LeedsChris:
The rates of pay are low for hgv drivers because the job is a piece of pi*s to do.Does any driver honestly at the end of shift go home and think they have done a hard days graft.Labouring on a building site is a proper days work, or out on the motorways digging up the road.
I would never call myself a professional driver.How can you be a pro, when it only takes a week to pass your class one.A doctor is a professional, a lawyer, civil engineers, pilots…not lorry drivers, hence the reason we are paid accordingly.
For how easy our job is and the amount of time we get when waiting to tip whilst laid on the bunk, i think we get paid quite well.Usually new and clean motors to drive, your own choice of music to listen to, instead of chav fm if you work in a warehouse, no set breaktimes, youre out and about seeing different places.I did many menial jobs in my early twenties and everyone was harder than the lorry driving i do now.
Your an [zb]! And I bet your a p1sh HGV driver into the bargain, hence the low opinion of yourself! Don’t bother trying to speak for the rest of us because you clearly don’t have a clue. I’m a former ambulance medic who studied 4 years to become qualified. I’ve saved lives, pronounced people dead and delived 6 babies, 2 of which with complications, I’ve been in upside down cars and under trains doing my job and was pushed to near suicide when I lost it through ill health! So don’t you bloody dare judge someone on their choice to becoming an HGV driver. Yes my training wasn’t anywhere near as long as my former profession but I am bloody proud of it. When I drive a massive 44 tonner through a congested town centre the only reason there isn’t a path of destruction in my wake is because I do it professionally. The majority of us here are skilled, we take a pride in our work, we use intelligence to problem solve, communicate, plan and perform safely. I for one know my highway code front to back, know my road signs and am up to date with the rather complex drivers hours legislation. I have completes my commercial vehicle IAM and I am passionate about road safety. None of your ‘menial’ jobs requires such mental effort and understanding as we PROFESSIONAL drivers apply to our day at work! But then again I doubt you do put in any of the aforementioned intelligence, effort, understanding or professionalism into your HGV driving going by your idiotic post. You sir are at the lowest end of the HGV driver spectrum while me and my other colleagues on here are at the higher end and THATS why we deserve to be paid accordingly! You are suited to the cowboys who get what they pay for!
Winseer:
Are we finally getting to see some proper market forces taking effect here?
A lot of the skip and tipper firms round our way have upped wages as works picked the last few months.
wages did rise for a while then the poles came and flooded the market and they went down again and now they are gona get even lower when the Romanians flood the market with even cheaper labour…
Most people i know say that it must take a highly skilled driver to drive a class 1 as they are huge and they then laugh when i tell them how much i earn and they say i must be mad doing the long hours etc for the p/h im on
yes there are harder grafting jobs out there but labourers are not bogged down with rules and regulations and they dont have someone with a clip board pestering them…" whats this not wearing a belt !!..£100 fine…wearing the wrong colour of hard hat £50 fine…oh you worked 7 days in a row…£300 fine…and your boots are worn £250 fine and 3 points on yer license !!
LeedsChris:
The rates of pay are low for hgv drivers because the job is a piece of pi*s to do.Does any driver honestly at the end of shift go home and think they have done a hard days graft.Labouring on a building site is a proper days work, or out on the motorways digging up the road.
I would never call myself a professional driver.How can you be a pro, when it only takes a week to pass your class one.A doctor is a professional, a lawyer, civil engineers, pilots…not lorry drivers, hence the reason we are paid accordingly.
For how easy our job is and the amount of time we get when waiting to tip whilst laid on the bunk, i think we get paid quite well.Usually new and clean motors to drive, your own choice of music to listen to, instead of chav fm if you work in a warehouse, no set breaktimes, youre out and about seeing different places.I did many menial jobs in my early twenties and everyone was harder than the lorry driving i do now.
What a crock of ■■■■, i can see from your attitude why you may have such a low opinion of yourself but i`ve honestly never heard so much garbage in my life. The trucking industry is filled with professionals at all different levels from management down to drivers too. As its already been stated, professionalism in any job comes from the person carrying out the task and their attitude towards it, nice to see your level of professionalism is rock bottom.
It only took 2 weeks training in order for me to drive a 140ft rig here in Canada but that does not detract from the fact that it takes a professional driver to get it from A to B and we are paid accordingly. The trucking industry in the UK suffers due to people like yourself going to work with an unprofessional attitude and this taints the industry resulting in everyone being tarred with the same brush.
Maybe you should try taking a bit more pride in what you do and i`m sure your professionalism will shine through soon enough.
People aren’t impressed just because we drive a big lorry.Those that come out with the fully laden weight and total length of the truck when describing their job must have small ■■■■■ syndrome.
Lets say if you’re at a party, do you think two people nudge each other and say "ooh do you see him over there, he drives a big lorry, isn’t that impressive.Whereas if a pilot or surgeon was in the room, this would get some impressed reactions.
