Do you really love driving?

I know most of us put it in our CV’s just because that’s what we’re supposed to say and what employers want to hear. Plus a recent thread about 68-70+ year old drivers who just won’t retire prompted me to ask you the following:

If you were offered 50% of your current (average annual) pay for the rest of your life as pension but you can’t drive ever again, would you?

ETS:
I know most of us put it in our CV’s just because that’s what we’re supposed to say and what employers want to hear. Plus a recent thread about 68-70+ year old drivers who just won’t retire prompted me to ask you the following:

If you were offered 50% of your current (average annual) pay for the rest of your life as pension but you can’t drive ever again, would you?

No I would not ,
I would if I could do part time occasionally drive

New pastures

50% - as long as I could go get another job tgats not related to HGVs then yeah but that as the only money, couldn’t afford to. And no that’s not because of high expenditure, just £220 a week (post tax) isn’t a lot to live on.

I’d just go get a different type of job and stuff the 50%.

No
The novelty is wearing off.
Things havent been the same since my FS1E days

I’d snap their hand off and run out of the yard in case they changed their mind. :laughing:

It all depends what you’ve done and how long you’ve done it.
I still like driving,.I’m content with my present job, but I absolutely loved the driving job at the beginning,… but it was literally like chalk and cheese to what it is today.
You were left to get on with it only contacting the firm when you tipped, so maybe twice a week, no phones and no trackers, so you had a sense and an aura of responsibility using your own initiative and making your own decisions, which made you a better driver…, not so much in driving ability, but in terms of professionalism and approach about the job.

There were also parts that were a LOT worse than today, it wasn’t ALL good, , but on the whole generally speaking things were better in terms of the actual driving job for the driver.

I’m working for the local council and have a varied working week no 2 days the same.Favorite is doing the countryside route. Good t&cs which I’m happy with cheers Ray

Love’s a bit…

Strong. Enjoy, I still enjoy driving. After all these decades there’s still something about the response of the lorry to my input, hoofing it smoothly through traffic and the satisfaction of a one hit blind sider.
I’m left alone to get on with things as I see fit, the kit is rarely more than 3 years old, the job is an absolute doddle and I’m happy with what I’m paid (yeh yeh, of course I’d like more).

If it means only commercial driving not pleasure the state pension will be around 50% of my previous wage when I left the job.
I think anyone over 60 who is unemployed should automatically be shifted from UC to early retirement on reduced state pension and the pension age should be brought back to at least 65 preferably 60.

If it also means loss of pleasure driving then it’s a no deal.

I really love driving to the point where the money I earn’t driving trucks and my holiday entitlement was in large part spent on cars and foreign road trips.
While the job itself was mostly like being paid for an enjoyable hobby.
Until it all went to hell in a hub system hand cart.
I totally agree with Grandpa on the issue of the job having degenerated in many respects. :wink:

Yes I do.
Spend a lot of my free time doing it for nowt.
In fact…at considerable cost to myself.

robroy:
I’d snap their hand off and run out of the yard in case they changed their mind. :laughing:

It all depends what you’ve done and how long you’ve done it.
I still like driving,.I’m content with my present job, but I absolutely loved the driving job at the beginning,… but it was literally like chalk and cheese to what it is today.
You were left to get on with it only contacting the firm when you tipped, so maybe twice a week, no phones and no trackers, so you had a sense and an aura of responsibility using your own initiative and making your own decisions, which made you a better driver…, not so much in driving ability, but in terms of professionalism and approach about the job.

There were also parts that were a LOT worse than today, it wasn’t ALL good, , but on the whole generally speaking things were better in terms of the actual driving job for the driver.

The job is what you make it. It’s no surprise you’d be out of the yard in a flash as your past posts indicate that you drive for a larger logistics company where monitoring your every move and nannying you around are par for the course. There are plenty of small companies where you are left to your own devices, trusted to get the job done and use your initiative to solve any problems which may arise.

As for the driving part, give me a light load, a manual gearbox and some empty rural A roads in the dead of the night or early morning in the summer and the job is about as perfect as it gets. Wakefield to Northampton at 5pm on Friday playing wacky races with all the pallet and parcel trunkers, not so much. But I’d much rather do that than scan parcels in a warehouse for a tenner an hour as one clown on here recently said he preferred.

