Most of the negativity on here is from the time served drivers who’ve seen the job turn to crap. As a new driver, you won’t remember the “good old days”, you’ll simply accept what is without knowing any different.
The reality of the situation is: you’ll never get rich being a lorry driver, yes you can make decent money but by god you’ll be earning it. The hours can be long, limited to 15 hours per day but even that isn’t enough for some drivers/employers. You’ll need an understanding partner because finish times aren’t exactly written in stone, in fact you’ll be lucky if they’re written down at all! Everybody hates us, other road users, customers, people who live in villages that you’ll thunder your juggernaut through.
All that being said, personally I love it. I came into this game with my eyes open. I knew exactly what I was getting into so nothing (well, not much) surprised me. As someone above said, it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle choice, so for some people it works. If it’s something you really want to do, do it.
This is not a career, it is one of those jobs that you do because it is easy too get into if you have nothing else. Rather than looking to spend thousands out on gaining a HGV licence, you would be well advised to look elsewhere if it is a career that you are wanting. £4k can be put to much better use than training than to become a glorified labourer.
All the answers given so far are true…from the perspective of the poster that is.
Truck driving can at times definitely be all of the crappy things everyone has posted, no doubt about it! They haven’t made it up.
Bottom line…there are much worse jobs than driving but the problem with asking about it on a truck drivers forum is you’re likely to get some very strong opinions which won’t be from your current wannabee viewpoint. I’ve been there so have also heard all the arguments against driving too…I started my driving career at 39 in 2005. I paid for the licences myself and worked in some crappy jobs at the start to gain the vital experience including agency work which I rather liked. Most folks thought I was crazy, especially other drivers!
As suggested you may want to start by trying your luck at parcel deliveries in a van and see if you like being on the road all day. Gain some experience whilst keeping your eyes open for a better rate and/or a firm that suits you better…you’ll know ‘what’ is better when you’ve more experience…perhaps a base nearer to home, more suitable shift pattern for your own life, family firm, whatever lights your fire…only you will know.
If you enjoy the van role but hanker after something bigger that would not be surprising. To move forward into Class C and C+E without blowing £3k of your own cash you need to get creative and look for opportunities in companies who’ll train you at their expense…they do exist, they’re just thin on the ground.
In summary…do it without thinking about it much further. If you give it a go and hate it there’s no loss and you’ve maintained earnings whilst doing it. On the other hand if you love it then you’ve made the right move!
To be honest, in my opinion to be alorry driver you need to WANT to be a lorry driver.
Me personally, I love it. I enjoy the job, getting the keys and getting going out on the road.
I like going places ive never been before, I like the challenge of tight reverses, small roads etc etc
Sure there are days when its ■■■■■■■ with rain and im fighting a curtainsider or the alarm waking me at 0430 and there are days I just cant be bothered but for me, those days are out numbered massively by the days I enjoy.
Ive wanted to drive artics since I was 5 and its as good as I always thought it would be but thats my opinion and the replies so far put me out on a lonely platform.
The-Snowman:
To be honest, in my opinion to be alorry driver you need to WANT to be a lorry driver.
Me personally, I love it. I enjoy the job, getting the keys and getting going out on the road.
I like going places ive never been before, I like the challenge of tight reverses, small roads etc etc
Sure there are days when its ■■■■■■■ with rain and im fighting a curtainsider or the alarm waking me at 0430 and there are days I just cant be bothered but for me, those days are out numbered massively by the days I enjoy.
Ive wanted to drive artics since I was 5 and its as good as I always thought it would be but thats my opinion and the replies so far put me out on a lonely platform.
Well i’ll agree with you there.Because after 28yrs.I still enjoy the job also.
Darkside:
If you have the cash and time, I would certainly do the test. There will always be work driving, even if it isn’t your main job.
You could give the job a go, you may like it!
I started driving late eighties and loved it, (Zero stress, working on my own, listening to music all day), though circumstances dictated I took more lucrative jobs for the last few years. Had I been able to get by on the wages, I would never have given it up.
IF the OP has money to spare, yes no doubt get the licence as it will not hurt to have them. Having been connected to transport for over 10 years and being 28 now I can say for sure that it is a lifestyle and you really have to like it rather than seeing it as a career.