If people say to me "is it one of them big lorries you drive, i say yes but you can teach a monkey to drive them nowadays.Truckers in the old days were worth the money they earn’t going by the stories i am told, of how difficult they were to drive, and none of the mod cons when tramping.
LeedsChris:
People aren’t impressed just because we drive a big lorry.Those that come out with the fully laden weight and total length of the truck when describing their job must have small ■■■■■ syndrome.
Lets say if you’re at a party, do you think two people nudge each other and say "ooh do you see him over there, he drives a big lorry, isn’t that impressive.Whereas if a pilot or surgeon was in the room, this would get some impressed reactions.
If people say to me "is it one of them big lorries you drive, i say yes but you can teach a monkey to drive them nowadays.Truckers in the old days were worth the money they earn’t going by the stories i am told, of how difficult they were to drive, and none of the mod cons when tramping.
Why do we need to impress?
its not about the size or type of vehicle you drive, its how you carry out the task and your professional attitude to the work you are doing
LeedsChris:
People aren’t impressed just because we drive a big lorry.Those that come out with the fully laden weight and total length of the truck when describing their job must have small ■■■■■ syndrome.
Lets say if you’re at a party, do you think two people nudge each other and say "ooh do you see him over there, he drives a big lorry, isn’t that impressive.Whereas if a pilot or surgeon was in the room, this would get some impressed reactions.
If people say to me "is it one of them big lorries you drive, i say yes but you can teach a monkey to drive them nowadays.Truckers in the old days were worth the money they earn’t going by the stories i am told, of how difficult they were to drive, and none of the mod cons when tramping.
you mean the pilots that get less money than me and fall asleep all the time at the controls ■■? yeah they well impress me…lol
People don’t go round calling themselves a professional shelf stacker, professional traffic warden or professional newsagent, so why do so many truckers feel the need to call themselves professional hgv driver, with an air of self-importance with their head stuck up their backsides.
Good god, mustn’t our parents be proud of us.We have become a professional lorry driver.
The kit certainly has improved over the years, that’s without doubt.
But when I first started driving we had maximum 12 hour spreads and 11 hours off.
There’s still plenty of drivers out there doing a lot of hand-balling, there’s no monolithic description of a HGV / LGV driving job.
People should be proud of the work they do, regardless of the title that goes with the job.
I know of a shunter in West Yorkshire who’s doing an OU Degree in his spare time and another driver with a Phd. Sure there are some knuckle draggers in every walk of life, but your description of a typical driver isn’t likely to wash well in here is it now?
LeedsChris:
People don’t go round calling themselves a professional shelf stacker, professional traffic warden or professional newsagent, so why do so many truckers feel the need to call themselves professional hgv driver, with an air of self-importance with their head stuck up their backsides.
Good god, mustn’t our parents be proud of us.We have become a professional lorry driver.
people don`t call themselves pro newsagents etc. because newsagent,by definition IS a profession.
however…driving can be non professional i.e your average car driver.
I think Chris drives a fork lift truck tbh. I also think that his view of wagon drivers is A to B, sit on bay, drive back to A, go home.
There are many more aspects to wagon driving. Which he hasn’t seen from his warehouse door.
Well I am on agency and I am a night trunker, no handballing no strapping curtains in the rain. I get regular 64 hours per week and the job is so boring that no one will do it so they put me on it ha ha I start work at 4/5pm and don’t pick up my trailer until 10pm then take it down the road 2 hours and sit for 3 hours and bring one back. I take my guitar and videos on my phone or bokks to read to relieve the boredom! I asked the shunter why this dream job has not been snapped up and he said lorry drivers hate it as there is too much sitting about. Right I thought I will keep it for as long as I can! £11 per hour
Fridge man i find suspicious why somene who registerd yesterday is defending a company so much when you claim you have not worked there yet.do you work in the office by any chance
LeedsChris:
People aren’t impressed just because we drive a big lorry.Those that come out with the fully laden weight and total length of the truck when describing their job must have small ■■■■■ syndrome.
Lets say if you’re at a party, do you think two people nudge each other and say "ooh do you see him over there, he drives a big lorry, isn’t that impressive.Whereas if a pilot or surgeon was in the room, this would get some impressed reactions.
If people say to me "is it one of them big lorries you drive, i say yes but you can teach a monkey to drive them nowadays.Truckers in the old days were worth the money they earn’t going by the stories i am told, of how difficult they were to drive, and none of the mod cons when tramping.
…I’m a pilot and a truck driver, would I pull at your party then?
nearly there:
Fridge man i find suspicious why somene who registerd yesterday is defending a company so much when you claim you have not worked there yet.do you work in the office by any chance
all that way! 
