Discuss…
…and vote!
Whats to discuss?
of course they are!
Yep defo
my defenition of a professional is someone who drives for a living.
simon
yes,having both licences I believe I am a professional driver.
If you undergo a test to get the qualification, to get to the top of your chosen career then yes professional you are
(hope that makes sense)
Andy
i don’t drive coaches but would say that a coach driver has to be more professional than us and they are too.
how many times has your load got out and walked up to you and told you that you drive too fast around corners?
how many times has your load called your boss to complain about your driving too close to the vehicle in front?
lets face it, we have to put up with motorists on the road making life hell for us, imagine if they were there in the cab with you.
Oxford dictionary definition of “professional”
engaged in specified activity as one’s main paid occupation
SimonRS2K:
Yep defomy defenition of a professional is someone who drives for a living.
simon
Hmm, but this would put Mr Parcel Man and Mrs “I drive for the local florists” in the professional driver category.
Another post has discussed the issue of licences, if you do a specific test to get the licence you are deemed a professional. Are taxi drivers professional drivers? They’re driving all day, but never undergone special tests for the priviledge.
What do people think of a vocational licence type test? If you are going to be using your licence, whatever category, for the purpose of making money then you must undergo a test to deem you are fit to do so. Just an idea anyway. Although of course more tests means more money means the DSA get even fatter pockets and ours get thinner yet more.
If you pass a test to get the Qalifacation then we are professional drivers . That is what I had always been taught & thought. (I hold both HGV & PSV.)
But some Taxi areas test their drivers, some operators of vans with 8+ seats train & test thier drivers to set national standard & where does this concept leave 7.5 ton drivers who have the licence under grandfather rights ?, is it professionally below those who had to take a second test to be able to drive C1 ?.
Michael Mouse:
SimonRS2K:
Yep defomy defenition of a professional is someone who drives for a living.
simon
Are taxi drivers professional drivers? They’re driving all day, but never undergone special tests for the priviledge.
Well, depends what Taxi’s your talking about… Minicabs, definately no, but 4 years to do the Knowledge to drive a Black Cab, I would say come into the category of having to train to do a chosen profession, and being dedicated to it… despite hpow they drive at times. Wonder what the drivers shortage would be like if it took four years to get your LGV.
Seems to me that there is a very fine line between ‘Professional Drivers’ and ‘Driving for a profession’
Cheers
AndyM
Yes,they are professionals,they done the training and passed the test,just like us,so yes.
But the National Express hogging lane 2 of the motorway from Brum to London is not professional…just stupid.
Dan.
I drive a 7.5 tonner for a living, and as I passed my driving test in 1977 HM Government are satisfied that I am competent to drive under grandfather fights. I also own and drive an old bus which I can drive under grandfather rights with a restricted PCV licence. I have to have a medical and renew the licence every 5 years just as you all do.
This does not make me any less professional than if I had taken a PCV or LGV test.
Calv
Like the dictionary says, a professional is someone who gets paid for what they do. However, professionalism is looked on as an attitude.
So (IMHO) a professional driver, is someone who drives for a living and who does so in a professional manner. We all know how we should drive. We can also make excuses for un-professional driving, like ‘well I’me running late and don’t usually do that, but need to try and make up time’ for eg.
What you drive, for a living, is immaterial.
How you drive is what marks you out as being a professional driver.
If the driving I see daily is anything to go by a lot of our drivers - all classes all vehicles - are far from being true profesionals (with all due respect - ON HERE you lot can communicate but its still a minority - i dont think most drivers out there know how to turn a computer on).
The list would be endless if I were to start listing here but the first rule is SIMPLE:
COURTESY! (DUE CARE AND ATTENTION!)
the rest should be communicated to the offender (the bad driver you come across) - I harranged a couple on the CB today - if nothing else it made me feel better! (but them so dumb they thought “its ok” for poor driving and just made excuses as to why…)
sad really - there are those of us that genuinely take pride in the job and our trucks and we are let down by a few… the same with all other driving jobs too… no need for it.
