Newbie entering a 'mans' world'!

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi everyone, been lurking here for a while, reading extensively, and seeing as you appear to be a friendly bunch and don’t bite (much!) I thought I should introduce myself to run something past you.

I am about to embark on a mid-life career change into professional driving so am in the same position that many of you with recent passes have lately been in. I have been planning this for the past year (or 30!) and set myself the target of achieving CE within the next six months. Should be doable. My long term goal/dream is continental driving, a way off no doubt but always good to have a target!

The problem is I am receiving mixed feedback from friends, family acquaintances about my decision as not only am I a little past 40, I am also a little vertically challenged and shock horror female! I have had everything from ‘ha no-one will ever take you seriously’ to 'you won’t be tall enough/strong enough/male enough to cope with the physical demands of the job. Interestingly the couple of trunkers I know have all said ‘go for it’!

Whilst I myself am massively confident that I can do this the negative comments I am constantly receiving does leave me with the odd niggle of doubt. From what I have read on this forum it seems that the industry is equally hard enough to break into and remain in for everyone regardless of gender, and the negative comments I am receiving makes me wonder if with the additional barrier of being ‘without dangly bits’ could make it near impossible.

To be honest I’ve been a bit dismayed at the feedback I’ve received from those around me, you’d have thought they’d be encouraging me to move forward in life but hey ho. I suppose of course that they could just be jealous! But whatever, it all serves to just make me more determined.

So I guess I’m here to ask two questions.

Will my gender really inhibit me starting out as a newbie? Be honest, I’m more likely to take feedback from you guys seriously than I am anyone else.

Should I get a cr*ppy paid C1 job in the meantime to enhance my chances of being taken seriously once I have acquired my licence? (the idea fills me with dread to be honest because its all £7.25 an hour with a zillion drops in country lane villages in the a** end of nowhere down here in Somerset!)
I am far from inexperienced, my life has meant that I have lots of experience of every kind of vehicle my licence permits me to drive, vans, trailers, scaffolding lorries, motorbikes and a lot of continental driving behind me too. But nothing that sits on a CV as ‘employment’. Would a ‘Tesco home delivery’ type job be helpful?

Have decided to probably go with Peter Smythe so should be getting some high quality training to set me in good stead, I just need to kill off the ‘doubt troll’ that people keep planting inside me once and for all!

Thanks for reading! :slight_smile:

2

Indigo:
Hi everyone, been lurking here for a while, reading extensively, and seeing as you appear to be a friendly bunch and don’t bite (much!) I thought I should introduce myself to run something past you.

I am about to embark on a mid-life career change into professional driving so am in the same position that many of you with recent passes have lately been in. I have been planning this for the past year (or 30!) and set myself the target of achieving CE within the next six months. Should be doable. My long term goal/dream is continental driving, a way off no doubt but always good to have a target!

The problem is I am receiving mixed feedback from friends, family acquaintances about my decision as not only am I a little past 40, I am also a little vertically challenged and shock horror female! I have had everything from ‘ha no-one will ever take you seriously’ to 'you won’t be tall enough/strong enough/male enough to cope with the physical demands of the job. Interestingly the couple of trunkers I know have all said ‘go for it’!

Whilst I myself am massively confident that I can do this the negative comments I am constantly receiving does leave me with the odd niggle of doubt. From what I have read on this forum it seems that the industry is equally hard enough to break into and remain in for everyone regardless of gender, and the negative comments I am receiving makes me wonder if with the additional barrier of being ‘without dangly bits’ could make it near impossible.

To be honest I’ve been a bit dismayed at the feedback I’ve received from those around me, you’d have thought they’d be encouraging me to move forward in life but hey ho. I suppose of course that they could just be jealous! But whatever, it all serves to just make me more determined.

So I guess I’m here to ask two questions.

Will my gender really inhibit me starting out as a newbie? Be honest, I’m more likely to take feedback from you guys seriously than I am anyone else.

Should I get a cr*ppy paid C1 job in the meantime to enhance my chances of being taken seriously once I have acquired my licence? (the idea fills me with dread to be honest because its all £7.25 an hour with a zillion drops in country lane villages in the a** end of nowhere down here in Somerset!)
I am far from inexperienced, my life has meant that I have lots of experience of every kind of vehicle my licence permits me to drive, vans, trailers, scaffolding lorries, motorbikes and a lot of continental driving behind me too. But nothing that sits on a CV as ‘employment’. Would a ‘Tesco home delivery’ type job be helpful?

Have decided to probably go with Peter Smythe so should be getting some high quality training to set me in good stead, I just need to kill off the ‘doubt troll’ that people keep planting inside me once and for all!

