping bear with a stick. It eventually wakes up and it will not be happy.
Am I missing something, we are not Truck Drivers. Pointless comparisons with Surgeons, Miners, Lawyers etc are not helpful. There is an oversupply of applicants for Airline jobs in Australasia and that if the biggest factor in suppressing Pilot wages.