Hanging up your keys?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

There are 2 quotes on this thread which about sum it up for me…

truckyboy:
but what i have missed over the years is being there for my children…i`ve missed the best part of their lives…growing up…and i havnt been there for them when i was needed…acting a bit like a single parent is what truck driving is all about…as my wife once said…or i should say all 3 of them…your only a lodger…your home is your bloody truck…cant deny that…

For obvious reasons, this one has risen to the forefront of my mind recently. When I had my daughter, I had no choice (for both financial and logistical reasons) but to go straight back to 4-5 nights out a week 6 weeks after the birth - and driving weekends after less than a fortnight…one of my saddest memories is of her Dad ringing me up to tell me she had just given her first smile. And where was I? On the A34 in a [zb] lorry.
This time I do have a choice, and by god I’m going to take it. But that leads me to quote number two…

Coffeeholic:
Trouble is I have done it for so long I’m not sure what else I can do. I’m not qualified to do anything else, in fact I have no qualifications worth speaking about.

Thereby lies the rub. I’ve only been driving 5 years, but when your only 28 that’s a good chunk of your working life. Before that I was a forkie for 3 years(so transport again) and before that…well, we won’t go into my mis-spent youth… :open_mouth: :wink:

The compromise for me is to start saying farewell to the tramping (by cutting my nights out) when I go back to work in September. But if I had a choice, and could earn the money another way, right now I would.
Trucking is always there to go back to, the here and now (be that your kid’s early lives or any other priority at the time) will not be.

That said, it’s easier said than done to “let go”, and I for one admire Neil immensely for having the courage to follow through his convictions…I’m not that brave. This week is supposed to be my last week on tramping before I go onto day work after Easter (and the US thing) until early/mid May…but I’m already talking about doing “just a couple more weeks” when we come back from the States… :blush: :blush: :blush:

22

Lucy
Take a chance and do something different to see your kids grow
I stopped driving for 6 years and brought a hotel in Skeggy, no Regrets but back driving now.
It is always something to fall back on.
You cannot get a second chance to see the first smile, step, word, etc

23

bazman:
Lucy
Take a chance and do something different to see your kids grow
I stopped driving for 6 years and brought a hotel in Skeggy, no Regrets but back driving now.
It is always something to fall back on.
You cannot get a second chance to see the first smile, step, word, etc

I agree with you Barry, The reason why I came off the road was my son, I had missed the 1st 3 years and thought sod that I am not missing any more. specialy for £6 odd an hour.

I most likely will go back to driving, in time to come, If the industry have learnt to respect their most important asset :wink: If not, …their loss, not mine.

24

The problem is there is not another industry/job that gives you the same sense of freedom that truck driving does. I don’t think I can remember meeting an EX DRIVER that is still off the road and is not looking for a way to get back into it.The way it was once explianed to me was that it is “White Line Fever” I have tried to leave a number of times but the end result is I end up missing being a driver, If you broke me in half I would have “Truck Driver” written through me like a stick of Blackpool rock.

Also, It does not seem to matter what industry you are in the grass always seems to be greener on the other side, and it very rarely is. Espicially for the type of person you need to be a driver (solitry etc). Truck drivers normally find it very difficult to fit into a “Normal Job”

I for one will now never go back to working in an office, my expierences over the last year have shown me that, sitting looking out of a window was driving me completly nuts. After my current health scare it has made me realise that money isn’t the be all and end all. Yes I want to see my 2 yr old beutiful daughter grow up, but unless I become a stay at home dad then I wont be seeing much less of her then I did doing office work. In fact if i can get a job with early starts and finishes then I will no doubt see more. Ok so I will loose the benefit of a nice company car (the last one was a A6 Audi, Was sorry to see that go!!) But then I get more money back from the Tax man.

It is just a massive game of swings and roundabouts, If you have been a driver for any length of time then you will always be a driver, No other job will compare for long, you may stick it for a short while but in the end most will begin to hate it and want t get back to driving. Drivers have itchy feet by their very nature.