Thanks for reading! :slight_smile:

Thought I knew you for a second there, maybe I do.!..lol!
I know a couple female truck drivers and they get by ok I think. Took some of the usual stick off some of the guys but when it came down to it they were treated equally as bad …[emoji57] …welcome anyway. I daresay there’ll be plenty of advice here (not like FB). Guys…and girls here are good, real helpful and likeable …
4’9"?

Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

3

Welcome to Trucknet-UK :wink:

I’m guessing your friends who say you can’t do it have a misguided view of road haulage as it is today, turn the clock back 30/40 years and they would have had a good argument but there are plenty of female class 1 HGV drivers around these days so it shouldn’t be a big problem for you.
I’m sure some of them will be along soon to tell you about their experience of getting into HGV driving :slight_smile:

Many new drivers find it difficult to get that first HGV driving job but persistence usually pays off in the end, just don’t expect to jump straight into a decent job as soon as you get your HGV licence, if you do it’s a bonus but a lot of new drivers have to go down the agency rout until they can get a permanent job.

As far as the cat C1 driving is concerned I suppose it depends on your circumstances, any general haulage experience should help you get a class 2 or class 1 job but I wouldn’t give up a decent job to get work on a puddle jumper, without knowing what you’re doing now it’s hard to answer that one.

I always suggest to people that they should look for a good local trainer with a good reputation and support them, however it sounds like you’ve already made a choice and based on reputation you will certainly be in good hands with PST.

Good luck with your training and future career :wink:

4

First of all welcome!

First off don’t let anybody put you off doing what you want to do. In reality it’s not really any of their business and it could well be a bit of jealousy as you are doing something you want. Second of all I think being female will have some advantages as a lot of people would tend to find it easiser to speak to a female then some fat old bloke! If a employer would potentially not employ you on gender you should have no business being employed by them, if you can do the job to the same standards as a man (and prove on a assessment) then who cares if you are male or female.

Another plus is for example I started off in the recovery sector (a notoriously hard part due to 24 hour call out) but say you work for the AA for a bit and you have to regularly deal with customers, in particular female customers they would prefer to have a female driver pick them up then say a male (this is why some of these female only plumbing businesses etc do so well!). It’s obviously not a dream job but it can be a good experience!

Long story short. Screw everyone else do what you want not what others tell you!

5

Hello from another woman and employer.

It’s the friends and family that are dissuading you, and I’m presuming they aren’t actually involved in the industry and secondly it’s the people involved that are saying do it…so I think I know who I’d be listening to!

As for being a woman, I don’t think it’s a major problem. And to put it bluntly, at over 40 you are unlikely to have kids so that makes it a bit easier. (Yes I know all about paternity leave, but it’s mostly women that do childcare and take maternity leave and cause disruption to a business). AFAIK, some people think women are less likely to be involved in minor damage. It’s all going to be swings and roundabouts on the the gender side.

What I will say, having been in the industry one way or another for 30+ years is that it generally is the least sexist sector going. Middle management of blue chip are often worse.

The actual driving of a wagon these days doesn’t require much strength and after that it depends on what loads you are shifting as to what physical work you’ll need to do, but generally speaking there isn’t that much heavy lifting to do.

If you have the itch, go for it.

6

Thanks all for the great welcome! I knew I’d get sensible advice here, well I hoped I would at least!

I’ve certainly got the itch, well had it for many years to be honest but had to wait for kids to grow up and the dog to die etc etc before getting into a situation where I could escape the ‘tied to the house’ kind of work that we often end up having to do to survive.

I’m currently a self employed gardener and I am truly hacked off with it, its one thing getting cold and wet loading and unloading a truck for a few minutes but its quite another getting soaked to the skin all day or sweating your nads off for 8 hours in the summer. So the physical aspect of driving fazes me not.
It also means that as I’m self employed I’m in the enviable position that I can pretty much take any job that comes up at the moment, hence me toying with the idea of the 3.5t multi-drops, but as it would be such a massive step backwards financially I’d really only consider it if it were likely to have a beneficial impact on my career progression once I’ve acquired my licence(s).

I was interested to hear that Albion feels it is one of the least sexist industries, that is really heartening to read! And although I do have kids the chances of me needing maternity leave these days are zero, so I guess that would put me on a par with a lot of the guys!

Also Eddie, 5’2", and if you’re the guy with the Fireblade and the massive fridge unit then I probably know you, otherwise, unlikely!

Thanks again for being so friendly! :slight_smile:

7

I’m 52 now and since 18 I’ve been a forkie, van driver, 7.5 Euro driver, desk based forwarder and run my own business for 25 years. In all that time, I’ve only had one mysoginistic ■■■■, lot of banter though :laughing: Give as good as you get and everything goes smoothly. :wink:

8

As comming out recently of being a self employed tree surgeon and before that gardener I feel your pain literally… if you have contract type gardening work (8 hours a week blah blah here and there like I did) it may be beneficial to do a few days at a agency and a few days gardening, as you are self employed income is just income. Gain experience without losing too much money!

