A lot of us on here have said at one time or another that we would like to get off the road and find another way to make a living.
So why haven’t more people done it?
Is it a case of being all mouth no trousers?
Being too comfortable in the familiar?
Or is it because you can’t earn similar money in a different line of work?
Personally, I think it’s difficult to get away from driving because, despite most drivers having a lot of down time, there is no encouragement to learn or develop new skills, and so few skills in driving apply to any other career.
So, would you like to get off the road? What would you (realistically) like to do instead? And what skills has driving given you that could transfer to your other chosen career?
Don’t want to, still enjoy it even after all these years.
Luckily i’m in a good place, one which suits me and gives me stacks of time at home, if i had to put up with delivering to RDCs or multi drop pallet work i’d have given up long ago, though others thrive on them, each to their own.
The job is what you make of it, its always been like that, can’t see it changing anytime soon, part of enjoying the job is setting your own pace and stall out from day one and taking a pride in your work, equals job satisfaction.
Juddian:
if i had to put up with delivering to RDCs
Grrr…
RDCs is all I do these days and I’m as happy as piggy in pooh doing it. My kit is brand new, my money is fine, the job gets me home 99 times out of a hundred and I’m quite happy to surf the net or fall asleep in my cab whilst someone else unloads my trailer. Most of the time it’s drop and drive so as soon as I get green light I’m gone.
I’ve done all the ‘it’s a challenge’ work, I’ve roped and sheeted, been as far as Casablanca, loaded fruit out of French ports, worked as a drivers mate with police escorts across London, done tippers, done tankers, been a box jockey managed some ridiculous reverse ins and outs and I’m only to happy to be doing an easy mundane job taking stuff to RDCs.
There is definately a bit of ‘fear of the unknown’ and yes sometimes thed drop in pay can look quite scary, but what you generally forget is you’ve worked a week and a half (hours wise) to get that money, if you knocked your hours down driving it would be similar to other jobs out there, It’s taken me the better part of two years to get my work life ballance sorted, I used to work on world rally cross and tour with bands, I could be away for up to 4 months at a time, I started by not just taking the next job offered, I had time off inbetween events, slowly I cut it back to just the odd job now and then, but a few weeks ago I stopped completely, it wasn’t easy, but essential. Now I’ve managed to get a part time job driving near home, it’s only 3 days a week but pays enough, along with that I have a little PAT testing business that brings in a bit extra. It’s much better than it used to be, I’m home in my bed every night, eat real food and get to spend time with my partner. The only problem I have is the constant though of why didn’t I do this 10 years ago
I think ultimately its because people a too lazy to change and/or scared of the unknown. Driving has to be the easiest way to earn £450+ p/w for the average working class bloke so I can see why people stick to it.
The jump into the unknown is the big one, I left driving to work in a JLR factory nearly 6 years ago and was very nervous at the time despite having a Grandad that worked for Jag (driving class one) 20+ years and a Dad there with 25+ years service so I half knew what to expect. The fact I’ve halved my hours (36 p/w) and increased my wage by £15k a year is the cherry on top for me despite it being bloody hard graft.
I do still like to do some agency driving work when I can to keep my hand in and because I enjoy it.
I drive a white van on nights now. Could tug a 44 tonner all night and day. Id never fetch the wage i get now. And i mean never.
I have done
Skips
Roll on offs
Hiabs
Containers
Fridges
Curtain siders
Flatbeds
Low loaders inc heavy haulage
List goes on. Anyone pulling a trailer for £8.50 -£9.50 is an absolute mug. And if anyone doubts my madness il post my liscence up here to ahow whag i have.
I changed after 20 odd years of driving most of which I thoroughly enjoyed to be honest. Always regard myself lucky to have had decent jobs and decent employers and most importantly decent wages. Changing to various types of training jobs gave me more skills and more job satisfaction and also better wages and the opportunity to retire early.
Now retired with two pensions which pay more than the average lorry drivers wage , rent a house out in the UK , mainly live in Holland and travel the world frequently and have plenty hobbies.
The problem for me is I couldn’t leave driving and earn what I earn now or more doing what I’d like to do, engineering. I love mechanical stuff but I’d have to get qualifications. I know eventually I’d probably get a job earning very good money but I just can’t afford a pay cut for a couple of years. I should have done it years ago but I loved driving too much to consider it back then.
Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t hate it enough to consider working in an rdc on the forks even though the money’s decent enough so I’ll probably retire driving hgv.
Like a lot of us, if i had my time again I’d probably do something else for sure.
Hindsight is very accurate [emoji53]
jakethesnake:
I changed after 20 odd years of driving most of which I thoroughly enjoyed to be honest. Always regard myself lucky to have had decent jobs and decent employers and most importantly decent wages. Changing to various types of training jobs gave me more skills and more job satisfaction and also better wages and the opportunity to retire early.
Now retired with two pensions which pay more than the average lorry drivers wage , rent a house out in the UK , mainly live in Holland and travel the world frequently and have plenty hobbies.
Juddian:
if i had to put up with delivering to RDCs
Grrr…
RDCs is all I do these days and I’m as happy as piggy in pooh doing it. My kit is brand new, my money is fine, the job gets me home 99 times out of a hundred and I’m quite happy to surf the net or fall asleep in my cab whilst someone else unloads my trailer. Most of the time it’s drop and drive so as soon as I get green light I’m gone.
I’ve done all the ‘it’s a challenge’ work, I’ve roped and sheeted, been as far as Casablanca, loaded fruit out of French ports, worked as a drivers mate with police escorts across London, done tippers, done tankers, been a box jockey managed some ridiculous reverse ins and outs and I’m only to happy to be doing an easy mundane job taking stuff to RDCs.
Your one of the lucky ones then you get to stay in your cab you obviously don’t go to TOSCO
Firstly there is generally a reason why people choose the job to start with.Basically a career spent out on the open road beats the effectively prison like existence of working in a factory/warehouse/office/shop.No surprise that reason doesn’t suddenly just disappear it stays there throughout your working life.Ironically it also doesn’t even go away if/when forced out of the job by unemployment/health/retirement.Which is why if/when push comes to shove those thinking that the grass might be greener come to their senses long before making the jump.If not soon after.While being forced ‘off the road’ by the above can be even worse.
However we know that too much of the industry is moving towards a model which defeats the object of the career choice.Working ‘inside’ instead won’t fix that.
More and more of these turdhole RDC,s are stopping drivers staying in their cabs now, the job seems to be getting more tedious by the day sadly. I almost packed in a couple of years ago and then got lured back in by what I thought was a decent job (which in fairness if I could get my arse out of bed at 5am, it was) but it is definitely time now to get out.
My previous thing was flogging motors and it looks like that’s where I’m heading once more. My wages have barely increased over the last 5 or 6 years and I can make £500 selling ONE car, so why the hell I drive a wagon all week amongst morons for the same money is puzzling. I think the fact that the job is very easy indeed gets you mentally and physically lazy and you simply fall into a rut.
The job is becoming one for the spineless ‘yes’ men who allow themselves to be treated like crap and constantly monitored like naughty children. It’s a complete cluster[zb].
Iv tried before and would love to again but everything I fancy doing the pay is pants.
My local micro brewery wanted a trainee brewer and wage was about £14.000 a year and £19.000 once a fully trained brewer…
I once put money in to a cafe and stoped driving for 6 months,well I was on sick with a leg injury but I just couldn’t cope with facing the general public and after grafting all day after overheads was making peanuts.
I’m now too old to train as a motorcycle mechanic which I’d love to do but at 40 time ain’t on my side and Iv no patience.
I work 55-60hr a week and take home a good living wage for basically doing not a lot,but I’m fed up of never knowing my finish time and never been able to commit to social events through the week because if I make plans the jobs goes pear shaped and I don’t make it…
I’m constantly in search of a supermarket driving job offering early starts as that would suit me …
Basically if I left all I’m qualified to do is jobs on minimum wage and I can’t afford to do that
I am wondering whether to make driving, which is currently just a smallish part of my job, a full time job, and whether to upgrade to Class 1 and go long distance (Europe) for a few years. 5 maybe.
Then I would come back and start my own little branch of the business I am currently in (family business, I need to strike out on my own).
But…judging by this thread, would I run the risk that I would never ‘get off the road’?
I am wondering whether to make driving, which is currently just a smallish part of my job, a full time job, and whether to upgrade to Class 1 and go long distance (Europe) for a few years. 5 maybe.
I’ll wish you the best of luck mate but sadly you’ve missed the days of long distance Euro work by about 15 years, Piotr and Stanislav do all that now.
