don’t know if you other drivers feel the same but over the years I have driven some real ropey wagons,allways thought one day my reward would come with a new vehicle,this only happened recently after 27 yrs class 1,if I was younger I might have been quite excited,now at the age of 54 it doesn’t do a thing for me,it’s nice to drive and know that everything works but that’s it,any others feel the same way.
I feel the same at 41. You get used to the your older truck and its little quirks, loose bits etc.
Still be nice to have a new one though, if the boss is reading.
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only problem with a new motor is you constantly have to check it for damage,i’m not the only one who drives it unfortunately,the night driver is ok [no damage yet] but it’s others,first week of getting it one of the drivers reversed into the n/s mirrors,pushing them outwards,fitter had to sort them,wind deflector has slight blue paint on the n/s after someone drove past in the yard running their open curtain against it,it’s a constant battle trying to keep it damage free.
El Deano:
I feel the same at 41. You get used to the your older truck and its little quirks, loose bits etc.Still be nice to have a new one though, if the boss is reading.
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get some catalogues on your favourite truck and leave them where the bossman can see them,might spark an interest
truckman020:
only problem with a new motor is you constantly have to check it for damage,i’m not the only one who drives it unfortunately,the night driver is ok [no damage yet] but it’s others,first week of getting it one of the drivers reversed into the n/s mirrors,pushing them outwards,fitter had to sort them,wind deflector has slight blue paint on the n/s after someone drove past in the yard running their open curtain against it,it’s a constant battle trying to keep it damage free.
/\ this, I had a new Scania p230 rigid back in 2009, in my pre bendy ticket days, still remember the muppet on the forklift who thought that the side of it was to be used to spare his brakes!
Currently drive a Volvo fh drawbar and am shamed to say, I put the first scratch on it. I was too busy fretting about damaging it, that I scraped it along a sign and put a small green go faster stripe on the pristine White body!
truckman020:
don’t know if you other drivers feel the same but over the years I have driven some real ropey wagons,allways thought one day my reward would come with a new vehicle,this only happened recently after 27 yrs class 1,if I was younger I might have been quite excited,now at the age of 54 it doesn’t do a thing for me,it’s nice to drive and know that everything works but that’s it,any others feel the same way.
Why should a professional driver have to drive a ropey falling apart truck that could break down at any moment?
True a new truck can break down but an older truck is more likely to break down due to age and wear and tear.
Also companies that run old motors either can’t afford to run to new motors generally or do so to make the company directors or shareholders more money.
New technology is always coming out too, things that can increase your chances in an accident or increases someone else’s chances in an accident.
If we all drove old trucks and companies kept them far too long then makers would not sell new models or make them better and better or more appealing.
We currently have truck coming up to 5 years old, all Volvo FH’s, generally they are OK but a bit battered and bruised here and there, things that don’t work anymore, rattles etc. It would cost a fortune to keep repairing them hence why anything not important doesn’t seem to get fixed.
I would bet most companies these days lease vehicles and rarely own them and most won’t lease them over longer than 3-5 years.
We’re due some new 7.5tonners at the end of July, not sure if I will get one as they are direct replacements for our 12 plate ones…
Saying that I’ve not been allocated a permanent vehicle yet and could drive anything from our VW Transporter van, the Sprinters or the 7.5 toners and occasionally one of the 3 18 tonnes…
Our trucks range from 11 year old to the newest at 6 year old,all one driver one truck and repaired if anything is wrong and are immaculate,you don’t need new to have a good looking motor.
I hate seeing fleet trucks with bits missing and panels repaired but not painted,normally theses trucks are from the big Plc company’s too,don’t they have any pride??
simcor:
Why should a professional driver have to drive a ropey falling apart truck that could break down at any moment?True a new truck can break down but an older truck is more likely to break down due to age and wear and tear.
Also companies that run old motors either can’t afford to run to new motors generally or do so to make the company directors or shareholders more money.
New technology is always coming out too, things that can increase your chances in an accident or increases someone else’s chances in an accident.
If we all drove old trucks and companies kept them far too long then makers would not sell new models or make them better and better or more appealing.We currently have truck coming up to 5 years old, all Volvo FH’s, generally they are OK but a bit battered and bruised here and there, things that don’t work anymore, rattles etc. It would cost a fortune to keep repairing them hence why anything not important doesn’t seem to get fixed.
I would bet most companies these days lease vehicles and rarely own them and most won’t lease them over longer than 3-5 years.
I’m a new start haulier and even I have a flat policy. Only the first unit will be older than five years when its disposed of, there after its all on 5yr lease with full R&M. Trailers, when I get around to buying some, will be kept from new for ten years and given a full refurb at five years old, then disposed of.
Its all about keeping costs down and costs fixed.
I wouldn’t ask a driver to be out all week in a brand new Iveco, let alone a five year old CF.
simcor:
truckman020:
don’t know if you other drivers feel the same but over the years I have driven some real ropey wagons,allways thought one day my reward would come with a new vehicle,this only happened recently after 27 yrs class 1,if I was younger I might have been quite excited,now at the age of 54 it doesn’t do a thing for me,it’s nice to drive and know that everything works but that’s it,any others feel the same way.Why should a professional driver have to drive a ropey falling apart truck that could break down at any moment?
True a new truck can break down but an older truck is more likely to break down due to age and wear and tear.
Also companies that run old motors either can’t afford to run to new motors generally or do so to make the company directors or shareholders more money.
New technology is always coming out too, things that can increase your chances in an accident or increases someone else’s chances in an accident.
If we all drove old trucks and companies kept them far too long then makers would not sell new models or make them better and better or more appealing.We currently have truck coming up to 5 years old, all Volvo FH’s, generally they are OK but a bit battered and bruised here and there, things that don’t work anymore, rattles etc. It would cost a fortune to keep repairing them hence why anything not important doesn’t seem to get fixed.
