Brexit’s labour shortages and vastly different economic conditions across Europe have created a continent where geography determines your pay packet more than driving skills. At £3,350 a month gross, UK drivers top the European league table at €3,930, while Hungary sits bottom at just €1,039.
The wage gaps are striking across the continent. France (€1,850) and Romania (€1,794) fare only slightly better than Hungary, while Spain averages €2,450 and Poland €2,814. Only Germany comes close to UK levels at €3,357.
But the real story emerges when wages are compared to national benchmarks. Polish inetrnational drivers earn 2.7 times their minimum wage – the highest multiple in Europe – while British truckers take home 70% more than minimum wage and 9% above the national average. German drivers earn 64% above their minimum wage but still lag 13% behind the national average.
In stark contrast, French drivers barely exceed minimum wage at just 91% of the legal floor, while Hungarian truckers actually earn below it at 79% – a situation that raises serious questions about the sustainability of the profession in Eastern Europe.
United Kingdom: Brexit’s unintended beneficiaries
UK lorry drivers have emerged as unlikely winners from Brexit-induced labour shortages. Office for National Statistics data shows median net monthly earnings of £2,705, putting them 70% above minimum wage and almost 30% more than the median British employee.
The spread is significant: the top 10% of drivers earn over £56,400 annually, while even the lowest 10% take home £26,700.
Regional differences persist – London drivers command premiums over counterparts in Wales or the North East – but trucking has become one of Britain’s better-paid manual trades.
Unlike much of Europe where drivers sit near the bottom of wage tables, UK truckers are firmly above average, making lorry driving one of the few transport jobs where the pay packet still carries real weight.
Germany: Solid pay, growing expectations
German drivers average €2,536 net monthly – respectable but still 13% below the national average. The profession sits in a middle ground: comfortable above minimum wage but unable to match broader economic prosperity.
Regional variations are stark, reflecting Germany’s economic geography. Schleswig-Holstein drivers expect €3,550-3,575 monthly, while eastern states like Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt offer €3,175-3,275. Berlin, unusually for the east, commands €3,475.
Industry surveys show drivers increasingly expect more than just pay – modern fleets, predictable schedules, and proper allowances for nights and weekends are becoming standard demands as labour shortages give workers more bargaining power.
Poland: the great divide
Poland operates a two-tier system that highlights Europe’s complex transport economics. International drivers can earn PLN 10,000 net (€2,345) – comfortably above the national average and 3.2 times minimum wage. These drivers have become Europe’s mobile aristocracy, leveraging cross-border wage arbitrage.
But domestic drivers face a harsher reality. Beginners start at PLN 4,500 (€1,055), just 40% above minimum wage and often struggling to reach the national median. Even experienced domestic drivers at PLN 6,000 (€1,407) barely touch the national average.
This split reflects broader European dynamics: international haulage offers escape routes from domestic wage constraints, while local transport remains anchored to national economic realities.
France, Romania and Hungary: the struggling periphery
Across Southern and Eastern Europe, trucking remains trapped in low-wage cycles that threaten the profession’s long-term viability.
French drivers face perhaps the harshest relative conditions among Western European nations. Average net earnings of €1,420 sit almost exactly at minimum wage levels and €1,300 below the national average. Even experienced international drivers earn just €1,544 net – barely an improvement that explains why French hauliers increasingly rely on Eastern European labour.
Spain shows how experience can matter. Beginners earn €1,070 net, barely above minimum wage, but veterans can reach €2,040 – finally matching national averages. The profession operates as a long apprenticeship where only persistence pays off.
Hungarian truckers endure Europe’s harshest conditions. At HUF 271,000 net (€690), they earn below the skilled worker minimum wage and just 58% of national average pay. While unofficial payments like kilometre allowances may boost actual earnings, the official figures paint a picture of systematic undervaluation.
Romanian transport workers at €1,078 monthly sit slightly above the estimated median but well short of national averages, suggesting the profession has climbed from the very bottom without breaking through to middle-class prosperity.
Europe’s transport reckoning
These disparities reveal fundamental structural problems across Europe’s logistics network. While British drivers benefit from Brexit-induced scarcity that forced genuine pay competition, much of the continent runs transport on unsustainably low wages.
France’s dependence on foreign drivers and Hungary’s below-minimum reality suggest markets under severe stress. The question facing European policymakers is stark: can the continent develop sustainable transport economics, or will commerce increasingly depend on a diminishing pool of drivers willing to accept poverty wages?
For British truckers still grumbling about conditions, the message is clear – they’re enjoying one of Europe’s best deal in an industry where geography has become destiny.