Do I really love driving still? No. 20 years ago, yes. Now, no. Although fine when behind the wheel, when I get home I find myself mentally enhausted even if I’ve only done 200 miles and can easily deep sleep for 12hrs+ to recharge. Despite the negatives, it’s still a ■■■■ easy way to earn some brass for a comfortable lifestyle for hardly any effort. 3 days a week does me. :smiley:

DCPCFML:

robroy:
I’d snap their hand off and run out of the yard in case they changed their mind. :laughing:

It all depends what you’ve done and how long you’ve done it.
I still like driving,.I’m content with my present job, but I absolutely loved the driving job at the beginning,… but it was literally like chalk and cheese to what it is today.
You were left to get on with it only contacting the firm when you tipped, so maybe twice a week, no phones and no trackers, so you had a sense and an aura of responsibility using your own initiative and making your own decisions, which made you a better driver…, not so much in driving ability, but in terms of professionalism and approach about the job.

There were also parts that were a LOT worse than today, it wasn’t ALL good, , but on the whole generally speaking things were better in terms of the actual driving job for the driver.

The job is what you make it. It’s no surprise you’d be out of the yard in a flash as your past posts indicate that you drive for a larger logistics company where monitoring your every move and nannying you around are par for the course. There are plenty of small companies where you are left to your own devices, trusted to get the job done and use your initiative to solve any problems which may arise.

As for the driving part, give me a light load, a manual gearbox and some empty rural A roads in the dead of the night or early morning in the summer and the job is about as perfect as it gets. Wakefield to Northampton at 5pm on Friday playing wacky races with all the pallet and parcel trunkers, not so much. But I’d much rather do that than scan parcels in a warehouse for a tenner an hour as one clown on here recently said he preferred.

Do I really love driving still? No. 20 years ago, yes. Now, no. Although fine when behind the wheel, when I get home I find myself mentally enhausted even if I’ve only done 200 miles and can easily deep sleep for 12hrs+ to recharge. Despite the negatives, it’s still a ■■■■ easy way to earn some brass for a comfortable lifestyle for hardly any effort. 3 days a week does me. :smiley:

You’re right on both counts, I do work for a reasonably large (ish) firm, and the job IS how you make it.

Firstly I have not always worked for that type of firm, so I do understand what you say about the advantages of more down to earth type companies.

Secondly I have proved the point you make by sorting a job out for myself that I like doing, but within the type of firm we are on about.

So basically like my ‘job’ but not overly keen on the firm if I’m honest, although that does not stop me giving 100%.to them in my actual work.
I suppose on reflection, I’m some kind of trucking related mercenary. :laughing:

Don’t start me off , I’m still ■■■■■■ off about not getting furloughed

Interesting topic this as recent events made me ask this question of myself. My mum and sister were worried about telling me my licence had been medically suspended on leaving hospital because they worried it would upset me…turns out I was as surprised as them that I just shrugged my shoulders and said ah well! Not being able to drive for over a year now has made me realise why I did it- a way to travel. To see the world. I don’t drive because I love it, I haven’t missed it, done fine without it (apart from obvious finances). Turns out my Dad is same. I’ll get my licence back and I will drive trucks again. I was tempted to walk away from industry and start again doing something else but realised throwing away what I’ve built for myself career wise would be nuts and didn’t want to start at bottom again doing something new. I enjoy it, don’t love it, I love the job for other reasons

does yes and no count?

love driving, however some road users are a pain in the ars* going london cyclist, impatient drivers they see your indicator followed by hazard meaning im going reverse yet they still come close and make it more difficult

however some nice country side routes snake pass make things worth while

Id take the 50%…£19k is plenty for me to live on.

Driving today is not like driving even 10 years ago. There is no courtesy any more on the roads. I was asking my missus the other day why nobody ever flashes to let you out of the entrance to our road anymore. Instead they would rather try and squeeze through, it is much easier to let the waiting car out giving yourself more room but its like they dont want to show weakness!

I also used to love driving. Even after a hard week I would throw the kids in the car and think nothing of driving 3 hours to get to the Peak District to go for a walk on hills the drive home same day. Now I can’t even bear driving to shop. I hate the thought of having to drive anywear long distance for pleasure!

