its getting harder and harder to be a trucker now adays, dunno if i can be bothered
it’s going to be harder without it
I said the same a while ago, spent a bit of time out of work then landed a couple of little part time jobs, discovered for the first time in 20 years that there is life outside of work, dream job, in a completely different industry, means a degree so for now a day trunk is my routine just to get the funds together then I can hang up the keys for good and hopefully have a life.
theres no comararderie spelling, out there, every man for himself now, attitude, people wont flash you in unless you have the correct trailer on, ive had enough
Its had some threads allready this subject, some think its a good idea…the yes boss type, but for mature drivers its just another tax on there allready hard earned cash…i can see a lot not going to bother…me included…as the old saying goes dont try and teach your mother to ■■■■ eggs…but ! everyone has there own opinion.
Im 36. I wont be doing the dcpc i have saved £5k and i am going to do my crawler and tower crane licences along with my appointed person course.
Average take home for an ap is £900+ a week and for crane drivers is £800+ a week. Why put up with the crap of being a lorry driver when there is far more money and respect to be earned in different industries.
Ive been driving lorries in one form or another since i was 17 and now i cant wait to get out. I no longer want to be associated with driving trucks. Its gone from being a reasonably well respected job to a job full of ■■■■■■■■■ and knuckle draggers that shouldnt be in charge of a wheelbarrow let alone a truck.
Just look at some of the members on this forum.
daleyboy:
Im 36. I wont be doing the dcpc i have saved £5k and i am going to do my crawler and tower crane licences along with my appointed person course.Average take home for an ap is £900+ a week and for crane drivers is £800+ a week. Why put up with the crap of being a lorry driver when there is far more money and respect to be earned in different industries.
Ive been driving lorries in one form or another since i was 17 and now i cant wait to get out. I no longer want to be associated with driving trucks. Its gone from being a reasonably well respected job to a job full of [zb] and knuckle draggers that shouldnt be in charge of a wheelbarrow let alone a truck.
Just look at some of the members on this forum.
haha, yeah know what you mean, im toying with getting my 360 ticket, good money
Plenty of red tape and bollox in that job as well even if the money is better.
Wonder how much bank that young lad on stobart (tv series) rail division gets for the rail crane work, bet its more than many of the drivers 2-3 times his age, was only 19 iirc.
The ones that say they’re not going to bother
will be the ones… come Aug next year,
…in the long and expensive queue and…
…unable to drive til it’s done.
206doorman:
The ones that say they’re not going to bother
will be the ones… come Aug next year,
…in the long and expensive queue and…
…unable to drive til it’s done.
i doubt it.
it’s september, not august.
and it’s 2014, not next year.
i havn’t done the DCPC. have you?
i reckon you have due to your misinformed opinion.
volvobloke:
its getting harder and harder to be a trucker now adays, dunno if i can be bothered
Simply put, if you want to carry on being a driver after 2013/2014 then you need to have done it, if you don’t want to drive then there’s no need to do it & best of luck in your retirement/change of career. 
at the minute im thinking im not going to bother , its total crap .
but i have a feeling i’ll be in the rush to re mortgage my house to pay the bill with seconds to spare .
i’m really sick of the whole thing . job went down the ■■■■■■■ years ago .
206doorman:
The ones that say they’re not going to bother
will be the ones… come Aug next year,
…in the long and expensive queue and…
…unable to drive til it’s done.
Sorry…they wont, a hell of a lot of drivers over 55 wont bother…unless its paid by the company…those that have to pay out there own pocket wont be happy about it, it mite benefit young new drivers…but us that are near retirement or take early retirement wont bother.
shytalk:
206doorman:
The ones that say they’re not going to bother
will be the ones… come Aug next year,
…in the long and expensive queue and…
…unable to drive til it’s done.Sorry…they wont, a hell of a lot of drivers over 55 wont bother…unless its paid by the company…those that have to pay out there own pocket wont be happy about it, it mite benefit young new drivers…but us that are near retirement or take early retirement wont bother.
That’s my thinking, I’ll be a new driver and I’m 90% sure it will be of big benefit to me but at the same time I do feel for the old hands that will be hanging their keys up for the last time after a lifetime of drivin because of it. For me it’s a case of not knowing any different, I just want to follow my dream and drive trucks all over the country.
We were all new at one time …and a lot of us thought the same cant wait to be out on the road …but after over half my life driving trucks the novelty does wear off…and its more about how much is the pay and how many hours ?
I will, but only cos my firm is paying for it. Having driven trucks for 25 or so years and got on fine without it and don’t see why I should be required to take unpaid time off work and fork out of my own pocket to sit in a classroom getting taught a load of nonsense I don’t need to know (this based on what I’ve been told from others who’ve already been).
I agree with what was said earlier. It’s just another form of stealth tax.
Too many seem happy to go along with it so TPTB get away with it. I’d love to see what’d happen if everyone refused. How long would it take for the government to realise that revoking everyones licence isn’t really feasible. Then again they can always get the army in to do our work I suppose.
Pity I actually quite like driving for a living otherwise I’d be off.
I wont, I’ve let my class one lapse and I’ve even got the pox of the job I do now that pays just over a grand a week so in a fortnight or so I go home and become a bum and make whatever I can doing whatever I can, but me missus has a decent job so she can make me a kept man
But if things go tyts up I can always come back as my sea ticket has just been renewed for the next five years, ■■■■ !!
I’ve got one more day to do and it will have cost me £250, or £50 a year, which equates to 5-6 hours pay per year, not counting time lost but as the courses are all done on Saturdays it’s not so bad. I only drive part-time, but I want to keep my options open. I pay a lot more than £50 a year in insurances, professional fees, training etc. to keep my other businesses going, so I agree it’s just another tax on the job but it’s one that needs paying, so I do - simple as that. If I didn’t want to keep my licence I wouldn’t bother and as I am 53 now I may well not do next time but who knows…
shytalk:
We were all new at one time …and a lot of us thought the same cant wait to be out on the road …but after over half my life driving trucks the novelty does wear off…and its more about how much is the pay and how many hours ?
Ive been driving cars and various vehicles since before I could drive legally, novelty hasn’t wore off, only in the sense that I want to go bigger and better hence me doing the training. You never know I might pass my test and hate it after a the first month but if I don’t try I’ll never know.