robroy:
Used to love it when I first started, it was a different job completely, a totally different vibe where drivers generally respected each other, plenty of parking places, no cab phones, no trackers , “ring me in a couple of days when you’re empty”
As for today, too much unnecessary regulation, too many knobs on road in cars AND trucks as well as in office, so much so that it’s got to the stage where the job bears no resemblance to when I started, but it’s ok some days, especially on2/3 day multi drop jobs (left alone) but I’m mostly on autopilot these days.
I do but I enjoy having more to the job than just driving. I’ve done the ‘box jockey’ thing, the TNT runs, RDC work and it’s ok but not very testing. I like the off highway work, lowloaders, farm based haulage, brick and block using a crane… I like drivibg stuff, all sorts of stuff.
I’m with Robroy, when I started out in 1969 Driving Buses & Coaches, and the occasional 7.5 tonner as and required, it was a good job. Have long since left the Industry behind. ( retired ), I do miss Driving, but, when I look around, and I see the standard of Driving these days along with all the other, " for want of a better word ", crap that you Guys have to endure these days just to carry out a days graft, I for one am very grateful to be out of it.
The Pariah:
I don’t care for all the b/s, the regulations, the politics and the aspects of job others dislike. I bloody love when I’ve left the yard though. Am quite happy in my little elevated position listening to the radio and just watching the world around me.
I can’t understand the people for whom it’s just a job, or actively dislike the job. Chose your cliche, we’re here for a good time not a long time, life is not a dress rehersal or whatever but if I found myself doing a job that I really hated, I’d do everything in my power to leave. The other option is if you really hate a way of life, or a job or anything really, don’t try and bring down those that do and are happy, which seems to be a popular thing on here to do.
Agree with that. If someone told me when I was 16 that ill end up driving lorrys I would off laughed at them. Always been into anything with an engine, tractors, diggers trucks whatever but that was were my interest stopped. Now I don’t think there’s anything else if enjoy more. In the last 8 years since I started I’d say the fun has gone out off it a bit, no ones got time for a yarn no one wants to listen or ask for help but I still enjoy being in my own little world when I’m on the road.
Tipper Tom:
I had my HGV licence forced upon me by HMG and I’ve grown to enjoy driving lorries. There are days when I honestly think “Oh really this [zb] again”
But generally I feel like I’m born to do it and thoroughly enjoy my job.
If only the roads were in better nick.
i used to enjoy it but after 24 yrs with all these rules and regulations keep coming out all the enjoyment has gone out of it,you have to worry about vosa pulling you,lets face it even the most legal person on the road can be pulled by these people and i am sure they could find something to get the person on,there are too many idiot car drivers on the road now,and it will only get worse,but on a lighter note you get some nice weather, a decent radio, and a clear motorway and it can still be pleasant
robroy:
Used to love it when I first started, it was a different job completely, a totally different vibe where drivers generally respected each other, plenty of parking places, no cab phones, no trackers , “ring me in a couple of days when you’re empty”
As for today, too much unnecessary regulation, too many knobs on road in cars AND trucks as well as in office, so much so that it’s got to the stage where the job bears no resemblance to when I started, but it’s ok some days, especially on2/3 day multi drop jobs (left alone) but I’m mostly on autopilot these days.
Same here but i still enjoy it, i am lucky i work for a manufacturing company so no RDCs for me lots of London though LOVE iT
he`s not talking about the job in general…just the driving aspect.
I don`t enjoy driving the car,i see it as a means to an end…but driving the lorry is very similar to riding a motorcycle(for me).
I find a greater amount of input is needed for the latter 2 types of transport,and it is probably this that keeps me interested.
I used to when I was a cab happy fool who just wanted to drive aflashy truck to as many places as was imaginable.
