I’ve been a loyal employee to my self for 17 years now .
Nearly 36 years. First 30 directly employed by a major building material manufacturer, last 6 by a haulier when they decided to outsource their transport.
Just coming up to 22 year’s. Roughly the same to go till I’m 65.
in the late 70s early 80s i worked wi guys that worked on the roads department before WW2 and were still there when i started in 79 ,only job they ever had.
If irc there were 3 guys at my old depot that done this ,one o them used to drive a steam wagon fitted with a tar body for spraying.
jimmy
Last place I worked at had a bunch of drivers that had over 20yrs under their belts. I was there five and a half years, I would’ve stayed longer, but I went back to having my own lorry and I got a better deal putting it elsewhere, rather than with my old employer.
Other than that the firm I’ve been at the longest was working for myself, I did many different things, either driving or in the office, so I’ve never really put any length of service in at any one place, either better rates (or wages) or my wanderlust got the better of me and I moved on.
Now I’m a little older the thought of something steady and regular really appeals to me, but in my youth I never wanted to drive down the same road twice, to be truthful I would like to continue doing that, but other things take priority now. I’ve got the work/home time balance about right at the moment, not as much home time as I would like, but I have commitments and plans for the future so they dictate that.
It’s kind of strange really, I like what I do for a living, but I would give it up tomorrow if I could.
I started driving for a tar distillery with their own lorries in 1965. This was taken over by the British Steel Corporation in 1972, later BSC chemicals division. The transport was contracted out to a Welsh firm in 1975 and thats when I started driving petrol tankers as well as the firm also had a contract with a petrol company. Must have been one of the first petrol companies using a contractor .
The firm lost this contract to Wincanton in 1978 and I did 27 years for them before they lost the contract to the Transport Development Group . I did my last couple of years with them before I retired in 2008.
That was 43 years in total. Running speed in towns when I started was 16 mph for an hours pay and the job went downhill ever after.
Cheers Phil.
carryfast-yeti:
gickniff:
18 years and happy!has Pedlar retired now Nick?
Yes mate he finished early in march,he was due to retire in September, you’ll find him doing part time at beadle’s lake golf club now.
my longest was 11.5 years at my last company
I done 24.5 years with the Dagenham Dustbin company, couldn,t make the gold watch, felt like time to move on.
17 yrs longest ,present 10+ years + ,corby ( great times ,loved my job 
), innovate ( sound ,good kit,2 pay rises p.a ) ,stobart ( so-so), tesco- ( don’t enjoy being there cheap as chips rent boy one little bit 
)
37 years on general haulage then redundant in 2006. Finished on the Friday started a new and better job on the Monday, couldn’t believe my luck !
longest i’ve worked for one company is three years. There comes a time when you have to move on, because the company simply offer no more incentive to stay?
I was in one job for 7 years and would have still been there if it hadn’t been for family matters, there were a lot of long timers there, one chap was there straight from leaving school right through to retirement at 65, driver then moved onto maintenance,
I’ll never forget him good old chap, when he retired he ask ‘could they keep him busy doing odd jobs around the yard’, couple of weeks break then he came back in, ‘now what can I be doing?’ “theres a couple of pains of glass rattling on warehouse 3 roof can you secure them” so up he went and within 3 mins all hell broke out, the poor old bugger had only gone and fell through, what a way to end your retirement. rip old chap.
We got a driver at Sudbury thats been here since Agribulk started. NS Clarke has 2 drivers that were the 2nd & 3rd drivers he ever employed. My longest was 5 years at Mark Youngs, 4:5 years & counting at Agribulk, 4 years at Punchards & 4 years at NS Clarke’s.
Two old school drivers re-tired within six months of each other after 41 and 42 years with the company. There are some people here in their fifties and they are still on their first job. People seem to either leave after thirty days or thirty years. I think, I’m there for the long haul. Carting bricks is the best job I’ve ever had.
In the digital age of job websites, and the human nature of “I wonder if the grass is greener?” am I the only one who thinks that +5 years service is impressive?
I’m at my gaff for the long haul, if it keeps going the way it is. Done 18 months and still enjoying it, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Not trucking related, but I knew a fella that started at Sunderland Sheet Metal when he left school at fifteen, worked at the same bench, doing the same job for 50 years until his retirement.