Driving trucks for 10 years now, I know this is tiny compared to the old boys ( remember a old supervisor back in the early 90s saying I’ve driven miles in reverse!).
But wont I have noticed is…
The wages have not gone up much, working for agency in 2005 £10 min class 1 £15 after 8 hours worked.
The ■■■■■ trucks that some operators expect you to drive.
Once asking for a map has a newbie and being told your the driver find the ■■■■■■■ place 
Doing work without any training, thanks to an old timer at Southhampton Docks I would of had real problems.
The smell of stale ■■■■ in the truck stops 
Working silly hours around daft o’ clock.
DCPC wont a load of rubbish, hasn’t improved wont I do any.
Don’t trust agencies!
I entered this industry cos at the time there was a driver shortage 
and the money was similar to wont I was earning in a factory.
Now isn’t to bad got a steady job on adr tanker work and the CPC in national road haulage makes a good sock drawer liner 
For all the newbies you need to be aware of the daft hours this industry works, makes the old 3 shift system of the factory days a piece of cake.
On a positive note with the right company that respects it drivers life isn’t to bad 
Amen…peace be with you bro…
when i first started driving some 26 years ago, i was aiming to get a job on the tankers at shell or ici or to get a job on car transporters, as those guys were on fantastic money for the job they were doing
the problem was you had to wait till someone had died before a job became available, as there was no shortage of people willing to work in those jobs, today i can not believe just how many jobs anyone can get these days on tankers or car transporters, just seen a post on here of someone who has only been in the game for just 5 months getting an assessment soon for one company
but then the answer is simple, the pay and conditions are nothing like they used to be, all the drivers who used to do the job have given up as they have been used to a decent wage for what they did, the guys who have stepped into there shoes have over the years done the same job for less money as to them its still good money, on and on this has gone on over the years, to the point were i was earning just as much driving fridge trailers around as a tanker driver in some places
hence i lost any desire to move over to tankers, some of the guys near me are on just 12 quid an hour, or less for adr work
if i was new coming into the game these days well i just wouldnt as i know what the job was one like and how it is today, the money is lousy in todays world, the only advantage it can have is it is a better job than sweeping the streets but you have to do more hours than a street cleaner would do to make a bit more money than them
so why are people willing to spend out so much money on training for a job that will pay them 400 quid a week for a lot of hours ? as that seems to be the going take home pay rate for most
anyway i just wonder what driving will be like in another 26 years ? will there be better pay and conditions or will it just be the same ? i think if they reduced the hourly rate to 7 quid an hour there will still be fools out there who will do the job.
Still got my original contract of employment from when I started my first HGV job was on 24.5k then in 2003,now on just over 10k more than that still with the same company so a 10k pay rise in 10 years,not sure if that’s good or bad.
If you’d have stayed in transport Pete, and got skilled at car transporters you could be doing the same as some of my old workmates now and been on £1000+ per week…though you have to be efficient whilst damage free to earn that sort of money.
True the car transporters did take a downturn during and after 2008 and there were some minor pay cuts on some, not all, companies, but natural wastage due to an ageing (and in some cases, mine for example, having found other work that pays better, per every hour worked if not top line) workforce has seen all the companies struggling to find good skilled staff.
Those who tried to cut the wages ended up doing exactly the same as countless operators on that work over the years, it cost them more because damage far outweighs the cost of good staff, and big name manufacturers simply will not stand for it, hence contracts are lost and gained, simple economics.
Even those prepared to train them up are not finding suitable talent in enough numbers, so the companies are having, again, to pay to cherry pick from the dwindling crews, and good luck to the lads who stayed with it.
Best of it is, the good companies (cars and tanks) pay for the DCPC and pay the driver to attend it in work time, now wouldn’t that have been handy for you… 
It isn’t all gloom out there, but some things never change, such as…
newbies won’t be able to run before they can walk
you will (unless you are well connected/related) have to take whatever you can get to start you off and then work your way up
taking the easiest work might seem the best idea but it doesn’t usually give you a valuable skillset unless you call sitting on your arse or successfully twisting 4 container locks a sellable product
your reputation in the transport world can make or break you, because the best jobs arn’t advertised, ever, you get them by being recommended or by walking in as an unknown but with a checkable good work history and getting lucky
specialising in certain work and hard graft or muck and bullets nearly always pays more
unionised jobs nearly always have the best terms and conditions, and they stay that way because sensible drivers realise what they have and don’t take the ■■■■
My advice to any newbies would always be a stern warning about the hours involved.