Oh guys come on, not another “the job ■■■■■ nowadays” thread. I’m sure if you ask a wide range of aging professionals from other fields they’ll most of them will tell say the same about theirs. Gas station attendants I’m sure some of them miss the old days of being outside, interacting with customers, doing various things like checking tyre pressures, oil etc. not just pumping fuel; now reduced to a shelf-stacker behind a counter who’s job is to say ‘Hi’, followed by repeating the number on the register displayed (£ due) and “Bye” for a thousand times a day every day but this is what progress is as defined by the system we live in and cherish (allegedly :slight_smile: - all about efficiency and cost saving.

Over a yr ago the roads were getting too busy for my liking but luckily for me I mostly run in the north and south west so not too bad but we’ve had a yr now of quiet roads and not having to leave an hour early to avoid unpredictable hold ups but how long until it’s busy again ?

I think you can love the moment, but to say you love driving (a truck) per se would make you sound a bit simple. It is just a job . I have yet to visit an office or shop where somebody has confederate flags, extra lighting and his name on the desk in neon, whilst telling everybody he is living the dream, and then kips down in the office when everybody goes home. Yet its fine if you drive a truck?
When I first started driving, my regular run was up to Scotland, and loved the scenery, the crack in the cafes, and waxing about how tough the job was doing general haulage in the 80’s. Ironically, years later, and now a day man, having got into rock climbing, leading a full traverse of the Cuillin Ridge on Skye from Gars Bheinn to Sgurr nan Gillean is easily the hardest thing I have ever done, but to compare looking at it from a lay-by to actually doing it, there is just no comparison. Lived experience is infinitely better.
I somehow found myself watching a trucking vid recently(20 mins of my life, I won’t get back. Thanks Luke), where the driver, in Italy is in awe of his surroundings, and how he must come back one day. When? When you are spending your working life loving driving and living in a truck stop or a lay-by? I regularly fly into Milan, hire a car, and drive up to Livigno to ski. To ski down the Mottolino in brilliant sunshine is just too fantastic to put into words, but to suggest its living the dream watching from your truck window as you drive past is just nonsense.
I think the issue hints at a wider problem for the industry though. It was recently reported that we now have the lowest level on record of young licence holders. So there are not a lot of people out there loving driving. This must pose a problem for future recruitment of HGV drivers.
We need to get past the ridicule of drivers not being proper ‘truckers’ if they want to get home, or humiliating them if they blanch at being told , sorry, its another 15 for you driver.
Dickensian chimney sweeps had an easier life than some modern day drivers.
The job should not be a vocation for the feeble minded, but a recognised and respected, aspirational professional trade.

Retired now, but I do miss it. Love is probably a bit strong, but I did enjoy it, got to see almost all of the UK and somebody paid me. It probably helped that it was tramping, mostly farm deliveries in rural areas and not RDCs. At the end we had been taken over by a large logistics company, but even then it was OK as it was a bit specialist compared to most of their work. Sometimes tempted to go back for short periods, but I know agency work wouldn’t be the same.

Janos:
I think you can love the moment, but to say you love driving (a truck) per se would make you sound a bit simple. It is just a job .

I think the issue hints at a wider problem for the industry though. It was recently reported that we now have the lowest level on record of young licence holders. So there are not a lot of people out there loving driving. This must pose a problem for future recruitment of HGV drivers.

+1 Big-style

Truck driving has it’s good moments, it’s not the worst job I’ve ever done, but it’s an astronomical distance from being the best work I’ve been paid to do.

Getting up at dark-o-clock on a miserable February morning knowing you’re going to spend 1/3 to 1/2 your day standing in the rain/sleet/snow craning stuff on or off your truck? Who in their right mind can love that?

The best aspects I’ve found is when you have autonomy: it’s just you, your truck, the open road and a list of sites without any particular time constraints, decent weather, preferably mostly rural driving, and no boss phoning you up chivying you on, choosing your own break times and locations. Then, hanging up your keys and walking away from work at the end of the day knowing you aren’t expected to take extra work home with you.

And you’re spot on with the issue of attracting younger people into the industry, which is arguably the most highly regulated industry we have in the modern world, with long hours and wages not commensurate with responsibilities and obligations… For what? The right to drive a really large vehicle?

I can relate to your skiing activities; before I became a parent I would have said top of my list of things I genuinely love was scuba diving, preferably at locations few people usually go to (the most remote Scottish islands, or a really deep untouched wreck). These days top of my list is spending time with my kids. Then I go to work and talk to guys who’ve spent large amounts of their life tramping and they say “I missed my kids growing up.” I can’t see that any love of driving compensates for that level of regret.