Does anybody have an idea of the average age of uk truck drivers cus when ever I look at who’s driving the truck overtaking me or vice the versa it’s never a young 21 + year old it’s always a guy who’s proberly 40 + or near on retirement, are younger blood not interested anymore or is it cus it cost to much or is it cus it’s just a crap job nower days
well i just passed my class 1 last month n paid for it myself
n im the ripe old age of 30 so 
I believe it is about 50.
Not sure on the average age, but the upsetting thing for me being 35 is the fact that on the face of things, most drivers are older than me. In 10 years quite a lot of them wont be on the scene due to retirement or whatever but with the growth of the EU the shortage of drivers which would have happened in 10 years may have driven up wages significantly, but because of the eastern bloc workers coming in everywhere this isn’t going to happen.
I’m not surprised you don’t see many young drivers, I’m 23 and had my licence a year, It is difficult to find anybody to insure you and agencies soon lose interest when they find out your age.
I passed my test at 21, it was just class 1 first time then. I spent the first 2 months driving on an agency, driving rigids. I got to know a couple of firms through that and then after proving my self to them during that period, they then start to trust you and slowly you get your artic runs.
Yea, I started at 26 and there were loads of drivers the same age as me then, we all seem to have grown older together with very few newer drivers coming along… if I see a driver in his mid 20s nowadays I think “does your mum know you’re out?”
johny2727:
Does anybody have an idea of the average age of uk truck drivers cus when ever I look at who’s driving the truck overtaking me or vice the versa it’s never a young 21 + year old it’s always a guy who’s proberly 40 + or near on retirement
That’s because half of the young drivers are still in the canteen ■■■■■■■■ about having to work for a living or in the traffic office defecting vehicles because the radio’s not set to their favourite station 
I’m 24 and had my class 1 licence since i was 21, the problem is that i look alot older then i am, so u probably passed me thinking i’m an old timmer but i’m actually young blood lol Some of the drivers on the firm i work for couldn’t believe i was only 24, cheeky gits thought i was in my thirties (bloody missus has made me grey premature).
The problem is young drivers are not getting a chance to get into the industry, there’s only a very few companies around that will take on drivers under 25, i was very lucky with the company i work for, (they let me loose in a brand new MAN only a week after passing my test, but i had been shunting around the yard for a while before i passed my test, so they could see i was competenet with a unit and trailer in tight spaces. and i’d been on the raod with a rigid for a few months prior to passing my class 1), God knows what chance people have who pass there test now before they are 21! 
tachograph:
johny2727:
Does anybody have an idea of the average age of uk truck drivers cus when ever I look at who’s driving the truck overtaking me or vice the versa it’s never a young 21 + year old it’s always a guy who’s proberly 40 + or near on retirementThat’s because half of the young drivers are still in the canteen ■■■■■■■■ about having to work for a living or in the traffic office defecting vehicles because the radio’s not set to their favourite station
I’d bloody defect the vehicle if the radio was pre-set to radio 2!!!
johny2727:
Does anybody have an idea of the average age of uk truck drivers cus when ever I look at who’s driving the truck overtaking me or vice the versa it’s never a young 21 + year old it’s always a guy who’s proberly 40 + or near on retirement, are younger blood not interested anymore or is it cus it cost to much or is it cus it’s just a crap job nower days
Think its a bit of both Johny.A 21 year old cant even go stright for a class 1 now, he has to go in 3 stages ,costing about 2half grand ,if he does manage to find a job with no experience ,its gonna be a low paid crap one.by the time he realises he`s joined an overlegislated industry, where the authorities like police and VOSAs sole purpose in life is to screw money from him ;and generally make his working life a misery,and that other road users hate him,its too late -his 2half k life savings have gone,and he is stuck with it,and before he knows it he is moaning about the job like we do.I think young guys have more sense now than what we did then.
johny2727:
Does anybody have an idea of the average age of uk truck drivers cus when ever I look at who’s driving the truck overtaking me or vice the versa it’s never a young 21 + year old it’s always a guy who’s proberly 40 + or near on retirement, are younger blood not interested anymore or is it cus it cost to much or is it cus it’s just a crap job nower days
The RTA put the average age of a driver in 2007 at 55. With more people leaving than coming into the industry through retirement, the average age is only increasing.
Kerbdog:
Not sure on the average age, but the upsetting thing for me being 35 is the fact that on the face of things, most drivers are older than me. In 10 years quite a lot of them wont be on the scene due to retirement or whatever but with the growth of the EU the shortage of drivers which would have happened in 10 years may have driven up wages significantly, but because of the eastern bloc workers coming in everywhere this isn’t going to happen.
To be honest why would many young people want to get into this industry, for the cost of training you can buy yourself a decent car, it takes ages to get a job, you virtually lose you social life as you find yourself working all hours and sitting in RDC’s for hours on end being treated like an imbisile, then even if you don’t do nights out facilities on the road are non existant and if you tell people what you do they just think you’re some uneducated moron who gets in thier way on the road and obviously drives a truck because they can’t do anything else, after all any idiot can drive. can’t they?
And I think we’ve all heard of the fears from employers about a driver shortage forcing wages up. This time it was avoided by the East European countries joining the EU, in the future as the supply of drivers from those countries dries up I don’t know what will happen, but I think wages will go up for a short while until they find another souce of drivers and even if countries like Turkey or The Ukraine don’t join I still think the’ll find a way of allowing drivers to come from outside the EU to work as trucks standing and high drivers wages will do nothing to help the economy of the Country or EU as road haulage is the oil the keeps the rest of business moving.
Im’e 67 with a class one and have been refused jobs because of my age, my grandson who is 21 as been refused for the same reason on the other end of the scale.Off the rcord I was told they didnt want people who probably knew more than they did, or over experienced,
In my Grandsons case it was not enough experience, can we win■■?
With the question of age i dont think that there are many young men coming into the industry if you say to someone here is x ammount of pounds to sit in a steel box on a road surrounded by people in there precious cars looking at you as if you should not be there gits in places where you deliver looking down there nose at you being away from your wife and kids missing birthdays and happy events crappy services no where to park VOSA stuck in your crack ■■■■■,s and other drivers cutting your curtains and all for 20 quid a night its understandable why you men dont want to do it .I am 63 and love the game but i think the good times are gone they may return but i doubt it i would like to see lots of youngsters men and women who can speak English in the job but i feel it may be wishfull thinking any thoughts anybody.
average age 55.
but the 25 year olds, look 40+.
I’m 26… Love it, get no hassle off anyone, short days, good money. 
limeyphil:
average age 55.
but the 25 year olds, look 40+.
That’s what I was going to say - plenty of young drivers they just look old 
I am 27 and i swear i have to be the youngest by atleast 15 years where i work!!!
Last place i worked at, i was 33 and i was the second youngest driver there. Mind you that was doing European, and it seems you see hardly any young lads over the water.