I think the point at which the honeymoon period ends for many new drivers, is when they quickly become sick to the back teeth of constantly churning out 12-15 hour days and/or working weekends, starting at times unheard of in most other professions, being away all week etc. & generally suffering a vast reduction in their quality of life and time at home with the missus/kids.
There are drivers out there who have missed large parts of their kids growing up, seen their marriage collapse, seen hobbies fall to the wayside etc., all for the sake of a job that usually doesn’t even see you enter the higher tax threshold. It’s just not bloody worth it!
rob22888:
My advice to any newbies would always be a stern warning about the hours involved.
I think the point at which the honeymoon period ends for many new drivers, is when they quickly become sick to the back teeth of constantly churning out 12-15 hour days and/or working weekends, starting at times unheard of in most other professions, being away all week etc. & generally suffering a vast reduction in their quality of life and time at home with the missus/kids.
There are drivers out there who have missed large parts of their kids growing up, seen their marriage collapse, seen hobbies fall to the wayside etc., all for the sake of a job that usually doesn’t even see you enter the higher tax threshold. It’s just not bloody worth it!
In my experience the regular 12+ hour days are just a matter of too many drivers saying yes when those type of guvnors will cave in if you say no and especially if enough drivers say no.Having said that there is a difference between working ‘up to’ a 12 hours max day as opposed to regularly being expected to go over it.The former goes with the job.But There’s no real need for the latter and in general it is counter productive for the guvnor in the form of too much money being lost because the wheels aren’t turning.
The same applies in the case of the issues contained in the last paragraph.IE too few drivers happy to be doing too much time at work with the lose lose situation of cutting the employment opportunities for others.Having said that working 40-50 hours a week in a factory seems like an eternity as opposed to the way time flies as a driver assuming anyone isn’t cut out for the former but is for the latter.
As for family life that’s more an issue of women being considered as part of the workforce and over long school days/hours as a result and not enough quality time in the form of holidays and preferably 4 on 4 off type rotas etc.Trust me a 40 hour + overtime 5 day working week in a factory won’t sort those issues.
rob22888:
My advice to any newbies would always be a stern warning about the hours involved.
I think the point at which the honeymoon period ends for many new drivers, is when they quickly become sick to the back teeth of constantly churning out 12-15 hour days and/or working weekends, starting at times unheard of in most other professions, being away all week etc. & generally suffering a vast reduction in their quality of life and time at home with the missus/kids.
There are drivers out there who have missed large parts of their kids growing up, seen their marriage collapse, seen hobbies fall to the wayside etc., all for the sake of a job that usually doesn’t even see you enter the higher tax threshold. It’s just not bloody worth it!
See this all too often in the music industry. Haven’t gone through it myself but many of the tech crew miss out on their kids early life. One guy in the tour I’ve just finished had his first son born a month before we went out for 4 months.
Think if I did think seriously about having kids in the future, I’d really have to think about wether keeping in this job would be a good idea or not.
Carryfast:
In my experience the regular 12+ hour days are just a matter of too many drivers saying yes when those type of guvnors will cave in if you say no and especially if enough drivers say no.Having said that there is a difference between working ‘up to’ a 12 hours max day as opposed to regularly being expected to go over it.The former goes with the job.But There’s no real need for the latter and in general it is counter productive for the guvnor in the form of too much money being lost because the wheels aren’t turning.
I think sometimes in certain types of work such as RDC’s & especially box jockeying, where turnaround times at places can be anything up to half a day, there comes a point where a firm has to push long hours just to get a decent level of productivity out of the truck.
I wouldn’t have a problem with a firm wanting me to work three 15 hour shifts in a week, so long as I had the option of the next 4 off (basic 45 hours). It’s the relentlessness of the long hours over 5 days which makes it a misery.