I don’t think that there is anything to discuss - they are professionals since they have had to learn their craft and even sit a number of exams to prove their skills. That doesn’t apply for all those ‘I drive for a living’ beings. I class most white van men in the same category as the school run drivers - and of course in every profession there are the anti-professionals, like the trucker that thinks he can have a cup of tea, hold his phone to the ear talking to his missus, read road signs and a map, and still drive around a tight bend all at the same time… 
Dan a.k.a Boo:
Yes,they are professionals,they done the training and passed the test,just like us,so yes.
But the National Express hogging lane 2 of the motorway from Brum to London is not professional…just stupid.Dan.
Driving up to Blackpool using M1 and the M6 I realised how incredibly busy the motorways are with large numbers of HGVs on lane 1. Coaches probably make extensive use of lane 2 to overtake the many HGVs in lane 1. Despite having a 62 mph top speed, the outside lane restriction means that speed is frequently reduced to HGV speed while two HGVs overtake another. And I can tell you for free that once a coach has pulled over into lane 1 on a busy motorway, other motorists will be reluctant to let it pull back out into lane 2 again even with indicators flashing.
I have a few suggestions. I don’t think a truck overtaking ban on motorways is the way to go, but HGVs being overtaken must ensure they ease off enough that the overtaking vehicle can overtake with a 5 mph speed difference. This will avoid lane 2 being clogged up. In order to promote better use of lane 1, in this case as suggested that Nat.ex coaches use lane 1 more often, these vehicles should be given priority when attempting to move out into lane 2 to overtake. Modern coaches are quicker than most HGVs not just in the 100 km/h top speed but also in their ability to maintain close to that speed on the steepest motorway hills.
This should have been a poll as well as a discussion, however most drivers have opted for the view that PCV drivers are professionals because they drive for a living, I don’t agree. I’m with Simon and AndyM on this one, I feel that a professional driver is one who drives in a safe, courteous and professional manner.
Regarding black-cab drivers then I would say yes, there is a degree of professionalism in learning “the knowledge.”
There are good and bad drivers in every class. Simply having a vocational licence does not make you a consummate professional.
Dazza
P.S. Calv, what are “grandfather fights” is that when two coffin dodgers have a brawl when one of them cheats at dominoes?
:twisted:
Dazza. Grandfather rights. The most simple exsplanation is they change/introduce the licencing requirements, but allow those currently allowed to (what ever,) to continue to do so.
i.e. 7.5 ton situation, were some drive under grandfather rights & younger drivers must be qualified/licenced to drive them, the same when they standardised with EU PSV laws a few years ago & some car drivers gained a full PSV, the same at the introduction of the CPC.
I would say that Bus and Coach drivers are every bit professionals. The test is much harder than a truck for a start. Coach drivers don’t have just cargo to worry about they have about 60 human beings to get safely to the destination.
One part of the old bus test was to hill start with a manual box on a hill about 1 in 6 with a wooden matchbox placed behind the rear wheel, even the tiniest roll back would break the box and fail the teast.
I would love to be a coach driver, the load walks off.
As a coach driver I would disagree that the coach driving test is harder than the truck (HGV) at least in this country. I don’t have deal with reversing a 60 foot articulated vehicle neither do I have to worry about coupling procedures which as I understand it are quite involved for an HGV 1 license.
What I believe makes all drivers of ‘large’ vehicles ‘professional’ compared with company car drivers and smaller vans is that we have to drive with consideration to other road users. Failure to do so in command of a large vehicle risks someone reporting you for bad driving. You are far more likely to be noticed driving badly in a large vehicle compared with a smaller one. So large vehicle drivers have to be more vigilant, more careful, more considerate or they risk their livelihood. (sp?) Consider this, who would you report, a car driver holding a mobile and driving, or a driver of a large vehicle (truck or bus) doing the same■■?
i wonder if coach drivers have there own site like this one asking the same stupid question but i would say rigid drivers arnt as proffessional as artic drivers