Just interested to see what everyone came to HGV driving from and why they made the switch?
And are you happy you made the switch? 
Buses and Hell yeah. Pallets of fizzy pop, booze and bogroll dont talk back 
Fuzrat:
Buses and Hell yeah. Pallets of fizzy pop, booze and bogroll dont talk back
I couldnât do that job, especially doing school runs 
NWalesTrucker:
Fuzrat:
Buses and Hell yeah. Pallets of fizzy pop, booze and bogroll dont talk backI couldnât do that job, especially doing school runs
School runs were ok, any hassles they get reported to the school and bus pass is revoked, mummy very annoyed that she now has to get up in the morning and take their little monster to school
College bus and the kebab express on a friday/saturday night were the worst 
I can only imagine! Fair doâs to you pal! 
NWalesTrucker:
Just interested to see what everyone came to HGV driving from and why they made the switch?And are you happy you made the switch?
Electronics/Mechanical Engineering.
Like many ex-forces I started doing lorry driving as a temporary stop gap when leaving the Army, in my case in the middle of a recession and living in an area where EE jobs have always been few and far between. As the army had given me a Class 2 I signed up with an agency. What was supposed to be 6 months lasted over 20 years. I did go back to engineering four years ago but by then 20 odd years driving trucks destroyed my mental ability to handle working at the same place doing the same hours day in, day out and being able to fairly accurately predict any working day in the next several years. I donât think I could handle working like the majority of people do. It was when doing an onsite installation in Felixstowe Pier and enjoying the four hour drive at either end infinitely more than the actual job that I decided to go back to driving.
I couldnât do that job, especially doing school runs
[/quote]
Are you on that âregisterâ too??
From School:
5yr apprenticeship in the coal mining industry learning to be a Blacksmith/welder, then Mechanical fitter till redundancy 13yrs later
Welder fabricator in a factory making/repairing mining equipment
order picking in a warehouse lasted 9yrs, while passing my HGV, and both CPC national/international tickets.
Promoted to stock control/inventory, then seconded to the transport fleet office for sick cover to manage the servicing etc of 40 trucks & 120 trailers, then into the transport office as a dispatch clerk, before moving onto being the shift manager, then finally out on the road before the depot closed.
Been limping ever since, the list of the good, the bad and the down right abysmal sites I`ve been to would make a whole list alone
Farmers son - born and raised on a farm , at the age of 24 there wasnât the income to support 2 families and as there was a bit of tension with my parents and I - I went off and became a lorry driver . Left the driving as a full time career for 10 years (digger driver and grounds maintenance ) when the kids were young but was still doing trips out at the weekend . Finaly realised I could make the same money in 5 days driving as in 7 (5 in grounds maintenance +2 days driving )so went back driving full time .
Joiner for 7 years left that due to temporary work never secure enough. Started at the steel works and that ended after five years due to.going into liquidation which was a shame. Retrained hgv for a steady income and job security. Never looked back
From a commercial paintshop, bodybuilder, caravan haulier and warehouse. Jack of All, master of none! 
Farming, now do agricultural haulage so still in the countryside.
I shot at things for a living.
I worked for a drilling rig firm on contract to the then NCB doing site investigation for opencast mining. The geologist knew where all the coal seams were within a yard or so (non metric back then ) across the county, we had to get core samples of the thickness of the coal seams & set them out in wooden cases for the geologist to examine & record. The firm went belly up after three years working all over the country. so I went into the employment exchange and saw they were advertising free training & test for HGV class 1, I already had a class 3 licence so went straight in for the class1 & passed, took my test in Heywood.
If you mean within haulage, Iâve tried to type them all out but it says something about " insufficient bandwidth "? 
Worked as a shelf stacker in a supermarket whilst at Uni, came out of Uni right around the financial crash so took a trainee managers position with the supermarket and worked my way upto dept manager mostly looking after the warehouse area. Done that for 4 years working 60 hours a week and only getting payed for 36 (salaried) and got fed up with all the drivers doing deliveries telling me how great it was and how much money they made. Made the decision took my class 2 and class 1 within a month of each other and was driving class 1 full time within 3 months and jacked the supermarket. Never looked back, love the job and been lucky with a couple of good employers. If i work 60hours a week now (which is rare) at least I get paid for every hour. To all the âwould be better stacking shelves crewâ I can categorically state that you wouldnât be better stacking shelves. That is a miserable job made even worse in the last year.
Conor:
NWalesTrucker:
Just interested to see what everyone came to HGV driving from and why they made the switch?And are you happy you made the switch?
Electronics/Mechanical Engineering.
Like many ex-forces I started doing lorry driving as a temporary stop gap when leaving the Army, in my case in the middle of a recession and living in an area where EE jobs have always been few and far between. As the army had given me a Class 2 I signed up with an agency. What was supposed to be 6 months lasted over 20 years. I did go back to engineering four years ago but by then 20 odd years driving trucks destroyed my mental ability to handle working at the same place doing the same hours day in, day out and being able to fairly accurately predict any working day in the next several years. I donât think I could handle working like the majority of people do. It was when doing an onsite installation in Felixstowe Pier and enjoying the four hour drive at either end infinitely more than the actual job that I decided to go back to driving.
Thanks, very interesting read. I was deciding whether to âgo back to schoolâ and do a OU degree in engineering but most require you to be in that field of work. Iâve just always liked the idea of driving HGVâs and think Iâm leaning more towards that, just not fond of the money some are paying!
Any regrets?
spike78:
I couldnât do that job, especially doing school runs
Are you on that âregisterâ too??
[/quote]
Always one
Left school to be a farm labourer, then warehouseman for a stationery shop, packer for an automotive manufacturer, joined the regular Army was already in the TA, left the Army to work for Royal Mail was only supposed to be temporary, 27 years later, took voluntary redundancy as the mail centre was closing. 1st Transport company put me through my Class 2 was there nearly 4 years, now on my 3rd pallet delivery company been with them for 2 years!!
Bunked off schoolâŚ
At 15 to ride around as a drivers mate. Did a short spell delivering/collecting cars for Avis, working on a pie van and a wee while in tree surgery.
Passed my class 1 at 21, thatâs it, been driving ever since.
First take home wage was ÂŁ17.47 after tax.