Now … I hate it, particularly when each week I have to drive 250 miles to begin my week then spend 4 or 5 nights in the damm thing, everywhere I go I see idiots who are on a death wish or just plain crazy. I would love a job well away from this sitting at a desk or even shop work but the money would be crap.
merc0447:
Hmmmmm I might come across as a bit of a weirdo here I enjoy driving my lorry sit back listen to the radio watch life go by. In all honeslty you could put me in any city centre or road in the land and i wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
But I hate driving my car I really mean I hate it. Just about put up with driving to and from work but outside that I get buses/taxis and trains where possible into town and what not. Infact my new flat one of the biggest draws was it was a 5 minutes walk from a central line. I do around 4-5 thousand miles a year which is really low when you think about it. Where as I probably do around 60 thousand miles a year on dayshift in a truck
Someone explain that? It’s not a recent thing either, I’ve always been like that. Girlfriend thinks am [zb] nuts a lorry driver who doesn’t like driving.
Ha, me and my Dad are the same, we both hate driving cars. We used to joke given the choice between a Ferrari and a top of the range truck to drive across Europe we’d take the truck! Honestly!
Thankfully I get to drive a top of the range truck across Europe now and get paid for it. So yeah, I still love driving!
Love driving and the bigger the better, got your tunes on or catch up on a little radio wherever you are, own boss not stuck in an office or building site.
What’s not to love.
At times i love driving a truck and at other times i hate the job,i seem to go from one extreme to the other at times.
AT times i find the job a pleasure and at other times i find it dreadful.
Am generally quite happy as long as i get varied interesting work to different destinations,but dont like repetitive work running the same roads same destinations all the time.
Am only 37 but think i would have rather have been doing this job 25 or 30 years ago during the better years of the job,many older drivers recall how good the job was in years gone by,and how bad it is now!
Like many say the only thing to improve in the job over the years is the trucks we drive nowadays,more comfortable bigger cabs,better engines,everything else such as wages,traffic congestion,cameraderie amongst drivers,suitable facilities/parking areas,delays at rdc’s etc have got a lot worse.
used to love it but not now not in the uk anyway, i only do locals now drive maybe hour n half max before im at my delivery/collection
any more than that and im bored,loved driving in europe though but dont do that anymore prefer to be at home with the family
robroy:
Used to love it when I first started, it was a different job completely, a totally different vibe where drivers generally respected each other, plenty of parking places, no cab phones, no trackers , “ring me in a couple of days when you’re empty”
Exactly the same as this. When I started in 1986 it was easier to get a continental job than a UK job, well here anyway… “Give us a call when you get back into Dover”.
Loved going to Germany, Italy etc, and there would be other Brits all along the way, if you broke down you knew that some UK driver would pull up to help within 15-20 minutes, and I used to do the same, we just accepted that giving up an hour of our time and get filthy dirty to help a fellow Brit to change a wheel was part and parcel of the job, in the Routiers in the evening you could get a good three-course meal with wine for less than the cost of a MSA breakfast in the UK and again, there would be plenty of Brits to talk to. Of course, some would be idiots but the vast majority weren’t and I’ve had some fantastic evenings in the Routiers. I’m sure many older members will nod their heads and agree.
Nowadays, general cargo into Europe just isn’t carried by Brits so I’m overwhelmingly stuck in the UK. Traffic is worse than it ever was, still very few places to get a decent meal, or a shower, and parking facilities are, if anything, even more woefully inadequate. I didn’t like UK work in the 1980’s, and haven’t grown any fonder.
I still prefer driving a truck to office or factory work but for me, it’s a means to an end now, and something I’m planning to get out of altogether in 2016. I certainly wouldn’t advise either of my kids to do it.
I still enjoy driving trucks, I quite like some of the really tight spots we have to take the trucks into on groupage work and enjoy the challenge of a tricky manouver, and what other job could I listen to my music all day long, sing away at the top of my voice without offending anyones eardrums …
, “ring me in a couple of days when you’re empty”
as well as in office, so much so that it’s got to the stage where the job bears no resemblance to when I started, but it’s ok some days, especially on2/3 day multi drop jobs (left alone) but I’m mostly on autopilot these days.
I enjoy driving my lorry sit back listen to the radio watch life go by. In all honeslty you could put me in any city centre or road in the land and i wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
