switchlogic:
by standards of recent events driving is more likely to kill me stone dead all at once
Driving and crashing are mutually exclusive and an oxymoron.
Are they? So you can crash without actually driving?
At the point of crashing and leading up to the crash the blameworthy party is generally just a passenger not in control driving.For any number of numerous reasons varying from ran out of talent to fell asleep at the wheel to vehicle condition/weight distribution.
Yeah seems you know as much about crashing as you do European transport. It’s commonly accepted that like you can trip and fall while walking you can crash while driving. Nice try tho
I’ll admit that before I’d actually driven an HGV there was an appeal there for me, of trying something new that didn’t require years in uni or doing a 3-5 year apprenticeship.
I had a plan and chose (within reason) the most suitable driving jobs to realise the goal I’d set myself, and although I didn’t mind some of them, I certainly didn’t love any of them.
I believe finding something that you can be proud of, whatever that maybe, was enough for me (in terms of achieving the driving job I’d set out to get). And there certainly were days when for example, I’d be driving along the A55 to some remote Welsh village and think to myself, this is great, but the negatives of the industry would always bring you crashing back down to earth pretty quickly.
So would I leave on half my (old) salary to never drive a truck again…absolutely!
When you think about truck driving and the conditions and pay you get on average, along with the way drivers are perceived/treated by the majority, it’s not something you’d choose if you were spoilt for choice. Literally any idiot can seemingly get a license, and completely ignore the fact that they are meant to be a professional driver, driving without due care just to go home earlier, or get their phone out while driving to make a call or to change a song!
A driver is easily replaced (not the good ones admittedly) unfortunately, and this sets the bar low all too often, taking the joy and pride out of driving in my opinion, meaning you have to love your job to love the driving side of it as well.
Carryfast:
That’s obviously got nothing to do with sitting comfortably watching the scenery of a nice long run go by and then waiting while a forklift tips and reloads for you.
People pay good money for similar holidays.
Well why didn’t you do that then instead of driving a dustcart?
Trapped.in.hell:
there certainly were days when for example, I’d be driving along the A55 to some remote Welsh village and think to myself, this is great, but the negatives of the industry would always bring you crashing back down to earth pretty quickly.
When you think about truck driving and the conditions and pay you get on average, along with the way drivers are perceived/treated by the majority, it’s not something you’d choose if you were spoilt for choice.
^
Driving a truck in its element, which means spending most of every day travelling across open country to/from/between wherever, is what makes it a great job.
There’s no reason why that shouldn’t just be interspersed with trailer/box swaps or waiting while some one tips/loads it with a forklift.
If you’re out where you belong on the road there’s not enough time to interact with anyone, including management, to be treated badly.
You’re just travelling/driving from point A to point B.
The problems are all about short runs involving too long spent off the road at the depot/RDC/hub/multiple drop/collection points, which all present all the numerous scenarios for zb to happen and doing anything but driving a truck which you’re supposed to be doing.
IE ‘those days’ which you described should form by far most of the job of a ‘driver’ to the point where there are no down sides to the job everything else other than driving is moot.
Carryfast:
That’s obviously got nothing to do with sitting comfortably watching the scenery of a nice long run go by and then waiting while a forklift tips and reloads for you.
People pay good money for similar holidays.
Well why didn’t you do that then instead of driving a dustcart?
Get it right Harry.
I actually mostly drove a multi lift flat on the council around the actually mostly very nice scenic County of Surrey.
Only sometimes with a multi lift refuse bulker body when required and that ain’t the same thing as a bleedin dustcart.
I worked there for 5 years.
I did 15 years night trunking.Most of those 15 years sitting comfortably watching the scenery go by.Especially short midsummer nights.No need to wait while a forklift tipped/loaded just trailer/box swaps.Which only all went to hell in a handcart in the final few years when I was finally lumbered with hub system type zb being expected to work on the dock handballing artic loads.
Also not forgetting the luckily most of the 5 years I was a works driver before working for the council.Driving a Transit and 7.5 tonner around the country mostly fork lifted stillage and craned load work no handball added to by some interesting fire truck test driving work.
I did though do some time on agency during a forced layoff.Which was an eye opener and that with the results of being lumbered with hub system zb having obviously jaded my view of the industry for good reason.
Yes I know the winners in the lottery caused by the limited amount of good jobs v too many bad jobs that infests the industry don’t get it.A situation which can only get worse as the government succeeds in driving ever more trucks off the roads in its crusade to send the industry back to the local delivery service that it was in the early 20th century.While what’s left just adds to the growth of the East Euro industry.I don’t think that ‘Brexit’ will make any difference to the government eventually chucking what remains under the cabotage bus in that regard.
