Well I’ve found myself back here after a roughly 9-10 month self imposed exile. I say self imposed because I felt the site had gone a bit stale, as has been my general rule for the industry itself to be honest. Nice to see Rikki has attempted a clampdown on the ■■■■ who were ruining the once great site.
So what is this one last hurrah I hear you cry? Well as I just mentioned, I’m completely disillusioned with the industry right now. Too many spineless drivers and unscrupulous operators have literally killed it off. I’ve attempted to get office based positions, and even applied for a job as a train driver in recent months.
But I started to soul search, and see if I could pinpoint where I fell out of love with the job. Unfortunately I couldn’t narrow it down. I did start to reminisce about the reasons I started out on my journey though. Living 500 yards from Hercocks yard in the 80’s, my best mates dad having a mint 143 in the 90’s etc. Then I remembered my 144 530 I had at the age of 22. All good stuff, that my fleet spec FH 540 just can’t compete with. So I’m thinking I fancy a flagship truck. I’m talking a V8 or FH16 with all the bells and whistles, bearing in mind I’ve got a 6 month old 540, so anything less than a manufacturers top toy won’t do.
So this is a serious pitch for a new job, with a top truck to help me fall back in love with the game. Not really bothered what type of work, as long as it’s not recycling, tippers or steel. I’ll travel anywhere within an hour of Tilbury, or I can arrange secure parking at Tilbury. Now I’m not being Cab happy, I take Home between £550 and £600 a week including between 1 and 3 nights out. So I won’t be interested in anything less.
So let the ■■■■ taking commence, for anyone who has anything serious to say, pm me, cheers.
As they say don’t ask you don’t get.Good luck with the job hunting ive applied for a train driving job so see what happens.
Fair play to you for being honest about what you want and why .
Something tells me you will get what you want but I have to say a 540 (if its anything like the 500 ) will be a hard act to follow . I have to say I have a particularly good 500 that pulls like a train . I’d love to try a 540 or a 750 but I’d be scared that nothing would ever match up to the 750 and I’d just be wanting one the rest of my days .
only thing i can think of is someone like Ray White or Peter Gibson - (Redirecting...) if that the sort of thing youd be interested in .
Best of luck with whatever you decide .
Are you not on for Express Freight anymore??
I was wondering where you went. If you want a fancy unit, maybe it might be worthwhile looking into running your own unit. Plenty of ferry work at Tilbury, you just need to find work that pays.
Twoninety88:
Are you not on for Express Freight anymore??
Still on here mate. Just a bit bored of the A12 conveyor belt. Plus I found a wage slip from 2008 and my take home pay is only £2 more now than it was on that particular week. Traffic, poor parking and companies that generally don’t give a monkeys about their staff have left me feeling like driving isn’t for me anymore. I’ve never felt like nothing more than a part of a machine until now. Hoping the sort of truck that drew me into the industry may respark my enthusiasm.
OVLOV JAY:
Twoninety88:
Are you not on for Express Freight anymore??
Still on here mate. Just a bit bored of the A12 conveyor belt. Plus I found a wage slip from 2008 and my take home pay is only £2 more now than it was on that particular week. Traffic, poor parking and companies that generally don’t give a monkeys about their staff have left me feeling like driving isn’t for me anymore. I’ve never felt like nothing more than a part of a machine until now. Hoping the sort of truck that drew me into the industry may respark my enthusiasm.
Can relate to your boredom of the A12, it was always one of my pet hate roads…
A lorry driver with a dislike of boredom.
Good luck in your search Olav, but the job IS boring these days. I’m not sure a roof mounted light bar will change that. Why not give low loaders a try. Might be a bit more interesting.
I too suggest a move into other transport sectors.
I can relate to how you feel. I met up with an old school friend I hadn’t seen for well over 40 years at a funeral on Friday. A year or two younger than me, Oxford Degree (M.eng) retired ex CEO of Blue chip company and Chairman of the industry body, now off travelling the world. There’s me still twiddling my spanner and covered in ■■■■ most of the time. Feeling a little unsettled espceially at the prospect of several more years. Not jealous though, I am pleased for him - and he has missed out on my family too - you either have the brains or you don’t. In a day or two things will settle down.
