News

Truck drivers in the UK earn an average of only £8 an hour, and are having to supplement this by around 25% through overtime and bonuses. According to a survey by Incomes Data Services and the Road Haulage Association (RHA), 27% of C+E drivers' and 21% of Class C drivers' pay is made up of bonuses, shift and overtime premiums. The figures also show that those with a Cat C+E licence earn an average  of £8.09 per hour, while those with a Cat C licence earn about £7.87.

Only 3.7% of the workforce in the industry come from ethic minorities and only 1.6% are women, although this has doubled since 2006. A spokesman for the T&G section of union Unite says: "We still very much feel that £10 per hour is the benchmark to aim for and given the responsibility and skill of the drivers this is not an unreasonable request."

Ruth Pott, director of employment affairs at the RHA, says that when overtime and bonuses are taken into account the average truck driver earns close to £24,000 a year "which is quite a reasonable wage and above the national average". "And if you look year on year, the median pay increase level for drivers was 4.5% and we would expect a further 3-4% rise in 2008." She adds that the RHA is working closely with the likes of Skills  for Logistics to try to raise the profile of the industry among women and ethic minorities and the figures show slight improvements. "The evidence shows there is a lot of training taking place and that road haulage is a good industry to be employed in."