Four months after moving to P.E.I. for the promise of a job at a trucking company, a German man is leaving the Island to try his luck in New Brunswick before his money runs out.

Reno and Ramona Neunzig moved to the Island from Berlin with their 17-year-old son in October, attracted by television advertisements in Germany for the trucking company Seafood Express. The ads said the job paid $10 an hour, but Neunzig told CBC News Wednesday he was never told he wouldn't get paid a cent for the time he wasn't behind the wheel.

"I must come 8 o'clock. Two o'clock he says you can drive. I get two hours pay," he said.

No pay for paperwork, shovelling, training

Reno Neunzig says he was working more than 40 hours a week but only getting paid for 20. (CBC)

Neunzig said he kept logbooks showing that he worked over 40 hours a week but was only getting paid for about 20. He said he did not get paid when he was at the office doing paperwork, shovelling snow, or training other people while waiting to drive.

Since arriving in Canada, the family has been living in a tiny one-bedroom motel room and said they've been relying on the charity of neighbours for food and clothing because the small paycheques were not enough to pay the bills.

The president of Seafood Express wouldn't comment in detail on Neunzig's employment, but said he tried to help Reno get as much work as he could. Other trucking companies contacted by CBC News said the flagging economy does mean less work, and it's not unusual for truckers to only get paid for the time they're driving.

Neunzig quit his job Friday, and the family is moving to Woodstock, N.B., with just $500 left. They have friends there, and Neunzig will be working with another trucking company.

The Neunzigs worry other German families will come to work for Seafood Express and have the same experience.