Carryfast:
The problem is every hour in a factory or a warehouse seems like at least four of driving a truck for a living.You won’t believe how slowly a clock can move.
CF that’s the most sensible post I’ve seen you make
and I’m in complete agreement
I’ve been there done that.Which is probably why my guvnors at my first job working in a factory put me out on the road as a driver before they had a suicide on their hands and their concience.
MikeCunn:
I’ve just done a few months at Kammac on £8.42 per hour, no overtime rate and start times up the wall.
Ha ha ha !!! Sorry to hijack your thread MIke, but i too done a good bit for Kammac. I remember finishing at 7pm one night and the next day i was in for 7am. I turned in at 8am because i overslept!! The TM, red head guy with glasses said you’re late !! I said i never finished untill 7pm last night, he said i could have you in at 4 am if i wanted. I just said go try it then !!! He never did. I can’t understand this, if you don’t want something then don’t do it. Before everyone starts i’m not expecting shop hours when you’re driving (i am really ) and i realise that you occasionally have to do the uncomfortable. But when they are ‘up the wall’ you’ve gotta decide if the job is for you? They maybe albe to do something about them if you tell them, but maybe not if you don’t say anything?
But i take the point you’re making, for £16 PH (say) you can cope with this up the wall stuff, at £8 odd an hour its hard to stomach. Anyway, as you where carry on, you’re hanging them up !!
You do what you need to do but don’t plan it based upon the BS you read on the Internet. The grass is always greener when you are looking at it from the other side of the park but when you get up close its often much the same when you get to stand on it.
The working world has changed in every occupation and going into something new now will usually see you joining under worse pay and conditions to those you will be working alongside. That brings its own pressures you need to be prepared for it and plan for it.
Carryfast:
The problem is every hour in a factory or a warehouse seems like at least four of driving a truck for a living.You won’t believe how slowly a clock can move.
Agreed!!! When they let me loose in the works van I can easily clock up a few hours and the time flies by. When you’re on the forklift moving pallets across the warehouse all day it gets VERY repetitive, plus always in the confines of the warehouse walls/yard boundaries. Give me the open road any day. Can’t wait to drive for a living but then again I’m new and very naive lol
The job is only as stressful as you make it, aslong as you dont end up like some of the drivers on here who remember that one person who cut them up this morning then posting about it on here in the evening you get on alright.
I hope so, sure I get stressed just as much as the next person but I like to think that I dont hold a grudge
If you enjoy driving, then don’t jack it in. Do a bit of relief work in yard/warehouse but make sure you and your employer have a written agreement (and they stick to it) that it’s a temporary measure.
I’m in this situation now, and it’s such a claustrophobic feeling.
I didn’t miss it at first, but it hit me driving on holiday. The wife says I seemed happier and healthier on the road.
Ive been driving for a living since 1966 starting on a mini van and working my way up to a 44tonner . Been tramping since 1970 until this September when i retired . Now do 2 days a week to keep my hand in and have the rest of the week to myself. I know if i get messed about its only for 2 days not a whole week so i just chill out . Dont miss the nights out at all, the wife keeps me as warm as the night heater did . Like everyone i moaned and said id had enough when i had a really bad day but never thought about seriously jacking it in . Got the best of both worlds now.
I think no matter which industry yo go into you have the same set of problems. My last job i worked in a call centre and even then people were obviously complaining about wages, being spoken to like ■■■■ and general bad conditions. I totally agree with what idriver is saying.
sounds like you could do with a break from it though, good luck mate and im sure which ever decision you make will be the right one for your self
iDriver:
You do what you need to do but don’t plan it based upon the BS you read on the Internet. The grass is always greener when you are looking at it from the other side of the park but when you get up close its often much the same when you get to stand on it.
The working world has changed in every occupation and going into something new now will usually see you joining under worse pay and conditions to those you will be working alongside. That brings its own pressures you need to be prepared for it and plan for it.
