Any Irish Truckers here?

heavyhaulerss · Jan 5, 2011

I am not Irish, but my wife is. does that count?

hooligan1971 · Jan 9, 2011

dar. said: ↑

Hi, I'm based in Co.Westmeath. Not a good time to be contemplating a move to Ireland. You'd be very welcome, no problem there, but there's no work. It's worse than I've ever known it including the recession of the late 70's and 80's.

As for pay you'd sure feel the difference comming from the States due to the huge difference in the cost of living. IRELAND IS THE 4th MOST EXPENSIVE PLACE TO LIVE IN THE WORLD. I wrote that big to make sure you didn't miss it not to 'shout'. Those are official stats and hide the real truth. I lived in south London for a good few years and that's not a cheap place to live but I know in reality it's more expensive to live where I do right in the middle of rural Ireland.

When I drove out in the USA it was some time ago and not for long. I was paid by the mile, does that still happen? In Ireland it's mostly monthly salary for company drivers and they make up the bulk of drivers on the road. Owner drivers work out their own rates but with the cost of fuel many are taking home less than company drivers.

You think you're paying a lot for fuel and you are but we are paying far, far, far more and it's crippling the industry.

What's pay like? ...you were asking about semi's which here is refered to as artic's (short for articulated truck) which means you'll need categories E+C on your licence and as a company driver expect between 19K and 31K per year (Euros). These salaries are dropping like a stone due to the very high numbers of eastern european drivers from Poland, Albania, Romania, Russia etc who have flooded the job market and will work for buttons.

A lot of these lads are causing big problems here because they'll work for less than the minimum wage, live in the cab full-time and often have bought their licences on the black market in the east. You can find their artics in hedges from Counties Kerry to Down.

Also don't underestimate the problem of finding drops in Ireland, we have no zip codes in the south to speak of outside of the Dubs (sorry Dublin) and I've honestly had addresses like "Pat, just of Rosscommon town" etc. There are also very few road signs, a left over relic feature of Irish road navigation from the war donkey's years ago when they were all taken down and many counties haven't bothered replacing them since or had the budget too.

The roads in the south are also a nightmare for the uninitiated. They are too narrow for modern trucks, potholed to blazes (you'll seriously spend a fortune on steering, suspension and transmission if you're an owner driver who likes to take care of their rig) and in a very, very dangerous state for heavy trucks in many, many places e.g. shoulders which WILL roll you over etc.

I think the best bet at the moment is head north. Good roads, decent pay, better trucks, economy not so shattered and the people are great whatever you might have heard to the contrary. I'm Irish with a name spelt in the Irish language and never had a problem up there, quite the opposite in fact, very friendly people indeed, I'd recommend that part of the world to anyone.

Don't get me wrong the south's a grand place too and there are some benefits such as the Guard's not having a clue how to read a tacho' or the slightest inclination to try If you head north or over the water to Wales, Scotland or England beware! The old bill in England are very good at reading tacho's and WILL do you for being over hours and /or for having a rig in bad shape, overloaded etc,etc,etc.

Most lads I know are thinking seriously about heading for Canada (1st choice), or the States or the UAE (United Arab Emirates) because of the state of the haulage industry here.

Hope that answers some of your questions, if you want to know more ask and I'll do my best.

Good luck to you and yours,
Dar.
Click to expand...

very good reply ya gave there m8, i just moved back to the US from England for the same reason m8, no bloody work and the pay is ####e, i make loads more driving all over the US in 4-5 days than i did over in europe in a whole month..

Sean R · Jan 23, 2011

Howya, try T L T livestock in mullingar , they have livestock trailers in Italy all the time and are well capable of carrying machinery like this

Fifty · Jun 25, 2011

ye irish driver from south need too know anything give me a shout would be omly too happy too help

blade · Sep 16, 2011

Not irish but the sign of my door says irish express does that count

Foxcover · Apr 19, 2014

Fifty said: ↑

ye irish driver from south need too know anything give me a shout would be omly too happy too help
Click to expand...

What's going to happen between Wexford and Kilkenny in the hurling this year?

Leefoley74 · May 28, 2019

dar. said: ↑

Hi, I'm based in Co.Westmeath. Not a good time to be contemplating a move to Ireland. You'd be very welcome, no problem there, but there's no work. It's worse than I've ever known it including the recession of the late 70's and 80's.

As for pay you'd sure feel the difference comming from the States due to the huge difference in the cost of living. IRELAND IS THE 4th MOST EXPENSIVE PLACE TO LIVE IN THE WORLD. I wrote that big to make sure you didn't miss it not to 'shout'. Those are official stats and hide the real truth. I lived in south London for a good few years and that's not a cheap place to live but I know in reality it's more expensive to live where I do right in the middle of rural Ireland.

When I drove out in the USA it was some time ago and not for long. I was paid by the mile, does that still happen? In Ireland it's mostly monthly salary for company drivers and they make up the bulk of drivers on the road. Owner drivers work out their own rates but with the cost of fuel many are taking home less than company drivers.

You think you're paying a lot for fuel and you are but we are paying far, far, far more and it's crippling the industry.

What's pay like? ...you were asking about semi's which here is refered to as artic's (short for articulated truck) which means you'll need categories E+C on your licence and as a company driver expect between 19K and 31K per year (Euros). These salaries are dropping like a stone due to the very high numbers of eastern european drivers from Poland, Albania, Romania, Russia etc who have flooded the job market and will work for buttons.

A lot of these lads are causing big problems here because they'll work for less than the minimum wage, live in the cab full-time and often have bought their licences on the black market in the east. You can find their artics in hedges from Counties Kerry to Down.

Also don't underestimate the problem of finding drops in Ireland, we have no zip codes in the south to speak of outside of the Dubs (sorry Dublin) and I've honestly had addresses like "Pat, just of Rosscommon town" etc. There are also very few road signs, a left over relic feature of Irish road navigation from the war donkey's years ago when they were all taken down and many counties haven't bothered replacing them since or had the budget too.

The roads in the south are also a nightmare for the uninitiated. They are too narrow for modern trucks, potholed to blazes (you'll seriously spend a fortune on steering, suspension and transmission if you're an owner driver who likes to take care of their rig) and in a very, very dangerous state for heavy trucks in many, many places e.g. shoulders which WILL roll you over etc.

I think the best bet at the moment is head north. Good roads, decent pay, better trucks, economy not so shattered and the people are great whatever you might have heard to the contrary. I'm Irish with a name spelt in the Irish language and never had a problem up there, quite the opposite in fact, very friendly people indeed, I'd recommend that part of the world to anyone.

Don't get me wrong the south's a grand place too and there are some benefits such as the Guard's not having a clue how to read a tacho' or the slightest inclination to try If you head north or over the water to Wales, Scotland or England beware! The old bill in England are very good at reading tacho's and WILL do you for being over hours and /or for having a rig in bad shape, overloaded etc,etc,etc.

Most lads I know are thinking seriously about heading for Canada (1st choice), or the States or the UAE (United Arab Emirates) because of the state of the haulage industry here.

Hope that answers some of your questions, if you want to know more ask and I'll do my best.

Good luck to you and yours,
Dar.
Click to expand...

Hi I’m new here also and I’m the USA and I’m also looking at some information on moving to Ireland to drive. I drive here now and I have some distant family there and my dad just got his Irish citizenship and will be moving there soon and I’d like to try to find a way to move over there with him also, and information on how I can go about getting a job and a license to be able to move over there would be a great help, thanks. And yes I read what you said about how bad it is over there but it’s not all that great here either and we have a lot of those same things here with driving rules too. I think it will be better there than it is here. Thanks for whatever help you can give

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