9

I’m clearly biased as I would love to welcome you as a customer. But, that aside, I’m not aware of any woman having any more difficulty than fellas getting a start.

btw have you seen the offer in the Sponsor Thread?

All the very best with it, Pete :laughing: :laughing:

10

Hi. I am a female tipper driver and I think you should go for it, I did and I haven’t looked back. I did 18 months 7.5 ton (parcels) which nearly killed me - so heavy and physical but it helped me to decide to get my class 2 licence. I really wanted to drive an 8 wheeler tipper, nothing else and now I do and there is no heavy lifting to worry about. :slight_smile:

I have to say, if anything, being female is a distinct advantage! in my experience most men are surprised and very pleased to see a female turn up on site, and most are very friendly and helpful! Use it to your advantage, (sorry fellas!) :grimacing: You do get the odd grumpy old bugger who thinks a woman’s place is in the kitchen but just keep smiling lol.

On the whole you’ll find that they are impressed that you do what is seen as a ‘mans’ job. It helps to have a good sense of humour and a thick skin! Don’t expect any concessions for being female, I don’t - you just have to get on with the job but if its a particularly tight site I warn them that I’ve only been driving tippers for 3 months.

I work for a family company, there are about 50 other drivers and I’m the only female driver so I did wonder what my reception would be but I have to say it has been brilliant, they are all helpful and really look out for me. And yeah of course they take the pi$$ out of me if I mess up but its all banter and I give as good as I get :wink:

Close your ears fellas - A very experienced lady driver (bulk tipper) told me, driving is a hard game to be in as a female and you have to get better at it than the blokes. :stuck_out_tongue:

I drive an old Volvo with a sleeper cab, which has the turning circle of a coach, it has an analogue tacho and barn doors that I have to get out and open, in the sludge, rain or dust but I couldn’t be happier. :smiley:

11

If it is what you want to do then do it, sod everyone else it’s your life not theirs. Plenty of women drive trucks and do traditional men’s jobs in lots of sectors. Being a little vertically challenged and less muscle power in general can be a slight disadvantage but plenty of short old and weakling men drive them too.
Even if it didn’t work out for any reason at least you tried, better to try and fail than regret not trying anything.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

12

Indigo- you are asking entirely the wrong set of questions in my opinion.

Being a slightly shorter female, can I be a European C+E truck driver? Yes of course you bloody can! Anyone that says otherwise is chronically under informed.

Plenty of the old an bold are too ■■■■■■■ fat to be able to anything more than open a back door or curtain, so a shorter fit female won’t have any problems doing it too. If you find you don’t have the required power to do something, you have another far more powerful tool at hand; your brain. You can think your way out any trucking problem you can reasonably be expected to sort on your own.

If you’re a gardener, you already know what graft is, and I’m sure there are plenty of problems where being 6’2" and 15st would’ve helped, but I’m sure you got around them just fine!

As for getting a job, newbies are out there getting starts every day, because your attitude is just as important as your CV, if people only took on experienced truck drivers, you would see a lot less trucks on the road because there wouldn’t be anyone to drive them! That being said you’re very unlikely to get a Euro start with no U.K. experience.

The questions you should be asking in my opinion, is what money does a Euro tramper make in your neck of the woods? What does a Euro tramper make elsewhere in the country? After all if your away a week or more at a time, what does it matter if you have to drive a 100 miles to get an extra 5k a year?? Can I live of my expected wage in comparison to what I was earning as a gardener? What are the likely hours I’ll have to work a week on my UK truck driving job, and how long am I likely going to need to do the U.K. only work for? Does the UK money match my salary needs?

Have search on all of the above would be my advice, the whole female thing is anon issue as far as I’m concerned.

13

We have a couple of ladies on the same tanker gig as me, and the most physical or strength related thing we do is wind up legs and push on the air lines. So there is nothing to stop you in this day and age. I’d say the most important thing for a female is to accept and play along with the banter, as some of us blokes really don’t know how to interact with the fairer ■■■, and come out with all sorts of stupid things.

With that and going by your posts so far, I’d say you’ll have no problems.

So best of luck!

sent via phone

14

Thank you for all your encouragement! You’ve helped me get my blinding determination back, I’ll be sure to keep hold of it from now on :slight_smile:

Sammy I’d not really thought about tippers, but as there are a host of quarries on my doorstep there is probably some decent work available in that area, probably worth me researching, thanks for that.

My longterm ambition is Euro driving, my dad was an owner driver who spent most of his time backwards and forwards to Seville and developed quite a reputation (and a taste for Gin :neutral_face: ) but made lots of friends into the bargain, it always appealed to me (not the Gin, vile stuff!) and I’ve ended up loving distance driving, but I know that I will have to work my way up through the process to reach my goal so tippers may be a realistic thing to look in to. The only step I’d really like to skip is the awful multi-dropping in a truck too big for modern housing estates!

