I’m just doing a little research myself. To find out no1. How many women use this site and drive for a living.?
And if your New to the Industry, if you had the chance Queston No2 .“Would An Experienced HGV Female Drivers Mate” give you the extra confidence. ie to help you how to deal with map reading, low bridges, wrong turns ?"What do I do now ? "How the hell do I get that in Here? (meaning the area is so tight will this trailer get in there)! and OOps Im lost what now? Also loading unloading procedures etc…
Its just a business idea I’m researching and need help with!
Hi
Plenty of women use this site, some are even female!!!
I think to drive a LGV you have to be a fairly confidente sort of person because they are quite large, as I’m sure you already know, most of the females that I have come across have been very good drivers who just get on with the job very well.
As in all male dominated work areas if a female wants to do well she has to be and nearlly always is far better than a male counterpart will ever be!! (sorry guys but you know it’s true )
So as for your idea as a drivers mate to a female, I would of thought it would not go down with the female drivers very well…But I could be wrong.
As for a buisness idea why don’t you include males?
SMc
Im talking about New Female Drivers coming into the industry! Perhaps this should be in in the New Drivers Column?
I have just trained a female for the company I work for and she found my knowledge invaluable, and it gave her alot more confidence. Our job can be quite demanding because we go into city centres and small rural towns sometimes ,and the manouvring can be extreemly tight! We have a few loads on at one time.
I think men manage quite well! And men help men anyway.!
where as only 2%of Females somthings wrong somewhere?
ladybird.The only way to improve after passing the lgv test is to get out there and get on with the job. I remember the first time I had to reverse into the factory loading bays with the boss of the company watching. When I had done it perfectly, the boss came over and said he was very impressed. It gave me a boost, but there have been times when reversing into bays with cars parked and tight corners to get round that takes practice. I loved my time behind the wheel, but now retired and due to disability can no longer drive a truck. My husband still drives and I go out with him now and then. There are advantages of double manning, but better to go it alone. From what I have witnessed there are a lot of male drivers who can’t get it right every time. Reversing and parking I mean. LOL.Map reading is part of the job. The first time I went out, I had not done my homework with a map and got completely lost. Perhaps you are thinking of going in for driver training. Liz
I think “hands On” traing would be brilliant for both males and females.
I would have paid to get “proper experience” before going it alone.
Things like how to
open/shut curtain siders
practice different reversing situations
(most hgv training yard are small and limited reversing situations)
Tail lifts
even trying to drag pallets offf (without sliding off the tail lift )
also suspension (setting for different bay heights)
I found all of this a bit daunting as well as trying not to crash.
I eventualy learnt it through experience.
But would have been easier if i was given
proper hands on traing.
if you restrict your business to women ( I don’t know the percentage of women HGV drivers but it’s nowhere near 50%) won’t you find it hard to get enough customers ?
How many women use this site and drive for a living.?
I dont see that this thread is simply for ‘new’ women drivers referring to the above quote.
I have never really given any consideration to the women versus men thing in trucking.
Probably because I dont think that women at the wheel of a truck is a novelty any more than a male nurse is an novelty then I have never found any discrimination in the job.
I actually find these constant references to ‘lady’ drivers as opposed to male drivers the very thing that stirs up problems.
I have had an LGV licence for 20 years and I considr myself as a trucker.
Not a Lady Driver, not a Female Trucker, not a Woman at the Wheel or any other euphamism that can be thrown into the equasion.
I was a trucker pure and simple - then I became an LGV instructor. No gender specifics required.
If you can do the job then get on with it. It you are offered a job you cant handle due to heavy lifting or throwing sheets over etc then turn it down.
Same goes for the men going into a new job. If you can handle it then give it a go. If you think you cant then dont make a prat out of yourself by cocking it up.
I did quite a bit of continental work but always did double man jobs. Firstly I liked the company. Secondly it halves the worry of getting lost, thirdly you can get the job done quicker and get to pay day faster.
But its horses for courses and some people prefer to drive alone.
Whastever suits you - you go for it.
Full time experienced tramper here (on hols hence home midweek, am not normally). I personally would not get involved with anything that has a gender bias in either direction because, as far as I am concerned, from when I go through the gate on a Monday morning to when I leave the yard on a Friday/Saturday, I am purely a driver, like any other.
When I passed my HGV1 many, many moons ago my examinar said " Congratulations, I am pleased to tell you that you have passed. Now go out and learn to drive, remember that your test is just a test of basic ability".
How right he was and I beleive his statement still applys whether your female or male. Any help from an old hand was always appreciated - and still is appreciated by me, it does now take rather longer though to find an older hand!
