If Mr Osbourne is going to invest in the training of more drivers (see whitehart3), there will probably be a negative effect on our pay. It is our moral duty to ensure that young people are not seduced into this industry without proper information. We should point out to them that within 10 years, autonomous wagons will probably be crushing the need for drivers. They also need to be told about long hours, low pay, licence vulnerability, stow-away fines, lay-bye lavs and the sacrifice of private, social and family life. We always welcome newcomers but the game is changing.
Well your a barrel of laughs arn’t you! Ease up a bit or you’ll have them beating the door down 
To add, theft of fuel or the load while asleep in the cab.
Risk of hijacking with a high value load.
Physical and mental health issues with high risk of heart problems and diabetes.
Being not appreciated by the public, who don’t understand the need for road haulage.
Get freight on the train brigade.
Illegal immigrants and fines.
Night shift work and the negative effects on health.
Bad planning that doesn’t allow for delays with impossible booking times.
toby1234abc:
To add, theft of fuel or the load while asleep in the cab.
Risk of hijacking with a high value load.
Physical and mental health issues with high risk of heart problems and diabetes.
Being not appreciated by the public, who don’t understand the need for road haulage.
Get freight on the train brigade.
Illegal immigrants and fines.
Night shift work and the negative effects on health.
Bad planning that doesn’t allow for delays with impossible booking times.
Can I ask you, Toby, are you saying all of the things on your list should, and could be sorted out, or do you accept that with a couple exceptions , that lorry driving has always been like this ? Or is it because you believe it is such a bad job,and if you choose to put up with it, it should attract a much higher rate of pay ? I am glad I am retired and no longer drive lorries for a living, but not for any of the reasons you put forward.
Regards. John.
Those are some negative points which apply to some driving jobs but driving isn’t the only job with almost the exact same negative points.
Plenty of people work long shifts, have bad managers and unrealistic targets, aren’t appreciated and feel they are under paid.
Panick:
Those are some negative points which apply to some driving jobs but driving isn’t the only job with almost the exact same negative points.Plenty of people work long shifts, have bad managers and unrealistic targets, aren’t appreciated and feel they are under paid.
Like Zoo keepers?
Panick:
Those are some negative points which apply to some driving jobs but driving isn’t the only job with almost the exact same negative points.Plenty of people work long shifts, have bad managers and unrealistic targets, aren’t appreciated and feel they are under paid.
I agree. It is the advantages of driving a lorry over other " working man " jobs, which seem to have now gone .The " I’m my own boss when I leave the yard " and " The freedom of the open road " always were romantic myths, but back in the 60s. 70s and 80s, did have a grain of truth in them.
Back in those days all my mates did jobs like factory worker,building worker, painter etc. We would all be having a pint on Sunday night and when last orders were called, my mates would be moaning " well that’s it then , another 500 brackets a day to weld before life starts again next weekend " or some such comment. It appears to me that the things that made my job more enjoyable than theirs are no longer part of the job for many in the industry. I have never regretted my life time in the transport game, would I choose it as a career now ?..no I don’t think I would .
Regards. John.
WTF is all this bollox,if you dont like the job ,go work in a factory, fast food gaff ,warehouse ,or any other job thats crap and mind numbing,then moan FFS 
This isn’t about liking or not liking the job - it’s about the way wages can’t keep up with inflation, and the trucker’s amount they have to pay to earn a living increasing day by day…
Even if you are a sweet taster at the largest sweet factory in the country - no kid would be interested in signing up if they’d been told in advance that “wages will fall year on year for the forseeable future”…
This “investment” Osbourne talks of - I think we are talking “investment in new ways to massage the unemployment figures”.
It won’t raise any extra taxes, since those doing the job won’t be earning enough to pay taxes, and if Osbourne can manage it - will be earning too much to continue claiming any kind of in-work benefits.
Plus, how many young dole claimers who feel “pushed” into the industry - are going to “accidentally deliberately” smash up the kit, in the hope of getting sent back to the dole queue? 
To be honest I don’t want to be driving all my life, don’t get me wrong I enjoy doing what I’m doing, but I am trying to get back onto the railway…