Carryfast:
That’s obviously got nothing to do with sitting comfortably watching the scenery of a nice long run go by and then waiting while a forklift tips and reloads for you.
People pay good money for similar holidays.
Well why didn’t you do that then instead of driving a dustcart?
Get it right Harry.
I actually mostly drove a multi lift flat on the council around the actually mostly very nice scenic County of Surrey.
Only sometimes with a multi lift refuse bulker body when required and that ain’t the same thing as a bleedin dustcart.
I worked there for 5 years.
I did 15 years night trunking.Most of those 15 years sitting comfortably watching the scenery go by.Especially short midsummer nights.No need to wait while a forklift tipped/loaded just trailer/box swaps.Which only all went to hell in a handcart in the final few years when I was finally lumbered with hub system type zb being expected to work on the dock handballing artic loads.
Also not forgetting the luckily most of the 5 years I was a works driver before working for the council.Driving a Transit and 7.5 tonner around the country mostly fork lifted stillage and craned load work no handball added to by some interesting fire truck test driving work.
I did though do some time on agency during a forced layoff.Which was an eye opener and that with the results of being lumbered with hub system zb having obviously jaded my view of the industry for good reason.
Yes I know the winners in the lottery caused by the limited amount of good jobs v too many bad jobs that infests the industry don’t get it.A situation which can only get worse as the government succeeds in driving ever more trucks off the roads in its crusade to send the industry back to the local delivery service that it was in the early 20th century.While what’s left just adds to the growth of the East Euro industry.I don’t think that ‘Brexit’ will make any difference to the government eventually chucking what remains under the cabotage bus in that regard.
Hope that helps.
So the summary of your driving career is that contrary to your endless rants about American trucks, Australian trucks, and European distance work :
you haven’t driven any American trucks
you haven’t driven any Australian trucks, thus you have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to axle configurations or engines .
you haven’t done any European work so you’ve no clue what you’re talking about there either yet you spend every waking hour arguing with people who have done it and do know what they’re talking about .
you have driven a Transit van for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven a bin truck for Surrey Council for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven an artic for UPS for 15 years sat on your arse never touching the load, then threw all your toys out of your pram when the job changed and you were required to get off your fat arse and do some actual work .
you were then forced into doing agency work and got your lazy fat arse handed to you on a plate when you realised that the vast majority of trucking jobs require the driver to interract with the load, so you threw all your toys out again and quit the industry altogether and have spent all your time since then b1tching on Trucknet forums about it .
Meanwhile, the rest of us accept the job for what it is and just get on with it without crying like a girl if it requires using a pallet truck or we have to carry a few boxes to the end of the trailer.
Carryfast:
^
Driving a truck in its element, which means spending most of every day travelling across open country to/from/between wherever, is what makes it a great job.
There’s no reason why that shouldn’t just be interspersed with trailer/box swaps or waiting while some one tips/loads it with a forklift.
If you’re out where you belong on the road there’s not enough time to interact with anyone, including management, to be treated badly.
You’re just travelling/driving from point A to point B.
The problems are all about short runs involving too long spent off the road at the depot/RDC/hub/multiple drop/collection points, which all present all the numerous scenarios for zb to happen and doing anything but driving a truck which you’re supposed to be doing.
IE ‘those days’ which you described should form by far most of the job of a ‘driver’ to the point where there are no down sides to the job everything else other than driving is moot.
Well you see, not everything that needs to be transported needs to be transported a long way. And so the onus is upon a driver to decide which type of work he wants to do and seek out employment in that field. Personally, having done long distance work in the past in which I would often be away for weeks at a time, I now do day work (when I’m actually working) because that better suits my current lifestyle. However, I had to seek out this work, it didn’t come looking for me. You may have found what you were looking for had you put a bit more effort into it rather than blaming “nepotism” and “cronyism” for you own lack of motivation and resolve.
DCPCFML:
So the summary of your driving career is that contrary to your endless rants about American trucks, Australian trucks, and European distance work :
you haven’t driven any American trucks
you haven’t driven any Australian trucks, thus you have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to axle configurations or engines .
you haven’t done any European work so you’ve no clue what you’re talking about there either yet you spend every waking hour arguing with people who have done it and do know what they’re talking about .
you have driven a Transit van for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven a bin truck for Surrey Council for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven an artic for UPS for 15 years sat on your arse never touching the load, then threw all your toys out of your pram when the job changed and you were required to get off your fat arse and do some actual work .
you were then forced into doing agency work and got your lazy fat arse handed to you on a plate when you realised that the vast majority of trucking jobs require the driver to interract with the load, so you threw all your toys out again and quit the industry altogether and have spent all your time since then b1tching on Trucknet forums about it .
