There is no set pattern to rostering. 5 weeks rolling roster of which the first 2 weeks are confirmed. Anything after is subject to change and often does. Shift times also vary in length depending on the job, whether you are lodging or travelling. The amount of lodging really depends on where you live and where they need you to work. If you've got a decent route card near to where you live you should find yourself lodging less. This isn't guaranteed though and if they need you to sign a route at the opposite end of the country then that's where they can send you. Shift times start from when you leave home or place of rest and finish when you return so you are paid for travel time. The starting pay for a qualified driver has risen significantly since last year. It was circa 50k its now over 60k following a recent review for driver retention. The 70k figure is achieved once all the competencies have been achieved. That would be Driver, Operator, tower and Maintainer competencies. NVQ3 required for the Maintainer ticket. There is an annual bonus based around production with a further 1k driver retention bonus on top. Overtime rates are decent and change depending on when it's rostered. Weekends, Christmas etc.
Contracted hours are 511 per quarter which is significantly more than if you're employed by TOC/FOC.
6 month probation to start during which you will drive a company van with a fuel card. After which you can order a car. The list of cars available to order changes all the time. Last year a load of lads ordered mercedes, tesla, bmw. This year most of those cars aren't on the list.
It's a decent job just be prepared to work a lot of nights and weekends. It's the nature of the work they deliver. If you're OK with that then the pay and benefits are better than you will find with many other rail companies. If you don't mind a bit of overtime you could easily achieve 80k+
The operating is a massive part of the job so if you think you're just going to be driving you'd be very wrong. During probation you'd need to get stuck in to get at least the operating ticket signed off. If you're not keen on that element of the job, you won't last the probation period.
If you think it's for you, I'd say go for it.
