Darkspirit:
Low wages,long hours,stupid o clock starts on days,minimum time off shift,poor image by the media,other motorists,busy mums etc,blame us for everything,micro managing,inward facing cameras,expense of obtaining a hgv licence,laughable cpc,health problems such as bad backs,kamikaze cyclists who are never wrong apparently,obnoxious rdc staff,little Hitler security guards at said rdc’s,pointy shoe children in transport offices and lying agencies if you work for one,H+S bull shall i go on?
So every young wannabe driver finds out about these things (beyond the first one) how exactly? Do they all read trucknetuk daily or know someone who’s already an HGV driver? IMO the first thing anyone with an ounce of common sense will do is research the potential earnings for the field they’re aiming at. Like someone above said, why spend £3500 to get a £ or ££ above min. wage doing a job which doesn’t even look easy from the side
With that said I have seen quite a few young drivers (early 20s) but also a lot more elderly ones (late 60s, approaching 70 - if my ability to judge age is to be trusted) who just won’t quit.
And all neatly tied with the bow of an unceasing glut of foreign economic mercenaries.A situation showing little sign of slowing.Finding indigenous Englishmen,chez Southampton,especially in the container game,is becoming increasingly rare these days.Not something i had to contend with while earning mi spurs in the dim and distant.It’s a massive game changer and imho,very,engineered,ie cabotage being the elephant in the room i suspect.
Oh and probably the most important of all - why would any young person want to spend the majority of their time living in a truck, spending their weekend evenings alone and far from home/family/friends/peers, to make a better living than those on 40hrs/week jobs? And if they were to go on a 40 hr/week trucking job, they’d be making about the same as those employed in unskilled positions minus the £££ for qualification/DCPC/medical/trucking satnav etc.
Why would you want to spend the best years of your life in a rolling tin can or parked in MSAs/laybys/RDCs all by yourself eating the same crap day in night out with nothing remarkable ever happening that you could talk about with non-HGV drivers once you get back to civilization?
ETS:
Oh and probably the most important of all - why would any young person want to spend the majority of their time living in a truck, spending their weekend evenings alone and far from home/family/friends/peers, to make a better living than those on 40hrs/week jobs? And if they were to go on a 40 hr/week trucking job, they’d be making about the same as those employed in unskilled positions minus the £££ for qualification/DCPC/medical/trucking satnav etc.
Why would you want to spend the best years of your life in a rolling tin can or parked in MSAs/laybys/RDCs all by yourself eating the same crap day in night out with nothing remarkable ever happening that you could talk about with non-HGV drivers once you get back to civilization?
I know I didnt do tramping per se, being a mete van/puddlejumper driver, but I did do abroad (tin can has a different meaning in the middle of Germany in mid winter, as you evaluate your load to find the most level bit to sleep on).
Yes it was cold, the food side was generally ok, van’s dont have microwaves or fridges, but be it in the UK or abroad, I met some lovely people on the whole, I saw things and places I never knew existed and generally had a blast. No doubt I’d fell different trunking on the M6 every day, but you can move jobs…
ETS:
Oh and probably the most important of all - why would any young person want to spend the majority of their time living in a truck, spending their weekend evenings alone and far from home/family/friends/peers, to make a better living than those on 40hrs/week jobs? And if they were to go on a 40 hr/week trucking job, they’d be making about the same as those employed in unskilled positions minus the £££ for qualification/DCPC/medical/trucking satnav etc.
Why would you want to spend the best years of your life in a rolling tin can or parked in MSAs/laybys/RDCs all by yourself eating the same crap day in night out with nothing remarkable ever happening that you could talk about with non-HGV drivers once you get back to civilization?
Those of us that have done weekends away as a choice want to go further then a days drive. EG: So I missed seeing my mates in the pub for 3 weekends in a row before. I make an appearance and they say “Where you been ginger ■■■■■■■■■ and I reply “Just driving to/through France/Belgium/Germany/Austria/Hungary with days off in hotels in between for tourist activities - all paid for obviously inc food/drink. What you guys been up to?”
I will then get replys like: “Filled in some mortgage applications on the phone”. “Wired up some lights and some PIR’s” “My branch made £100 more then usual this week” etc
Wow, im sure home/family/friends/peers will be interested.
ETS:
Oh and probably the most important of all - why would any young person want to spend the majority of their time living in a truck, spending their weekend evenings alone and far from home/family/friends/peers, to make a better living than those on 40hrs/week jobs? And if they were to go on a 40 hr/week trucking job, they’d be making about the same as those employed in unskilled positions minus the £££ for qualification/DCPC/medical/trucking satnav etc.
Why would you want to spend the best years of your life in a rolling tin can or parked in MSAs/laybys/RDCs all by yourself eating the same crap day in night out with nothing remarkable ever happening that you could talk about with non-HGV drivers once you get back to civilization?
Those of us that have done weekends away as a choice want to go further then a days drive. EG: So I missed seeing my mates in the pub for 3 weekends in a row before. I make an appearance and they say “Where you been ginger [zb]?” and I reply “Just driving to/through France/Belgium/Germany/Austria/Hungary with days off in hotels in between for tourist activities - all paid for obviously inc food/drink. What you guys been up to?”
I will then get replys like: “Filled in some mortgage applications on the phone”. “Wired up some lights and some PIR’s” “My branch made £100 more then usual this week” etc
Wow, im sure home/family/friends/peers will be interested.
+1
I’ve never equated ‘proper trucking’, to the 5 days doing Tesco’s and Travis ■■■■ Perkins, and back home everynight to…‘‘me own bed’’
Chalk and cheese.
ETS:
Why would you want to spend the best years of your life in a rolling tin can or parked in MSAs/laybys/RDCs all by yourself eating the same crap day in night out with nothing remarkable ever happening that you could talk about with non-HGV drivers once you get back to civilization?
Well certainly not me if you describe tramping like that.
But I’ve never done it like that, and nor would I ever tbh.
robroy:
[
+1
I’ve never equated ‘proper trucking’, to the 5 days doing Tesco’s and Travis [zb] Perkins, and back home everynight to…‘‘me own bed’’
Chalk and cheese.
Me and boys down the pub love football so last September when I came back from one trip it didn’t take long for me to mention when I was ‘stuck’ in Milan for 3 days between work I went to the San Siro and watched Milan v Roma for 45 euros.
This truck driving is hard work sometimes don’t get me wrong and had to do a few years of the work know one else want to get where I am now.
mrginge:
This truck driving is hard work sometimes don’t get me wrong and had to do a few years of the work know one else want to get where I am now.
And there in lies part of the problem. There was a muppet on the newbies board saying how he didnt want to do any rubbish work and would only accept I dont know, a big scania, carrying fresh air and two hour breaks on an 8 hour day.
The hard and often rubbish work teaches you all sorts, even if part of it is recognise a good gig when you see it.
mrginge:
This truck driving is hard work sometimes don’t get me wrong and had to do a few years of the work know one else want to get where I am now.
And there in lies part of the problem. There was a muppet on the newbies board saying how he didnt want to do any rubbish work and would only accept I dont know, a big scania, carrying fresh air and two hour breaks on an 8 hour day.
The hard and often rubbish work teaches you all sorts, even if part of it is recognise a good gig when you see it.
mrginge:
This truck driving is hard work sometimes don’t get me wrong and had to do a few years of the work know one else want to get where I am now.
And there in lies part of the problem. There was a muppet on the newbies board saying how he didnt want to do any rubbish work and would only accept I dont know, a big scania, carrying fresh air and two hour breaks on an 8 hour day.
The hard and often rubbish work teaches you all sorts, even if part of it is recognise a good gig when you see it.
Was it Carryfast?
No it was a genuine newbie, but Carry was fanning the flames explaining why the Federalists were out to exploit him blah blah
Most of these comments mention how much (or little) money a young driver would make today as if this is a deciding factor. Yes i know it’s important and maybe i’m an odd duck but even in school i wanted to be a lorry driver, that was my goal in life and how much it paid wasn’t an important factor to me. I started out in vans when i got my licence then drove artic’s when i was 21 because i wanted to drive them not because they paid more.
If i’d just turned 21 now i’d still put up with the long hours, sleeping in the tin box, being micro-managed and crap wages because i still want to be a lorry driver but i guess that doesn’t appeal to younger people now a days.
I’m the youngest driver where I work at 30. Next youngest is in his mid 40’s.
Got my licence at 28 and have always been the youngest where I worked.
Thing is I actually have an interest in trucks and machinery. None of the people I trained with were that bothered. They were just after a clean, easy job.
The reality of life for a new pass is so far removed from that though. Multidrop to shops and ■■■■ taking pallet networks scares many off.
Having an actual interest in the job helped me stick it out because I want to move on to bigger, more interesting machinery.
That traditional interest in cars, trucks and machines just isn’t cultivated as much in my or younger generations I feel. Its been replaced with computers and technology.
Kids now probably look at software developers making games and apps the way I used to look at drivers of ERFs and Scanias in the 90’s.
I have seen a lot of younger blokes come & go from this game and the reasoning is virtually always the same - work/life balance.
A lot drivers out their put up with a lot of the ■■■■■ because we have mortgages & other commitments tying them down but for a young lad just starting out, they get a taste of the stupid o’clock start times, daft hours, being treated like muck at RDCs etc. and do one.
rob22888:
I have seen a lot of younger blokes come & go from this game and the reasoning is virtually always the same - work/life balance.
