Do you regret becoming an HGV driver

COOKiEEES!!:
:? bit harsh @ smallsie.

Anyway, @ commonrail, I’d say that 7 years is more than an adequate length of time to have developed an accurate outlook. Unfortunately that outlook is indeed very very bleak, but it does not mean it’s not correct.

So I reject your accusation @ smallsie that I’m one of those who
“thinks because he spent mony on his license he should have walked straight into a job paying 15bucks an hour”

Don’t make rash assumptions about people you do not even know.

so…what would be your ideal driving job :question:

I vote no. But one big change I have noticed since I started in the early seventies is that in those days the customer actually wanted the goods (pre tesco etc)and were glad to see you.

robroy:

Juddian:

A few years down the line, owner driver, small fleet owner, recession…bankruptcy :smiling_imp: , start again o/driver, main contract goes bust no warning so…so do I again :unamused: lose house, and everything else.
Get a couple of GOOD Euro jobs, redundant x2, a worse Euro job, a relatively poor paid UK job now.
So Mr Juddian, I DID have the “certain nature”, it was for me, and I was happy and did have pride, the only bit I agree with you is…yeh, maybe I shouldn’t be doing the job now, as it has turned me cynical in as far as I believe everything in transport has a hidden agenda ie… DCPC, all parking gone, speed cameras, Euro legislation, VOSA… the list goes on. I also believe that a lot of drivers are as good as ever, but an ever growing amount of d/heads with licences shouldn’t be let out with a bike, never mind 44tonnes, so sorry if I have bored the arses off you all :unamused: :laughing: , but that is why I am on a downer with the job and put forward a YES vote.

You tried to make a transport business and it didn’t work out, i didn’t and i’m undecided as to whether i should have or not, i have a healthy mistrust of other people and their dishonour so other people not paying me for my services or simply conveniently going bankrupt is one of my biggest turn offs for going it alone, seen too much of it to risk it now.

I did get my CPC and O licence back in the early 80’s but never used it, just as well cos if it had worked i’d have been cleaned out by my ex anyway.

I’m envious of you in a way cos at least you tried it, i didn’t, which of us was right we’ll never know cos our circs are as different as our personalities.

I was lucky in that i found my first big break and niche job which also paid well, and subsequently once tasted have always chased the money/conditions/hours combination, type of lorry or work involved of little interest, so i’ve driven everything from general on ropes and sheets to skips to tippers to animal and other waste to newspapers to supermarket work, later to cars and now tanks.

The increase in regs and pitfalls is just a game, you find a job that allows you to both earn money and sidestep the problems, currently i would suggest a well salaried day job with a limited working week is the best bet, you then don’t worry about MSA’a, parking, fuel or load thieves, VOSA, the old bill, speed cameras or DCPC, as whilst quietly sidestepping round each problem especially by playing by the rules you are still being paid the same.

The days of being paid for fast productivity are over all bar the shouting, the stresses risks and obstacles involved have turned it into a rat race, hourly pay isn’t too bad so long as its a decent rate not like too many who have to work two weeks in one to make a mediocre wage at the end of it.

I found in my thankfully short agency periods that modern RDC work (delivering to supermarkets rather than working out of) is the most soul destroying that i could imagine, and multi drop parcel and pallet work the most stressful, i will not contemplate either full time and i’d advise anyone to avoid that type of work unless it suits them of course, luckily we’re all different.

I don’t come from a haulage family or background but!! I love driving and especially Artics! It pays very well compared to some other jobs out there,and I’ve driven Class 2 since 2003 Class 1 from 2007!

I’ve found voting with my feet works better when dealing with ■■■■ Companies/Agencies!
I did my winging and moaning mostly at the beginning of my time on the Class 2. Much harder graft required on those than Class 1 IMHO!

Too many drivers have gone straight to Class 1 and then do the moaning and whinging and then want to leave but is there anything better out there right now? Nada!

Stop whinging and get on with it! It’s not really that difficult is it? :laughing:

Only been driving Class 1 for 8 years but have never regretted it at all. As a fairly new driver maybe I havent had enough time to get disillusioned yet but I expect it also works the other way too, maybe some people who have been driving for 20 - 30 years don’t realise how much crap you have to put up with even in the most basic jobs outside haulage these days, appraisals, targets, H&S etc. I was a Production Manager for years but by the end I was spending most of my time trying to make sure we were compliant with ever increasing bits of legislation and bugger all time actually running production

Now I have a crap hourly wage, work 60+ hours a week, but am a 100 times happier than I was in a Factory/office environment.

no regrets. when a lot of people are losing jobs, a trucker is mostly safe due to no one wanting to do the job! pays crap, very few facilities on motorway etc (that don’t rip you off). but i still like the job for some reason.

“Stop whinging and get on with it! It’s not really that difficult is it?”

Who’s whinging?