For it to be a career you need to have a path to grow. Unfortunately the transport industry is dominated by large players that see you as a driver and that’s it. There are small operators where you can (if you get fed up of driving) provided the timing is right move in to an office position (I have been offered that several times by the company I currently temporarily work for) but that is not sky high money either (probably in the region 25-35k max).
In the current state of the transport industry it is unlikely that you will get to do much European work, you might do Spain, Italy Germany, Benelux, but unlikely you will run to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan etc. And all those destinations within EU nowadays can be reached using low cost airlines so the once costly aspect of travel is brought down.
Furthermore OP in your first post you clearly wrote that you have heard that it is possible to make good money in transport, which is not true these days. So all in all it is the financial rather than the lifestyle choice for you doing this job. I would say don’t bother go into construction, considering the housing shortage and the UK leaving the EU there will be good opportunities in that field due to likely labour shortages once the free movement stops.
UKtramp:
This is not a career, it is one of those jobs that you do because it is easy too get into if you have nothing else. Rather than looking to spend thousands out on gaining a HGV licence, you would be well advised to look elsewhere if it is a career that you are wanting. £4k can be put to much better use than training than to become a glorified labourer.
UKtramp:
This is not a career, it is one of those jobs that you do because it is easy too get into if you have nothing else. Rather than looking to spend thousands out on gaining a HGV licence, you would be well advised to look elsewhere if it is a career that you are wanting. £4k can be put to much better use than training than to become a glorified labourer.
I hope you’re not talking about truck driving !!!
I am, although that is the downside of the job, it is not a career in the sense of a real career. However it isn’t all doom and gloom and there are some positives to the job in my opinion. I wouldn’t advise anyone to choose driving as a first choice career, would you?
If you have a gut feeling that you want to do this then don’t let the naysayers put you off.
I scrabbled around on minimum wage jobs, struggling to pay my bills and going without up until the age of 32 when I said enough is enough and I took the plunge to do my class 2 and it was the best decision I ever made. I only wish I’d made it sooner.
Now 3 years down the line I am class 1, earn more than the national average wage and have a mortgage on a 3 bedroom house which I can easily afford. People complain about the wages but I don’t know of a single job where you can earn as much without a degree and very little training than driving a truck. It seems to me that most people who are down on the industry have been in it for a very long time. I am telling you now that a 15 hour shift driving a truck is not as bad as it may seem. I have done 12 hour days doing manual work and even 8 hour days in an office which were far worse and harder than this. Your hours don’t have to be sky high either. Find a firm that hauls their own product and work life balance can be great. I average between 40 and 50 hours a week. 4 on 3 off.
The key is to dip your toe into as many different aspects of truck driving as early as possible to find out what you like and don’t like then the next step is to put the effort in and find a good firm and then you will be sorted.
This industry is so large that if you look hard enough you will find the job you are looking for eventually.
I feel I can relate a lot to the OP. I am 26, and worked retail ever since leaving school, and hated it. Yes sometimes as a trucker you put up with a lot of crap from customers, but nothing worse than I got working in retail. I’ve had my class 2 for 2 years and I am now on £28k a year for 4.5 days a week. My only regret is not doing it sooner! I am on more money than mates who went to Uni and got themselves in tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt. There are plenty of crap driving jobs out there, that do fit the description some of the more cynical posters are painting… But the driver shortage IS a thing. If you don’t like a job, you won’t lose too much sleep trying to find another one. I’d say there are a lot more crap jobs than good ones, but even the crap ones I preferred to working in retail!
Bit like you I did a decade of catering and retail customer facing jobs. Last year I got my cat C licence and I’ve been doing multi drop work delivering catering supplies to the sort of places I used to work in since December.
The number of hours I work had shot up. I barely see my wife and kid in the week. But I have every Sunday off and do one Saturday a month which is far far better than I ever had in catering. So I do actually get more quality time with the family.
My salary has pretty much doubled from what I made as a supervisor.
I prefer being out and about, I enjoy the challenge of planning my day and getting my drops off. Though it is at times stressful. I like the customer interaction and I deliver to some decent people. Less complaints and they’re easier to resolve than in old job.
