At what point do us newbies become ‘proper’ truckers / bus drivers? 
(I’ll let you know when I can reverse without overcooking the first lock btw, hahaha!! 
)
Maybe the modern equivalent (acceptance) hasn’t changed that much from the old days, when your work/competence is respected by those whom you respect?
Ah well that’s a bit ambiguous you see, cos now my reversing’s getting marginally better, when I do a decent park-up I can pass myself off as ‘normal’, and nobody would know, hahaha!!
There’s much more to driving than reversing. Most of us spend more time going forwards than backwards (unless you are incredibly slow at reversing of course!).
You become a “proper” driver when you go to work relaxed about what will maybe face you and confident you will be able to deal with it.
But, in common with all learning, this takes some a bit longer than others.
Does it really matter? Provided you don’t dread going to work and you’re not presenting a danger to anyone else, I wouldn’t worry about being “proper”. Having said that, I know what you mean.
Pete
Lol! No it doesn’t matter, I just wondered… 
I found that after a few shifts I was reclining the seat more and using the arm rest too as I started to actually relax into the drive, I’m semi-proper now then
Absolutely!
Pete
Face:
At what point do us newbies become ‘proper’ truckers / bus drivers?(I’ll let you know when I can reverse without overcooking the first lock btw, hahaha!!
the day you proved yourself, the day you passed your test, your proper at that moment after that it’s called experience lol
When you can sit amongst company and tell people you missed ‘the ferry’ whilst keeping a straight face
When you aren’t scared putting in on a bay next to a grumpy lookng Stobarts driver.
I’ve been under the wing of experienced drivers while I get to grips with the job. Last week I was sent out on my first solo shifts and I took that as my indicator that I was finally a ‘real’ trucker and not simply a trainee.
I’m doing okay with reversing, but still far from fully competent. I still get scared a lot, both with manoeuvring and navigating to new places I’ve not been to before. I think Peter might have a good point that until you are properly relaxed and happy to face whatever your next drop might bring, you probably aren’t quite ‘proper’.
So that makes me ‘real’ but not ‘proper’. I’ll live with that as I’m only a few weeks into the job, and only part time. 
B1 GGK, I don’t get that, am I being thick? 
Radar
ORC - same with me, part time for the last month or so. I’ve done two or three runs without my convoy babysitter now, lol! One was a piece of cake, last night was average (tight yard, embarrassing reverse!), I’ve done a fair bit of leading though and most routes are pretty straightforward, I’ve yet to do the 'B*****d yards!! We’re in limbo aren’t we?
Face:
B1 GGK, I don’t get that, am I being thick?
RadarORC - same with me, part time for the last month or so. I’ve done two or three runs without my convoy babysitter now, lol! One was a piece of cake, last night was average (tight yard, embarrassing reverse!), I’ve done a fair bit of leading though and most routes are pretty straightforward, I’ve yet to do the 'B*****d yards!! We’re in limbo aren’t we?
There’s many a driver who claim they would have been on the Herald of Free Enterprise on the fated night it sank, but a puncture en-route meant they were delayed and missed the boat. These are the same drivers who also claim to be ex SAS who were deployed to rescue the hostages from the Lybian embassy in London. And they have also seen the police turn up to a Tesco RDC to chalk round a trucks tyre to make sure he gets his rest as his time is up, they also politeley cone off a bay either side as to not disturb his nights sleep.
Basically a fully qualified bull ■■■ talker.
Cheers Mick… well funnily enough…