Spot on Mal. Just compare what you can see from a car, to the same route from a cab. I must have gone over Dartford Bridge 50 times in a wagon b4 I first crossed it in a car; "Look everybody, what a lovely view of the…
…railings".
Cheers all thats replied, Im glad I aint the only one that sees things that way! 
I reckon its very easy to lose sight of what was in our minds when we took the job, I’ll bet that although money was a factor, it wernt the reason alone!
Mal.
Thanks for bringing a balanced view to this topic Mal…Tone… 
Cheers Tone Im glad you think I did, you know I was just thinking, in around 1978 when I decided that I wanted to drive artics, (i was driving a bedford petrol tk for alpine pop at the time) I remember nearly every driver I tried to talk about it too in the pub and whatever all told me the job was garbage and it wernt what it used to be!! 
Apart from a couple that fired me up for it. I spose what goes round comes round eh?
Mal.
On a similar note Mal when I started out on my own 14 and a half years ago I was told then, by many people, that there was no money or future in being an O/D and I would go bust in 6/12/18 months. I’ve been hearing the same thing throughout the intervening years and I still hear it today. Well I’m still here and still going so somebody was wrong somewhere along the line.
Thats nowt my mother in law said my marriage wouldnt last longer than 7 months,damit she was wrong !!!
Mal, I worked for alpine soft drinks too!!! In 1981, I was 16 at the time! I was a van lad as they called us then assisting the driver on the trusty old bedford tk.WHAT MEMMORYS The cream soda was my favorite one they had big white plastic tops on the bottle with a purple label… You got 1 pence back on the bottle.The T Ks if i remember right were a green and brown colour and the driver used to send me to all the houses that were furthest away. Tisa funny old world mate Tone…P.S. Wonder what became of Alpine soft drinks anyone know 
Cheers Mal …
Mal:
Theres just a a few points I would like to introduce here. It is a fact that if you look at some lorry driving jobs, and boil it down to what you get an hour, it can look poor in comparison to some other jobs, and also, it can look good too. I mean, there is little physical graft on the road today, and what there is can easily be avoided if a person is so minded, as I said to someone in a container queue the other day, never mind, we could be digging holes in the rain! So, theres an advantage for starters, and I know that some folk in factories work ■■■■ hard and get even less than we do!I have had a couple of jobs over the years that have been 50% driving and 50% labour. And Im here to tell you that they didnt pay any better money than sat on me backside watching the scenery go by, and also I was one of the highest paid in the factory! In fact, I was sworn to secrecy as to my wage as the ordinary workers didnt get anywhere near my pay, and they had to do the labour all the time between them dreaded buzzers! I didnt last long in either and though they were 40 hour jobs, I hated them jobs and that lifestyle, so I got out, back slinging a wheel 100% of the time.
If a person is solely after good pay, and nothing else comes into it, id probably agree that lorry driving might not be the best move, but, if there are other things in the scenario, I still say its the best!
I like driving trucks, I like them better than cars in fact! And so its great that I get actually paid to drive them! I like to get about, and be able to eat drink and go to the karzi when I want, I hear no buzzers telling me what to do! I like to sleep a while during the day some days. I have a bed behind me, its great! I like to listen to music, or the radio, I have it all there to use as loud or quiet as I want. I like to see all of the things a person can only see when they are all over the place every day! I like to go in cafe’s and chew the fat with a stranger. I like to see the docks and ships and massive machinery that id never have seen otherwise. I like to sometimes just listen to the diesel rumbling away. I like to see all the other trucks. The dawn and the dusk and all types of weather from my cab. If I want to chat I can, or be silent all day. Daydreaming or concentrate its up to me. Im independant and relatively free. These are just a few of the things tha keep me in the game. And also, I have lived ok on the dosh for 23 and a bit years, have my own home, raised 3 kids and had a life!
My 14 yr old son wants to drive lorries, he can and Im not going to stand in his way, in fact, I’ll encourage it. Its an important job, and has a variety that nothing I know of can match, and Ive done OK for nearly a quarter of a century out of it. There have been bad times and good, laughter a plenty and few tears, someone said to me when I was green, it aint a job, its a lifestyle, he had a point.
As I say, if money is all someone is interested in, I would maybe advise they might look elsewhere, if theyre lucky they’ll get well paid in driving, but likely not so well as some. BUT, if they like independance, a challenge, and all of the things I love about the job, id say go for it, theres nowt like it at the end of the day!
As long as the bailiffs aint at the door, and nobody is dying of starvation, maybe happiness in ones work is something worthwhile? But, ok if money is the sole goal, then go for that instead. We all have to know what we are, and what makes us tick. Square pegs never fit into round holes regardless of what inducement there may be on offer one will be unhappy if they really dont like what they are doing regardless how good the wage, there are jobs that exist that they could never pay me enough money to do!
Mal.
That’s a good summing up Mal. Like every job, you have bad days and can’t for the life of you see nor understand what you’re doing in such a [zb]hole underpaid job. Then you read somewhere what the good points are and it brings it home. Well done 
Spot on Mal.
I do this job because I like it 
. I’ve done other jobs, for better money and ended up back in a cab on the road 
. My personal preference is for tramping, the further the better. Routine gets right up my nose n bores me to tears, which then puts me to sleep, not what you want with 44t at 90kmh. 
I am on a pretty low rate, but left alone to get on with the job. I can be home 2-4 nights or away all week. Job satisfaction is my first priority with the wage a very close second. The question I ask myself is-Will my bills all be covered, with what I (and my wife) think of as a reasonable surplus for fun/hobbies/holidays etc?