Overall I’m really glad I made the move into trucking. Now it’s all getting more experience in this game.
I still enjoy the job but I’m at a place now where they just let me get on with it with no interference. I think that’s the worst part of the modern trucking game, people sat in offices with no HGV experience telling those of us that have done it for years how we should be doing it.
As I’ve said before, if you see it as ‘a way of life’ instead of just a way of making a living you’ll enjoy it because you get involved which leads to interested. Nothing wrong with either but for me, if you’ve got to work you may as well try and enjoy it.
Win the lottery and I’ll never drive a truck again but while I wait for that I’m making the most of my ‘career’ choice [emoji6]
@IroneEddie, I used to read your posts when you were starting out, really pleased it’s working out for you, hope you fall on your feet with an even better gig.
@nomi, I keep bleating on about the lack of control and autonomy in work. Unfortunately it isn’t just in trucking, most jobs (unless you are an ‘ideas’ person) are becoming more controlled and limited. It’s the most depressing aspect of modern business.
I was in retail for the best part of 20 years before starting to drive last year. I was a manager so earned more but also worked longer hours. I had to deal with phone calls and emails on my days off as well. Personally I would have loved a tachograph- must have a break/must have a day off etc.
The job can be stressful but I think any job can. Its certainly less than I used to have. Also anything more than a minor problem is a phone call to the office to make it their problem. If they want to micro manage you they can! However that applies to most jobs now. In food retail the cashiers have target speeds for scanning or the replenishment colleague how much to put out in an hour.
As has been said the job is a way of life and your partner (if applicable) needs to understand this. You won’t know your finish time, or even if you will get home sometimes until it actually happens.
That above said I enjoy it. On the whole I am left alone and not asked for anything impossible. People will say you can’t make “good money” anymore. Thats about context. If your coming from retail it will almost certainly be a pay rise. It will also likely be longer hours though depending what you do it will be less work. I have spent a lot of time sitting waiting for paperwork or to be unloaded so whilst I would do long hours they were not the hard hours I used to do.
Personally I would say if you are able go to college and qualify as a plumber or electrician. Better money and less/more social hours. However if you can’t take the time to do that in 2 weeks you can be qualified to drive a arctic and earn about £30k a year. Remember though as a new pass you will put the hours in to earn it!
Don’t bother it’s a dead end job you will regret it, get your qualifications and get a proper job that will easily pay a mortgage without working stupid hours.
My son is at sixth form then going uni and said he would never become a driver thank god.
hook:
Don’t bother it’s a dead end job you will regret it, get your qualifications and get a proper job that will easily pay a mortgage without working stupid hours.
My son is at sixth form then going uni and said he would never become a driver thank god.
Don’t count your chickens yet. There are loads of people stacking shelves in supermarkets with a levels and/or degrees who couldn’t get a job after. Many saying they wish they hadn’t bothered. A bit like some drivers…
hook:
Don’t bother it’s a dead end job you will regret it, get your qualifications and get a proper job that will easily pay a mortgage without working stupid hours.
My son is at sixth form then going uni and said he would never become a driver thank god.
Trouble is there are hundreds of thousands of people doing the same thing every year…and less than 10% of them will land a job doing what they have trained for in uni.
A friend of mine had a degree in IT and works in Asda warehouse order picking.
My brothers done well he got a masters in computer science & game design and managed to land a job with one of the big game developers which he started last month…£28k a year as an junior rising to £40K + bonuses when he’s learnt everything.He was told that there was 83 applicants for 2 posts,luckily for him he got one of the posts.
If you have reasonable intelligence and work hard you can make a lot of money on cars.
In the last year my latest Friday finish has been 6pm, usually home early afternoon, occasionally home by 10am. Never worked a Saturday or bank holiday.
I have four weeks holiday which is obviously the legal minimum, though I have had paid WTD compulsory rest for four weeks too this year. Three weeks left on this tax year will take me to over 46k not including night out/lunch money.
My mind boggles that there are people happy to accept a lorry driving job at £9 an hour or so. I’m out four nights a week and commute about 45 minutes to base. Good work is out there but it requires application, not people who want to sit glued to their phones between driving periods.