Me, I’ve never really considered doing anything else, firstly because I did enjoy it back in the day when I used to do trips to Moscow, Istanbul, Tbilisi etc, secondly because I’ve got no aptitude for anything much beyond sitting on my arse and staring out of a windscreen and thirdly because at 60 I’m too old to re-train for anything now.
yorkshire terrier:
Iv tried before and would love to again but everything I fancy doing the pay is pants.
My local micro brewery wanted a trainee brewer and wage was about £14.000 a year and £19.000 once a fully trained brewer…
I once put money in to a cafe and stoped driving for 6 months,well I was on sick with a leg injury but I just couldn’t cope with facing the general public and after grafting all day after overheads was making peanuts.
I’m now too old to train as a motorcycle mechanic which I’d love to do but at 40 time ain’t on my side and Iv no patience.
I work 55-60hr a week and take home a good living wage for basically doing not a lot,but I’m fed up of never knowing my finish time and never been able to commit to social events through the week because if I make plans the jobs goes pear shaped and I don’t make it…
I’m constantly in search of a supermarket driving job offering early starts as that would suit me …
Basically if I left all I’m qualified to do is jobs on minimum wage and I can’t afford to do that
Writing off yourself at 40? I have seen people successfully changing career after 50, finishing some years of college course and starting as a nurse. Isn’t that too early to write yourself off?
yorkshire terrier:
Iv tried before and would love to again but everything I fancy doing the pay is pants.
My local micro brewery wanted a trainee brewer and wage was about £14.000 a year and £19.000 once a fully trained brewer…
I once put money in to a cafe and stoped driving for 6 months,well I was on sick with a leg injury but I just couldn’t cope with facing the general public and after grafting all day after overheads was making peanuts.
I’m now too old to train as a motorcycle mechanic which I’d love to do but at 40 time ain’t on my side and Iv no patience.
I work 55-60hr a week and take home a good living wage for basically doing not a lot,but I’m fed up of never knowing my finish time and never been able to commit to social events through the week because if I make plans the jobs goes pear shaped and I don’t make it…
I’m constantly in search of a supermarket driving job offering early starts as that would suit me …
Basically if I left all I’m qualified to do is jobs on minimum wage and I can’t afford to do that
Writing off yourself at 40? I have seen people successfully changing career after 50, finishing some years of college course and starting as a nurse. Isn’t that too early to write yourself off?
Well a lot of people say that but all the training courses I look at are aimed at people up to 24,plus I can’t afford to pack in work to do a full time course and I have a young family,I wish that instead of saving for my class one during my early working years I’d of got my self a trade,I can’t see me leaving driving,like I said I’d love a job at a supermarket with early starts and shortish shifts but they never seem to take on in my area,
I am wondering whether to make driving, which is currently just a smallish part of my job, a full time job, and whether to upgrade to Class 1 and go long distance (Europe) for a few years. 5 maybe.
I’ll wish you the best of luck mate but sadly you’ve missed the days of long distance Euro work by about 15 years, Piotr and Stanislav do all that now.
Me, I’ve never really considered doing anything else, firstly because I did enjoy it back in the day when I used to do trips to Moscow, Istanbul, Tbilisi etc, secondly because I’ve got no aptitude for anything much beyond sitting on my arse and staring out of a windscreen and thirdly because at 60 I’m too old to re-train for anything now.
Your lack of aptitude is more in your self belief mate. I don’t know you from anyone else on here - but you come across well, you are articulate and you seem like a decent bloke. Stew said you were a top bloke when he visited you on your boat.
I’m sure you could earn a living taking folks on boating days. I actually reckon you could turn your canal boat into a little booze cruise vessel. All you drink for £50. Load of cheap booze from Aldi and some tunes and you are on your way. Always oppertunities for a creative soul.
I’m a relatively new recruit to driving (2016) with no connection to the job in my family that I know of.
Would I change, yeah but the main problem is money. Unlike some of the school leavers who get student loans with no intentions of paying them off, I’ve paid for all my training in 3 careers so far. Cost thousands each time so gets a tad expensive.
Not sure what I’d do next yet. Currently night ADR trunking which is survivable, but might go back to IT. Just need a lottery win to pay the bills in the meantime.
I guess I’m pretty lucky. I enjoy my job, earn pretty good money and don’t do an unreasonable amount of hours for my pay.
However, I can’t see myself doing it forever, and am already making plans for a future change of career.