As for money, it’s never really been about that for me. I’ve managed to run my pick up truck, my mortgage and my kids on circa £250 a week for several years now so even a ‘poorly’ paid Class 2 driving job would have a considerable impact on me. (queen of budgeting me!) The idea of earning £25k a year, well I’d be a veritable millionaire! This means I can stay calm and hopefully plan my career progression so that I am able to enjoy driving professionally, rather than taking a job I don’t fancy out of necessity and ending up hating it.

Banter is not a worry to me, having raised 4 teenagers (3 of them boys) there’s not a lot I haven’t heard (or seen sadly!) My second language is ‘withering comebacks’!

Thanks again for the great welcome and the good advice, I’m off to jump through the hoops of stuffing 1000 theory questions into my head now!

Have a great day folks :slight_smile:

15

You will do just fine then!

Multi dropping is not the terrible beast everyone makes it out to be. Being a tipper driver is a great way to get on top of your manouvering, because they’ll be asking you to put it in all sorts of tight places…

Good luck to you.

16

sammy770:
Hi. I am a female tipper driver and I think you should go for it, I did and I haven’t looked back. I did 18 months 7.5 ton (parcels) which nearly killed me - so heavy and physical but it helped me to decide to get my class 2 licence. I really wanted to drive an 8 wheeler tipper, nothing else and now I do and there is no heavy lifting to worry about. :slight_smile:

I have to say, if anything, being female is a distinct advantage! in my experience most men are surprised and very pleased to see a female turn up on site, and most are very friendly and helpful! Use it to your advantage, (sorry fellas!) :grimacing: You do get the odd grumpy old bugger who thinks a woman’s place is in the kitchen but just keep smiling lol.

On the whole you’ll find that they are impressed that you do what is seen as a ‘mans’ job. It helps to have a good sense of humour and a thick skin! Don’t expect any concessions for being female, I don’t - you just have to get on with the job but if its a particularly tight site I warn them that I’ve only been driving tippers for 3 months.

I work for a family company, there are about 50 other drivers and I’m the only female driver so I did wonder what my reception would be but I have to say it has been brilliant, they are all helpful and really look out for me. And yeah of course they take the pi$$ out of me if I mess up but its all banter and I give as good as I get :wink:

Close your ears fellas - A very experienced lady driver (bulk tipper) told me, driving is a hard game to be in as a female and you have to get better at it than the blokes. :stuck_out_tongue:

I drive an old Volvo with a sleeper cab, which has the turning circle of a coach, it has an analogue tacho and barn doors that I have to get out and open, in the sludge, rain or dust but I couldn’t be happier. :smiley:

Just being nosy and going by your location, is your company the one with a good few bulk sided tippers with sleeper cabs? Blue cabs and grey tipper bodies? think they’ve got a couple of 8 wheeler grabs now too? tell me to mind my own just wondering as loaded a couple of them in my time!

17

We’ve got a lass at our place and we deal in ferry trailers which are all knackered. She gets on alright with them, she just thinks outside the box with how to put the boards back in. She’s got a tool now to help her lift the boards up and slot them in. She’s really protective of it suprisely enough :grimacing:

18

RB84:
Just being nosy and going by your location, is your company the one with a good few bulk sided tippers with sleeper cabs? Blue cabs and grey tipper bodies? think they’ve got a couple of 8 wheeler grabs now too? tell me to mind my own just wondering as loaded a couple of them in my time!

I don’t know who you are but yes I think you’ve guessed right lol

19

Don’t worry its a couple of years ago I loaded them just a one off when work re concreted one of our old yard floors and they took the spoil/old concrete. Got the first one I loaded near bang on mind 31980kgs :sunglasses: Just notice them about since then really, seem like a decent firm too!

20

Not wanting to dampen your enthusiasm, but from my time on here I’ve gleamed that Ero work isn’t what it was. It’s now saturated by eastern Euro firms, and UK Euro work isn’t necessarily an attractive offer as costs are tight. The glory days are gone…

As F-reds says, there are jobs out there to suit all, just appreciate that it may take a while, and even if you’re class 1, you might find yours is actually class 2. :open_mouth: I’m guessing that with a family, the hours structure to suit that probably relates well to construction, and a Hiab ticket allows you to limp in to all the Builders Merchant yards…

I’m not saying don’t set your sights to class 1, go for it as funds allow! :smiley:
But there is plenty of good MORE SOCIABLE HOURS class 2 work about, about than Class 1 work…

Most Newbies will see the worst of class VAN when they enter the industry, as that’s where the shortfall exists (not surprisingly), but there are plenty of class 1 drivers doing class 2 gigs, as it just suits them better…

I’d drive a belingo van if paid and suited me right! :open_mouth: