beefy4605:
I get the feeling that some of these too "macho " “no family life” “no backbone/ no balls” “older drivers” comments are directed at myself and others here .
Firstly let me say it dosen’t bother me in the slightest but before you throw the comment understand where I’m at and where I’ve come from .
Been at this game 20 years and been married for 20 years as well . The missis and I have a great relationship and she is one of a very few that puts up with me . If not for her I couldn’t do what I do .
As you will know I’m from Northern Ireland and back then if you wanted to make money , real money , the kind of money that would set you up for a comfortable lifestlye driving trucks was one way to go. Problem was like many jobs if you wanted to be home every night the rates were not that good , to make real money you had to do whats called “cross chanel work” and thats where I ended up - working to a subby pulling Interland (now DFDS) trailers .
You were out on the boat Sunday and back in the yard on a Suturday morning . As Bigtruck said further up this thread if you did get on a boat mid week you were coming home for fuel , and to tip and reload and straight back out on the boat - no running home to your own bed . Mostly though you got a call coming up the road " ship that trailer out of Liverpool Heysham or Cairnryan and theres one waiting for you to go back down the road .You were "out " for the week and you worked (yes a lot of the stories are true but not all . Ive never seen the fabled hanging beef load with the plate steel in below ). When you got home you washed and fuelled the truck took it home and fell into a coma until Sunday morning and you went and did it all again . Rinse and repeat until you had an acident or “the ministry” (DOT , VOSA, DVSA) caught up with you ,or you caught yourself on and looked for something better .
I lasted 3 years before looking elsewhere and got a nice “handy” job round home pulling secondry haulage milk tankers . You started at 5 and finished when the work was all done - no such thing as 10hrs drive 15 hour spread , you did it and got on with it . when you had a chance you got your head down and got a few hours .It was easier to take a few hours in the truck rather than run home wasting an hour each way .
Again it didn’t last and for a few years I was out of driving as a main job but still did a load at the weekend to top up the miserable wages of a manual labouring job round home .
Through a part time job I ended up with the job I have now - and it is a good job -
good pay (but it could always be better )
good conditions
good work
and a decent truck .
I’m happy the wife is happy and so is the boss .
The boss knows my histroy and knows I dont mind pulling either tanks , fridges , curtains or flats. He knows I like a variety of work so he dosen’t keep me on the one job all the time cos I get bored easily - that said I do have a regular run every other weekend thats an absolute doddle and I like doing it .I also know that because I have a flexible attitude I will get the kind of work that will mean I will on occasion run up against my 10/9 hour drive 15 hour spread. I have "my own " truck in as much as I drive it through the week and a very few select drivers get it at the weekend when I’m not there - and they keep it as clean and tidy as I do ( which is more important to the boss ). Thats means I have the inverter , the microwave ,the fridge, the gas stove , kettle saucepans etc etc in the truck and a supply of teabags , coffee tins of soup etc etc . Its not luxury , I’d never say it was , its there for my benifit, it helps me when I have a short day and know whats happening the next day . If I’m up for a "monster "as someone else called it I can choose to use a few hours today to help me tomorrow and the night out helps balance that out .
I can and do say no as well . I try to keep my social life for when I’m off work but if something has to be done when I’m working I tell the office as soon as I know its happening so they can plan to get me home. 99%of the time it works out, sometimes it dosen’t - I don’t take the mickey , I don’t beleive the office does either . If I get that feeling I’ll tell them once after that if I think it happens again - I’m gone , truck will be brought back to the yard washed and cleaned out .
I feel sorry for the newcomers today . They think its all about them , they don’t seem to realise whats expected , we can’t get men that will do a couple of nights out in a row in Scotland , We can’t get drivers to pull tanks or to pull a flat trailer - they have no idea how to secure a load on a flat never mind rope and sheet and they don’t want to learn . And for me thats a problem - I never refused training (or as it was called back then - how to do your job ) even when you knew it was going to land you into something you may not have wanted to be at . I learned to rope and sheet by myself - the first few times it was nothing great but I watched others , I asked questions and asked to be shown how to do things . Thats the kind of thing that used to be talked about in "drivers waiting rooms " (the yard ) back then .
Do I like living in a truck ? not particularly but I try to make it as plesant as possible when I have to .
Do I enjoy what I do ? most definately or its really simple - I wouldn’t be there .
Compared to 20 years ago - I have it easy now but I put the hours in then and now , if your not prepared to be flexible , learn and adapt then your future in trucking / driving is limited.
Now if you have read and understood all that - call me whatever you like (I’ll let you into a secret before you do - I DON’T CARE lol )
I have first hand experience of Irish roping and sheeting, having spent many years working for Coastal, and the majority of you couldn’t tie your own shoelaces. Every single rope had to be cut off…even the sheet ties.
You don’t even know it, but you are part of the problem, not the solution. You are also a dying breed…literally in some cases, when you see how fat some are.
The industry needs to change. It needs a network of secure properly run truck-stops that match MSN standards, but are attractive cost wise, to lessen the need for parking in the street. These truck-stops should be fully equipped with private wash rooms and facilities, and some sort of gym area too. Pipe dream? Perhaps, but if you want the next generation to live in a truck, then there has to be more to life than an ind est with a Tesco, or a lay-by. There has to be less emphasis on the check-shirt wearing, arse-crack showing trucker and more on the professional driver.
Drivers also need some sort of representation. Is there a more down-trodden profession, for personnel who are so indispensable?
We also need a culture of professional respect for each other on the road, and from management. I think perhaps one may follow the other, so less of the crowing and hot-air, and more empathy and respect for the differing work situations other drivers have to deal with.
I have never understood that ‘keep it lit’ macho nonsense. Why risk your licence, or your life…or other peoples for a timed delivery of bulk goods? Blood for an emergency transfusion maybe, or perhaps essential water supplies, but 26t of cream? Only later in your life will you realise the toll the long 15hr days have taken on your body, and you will then realise you gave it away very cheaply.