Meanwhile, the rest of us accept the job for what it is and just get on with it without crying like a girl if it requires using a pallet truck or we have to carry a few boxes to the end of the trailer.
I was right you have laughably serious literacy issues.Or you just aren’t bright enough to understand what’s written.
DCPCFML:
So the summary of your driving career is that contrary to your endless rants about American trucks, Australian trucks, and European distance work :
you haven’t driven any American trucks
you haven’t driven any Australian trucks, thus you have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to axle configurations or engines .
you haven’t done any European work so you’ve no clue what you’re talking about there either yet you spend every waking hour arguing with people who have done it and do know what they’re talking about .
you have driven a Transit van for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven a bin truck for Surrey Council for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven an artic for UPS for 15 years sat on your arse never touching the load, then threw all your toys out of your pram when the job changed and you were required to get off your fat arse and do some actual work .
you were then forced into doing agency work and got your lazy fat arse handed to you on a plate when you realised that the vast majority of trucking jobs require the driver to interract with the load, so you threw all your toys out again and quit the industry altogether and have spent all your time since then b1tching on Trucknet forums about it .
Meanwhile, the rest of us accept the job for what it is and just get on with it without crying like a girl if it requires using a pallet truck or we have to carry a few boxes to the end of the trailer.
I was right you have laughably serious literacy issues.Or you just aren’t bright enough to understand what’s written.
So you’re disputing alphabet? You have driven American trucks? You have driven Australian trucks? You have driven trucks in Europe?
A simple yes/no, yes/no, yes/no will suffice. We don’t need a tortuous, waffling essay that fails to address the questions.
dozy:
Don’t start me off , I’m still ■■■■■■ off about not getting furloughed
Don’t be! I’m still suffering every time I think to myself, this time last year I enjoyed 3 months of being payed to do f**k all. You can’t miss what you didn’t have [emoji23]
Carryfast:
That’s obviously got nothing to do with sitting comfortably watching the scenery of a nice long run go by and then waiting while a forklift tips and reloads for you.
People pay good money for similar holidays.
Well why didn’t you do that then instead of driving a dustcart?
Get it right Harry.
I actually mostly drove a multi lift flat on the council around the actually mostly very nice scenic County of Surrey.
Only sometimes with a multi lift refuse bulker body when required and that ain’t the same thing as a bleedin dustcart.
I worked there for 5 years.
I did 15 years night trunking.Most of those 15 years sitting comfortably watching the scenery go by.Especially short midsummer nights.No need to wait while a forklift tipped/loaded just trailer/box swaps.Which only all went to hell in a handcart in the final few years when I was finally lumbered with hub system type zb being expected to work on the dock handballing artic loads.
Also not forgetting the luckily most of the 5 years I was a works driver before working for the council.Driving a Transit and 7.5 tonner around the country mostly fork lifted stillage and craned load work no handball added to by some interesting fire truck test driving work.
I did though do some time on agency during a forced layoff.Which was an eye opener and that with the results of being lumbered with hub system zb having obviously jaded my view of the industry for good reason.
Yes I know the winners in the lottery caused by the limited amount of good jobs v too many bad jobs that infests the industry don’t get it.A situation which can only get worse as the government succeeds in driving ever more trucks off the roads in its crusade to send the industry back to the local delivery service that it was in the early 20th century.While what’s left just adds to the growth of the East Euro industry.I don’t think that ‘Brexit’ will make any difference to the government eventually chucking what remains under the cabotage bus in that regard.
Hope that helps.
So the summary of your driving career is that contrary to your endless rants about American trucks, Australian trucks, and European distance work :
you haven’t driven any American trucks
you haven’t driven any Australian trucks, thus you have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to axle configurations or engines .
you haven’t done any European work so you’ve no clue what you’re talking about there either yet you spend every waking hour arguing with people who have done it and do know what they’re talking about .
you have driven a Transit van for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven a bin truck for Surrey Council for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven an artic for UPS for 15 years sat on your arse never touching the load, then threw all your toys out of your pram when the job changed and you were required to get off your fat arse and do some actual work .
you were then forced into doing agency work and got your lazy fat arse handed to you on a plate when you realised that the vast majority of trucking jobs require the driver to interract with the load, so you threw all your toys out again and quit the industry altogether and have spent all your time since then b1tching on Trucknet forums about it .
Meanwhile, the rest of us accept the job for what it is and just get on with it without crying like a girl if it requires using a pallet truck or we have to carry a few boxes to the end of the trailer.
Only just seen this. Beautifully accurate by looks of things
DCPCFML:
So the summary of your driving career is that contrary to your endless rants about American trucks, Australian trucks, and European distance work :
you haven’t driven any American trucks
you haven’t driven any Australian trucks, thus you have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to axle configurations or engines .
you haven’t done any European work so you’ve no clue what you’re talking about there either yet you spend every waking hour arguing with people who have done it and do know what they’re talking about .
you have driven a Transit van for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven a bin truck for Surrey Council for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven an artic for UPS for 15 years sat on your arse never touching the load, then threw all your toys out of your pram when the job changed and you were required to get off your fat arse and do some actual work .
you were then forced into doing agency work and got your lazy fat arse handed to you on a plate when you realised that the vast majority of trucking jobs require the driver to interract with the load, so you threw all your toys out again and quit the industry altogether and have spent all your time since then b1tching on Trucknet forums about it .
Meanwhile, the rest of us accept the job for what it is and just get on with it without crying like a girl if it requires using a pallet truck or we have to carry a few boxes to the end of the trailer.
I was right you have laughably serious literacy issues.Or you just aren’t bright enough to understand what’s written.
DCPCFML:
So the summary of your driving career is that contrary to your endless rants about American trucks, Australian trucks, and European distance work :
you haven’t driven any American trucks
you haven’t driven any Australian trucks, thus you have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to axle configurations or engines .
you haven’t done any European work so you’ve no clue what you’re talking about there either yet you spend every waking hour arguing with people who have done it and do know what they’re talking about .
you have driven a Transit van for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven a bin truck for Surrey Council for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven an artic for UPS for 15 years sat on your arse never touching the load, then threw all your toys out of your pram when the job changed and you were required to get off your fat arse and do some actual work .
you were then forced into doing agency work and got your lazy fat arse handed to you on a plate when you realised that the vast majority of trucking jobs require the driver to interract with the load, so you threw all your toys out again and quit the industry altogether and have spent all your time since then b1tching on Trucknet forums about it .
Meanwhile, the rest of us accept the job for what it is and just get on with it without crying like a girl if it requires using a pallet truck or we have to carry a few boxes to the end of the trailer.
I was right you have laughably serious literacy issues.Or you just aren’t bright enough to understand what’s written.
Says the pathological liar
I am still reading the first chapter where the experienced guy got the girl so he gave up on life and signed up to the Walter Mitty social club.
As a 17 year old vehicle test engineer did you actually drive a fire engine, or did you move one once?
As a schoolboy I had a vision to become a truck driver. Probably a niaeve fantasy. When i left school, i became an apprentice mechanic (in preparation for having to fix my truck on an Alpine pass!) then I drifted in to ‘jobs for beer money’ type work. After 20 years in one national company doing as little as possible, I was offered redundancy with a re-training package. Quickly signed up for my class 2 then paid for my own class 1. Got ready for the dream to come true but ill health put paid to the intercontinental stuff. Still, 15 more years on, and I find every day enjoyable, driving whatever and wherever I find myself. Only today, whilst in a layby on the A1m with a freshly brewed cuppa, I thought, ‘this is a good life’, so yes, I love driving and always have. Since passing my car licence still aged 17. But then, as I’m constantly been told, I am a bit dim…
DCPCFML:
So the summary of your driving career is that contrary to your endless rants about American trucks, Australian trucks, and European distance work :
you haven’t driven any American trucks
you haven’t driven any Australian trucks, thus you have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to axle configurations or engines .
you haven’t done any European work so you’ve no clue what you’re talking about there either yet you spend every waking hour arguing with people who have done it and do know what they’re talking about .
you have driven a Transit van for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven a bin truck for Surrey Council for 5 years sat on your arse never touching the load .
you have driven an artic for UPS for 15 years sat on your arse never touching the load, then threw all your toys out of your pram when the job changed and you were required to get off your fat arse and do some actual work .
you were then forced into doing agency work and got your lazy fat arse handed to you on a plate when you realised that the vast majority of trucking jobs require the driver to interract with the load, so you threw all your toys out again and quit the industry altogether and have spent all your time since then b1tching on Trucknet forums about it .
Meanwhile, the rest of us accept the job for what it is and just get on with it without crying like a girl if it requires using a pallet truck or we have to carry a few boxes to the end of the trailer.
I was right you have laughably serious literacy issues.Or you just aren’t bright enough to understand what’s written.
I am still waiting for you to correct the wrong bits. I’m not sure how any of it can be wrong when it’s simply a summary of the long-winded guff you wrote above it.