This training is directed for women because they find it difficult to gain the nessessary experience to even get a job in the first place.
Like the friend I trained. The company wouldn.t even consider her without alot of campaigning from myself and her husband. But I offered to train her myself.
Again I’m only loking at peoples responses which I find interesting!
And would fellas consider this type of training ■■
ladybird48:
This training is directed for women because they find it difficult to gain the nessessary experience to even get a job in the first place.
Like the friend I trained. The company wouldn.t even consider her without alot of campaigning from myself and her husband. But I offered to train her myself.
Again I’m only loking at peoples responses which I find interesting!
And would fellas consider this type of training ■■
ALL newbies find it difficult to gain the experience needed. It’s not a female thing at all. A quick read of the newbies forum will tell you that. If one company says “no” you just have to keep knocking on doors and doing crap jobs until you get your time served - just like the lads.
It may have been different in that situation if you were known to the company and “campaigning” for a known quantity…But what would have been wrong with her getting her practice in elsewhere until the time came? What makes you think it was the fact that she was female that made it hard for her, as opposed to the fact that she was new? Was that made clear?
Positive discrimination will only serve to make it harder for women to be taken seriously and on a level with men, IMHO. I also firmly believe that the vast majority (although not all) of the so-called “discrimination” these days is entirely in the woman concerned’s own head. Sure, a few years ago it was different, and I, too, had to run the old gauntlet when I first started, but not now. It just isn’t that big a deal any more, seriously it isn’t.
It’s a tough industry, regardless of what’s between your legs. Either you cut it or you don’t. Lining the path with cotton wool for women will not help them in the long run - it’ll put them at a disadvantage when they finally do have to “go it alone” and stand up for themselves one day.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I am totally sticking to mine.
And I am going to leave it at that.
For the vast majority of press and feedback concerning women in the industry there is always going to negativity, which i dont mind one bit.
You get that in every part of life. Which just makes me stronger!
From 18yrs service and still going I know what I have seen and heard. Feedback i get from hundreds of women besides this site only proves my beliefs.
Ladybird, early on in this thread you said ‘I have just trained a female’
That remark annoyed me immediately
You trained a lorry driver, end of
The gender wasn’t an issue until you mentioned it, in fact it would never be an issue if no-one mentioned it
A driver is a driver, and as a female tramper of many years like Lucy and Mothertrucker, I never found it to be a problem because we never MADE it an issue
Train your drivers both male and female to have confidence and the ability to do the job, That alone will ensure success.
Make sure your drivers know what to expect in the real world
that is…
It’s a hard life and not for the sensetive but it’s a bloody fantastic one too.
As for hand holding, I think it’s a big no, no
Pat
PS I have just read your post above posted as I was writing mine, and I have to comment on that.
I don’t disbelieve what you’re saying at all but what I would like to say is that if you expect negativity you will get it, if you expect criticism you will get it, and likewise if you have a chip on your shoulder or think your something special as a female lorry driver, then you will get flak from all around you…and long may it continue
Male, female or indeterminate, provided you have the relevant number of arms and legs you can do the job.
Dificulty getting a start when newly qualified is the same for everyone. Four years rigid driving, two of those for my current employer and I was still at the mercy of the insurance company after passing my class one.
ladybird48:
It’s a tough industry, regardless of what’s between your legs. Either you cut it or you don’t.
personally i have no desire to CUT anything between me legs,it aint big enuff without shortning it any more
ladybird48:
It’s a tough industry, regardless of what’s between your legs. Either you cut it or you don’t.
personally i have no desire to CUT anything between me legs,it aint big enuff without shortning it any more
learn the hard way is best.
maybe you should consider changing your screen name to “Little Mac”
The company wouldn.t even consider her without alot of campaigning from myself and her husband.
Why was all the campaigning necessary??
Surely if she was determined enough she could have done whast the rest of us have had to do. Pay for training and get a job on your own merits.
For the vast majority of press and feedback concerning women in the industry there is always going to negativity, which i dont mind one bit.
You get that in every part of life. Which just makes me stronger!
Disagree strongly.
I have not come across ANY negativity, let alone a vast amount in either the press or the industry in general.
I have, however met women who ask for trouble by being too ‘girly’ and expecting help from the big strong guys. The women who like to drive the truck and do the great “Look at me” bit but are frightned of unhooking a trailer in case their nails break. (Fortunately few and far between - but just one or two of those can get the whole industry a bad name.)
I WOULD very much mind any negativity thrown at me personally - but I have never had it and never felt the need to be stronger either.
I dont battle my way through life I just live it and enjoy it.
Silly Me 00ps!
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