By that I mean who are you referring to?( Before you think its an invitation to the usuall t/net slagfest)

NO still enjoy the driving even after thirty years, ( apart from when it snows ) had some bad jobs, rubbish trucks, nights out with no sleeper cab, roping and sheeting (which i was always rubbish at) in the rain, and the end of the day i enjoyed every minute of it, no regrets… :laughing:

Montmerency:
“Stop whinging and get on with it! It’s not really that difficult is it?”

Who’s whinging?

By that I mean who are you referring to?( Before you think its an invitation to the usuall t/net slagfest)

Oh Sorry mate! It’s my default setting when posting on here lately that is all! :wink:

when i started my hgv career in the early 60s it was alot differrent then, we did,nt have the luxury of air condition and air ride and all the other goodies that you get these days,but saying that i dont regret it as in those days every trucker helped each other?? the pace was slower and more places to stop at.I know times change and should get better ■■ I drove trucks for for fifty years till all this didgy tachos and cpcs started to come kers into force.If i was still driving i wouldnt take it i would pack it in . It seems now truckers have to PAY to work at their profession and thats not fair,but we should be used to being trod on ( being polite ) keep on trucking!!!.

COOKiEEES!!:
Don’t make rash assumptions about people you do not even know.

your correct i shouldnt have made assumtions and i apologise for this

ohhhh wait a minute it was wasnt an assumtion it was an observation :unamused: most of your posts are about how crap you get treated and how low your wages are the rest of the bull that goes with it ffs man up :laughing:

Worked in a factory for 10 years or so before driving for a living so I know what’s it like to be factory fodder and I would never go back to doing that ■■■■!!
I’ve been to places my friends have to get on a plane to see,so I don’t regret it one bit.
In fact where I am now is the best move I’ve ever made.

well i put yes but only because i think the whole industry has gone to ■■■■!

once up and awake and out on the open road yes its not a bad job…but then being arsed about at rdc’s transport offices being looked upon as a nuisance by other road users, paid poorly treat even worse (as a rule) expected to start at 3am finish at 6pm makes it seem less appealing!

much prefer being in an office knowing what time i start and finish each day and how much i earn wont change weekly!

sometimes I love it.

sometimes I wished I’d tried better at school.

I love the job, but I also fear that the fun’s gradually being legislated out of it. So much now has to be audited, checked, double-checked, signed for, counter-signed for etc.

I fear I may be of the last generation of LGV drivers to experience what it is like to be allowed to think for myself in the day-to-day running of my job.

Dont regret it at all, but would it end up being my chosen career path if I had my time again, no not a chance. To much b/s and to easy to get a vosa fine nowadays. The enjoyment is rapidly going from the job, only thing is, if I did anything else id have to work for a living, bulk tanker work is so easy and stress free it`s almost like a hobby not a job.

Regret being a driver …no… Do i regret working for certain folk …HELL YEAH.
Do i regret the way the job went in the UK …yes.
but who have thought that driving a truck would get me living in Canada mortgage free not me for one!
not bad for a farm workers son who started his driving career in a (67)atki 6x6 snowplough
life out here is not perfect but close enough for me. :blush: :unamused:
jimmy.

Never regretted doing the job.
Met some terrific people along the way
Met some complete morons too

Earned a fair living when a lot of others were sitting on the dole.
Never out of work in the 80s & 90s still had a lot of money about to pay drivers

Did I enjoy the job - not really as I don’t like driving - bit of a silly choice of job!
Glad I sit in an office all day now away from haulage but won’t ever give up my licence

Glad I don’t do the job now though too many rules and prefer the old crunch gearbox to an auto!

Hi, All

Having just retired from the transport scene ,but still having a strong interest in it, I’m pleased to say that I think that I and my generation in the game , have had the best years.
We had the comradeship, we knew if we were in trouble the next truck along would stop and ask if you wanted a hand or offer you a hot drink. We left the yard , delivered the load without any phone calls to see where we were. We had time for a cuppa ,a chat with the customer or a mate you hadn’t seen for a while.
Yes ,by todays comparisons we had tackle that no modern driver? would take out the yard, but it was what we had and we did the job with it.
There were firms who ran you ragged, equally there were firms who gave you a fair days work and ,and it’s a big and, left you to get on with it, “just ring when tipped”, we all knew the words.
I worked for large firms and small firms, in my experience you worked harder for a small firm because they couldn’t afford to carry you ,where as larger firms had a bit more leeway.
Today with all the technology and just in time deliveries, being no more than a cursor on somebodies (who in all possibility has no practical idea of your job) computer screen, you feel like there is no trust in you as an employee anymore.
But transport gets in your blood, even today you have a certain freedom, even with a tracker and a digi tacho, you can still enjoy the sights ,meet different people, pretend you are your own boss,at least until the phone rings again.
Would I do it again? Yes , but it would be nicer in a new MAN or air conditioned (no not both windows down) Volvo, and I will still be a bit wistful watching a truck disappear down the road

Cheers Bassman

I dont regret it just wish i had done it sooner being 30 now would like to of done it 5 years ago