To be be absolutely honest, you will get just as bored even with a show truck. I am stuck on a mundane day job at the mo because the other driver being a prize ■■■ got himself banned from this job. I have no choice other than to stick it out until things change.
You could try Mick Young or his ex wife’s firm Young Gubbins who both run big blinged Scania units, but will you really be happy? As for wages, I still have payslips from 1983 when I was earning the same amount the as I am now, the only thing is that is I have not got to do two Essex to Hamburg trips to earn it !
A steady wage counts a lot more than a high spec truck. And in all of my 44 years of driving have i ever had a high spec truck , this topline R450 is probably the best I have had
Be careful what you wish for Jay.
Change the sector you work in rather than the truck. Boxes are as boring as it gets!
If you want, differences every day try something involving farm delivery collection.
TiredAndEmotional:
Change the sector you work in rather than the truck. Boxes are as boring as it gets!
Yep.
And try to get an older lower powered truck too…
Honest.
Something you actually have to drive rather than be a passenger in!
Hhmmm. Will I get more flak than you for such heresy?
Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk
Franglais:
TiredAndEmotional:
Change the sector you work in rather than the truck. Boxes are as boring as it gets!
Yep.
And try to get an older lower powered truck too…
Honest.
Something you actually have to drive rather than be a passenger in!
Hhmmm. Will I get more flak than you for such heresy?
Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk
Maybe you will, but…having driven AEC’s Atkinson and other assorted rubbish, I wouldn’t like to go back to the good old days. Autos, cruise control and lovely comfort…and yes boredom trumps a truck “you have to drive” every time for me. 2 yrs to go then you can keep the lot of em.
cheekymonkey:
Franglais:
TiredAndEmotional:
Change the sector you work in rather than the truck. Boxes are as boring as it gets!
Yep.
And try to get an older lower powered truck too…
Honest.
Something you actually have to drive rather than be a passenger in!
Hhmmm. Will I get more flak than you for such heresy?
Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk
Maybe you will, but…having driven AEC’s Atkinson and other assorted rubbish, I wouldn’t like to go back to the good old days. Autos, cruise control and lovely comfort…and yes boredom trumps a truck “you have to drive” every time for me. 2 yrs to go then you can keep the lot of em.
No!
I’m not saying that a Borderer is the future for jaded palates! [emoji3]
But just as getting involved in the load and navigation can be satisfying, so can getting back into driving the truck too.
I’m not against good suspension and warm comfortable beds. I’m all for that.
But having just a loud and soft pedal ain’t involving enough. Especially with big engines on flat roads.
Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk
I was expecting the negative prats replying .If you put this on facebook you will be hounded by £8 per hour brain deaders who think that you should do 70 hours in an 11 plate m.a.n and be happy with your lot 
Good luck either way .
Beetlejuice:
I was expecting the negative prats replying .If you put this on facebook you will be hounded by £8 per hour brain deaders who think that you should do 70 hours in an 11 plate m.a.n and be happy with your lot
Good luck either way .
I’m not in any of those ridiculous Facebook groups for that very reason, and I’m surprised I haven’t been totally slated yet, but I did state I wouldn’t work for peanuts
Without a shadow of doubt you should try a different sector to refresh the tastebuds. Its what I did when I got fed up of the 5 day grind. I now install cabins on building sites…a little drive to a site with a wide and long load to keep me on my toes, then 4-5 hours installing cabins using a HIAB gave me back my work ethos. And I’m 2 stone lighter as well 
OVLOV JAY:
I’m surprised I haven’t been totally slated yet, but I did state I wouldn’t work for peanuts
Why should you be slated?? Do what you want to do, not what anyone else thinks you should be doing. If you find something with monster power and a large helping of bling then discover its still not for you, at least you can say youve been there and not looked back with regret…