A fly-in, fly-out truck driver has revealed she earns more than $110,000 for just "six months' work". Photo / Supplied
A fly-in, fly-out truck driver has revealed she earns more than $110,000 for just "six months' work". Photo / Supplied
A fly-in, fly-out truck driver has revealed she earns more than A$110,000 for just "six months' work".
Ashlea, who goes by the name The Salty Pinup on her social media channels, explained how much she earned when she first started as a FIFO truck driver at a mine site with no experience.
Fly-in fly-out employees in remote areas are flown to the worksite instead of relocating permanently.
Ashlea said she typically does 14 days of work then gets a 14-day long break.
"Obviously all companies are going to pay differently this is just what I personally got," she said.
"When I first started as a trainee I was paid A$36 per hour and we do 12 hour days. After about three months, my rate went to A$43.50 an hour. For my first year as a greenie (truck driver) I would have taken me to about A$94,000 – 95,000 annually.
She explained that after changing jobs and working through a contractor she received a big jump in pay.
"My new rate is about A$51.50 an hour so that's pretty good. And the contracting company I'm with pays you a bonus each month you stay with them – that's about A$2000," she said.
"Annually, at my A$51.50 rate, that would be about A$112,000 per annum my bonuses which could be around A$10,000. So around A$122,000 for my first year.
"I hope this helps. I think it is pretty good for working only six months of the year as a truckie.
Her comments come as the Western Australian government grapples with new rules for FIFO workers following the Covid pandemic.
In February, Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan outlined more flexible guidelines for shortened isolation periods when WA moves to its "high caseload environment".
The new measures cut isolation periods for close contacts from 14 days to seven, removed the definition of casual contact and allow critical workers deemed close contacts to continue working if they were asymptomatic and screened negative to a rapid antigen test daily.
However, McGowan said the stringent rules currently in place were still necessary in the state's widely-criticised effort in stopping the community spread of the Omicron variant.
$3k-a-week lollipop ladies slam job
Late last year, Aussie lollipop ladies revealed the huge downsides to the job, despite others boasting about the huge pay packets they rake in.
One woman, Paris Taylor, described the role of traffic controller as the "worst job ever".
"For everyone hyping traffic control as a good job, why are you lying?" she said in a TikTok video.
When she was asked about the pay, she said the reality was it "only pays well if you are doing long hours".
Ashlea, who goes by the name The Salty Pinup on her social media channels, explained how much she earned when she first started as a fly-in, fly-out truck driver at a mine site. Picture / Supplied
Other women described dealing with nightmare pedestrians and drivers.
Nursing student Unity Adams filmed a TikTok video on a worksite outlining what women cop on a regular basis.
"Getting 'cat called' every 20 minutes," she said, adding she was hit on 24/7.
Another Aussie lollipop lady Chloe Taouk previously revealed she earns almost A$3000 a week.
Filming from construction sites around Sydney, she outlined that by working almost 58 hours in six days, she raked in a whopping A$2949, although it's not clear whether this is her earnings before or after tax.
For one shift on Thursday she worked just 15 minutes, scoring herself A$148, while Sunday was the most lucrative with A$717.40 in the bank for 12.5 hours due to double time.
Her longest shift was 14 hours on a Wednesday, which netted her A$611.50, while a higher rate on Saturday gave her A$557 for nine hours.
During the week, she worked for 12 hours on the Monday raking in A$496, while her 10-hour shift on Tuesday scored her A$409.45.
Overall, her pay packet equated to an incredible A$50 an hour for her working week.