We intend going to Aus in two years time for an extended holiday. I’ll be jacking in my job and we’ll be back when we feel like it or the visa runs out (whichever comes first). Not what I would think of as the plans of a poorly paid person
TONY:
Mal, I worked for alpine soft drinks too!!! In 1981, I was 16 at the time! I was a van lad as they called us then assisting the driver on the trusty old bedford tk.WHAT MEMMORYSs if i remember right were a green and brown colour and the driver used to send me to all the houses that were furthest away. Tisa funny old world mate Tone…P.S. Wonder what became of Alpine soft drinks anyone know
Me too
It is indeed a small world!
And yep the cream soda was the best! 
Bars on the side of those old TKs used to slide up and down so you could get at your crates to sort them!!!They used to rattle like mad when the engine was ticking over...............ITS ALL COMING BACK TO ME LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY…
Cheers Neil, Rob, Simon 
Im glad im not the only one that likes it …admittedly, some days I can also damned well hate it! But over all its OK!
Ahh, Alpine Pop, you as well Tone! I drove a few beasts for them, including a old commer and ford, and they even had a few bantam karriers left on the fleet when I was there! Mostly TK’s tho. Where were you Tone? I worked Cannock and Tipton depots between around 73-75 as a rounds kid, and 78 as a driver. I loved the trunkers they had at that time as well, old fodens and leyland reiver 6 leggers. They tell me the fiddle was A1, but of course I wouldnt know about that!
What depot were you in Critic?
Mal.
I worked at Stockport in a place called reddish,the depot was on gregg street back in 1981, 16 yrs old and saved for my first motorbike, it was hard graft in all weathers on them rounds eh mate! The bike i saved up for and got was a suzuki AP 50cc…eeeeeeeeeeee this makes a change from me moaning and groaning bout the state of trucking today.Dont get me wrong Mal I am not afraid of hard graft today either, I can stand QUITE CLOSE TO IT 
…Cheers Tone…
Youre not wrong there Tone! It was hard graft, if I had to do that now Id have a haert attack by wedneday!
Mal.
Mal:
What depot were you in Critic?Mal.
It was in the boro!
The competition was a local firm called Lowcocks! they did a very good lemonade! que a song!
‘Lowcocks lemonade tastes like mum’s homemade’
I was a Van lad at the time! about 1980/81 a 16 year old wanting to earn for a beer! haha probley erned more then than i do now 
unlike you I drive because its a job It wasn’t a bad job a few years ago, It needs sorting out now and i agree with tony on most of the points he has made in this thread!
A very famous saying ‘only fools and horses’ I aint no horse but maybe i am fool!
You see the industry NEEDS you! Think, Think hard do you need the Industry?
FAIR PAY FOR TRUCKERS! Its not hard its not unfair its NOW NEEDED!
But saying that
I would shovel ■■■■ to feed my family! the problem is the guy in the new BMW knows it! 
Ah well, I wouldnt have ever travelled as far as Middlesboro for a weeks work! They used to ferry us rounds kids over to Tipton or Polesworth, but that seemed like a long way anyway!
You see the industry NEEDS you! Think, Think hard do you need the Industry?
Well, yes, I do, its what I do if theres no industry, I have to do something else that I dont want to do!
FAIR PAY FOR TRUCKERS! Its not hard its not unfair its NOW NEEDED!
Ahh, well dont get me wrong here, just because I like the job for more than just loot, I dont have anything against fair pay for truckers, in fact, my cards have always been on the table even posted right here on the forum, the only thing I believe would work is park em up. A week or 2 would soon sort it. But, I also think the gaffers need to be solid with us too, for better rates, after all, whats the good of winning massive pay rises if half the firms aint there to employ us? Would we all want to commute to Magna Park or somewhere like that? If my gaffer gets better money, I get better money, not all of them have a beemer, and some are good people that are just a bit down the food chain to get the best rates. Not everyone wants to work for the big boys.
Mal.
Mal, do you or anyone else know the background to Alpine soft drinks? Who owned and what happened to it… cheers Tone…
Sorry Tone, I dont have a clue on the company history, I think they just went slowly down as supermarkets came to the fore, and many didnt bother with home deliveries, but I am just guessing there Tone, I imagine the rampant fiddling didnt help a lot either! I’d be curious to know meself though.
Mal.
Been driving for 2 years, 1 year on C2 and 1 day on C1, im 23 and upto now im enjoying the driving experiance, the things that make me think “why am i in this job” are
Traffic, ive noticed in the last year that traffic jams are on the increace, places where there were never jammed are at 8pm for no reason it also increaces stress when you have to get from a to b on no lunch
Peoples atitude on site, its like your delivering some horse manure and i do go in with a smile, its like your an inconvience when im delivering there stuff and even when i do a favour i get no thanx
Truckers Circle, why is it when your in a lorry yard waiting to be tipped and you get a clan of drivers who think “hes a pup, bet hes a boy racer” or along the lines of that, dont get me wrong i have chatted with drivers and had a laff, but that group is intimidating, maybe now im starting C1 i might get taken serously or are all agancy drivers hated■■?
The good points
Freedom (to a point), you havent got some snotty boss on ya head all the time
Traveling, get to see places you dident even know existed
Learning, all the time from driving, i think ive got what it takes to be a pro, but i know it will take me 2 year min to feel confident reversing a 40ft trailer, but eather way, its made me a better all round driver in understanding other road users
Smoking, if you are like me and smoke, its nice to light up when i want without askin permision off ya boss to go smoke in the rain(well it is m’cr)
Im glad to be a HGV (or LGV) driver and im going to stick with it, ok the pay ant good (7ph plus overtime bla bla) but it ties me over for now, I use to be a pc tech head stuck in a box with the same view out of the window everyday, it was boring
Hi MadMatty and welcome to TruckNetUK.
cheers
STEVE.