That’s very well put and totally agree with it.I did the warehouse/factory jobbie and I can tell you now the b/s you have to put up with from someone who is younger than you takes some doing,you will be back behind the wheel in no time at all.
eric the judge:
Ive been driving for a living since 1966 starting on a mini van and working my way up to a 44tonner . Been tramping since 1970 until this September when i retired . Now do 2 days a week to keep my hand in and have the rest of the week to myself. I know if i get messed about its only for 2 days not a whole week so i just chill out . Dont miss the nights out at all, the wife keeps me as warm as the night heater did . Like everyone i moaned and said id had enough when i had a really bad day but never thought about seriously jacking it in . Got the best of both worlds now.
Wow mate you have certainly seen things change then. Fair play great going.
I think truth be told there’s many a driver who’d pack it in for something different if it came along. Whilst I’d never consider myself to be an old hand I’ve only got a few years more on the (age) clock and about the same on my licence but the regulation and amount of ■■■■■ has increased noticeably in that time.
I’m convinced I’m reasonably / quite well paid for the job and hours in my area but the stupid things that crop up here and there make me wonder if it’s all worthwhile.
ROG:
Things were very different when I passed my HGV class 1 (now CE) in 1988 at age 30 - been driving 7.5s for 10 years prior to that
At that time a driver with a new class 1 could skip from job to job as there were plenty around in my area - most were fairly well paid as well
Nearly 25 years later and the whole thing is different … its a situation where there are generally more people than jobs available which means the employers have the upper hand to dictate wages and conditions
I now consider myself lucky to have had 30 years in the ‘transport industry’ to use the term loosely and all of those years were generally good ones but I really feel for the young of today who are trying to get ahead in this or any other industry
The rules have changed a lot since I first started and I am not so sure that has been for the better
MikeCunn:
The amount of legislation we have to know and abide by is getting worse. The standard of driving is getting worse and there’s traffic everywhere. None of this will get better.
Mike Rog you are absolutely right
but sadly a lot of the muppits on this forum who cant see the wood from the tree will condemn it as thay dont understand (hello farmer bosy)
All this is called bureaucracy and jobs for the boys which the big companies have taken on board
And the big companies have taken over and will continue to do so
They call this globalization but rely it proper gander from the government taking back handers from them
The rules and reg health and safety will get worse and worse so long as it makes jobs for the boys at the (very few left) hard working tax payers expense
This will continue until we are properly broke and the government becomes insolvent and can not pay its staff or persons on the dole
But that will be a good thing in a way people will finally come to there senses and over turn the government
The politicians have decided for us that the east will get richer and the west will get poorer
Welcome to world war 3!
Regards to packing in the job sure I would love to but what ells is there
Going on the dole and being bullied and persecuted by the job Centre because the recession dose not existe and it all my fault
The very same people that have keeped them afloat of these years they decide to treat like ■■■■
The ■■■■■■■■ think they have won but they have forgotten one very impotent think
Who pays there wages?
ROG:
Things were very different when I passed my HGV class 1 (now CE) in 1988 at age 30 - been driving 7.5s for 10 years prior to that
At that time a driver with a new class 1 could skip from job to job as there were plenty around in my area - most were fairly well paid as well
Nearly 25 years later and the whole thing is different … its a situation where there are generally more people than jobs available which means the employers have the upper hand to dictate wages and conditions
I now consider myself lucky to have had 30 years in the ‘transport industry’ to use the term loosely and all of those years were generally good ones but I really feel for the young of today who are trying to get ahead in this or any other industry
The rules have changed a lot since I first started and I am not so sure that has been for the better
MikeCunn:
The amount of legislation we have to know and abide by is getting worse. The standard of driving is getting worse and there’s traffic everywhere. None of this will get better.
Mike Rog you are absolutely right
but sadly a lot of the muppits on this forum who cant see the wood from the tree will condemn it as thay dont understand (hello farmer bosy)
All this is called bureaucracy and jobs for the boys which the big companies have taken on board
And the big companies have taken over and will continue to do so
They call this globalization but rely it proper gander from the government taking back handers from them
The rules and reg health and safety will get worse and worse so long as it makes jobs for the boys at the (very few left) hard working tax payers expense
This will continue until we are properly broke and the government becomes insolvent and can not pay its staff or persons on the dole
But that will be a good thing in a way people will finally come to there senses and over turn the government
The politicians have decided for us that the east will get richer and the west will get poorer
Welcome to world war 3!
Regards to packing in the job sure I would love to but what ells is there
Going on the dole and being bullied and persecuted by the job Centre because the recession dose not existe and it all my fault
The very same people that have keeped them afloat of these years they decide to treat like [zb]
The [zb] think they have won but they have forgotten one very impotent think
Who pays there wages?
You might not have mastered reversing or spelling and grammar but I have to admit I think you’re generally spot on with this.
A lot of folk out there with all manner of qualifications coming out their arse will never see this until it smacks them in the face and they go straight down.
mac12:
No it’s not just you i have been looking for another job for the last 6 months. I like the driving just fed up with all the hassle that goes with it. What i have found is that when you apply for a job companies just don’t want to know when they find out you are a truck driver.
1… Couldn’t agree more, I don’t even think they consider you, if you apply for a job, and on your CV is HGV Driver, unless its another driving position.
I agree with a lot of what the op says but you need to bear in mind that 30-40% of Hgv jobs are ok and the rest are rubbish. Try changing to a better job, you are from Skem area right? Guessing as you are on for kammac, why not try walkers crisps or great bear on Cadbury, both easy jobs I’m sure. Ok the money won’t be great but I find I’d rather have a cushy job on average money than a horrid job on decent money. Very rare in Hgv land to have it both ways.
You could try for work at the jlr factory up there, would say that would be a doss on fixed times and decent money. Probly over subscribed though.
Don’t leave driving if you still enjoy it, just look for a job that suits you. In 10 years I had something like 18 jobs because I was always looking for the dream job. It was just a numbers game, then I landed in my current job and its everything I ever dreamed of then some. Also stop letting stuff get to you. Let everything go over your head and life is much better. Who cares how goods in speak to you? They are stuck in a grubby box all day shuffling paper. If some ones an arse I always think I’ve got the last laugh because i can walk away, get in my lorry and carry on with the job i dreamed of as a kid. Leave everything at the gate as you leave. Im not paid to get stressed, just drive from a to b to c to the best of my abilities and nothing more.
switchlogic:
In 10 years I had something like 18 jobs because I was always looking for the dream job.
Did the employers ever ask you why you’ve had so many jobs when you called up? Were they bothered about it?
I massaged my CV a little. Although to be fair most of the companies I’ve worked for wouldn’t care anyway, as they are run by transport men (& a woman) not corporate lackeys in a suit!
It has already been pointed out, the grass often looks greener, but it usualy isnt, as grass always grows best where there is crap !
I only drove artics for a couple of years, before swapping it for a desk, but I still miss it.
I get to drive around the country in a car selling things now, which is great, but with no regulation on hours, you just get worked harder, and being salaried you get no financial reward. My record for the year so far is 29 hours straight, with a 2 hour drive at either end. On a salary of about the same I was earning driving a truck.
Yeah I get home most nights, but its still not as rosy as peolpe would have you believe. Stupid or not, I miss the convenience of jumping on the bunk for a good nights sleep, rather than dragging around to find a travel jail for the night…
Boss & Driver:
The politicians have decided for us that the east will get richer and the west will get poorer
Welcome to world war 3!
Who said anything about the West getting poorer?
The West is massively richer than it was 30 years ago! The reason you haven’t seen any of that, is because the Western rich have put it all in their own pockets whilst assaulting your pay and conditions!
When did you last do anything to resist and fight the creeping imposition of the free market? The very markets that make the rich richer and the poor poorer?
CF that’s the most sensible post I’ve seen you make