25

I would give it up yesterday given half the chance it is no longer the job in to which I slipped after leaving the army :cry: .
Have applied for several jobs in the last couple of years but the moment that they discover that you have been a lorry driver for more than 20 years you might just as well be speaking gibberish :imp:

26

ive been driving 6 years and its all i wanted to do im also a fully quailfied plater/welder till the jobs dried up now driving and im begining to hate it didn help last week smashed up my lorry and im now sat at home suspened waiting for the sack :exclamation: :exclamation: :exclamation: im ballsed off with other drivers on the rd im fed up with security personel (i wont give them the honours of calling them guards) im fed up of deliverys thinking they can keep you all day and im fed up of bosses not wanting you to go home and always trying to get you to do another job. iv got a couple of irons in the fire but i did want to stay at freightliner till my wife had our next baby in 3 months but we will see. :frowning: :exclamation: :exclamation: :exclamation:

27

jessicas dad:
last week smashed up my lorry and im now sat at home suspened waiting for the sack :exclamation: :exclamation: :exclamation:

What happened??

Are you OK??

28

yeah thanks im ok just a bruised ego im not going into what happened but i jacknifed and it was my fault :blush: :blush: :blush:

29

Pleased to hear your OK Jess’s Dad, hope it goes your way.

30

Yes, i could hang up my keys easily.As the years have gone by i have grown more disenchanted with trucking.I started in 1975 and loved the job, but now it is an effort to get out of bed at four in the morning or any time in fact.
I do not think it is just the industry it is the world in general. No one seems to have any respect for anyone, it is just one mad rush.
We seem to be against each other all the time.When you go to an RDC it is as though the staff get pleasure in being awkward, drivers will cut you up to save seconds, i could go on but i would have to take one of my tablets.
Rant over, am now off to have a nervous breakdown.

31

leslie g heath:
Yes, i could hang up my keys easily.As the years have gone by i have grown more disenchanted with trucking.I started in 1975 and loved the job, but now it is an effort to get out of bed at four in the morning or any time in fact.
I do not think it is just the industry it is the world in general. No one seems to have any respect for anyone, it is just one mad rush.
We seem to be against each other all the time.When you go to an RDC it is as though the staff get pleasure in being awkward, drivers will cut you up to save seconds, i could go on but i would have to take one of my tablets.
Rant over, am now off to have a nervous breakdown.

That just about sums it all up .

Wayne.

32

Glad to hear you are ok jessicas dad and congratulations
on being a father again in 3 months time :smiley: . Good luck and
all the best for the future :smiley: .

33

I’m going the other way to the general thread. I startred driving last june to get me out of a rut . 28 years of working in a factory as a fibreglass laminater was driving me up the wall and affecting my health. After trying to get other jobs I decided the only way out was driving. Don’t get me wrong I’ve always wanted to drive artics, just didn’t fancy the hours night out etc. But I’ve been lucky enough to get an easy job,still has its drawbacks but will do for now.
Will i stay trucking till I retire in ten years, I don’t know. It depends on the type of jobs I get in the future can’t see me staying here for too long. But it’s got me out of a rut and for the time being I do enjoy it and look forward to going to work, or rather, don’t dread it, as I would be if I was going back to the factory tomorrow.

34

I wouldnt change it for the world, started on 7.5 tonners at 18, was covering all of uk by 19, most of my jobs have been good, allways been very lucky with the trucks ive had, only 1 or 2 old dogs, started driving abroad around 1995-6, which is what i allways wanted to do, no experience at the start, but as i was single at the time and keen, i got my foot in the door and havent looked back. I did around 2 months of uk work, involving being home every night when i got married and absolutley hated it. My wife eventually told me to get another job going over the water again, i didnt need telling twice! Got divorced after around 3 years, not because of the job, am still single now, and am still loving it as much as i did when i first started. I dont intend hanging my keys up for a very long time.
By the way, Jessicas Dad, congratulations on the good news mate, and fingers crossed for the work related news.

35

I drove all over North America for nearly 8 years, then did regional removal work (as I think you call what we refer to as ‘household moving’) for another 2 years before going back to school, doing occasional local driving for various companies on various size trucks. I last drove professionally on the public road 18 months ago, and I really don’t miss it all that much.

For the first few years, living like a vagabond was OK, but eventually I wanted to get home more. Where I lived, that meant becoming a driver who did mostly Canadian freight, so I learned the basics of customs clearance, a decent amount of Quebecois French, and did that for the next 4 years or so. It was good, but I was still on the road more than I wnated to be.

I looked for good local work for a couple of years, but all the local union shops were not hiring, unless you knew somebody in the mob to help you. The non-union carriers paid laughably low wages to local drivers, so I decided to get out of this business alltogether and go back to school to finish my engineering degree.

I guess it was one of life’s strange ironies that, upon graduation, there was no shortage of experienced engineers willing to grovel for low-paid temporary jobs, whereas the trucking industry was expanding. My experience and computer literacy made me an easy hire for the job I’m in today, even though I really wish I were doing what I went to school for, namely mechanical design. Still, things could be worse, I guess.

At this point, I wish maybe once every 6 months or so that I could take a truck out for just 1 run, maybe to New York or Chicago. A quick team run to the west coast and back would be nice as well, but would probably keep me out longer than I’d really like to be. Once in a whil, guys from the office who still have their CDL’s will actually transport a unit from one place to another, usually flying back or coming back on the train. I’m hoping to do a run like this sometime this summer.

36

If I could get a job other than driving with similar benefits and similar pay etc I would quit tomorrow :exclamation:

37

I would hang up my keys and walk away in a heartbeat, if I could get the same money.

38

If I could get a job other than driving with similar benefits and similar pay etc I would quit tomorrow

If you lived 150 miles further west, you could probably work here-we will be needing another person soon. As long as your accent isn’t too thick…

39

Hung my keys up a couple of years ago, retired, haven’t regretted it for a minute.
Thought I would miss the craic, but I can get that here.
Thought I would miss the freedom, but that effectively ended years ago, when real tramping became a thing of the past.
Thought I would miss my mates, but it was always the kind of job where you didn’t see some from one year’s end to the next and from the last firm, well I still see them round about, they give me a wave, I see them in the village, or at the year end ‘do’ I get invited to each year.
I loved it to bits for many years, but now I love what I do now - and best of all, I do it when I want to do it.
If I really needed to I could do it again, but only here, not back in Blighty. That is pressure on pressure.

Roulez bien mes amis,
Salut, David.

40

When i first entered this industry someone told me its either for the single man/woman…or the elderly with no ties…i didnt listen…so its back to the original thread that the worst part was not seeing the kids growing up…to be treated like a stranger when you return from a long trip…after all the ones you leave behind have to find a life for themselves…it also happened where i left one wife in favour of the job…she gave me the ultimatum…and i chose transport…and wife number 2 decided she would be better off on her own because thats how she was living anyway…so now im on wife number 3.(ive always fancied a ■■■■■■■■■) but not this way. :laughing: :laughing: …i would say to anyone with young children…be there for them…its quite enjoyable the position im in now where i can choose when i want to work..and also visit the school for my 11 year old to see her in the school plays etc..and it means so much to them..my wife now is a bulgarian..and they were brought up to respect their husbands profession even if it means them being away from home..so now im running to spain its not an option anymore…and i get a trip on…and a trip off…even though my boss has just asked me if i would like to do a back to back…its nice when your asked isnt it…makes a change from being told…but then hes a boss in a million.
NEIL…is it not an option to put a driver on your truck…at least you will have an income…and its still there if you want to return in a few weeks/months…which im sure you will..as they say..once hooked etc..but i wish you well in whatever you choose to do and if you want the odd trip down to spain..id be happy to lie on the bunk as you drove us through the french countryside :laughing: :laughing: