robbo99:
Theres a lot of rules and regulations, expense and skill involved for it to be classed as unskilled work. The good old dcpc surely now makes truck driving a highly skilled occupation
Before you just had hairy assed truckers, now you have card carrying hairy assed truckers. 
Skilled or un-skilled?
Its the ones you have to messure.
I know Driver who drive for 40 Years and still cant do there Job and i know some you are very good with just a few Year on the Clock.
is skilled same as experianced? âNoâ
If you drive 40 Year for Tesco you may not know much about other Works. But,if you call experianced at delivering to Stores,âŠWell,Yes. But thats not realy experianced as skilled. You dont need much Skill to drive a pre-loaded Vehicle to a Store,but you would have experiance to do so.
What you need to know to be skilled?
a Lot.
Its 2014,the Law strikt,Your Neck in a Sling and Head of Companies often on the wrong position,with mainly not much clue about Truck Driving. Especially the new Managers,I rekon.
mad-max:
cav551:
I think that the tradesmen who have spent 3, 4, 5 or more years learning their job and acquiring City and Guilds as an apprentice, would rather tend to disagree that a 10 day training course qualifies you as a skilled man.
Very true,i spent 4 years learning my trade with on going tests,the hardest thing driving involves is listening to cpc bollox
LIBERTY_GUY:
robbo99:
Theres a lot of rules and regulations, expense and skill involved for it to be classed as unskilled work. The good old dcpc surely now makes truck driving a highly skilled occupationBefore you just had hairy assed truckers, now you have card carrying hairy assed truckers.
I work sometimes for a Company where it is not allowed to change a Bulb if you not trained.
Its now the Situation that a HGV Mechanic has to call another who started Life as Beautyiest or Hairdresser to change the Bulb.
for any job must have skilled??shelf stacking,flt drivers,or warehouse,factory operative.i want to see video if some drivers start work for shelf stacking.REACH FLT more dangers for truck.and skilled drivers can be just agency drivers or who was working in plenty work places in last ten years.because if drivers work in one company he know just one company rulles,nothing more.i work for LGV drivers just 2 years,been in some 20 company and very happy about this.i have much more expiriece than i was working just in on company.yes i don t count self for top drivers.everytime can learn and learn.
some drivers call self proffessional,but don t understand how to change fuses,lamp or touch cable.to many drivers can t change time in tacho,or correct enter manual entryâŠplease note it is not UK people problem,it is world problem.everyone want more money,but not everyone want increase own level,learn somethink new.
I would like to think that after many yearâs going car track(thatâs h)3/2/1 that I am skilled however ÂŁ7.65 tells me ime a monkey working for peanutâs and donât star going on about changing jobâs I did that 4 yearâs ago the grass aint always greener on the other side ive been ther got the t shirt we we work hard do to many hours need I go on
As for changing light bulbs, fuses, injectors, road side mechanics being able to rope and sheet, be able to rebuild a Scania, navigate using a sextant. Once upon a time maybe but companies arenât fussed on your super human abilities to do these things. They view you as being there to drive the box from a to b and not cause them hassle with DVSA, Police or their company image.
Andrejs:
some drivers call self proffessional,but don t understand how to change fuses,lamp or touch cable.to many drivers can t change time in tacho,or correct enter manual entryâŠplease note it is not UK people problem,it is world problem.everyone want more money,but not everyone want increase own level,learn somethink new.
I think the way in which a driver conducts himself on the road bears more weight as to whether they are âprofessionalâ or not, rather than whether they can do things like find their way around a fuse box. Knowing how to keep accurate tachograph records is important, vehicle maintenance knowledge is just a bonus attribute in my opinion that may or may not be an important asset for certain firms.
â â â â â â 00:
Other than the driving aspects.
I make critical decisions
I make risk assessments
I perform calculations
I multi task
I am trained to use a tail lift
I can use a tachograph
I empower others to assist me
I encourage others to use H/Safety
I communicate at different levels.The list is not exhaustive
Do you think Iâm skilled
surprisingly enough,no 
â â â â â â 00:
Other than the driving aspectsI can maintain records log sheets
Use basic IT equipment
Use manual handling techniques
Monitor equipment
Maintain equipment
Work as a team playerDo you think Im skilled
and againâŠno
I think some people are missing the point as to what a âSkilledâ job is. Its a job in which somebody must be qualified in that skill in order to perform the job.
Its obviously easier and quicker to learn the skill of driving LGVâs than being a spark or brickie, but never the less it is a qualification at a cost to the individual which must be passed before they can be employed. Its not standard. Its not something everybody could do. There could be a plumber out there who wouldnât pass an LGV test after 10 attempts but who could shine as a plumber. So its too simplistict to just categorise a âskilledâ job by how long it takes to be qualified.
Unskilled, if I can do it-anybody can do itâŠ
Well put Phil1979âŠgaining an LGV licence after a 1 week course does not make somebody a skilled truck driver, lets face it that person may never drive a truck again in his/her life, its practice and experience that makes it a skilled occupation.
att:
We are all different, we never consider each other in our every day lives, we just take each other for granted.
We seem to prize the highest paid, yet look upon the lowest paid with disdain, we somehow put each other into boxes, those boxes have both monetary and social values affixed to themâŠThat is our most basic and the first of our errors.If you are still with me, then you will know what it is I am trying to convey, if you do not understand thus far, then you will almost certainly be behaving and acting as I have already stated
All the time we are trying to put others into boxes, we will never be released from the boxes ourselvesâŠâSkillâ is just another box.
^^^^ hear, hear.
Skilled, or unskilled truck drivers have such an important part to play in industry, nothing would get done or happen without truck drivers, they underpin nearly every industry in the world and I wish more people outside the transport industry would see that. Nearly everything we touch has been moved by a truck at some point, whether it be in its current state or the raw materials.
Gaining the licence might not make you âskilledâ straight out of the gate, but then just because a doctor passes his/her exams doesnât make them a âskilledâ doctor, they are simply given the right to practice their chosen craft (ever wondered why they are called GPs? General Practitioner) they are practising medicine, just as we are given the right to practice our craft on the road.
Just as we are all practising living, no one knows the best way to do it, or the ârightâ way, you learn what suits you/works for you along the way.
Phil1979:
I think some people are missing the point as to what a âSkilledâ job is. Its a job in which somebody must be qualified in that skill in order to perform the job.Its obviously easier and quicker to learn the skill of driving LGVâs than being a spark or brickie, but never the less it is a qualification at a cost to the individual which must be passed before they can be employed. Its not standard. Its not something everybody could do. There could be a plumber out there who wouldnât pass an LGV test after 10 attempts but who could shine as a plumber. So its too simplistict to just categorise a âskilledâ job by how long it takes to be qualified.
Sorry but I disagree.
Having a qualification has nothing to do with being skilled and being skilled has nothing to do with having a qualification.
Skill is generally defined as " Proficiency, facility, or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training or experience", I agree that there is some skill in driving large vehicles, but then thereâs some skill in just about everything you do, in the strict sense of the word walking is a skill as is talking.
I think youâll find that most people refer to someone having a âskilled jobâ as being someone who is reasonably highly skilled in a particular trade/job whatever and having an ability that others couldnât easily or quickly learn.
Obviously a good driver, and by good driver I mean someone who intentionally seeks to improve his/her driving ability and efficiency with consideration to both their and other peoples safety and well being, will see their driving skill improve over time, but that doesnât make it a skilled job, there will always be exceptions but generally anyone can learn to drive an HGV in a reasonably short period of time.
Of course its a Skill if you can do it properly. Maybe you could train and pass a test in two weeks but thats just the start of learning. Any job that you have done for 20 years and still learn something new is a skilled job surely?
Piloting an Aircraft or Ship is a skill, driving a race car or a train is a skill. Yes there are varying degrees but I would not want to be in a Coach driven by an unskilled driver or have an unskilled truck driver behind me on the road.
As you know, there is a hell of a lot more to this job than steering. Dont devalue yourselves.
Semi Skilled
but its the job not so much a skill
a knack
I mis understood the original post. I thought its wether the role of lorry driver is defined as a âskilledâ vocation in terms of how the employment world sees it, rather than if you need actual skill to do it. Sounds crazy but the two are different. No doubt you need skill to be a good LGV driver and very good judgement, but whether in the world of employment itâs seen as one of the semi skilled or skilled vocations is different.
When I was 16 I spent a summer working in a food factory as an operative to save pennies there was a guy who went around fixing all the machines. He didnât have any qualifications and was classed as an operative in his contract, but he was definitely skilled in what he did. I donât like it but thatâs the way of the employment world. Every operator of any vehicle these days is being reduced to semi skilled at best by the employers.
