Does driving suit your life or does it get in the way, also does your partner if you have on like you doing it and do you think you miss the kids growing up while away if you tramp.
Also did getting married change the type of job you do now, or is a bit of space a good thing
It all depends on the couple concerned. My wife wasn’t happy when I went back to driving but she knew that it was the best solution at the time. I worked long hours and had difficult start and finish times but we managed.
One thing I learned early on was that if there was anything special on like a parent’s evening I just took the day off - otherwise I could never be sure to be there.
I was in the process of training when I re-met the woman who was to become my wife (I say re-met because we had been at school together.)
By the time we were married and she had fallen pregnant, and I had invested a shedload into my ambitions, we had just about enough money to see us by, but I wanted my family to be secure. I had been long in planning my career and became self-employed within a few years; I had been doing regional stuff up until that point really - working for furniture companies, a few scrap merchants, some supermarket stuff, but nothing that really made me too much really. I went about as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Swansea (I live in Durham.)
Now that I had my own tractor, I was keen to give some more adventurous stuff a go.
About a year and a half ago, a friend of a friend got me some work in northern France - it wasn’t supposed to be any longer than a fortnight, but then I began to rack up some tramping work quite steadily between Lille, Antwerp, Liege, Rotterdam and even up to Hamburg on occasion. I loved the experience and it really helped cement my belief that this was the right career for me. I made a fair wage too - which with a new bairn, mortgage and missus - really came in handy and set us up a lot earlier than I’d imagined. I spent around 9 months tramping on and off (maybe getting back every 10 days for one or two nights) and it put a little strain on the relationship, but my wife knew what I was trying to achieve for us and really supported me.
I’ve been back doing regional stuff now for about 5 or 6 months and it’s great to be home most nights to see the bairn. I still occasionally go abroad but I’m quite happy doing what I do.
Wired Stig Thanks for sharing.
Santa:
It all depends on the couple concerned. My wife wasn’t happy when I went back to driving but she knew that it was the best solution at the time. I worked long hours and had difficult start and finish times but we managed.One thing I learned early on was that if there was anything special on like a parent’s evening I just took the day off - otherwise I could never be sure to be there.
Your right your partner as to be understanding.
I never had it so didn’t miss it. Now I have had some great home life, it would take a good package to make me want to return to a cab for 12 weeks at a time.
Was a planner/supervisor until successive redundancies forced me back onto road. Cost me my marriage as I was an “inconvenience” when I was at home and she decided her life would be easier single.
Still it backfired as I got the kids and work weekends and she just gets 3 weekends each month.
Once I no longer had her credit cards an debt to coverI didnt need to work so much.
My home life is good, I’m usually home between 14.00- 17.00 after an average 10.5 hr day and it only takes me about 7 to 8 minutes to get home, so we can generally always sit down and have tea together which I think is important for every family.
When i was tramping the wife came with me most the time, then we had a suprise a little one on the way…that was 7yrs ago , i made the move from tramping into mixers all local work and seen my daughter grow up , previous relationships had broken down through me being away all the time…trucking can be a strain on family life but sacrifices have to be made sometimes its not all about how much money you earn either i took a big drop by going on mixers but glad i did , theres nothing glamourous about driving trucks it is a lifestyle that suits some and not others and the novelty wears off after a while …well it did for me… 