I’ve recently started my first truck driving job with a small family run haulage firm that only deliver to the local area of about a fifty mile radius, im mainly driving a 7.5t daf doing anywhere between 20 and 30 drops and collections everyday and my longest non stop drive would be only maybe half an hour so I feel more like a courier rather than a truck driver.
I got my artic licence a couple of years ago not long after passed my class 2 and its always been my ambition to drive one long distance on the continent or even round the uk and ireland but ive been hearing a lot of negative things recently about spending a lot of time driving and being on your own all the time so im just looking for a bit of an insight into what its like to drive for nine or ten hours and live and sleep in the cab like is it just a matter of getting used to it or do you have to be cut out for it and also is it tough being away all the time not seeing your family or friends.
I know everyones different but id be still interested to hear what peoples opinions are.
It has to be in you. You need to be a bit of a loner, imho, or you just end up being a passenger, carried by the other drivers who have to mop up what you can’t do. Nothing worse than a glory driver who comes with terms and conditions. I won’t start before x, gotta be home tuesdays and finished by y on fridays. If you want a clocking in and out time, work in an rdc tipping lorries, not driving them. My attitude is, send me where you like, when you like. It’s your job to operate my job to drive. As long as I’m done Friday/Saturday that’s ok with me.
trampimg is not for every one, my personal opinion is that you have to have the right attitude for it, I gave up years ago worrying what time I am going to get home on a Friday. like someone else said you have to enjoy your own company lol but the job is what you make of it.
with all the technology we have now, mobile and computers with Skype and others the job ain’t that lonely, you can communicate a lot easier with your family when away. I wouldn’t want to do anything else just enjoy being way traveling and getting paid to do it
Pimpdaddy:
Not really but they get good facilities, food, big rigs etc…!?
You mean like trucks parked next to you with V8 straight pipe stacks idling all night to keep the ac on, large portions of heart attack inducing fry ups, uncomfortable driving positions, long throw gear sticks and non synchro gearboxes?
Newmercman will doubtless be along soon to say i’m not entirely wrong.
I was Tramping for 3 years after passing my class 1, and for a while it was great, parked somewhere different everynight, but after a while it begins to take its toll on your private life. Its fine and dandy if your single, but if your not and you’ve got kids then its no life and ultimately can cause a lot of problems at home.
among truck drivers there is a very high divorce rate, probably half the trampers I know are divorced.
so while yes it can be a bit of a good life, its not for everybody.
I really enjoyed it. Did five years more or less non-stop, I didn’t take foreign holidays because I was being paid to drive all over the place seeing new things all the time! I think an open mind and a willingness to take things as they come are two very important things. I didn’t miss anything that I didn’t want to weddings or birthdays for example, if I needed time off my various employers understood because it was unusual for me to want or need it.
I was quite happy to spend weekends or rest periods in different places and have guys come and turn me, get weekended in Calais? No problem, have a walk, look around, dinner, a good drink and chill out on Sunday. I say Calais because to most people it’s the most boring place in the world if all you see is the inspection sheds and the smelly factory. Take time to look around and you sometimes find some fascinating stuff, not to mention people. Other parking places are available
As someone else said, don’t turn up with terms and conditions - he was absolutely right, it’s a quick way to heartache. One of the main reasons I avoided people who spoke English as their first langauge as much as I possibly could, is that an awful lot of them are like that (in my experience). They usually get drunk, start moaning and then start on the locals. Sitting in a bar in Germany with a guy who won’t shut up about the war is a deeply unpleasant experience. Guess what, you’re sitting with him so it’s up to you to sort him out or simply walk away. Always walk away!
If you can, try and get a gig doing Europe or beyond. The UK gets very small very quickly.
Pimpdaddy:
Not really but they get good facilities, food, big rigs etc…!?
You man like trucks parked next to you with V8 straight pipe stacks idling all night to keep the ac on, large portions of heart attack inducing fry ups, uncomfortable driving positions, long throw gear sticks and non synchro gearboxes?
Newmercman will doubtless be along soon to say i’m not entirely wrong.
You hit the nail on the head driver
The showers are decent, but that’s about it, lots of parking, but if you’re in a busy city you can struggle to find a spot. The food is dreadful most of the time, unless you like everything coated with plastic cheese
Now having said that, I’m parked on the shore of a small lake in Nanaimo BC which is on Vancouver Island. I haven’t even got my own engine running as it’s a mild 20c or so. Getting paid layover too as I can’t tip until the morning and they booked me on a boat earlier today.
Sometimes you have to take the smooth with the rough
jay0:
is it tough being away all the time not seeing your family or friends ?
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Yes. They are important.
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i havent seen my family in years and i sleep in my own bed every day. it all depends on how close you are to people and whether or not you subscribe to the work hard, play hard beliefs that some have. i know my mate writes the working week off then spends the weekend with his family as that is their time together and its very very rare for him to allow anything to interupt that time but my circumstances are very different. i dont need the downtime so i am happy to chase hours and i can hit 50 hours in 4 shifts on a good week. my work comes first but i think i am in a minority with that level of dedication
I’ve been tramping for years and find it easy, yes I miss my kids in the week but even getting home every night I wouldn’t see much of them because they go to bed at 7. As soon as I stop enjoying it or my Mrs does I’ll stop. It’s simple really, if your not happy doing something don’t do it.
I wouldn’t do anything else if I’m honest. Someone said you need to be a loner to be a tramper(maybe said tounge in cheek) I don’t agree. I enjoy seeing different parts of the country and the different people I meet. Yes some drivers get parked up and spend the rest of their night locked away in their truck, not me I try and park in or around town/city centres go and find a nice pub and have a meal and a couple of pints and maybe even have a natter with someone or another driver if there are any.
Yes it can be a lonely life if you make it that way, or on the other hand it can be an enjoyable way of sending all of our great country or even beyond whilst getting paid for doing it. As others have said its either in you or it isn’t. In my case if you cut me in half it would more than likely say “Tramper” right through the middle
Do you feel that you are treated well by the company you work for now? Do you feel that your regular take home pay reflects the effort you have to put in? Do you reckon that the firm you work for now has the work and makes enough profit to stay in business? If you have a vehicle problem is it sorted quickly without quibble about the cost?
Shiny new vehicles, or old dogs that pack up every few days with hours on boring motorways, with lots of hanging around and uncertainty about whether you will be home for your child’s birthday party etc, for the sake of being a big-wheeler-man and a possible extra £50?
There used to be a saying about ‘the loneliness of the long distance lorry driver’. You probably meet a lot of people in your current job many of whom you know reasonably well, can you put up with your own company for days on end?
If you are happy with where you are and this is really a yearning for pastures new, then leave it a while until the economic situation picks up. The tramping jobs will still be there in a couple of years time.
bloody I Phone!