I remember my first day Hgv driving in anger. Beyond being able to pass the driving test I didn’t have a clue.
I got a job with a haulier, who just purchased the haulage firm which had gone bankrupt.
He had next to no idea about haulage either as he was a businessman who was speculating into something new.
My first day I was put in a clapped out 18t ERF curtain sider and went to collect three reams of paper. They were the some width as the bed of the truck, and must have weighed about three tonne each at a guess.
I set of with no restraint on them ( I didn’t know any better) not that it made much difference as there was no retrains of any kind provided with the truck.
A mile down the road I approached a traffic island on a slight decline, hit the brakes @ 25mph, and got next to no retardation, the pedal went almost to the floor and I just managed to stop.
I wondered since it was the case of knacard brakes or if those paper reams were a lot heavier than I thought and I was grossly over weight. Maybe both.
I managed to get the delivery done, though the truck broke down twice.
been driving now for around 25yrs used to like the job done most jobs liked my tramping . now i’m semi retired work on agency cant be bothered with a regular job fortunate to manage on a few days a week .the job as got worse cpc joke clowns in office joke money doesn’t justify the work we do the long hours and strain it puts on family .double standard on health and safety ''don’t drive tired ‘’ here’s a 15 hr shift 9hr rest back in to another 15hr shift . am I ■■■■■■ off with the industry …YES
The jobs ■■■■■■■■ awful. Unpredictable hours and loads of them. Extremely boring, hard part is staying awake.
Secretelephant:
I remember my first day Hgv driving in anger. Beyond being able to pass the driving test I didn’t have a clue.
I got a job with a haulier, who just purchased the haulage firm which had gone bankrupt.
He had next to no idea about haulage either as he was a businessman who was speculating into something new.
My first day I was put in a clapped out 18t ERF curtain sider and went to collect three reams of paper. They were the some width as the bed of the truck, and must have weighed about three tonne each at a guess.
I set of with no restraint on them ( I didn’t know any better) not that it made much difference as there was no retrains of any kind provided with the truck.
A mile down the road I approached a traffic island on a slight decline, hit the brakes @ 25mph, and got next to no retardation, the pedal went almost to the floor and I just managed to stop.
I wondered since it was the case of knacard brakes or if those paper reams were a lot heavier than I thought and I was grossly over weight. Maybe both.
I managed to get the delivery done, though the truck broke down twice.
I was hauling unaccompanied trailers out of Felixtowe sent from a big paper firm in Holland for drops around the south east and couldn’t believe the way the wagon handled and pulled.It made an F10 feel like it was going backwards on the flat and stopping with a Marathon on the same job was even worse.I then started asking questions about the weight of each individual pallet and won’t say what they were and what the total trailer loads would have been.But you can bet if you’re at the point of questioning the type of weights involved in shifting paper it probably won’t be that there’s anything wrong with the wagon. 
rob22888:
Carryfast:
In my experience the regular 12+ hour days are just a matter of too many drivers saying yes when those type of guvnors will cave in if you say no and especially if enough drivers say no.Having said that there is a difference between working ‘up to’ a 12 hours max day as opposed to regularly being expected to go over it.The former goes with the job.But There’s no real need for the latter and in general it is counter productive for the guvnor in the form of too much money being lost because the wheels aren’t turning.
I think sometimes in certain types of work such as RDC’s & especially box jockeying, where turnaround times at places can be anything up to half a day, there comes a point where a firm has to push long hours just to get a decent level of productivity out of the truck.
I wouldn’t have a problem with a firm wanting me to work three 15 hour shifts in a week, so long as I had the option of the next 4 off (basic 45 hours). It’s the relentlessness of the long hours over 5 days which makes it a misery.
Ironically the idea of artics was to do away with the issue of needing to be with the trailer while it’s being loaded.The idea was ‘supposed’ to be all about switching and swapping ‘pre loaded’ trailers.As it is now it’s probably more possible to find a better system in that regard using demount rigids and drawbars than artics.The problem being that ze Germans want all the best jobs like that.