I would bet most companies these days lease vehicles and rarely own them and most won’t lease them over longer than 3-5 years.
you are correct simcor,ours are on 5 yr leases
yorkshire terrier:
Our trucks range from 11 year old to the newest at 6 year old,all one driver one truck and repaired if anything is wrong and are immaculate,you don’t need new to have a good looking motor.
I hate seeing fleet trucks with bits missing and panels repaired but not painted,normally theses trucks are from the big Plc company’s too,don’t they have any pride??
Sadly these big firms see the truck as a money maker and thats it. Basic fleet spec, shared by many drivers who don’t give a toss.
truckman020:
don’t know if you other drivers feel the same but over the years I have driven some real ropey wagons,allways thought one day my reward would come with a new vehicle,this only happened recently after 27 yrs class 1,if I was younger I might have been quite excited,now at the age of 54 it doesn’t do a thing for me,it’s nice to drive and know that everything works but that’s it,any others feel the same way.
Maybe your boss should spend his money on evening classes, instead of new trucks.
truckman020:
don’t know if you other drivers feel the same but over the years I have driven some real ropey wagons,allways thought one day my reward would come with a new vehicle,this only happened recently after 27 yrs class 1,if I was younger I might have been quite excited,now at the age of 54 it doesn’t do a thing for me,it’s nice to drive and know that everything works but that’s it,any others feel the same way.
I think that the replies to your post have missed your point completely mate.
Are you saying you no longer get excited like a kid with a toy over a truck? Or is it me that’s got your post wrong ?
I’m a similar age to you, and bit that way myself now, when I was younger the thought of driving a new Superspacegiggatopofrangeglobeliner excited me, nowadays it’s just another motor, as long as it’s ok to live in with all in cab amenities and feels like being at ‘home’ at nights (sad brainwashed tramper here btw 
) that’s all that matters to me tbh.
Not interested in getting noticed posing with arm out of window and flashing a row of spotlamps, it’s just a job that I try and make the best of for myself.
I’m the other way, each time i’ve had me motor replaced, A, i didn’t want it replacing and B, the new one is usually a disappointment, this has been the case for the last twenty years, before that lorries got better each time, usually cos power went up or gearboxes got better, eg Eaton Twin split instead of some poxy Volvo/Scania synchro box.
More nannying, more electronics/automation, more fragility as ever more plastic faff that will break if you look at it too hard, more crap to go wrong, more systems trying to take over or previous manual things programmed out due to endless dumbing down of the job, less driveability in the sense that the driver is allowed to have less input leading to less normal progress on the road even if you fight to force the bloody things to perform.
That’s quite apart from being doubly annoyed when the half wits every company now insists on employing damages the thing for you, course they don’t go and get the damage sorted estimated and fixed, no they just mince off into the sunset leaving the allocated driver the extra hours involved in sorting it all out, plus i hate driving round in an otherwise cared for by me motor with the obvious negligent/incompetent/prideless/couldn’t give a ■■■■ scrapes dents bent bits that these idiots leave behind in evidence of their normal work standards.
Juddian:
I’m the other way, each time i’ve had me motor replaced, A, i didn’t want it replacing and B, the new one is usually a disappointment, this has been the case for the last twenty years, before that lorries got better each time, usually cos power went up or gearboxes got better, eg Eaton Twin split instead of some poxy Volvo/Scania synchro box.More nannying, more electronics/automation, more fragility as ever more plastic faff that will break if you look at it too hard, more crap to go wrong, more systems trying to take over or previous manual things programmed out due to endless dumbing down of the job, less driveability in the sense that the driver is allowed to have less input leading to less normal progress on the road even if you fight to force the bloody things to perform.
That’s quite apart from being doubly annoyed when the half wits every company now insists on employing damages the thing for you, course they don’t go and get the damage sorted estimated and fixed, no they just mince off into the sunset leaving the allocated driver the extra hours involved in sorting it all out, plus i hate driving round in an otherwise cared for by me motor with the obvious negligent/incompetent/prideless/couldn’t give a [zb] scrapes dents bent bits that these idiots leave behind in evidence of their normal work standards.
Bloody hell.
What makes me laugh is the middle aged drivers that moan and groan about the job/the pay/what runs other people get, and instead of getting off their arses and trying to progress i.e leaving to go to a sector of the industry that’s a stage up, they are given a new unit and it’s like that mobile data boost advert and they’re all puffed up again and swagger about like they’re gods gift.
$$$:
What makes me laugh is the middle aged drivers that moan and groan about the job/the pay/what runs other people get, and instead of getting off their arses and trying to progress i.e leaving to go to a sector of the industry that’s a stage up, they are given a new unit and it’s like that mobile data boost advert and they’re all puffed up again and swagger about like they’re gods gift.
A very generalised opinion mate on older drivers, which kind of gets shot down when you read my last post and indeed the original post on this subject…, both by ‘middle aged drivers’ 
btw. For the record I’ve been known to moan about the job and pay, but as for caring what runs other people get, I couldn’t give a ■■■■. 
Out in a Volvo FH today (demo). Its got the auto handbrake thingy. I much prefer having a proper lever.
I see what you guys mean about the gear change though, it is smooth.
Boss must have read my comment above, lol.
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robroy:
A very generalised opinion mate on older drivers, which kind of gets shot down when you read my last post and indeed the original post on this subject…, both by ‘middle aged drivers’
I wasn’t thinking of you mate, tbh I thought you were past middle aged.
$$$:
robroy:
A very generalised opinion mate on older drivers, which kind of gets shot down when you read my last post and indeed the original post on this subject…, both by ‘middle aged drivers’I wasn’t thinking of you mate, tbh I thought you were past middle aged.