A lot drivers out their put up with a lot of the [zb] because we have mortgages & other commitments tying them down but for a young lad just starting out, they get a taste of the stupid o’clock start times, daft hours, being treated like muck at RDCs etc. and do one.
There was a piece in last weeks Times about how the Police were advising the Home Office that they were struggling to recruit millenials because they were surprised at the requirement to work weekends and nights. And they didnt like confrontation.
remy:
Most of these comments mention how much (or little) money a young driver would make today as if this is a deciding factor. Yes i know it’s important and maybe i’m an odd duck but even in school i wanted to be a lorry driver, that was my goal in life and how much it paid wasn’t an important factor to me.
I did my HGV test because I was 26 and living in Ramsgate, and I used to watch the trucks rolling off the Sally Line ferry, and they would have things like “Middle East Overland” and “Weekly service to Athens” and UK- Italy daily" signwritten on the trailers and as I’d always loved travel but been able to afford to do very little of it, I thought “I could do that”.
If I was 26 again and if trucks still used a Ramsgate ferry service, it wouldn’t take me very long to notice that all the trucks were now eastern European.
rob22888:
I have seen a lot of younger blokes come & go from this game and the reasoning is virtually always the same - work/life balance.
A lot drivers out their put up with a lot of the [zb] because we have mortgages & other commitments tying them down but for a young lad just starting out, they get a taste of the stupid o’clock start times, daft hours, being treated like muck at RDCs etc. and do one.
There was a piece in last weeks Times about how the Police were advising the Home Office that they were struggling to recruit millenials because they were surprised at the requirement to work weekends and nights. And they didnt like confrontation.
It’s not just driving.
Absolutely not, your right.
I know young people myself you have already taken steps back on proper career ladders because they don’t want the long hours. People are coming to their senses and starting to prioritise work/life balance like they do on the continent, rather than working like dogs like the americans. Good on them. In regard to the police, the risk involved with the job isn’t worth it for the wage in many peoples eyes… the starting salary for a police officer is about £23k. I wouldn’t deal with knife wielding nutters for that pittance.
Don’t forget the younger generation are staring down the barrel of working into their 70s & are far less likely to benefit from early retirement, gold plated pension schemes, enormous inflation in property prices etc.
rob22888:
I have seen a lot of younger blokes come & go from this game and the reasoning is virtually always the same - work/life balance.
A lot drivers out their put up with a lot of the [zb] because we have mortgages & other commitments tying them down but for a young lad just starting out, they get a taste of the stupid o’clock start times, daft hours, being treated like muck at RDCs etc. and do one.
There was a piece in last weeks Times about how the Police were advising the Home Office that they were struggling to recruit millenials because they were surprised at the requirement to work weekends and nights. And they didnt like confrontation.
It’s not just driving.
Absolutely not, your right.
I know young people myself you have already taken steps back on proper career ladders because they don’t want the long hours. People are coming to their senses and starting to prioritise work/life balance like they do on the continent, rather than working like dogs like the americans. Good on them. In regard to the police, the risk involved with the job isn’t worth it for the wage in many peoples eyes… the starting salary for a police officer is about £23k. I wouldn’t deal with knife wielding nutters for that pittance.
Don’t forget the younger generation are staring down the barrel of working into their 70s & are far less likely to benefit from early retirement, gold plated pension schemes, enormous inflation in property prices etc.
Fair enough on not wanting to work for 23k, but you have to say why would anyone be surprised that policemen work outside of 9-5 and that there might be confrontation involved.
I have worked like a dog, hence I retired 8 days after my 55th birthday. If I hadn’t, then I’d be retiring at 67. My choice.
Just as a general point, lots of working class people never had any pension at all until auto enrolment came in recently. And many will not retire till 65, people are living longer. As my house is worth about 60k less than the average, its not something that affects me either.
kevmac47:
My grandson had two grandads plus his father and mother as lorry drivers, he wouldn’t dream of joining the industry! He has accepted an apprenticeship as a maintenance engineer, his starting wage is £8 ph, whilst he is at college for the next year!! Being paid to gain his qualification. Regards Kev.
Well Kev my Grandson has just had his 29th Birthday, He loved wagons as a boy he used to come with me on weekends ,He allways fancied being in the haulage game but he did 7 years in the RAF & did very well, He is now in work in the engineering sector & earning 36 grand a year, So I agree with him getting a good job with a lot less crappy hassle that drivers have to put up with, Regards Larry.
albion:
Other people will always struggle and partly because they won’t take a chance on something new, often coupled with a sour, limited personality that limits their chances, though they never recognise it.
