crazysarah:
im female of 29 and looking into getting my hgv licence .my other half has had his class 2 licence for over 20 yrs . says its not worth me doing mine u get treated like s*** & not respected . i am still determined to do mine its always been something i wanted to do for yrs ,even if he keeps keeps putting me off the idea . im not scared of not much facility’s , i know some females are n hard work im a country girl n not scared to get me hands dirty or heavy stuff to move .
so yes i agree that more females should get into hgv driving .
fingers crossed i will have enough money saved soon n get my test done .
I know more than a couple of dozen “lady” hgv drivers, some have come from a horse background but several have done it for employment prospects.
Half a dozen of them drive 8 wheel tippers and home most nights, a couple more either double man with their bloke or drive his vehicle on a weekend. I only know one who does long distance and operated her own lorry until the lucrative contract was taken over by a multinational.
There were far more females driving lorries in Holland, France and Belgium than the UK, but I put that down to the facilities, the parking and the food, much like what puts off the male of the species.
I personally think it is a good idea. I think at my place we have like 4 women drivers out of like 200 drivers.
But what I think needs to be done is improve facilities on a massive scale. As a guy you may be more willing to take a ■■■■■ in a bush because of the lack of facilities I suspect most women would be put off doing that.
The biggest negative to being a female on the road, though, is the lack of basic facilities. And actually that’s for all drivers, not just women.
A lot of “drivers’ toilets” I wouldn’t even let my dog use – they are horrendous. Most companies used to let you use their office loos, but when the pandemic hit, I was refused at a lot of places. I don’t know how people can justify refusing a basic necessity like that, but they did.
She also mentions the typical hours a driver has to do. At my place a 12 hour day is basically standard. I think a lot more can be done to shorten the hours on a industry wide scale to make the job more appealing. Yea, you should still be able to do 12 hours + if you want to but it should not be the norm which is what it has turned into.
One of the final points she made was price inflation at MSAs which I think is a complete joke. For example a 500ml bottle of pepsi max at a WHS Smith is about £3. I personally think the government needs to step in here to do something. The price gouging at MSA’s is frankly crazy.
Then there is the physical aspects of the job. For example at the CO-OP they have a policy of delivering the cages to the door then its the stores responsibility. So many store stuff will just watch you struggle. Maybe H&S can step in a bit here and say “You cant let this driver pull a 1 ton pallet up a gravel path”
I know some people on here would never do that but a lot of the newbies would. It’s kinda funny in the warehouses I believe anything over 25kg requires a 2 man lift from a health and safety point of view but that doesn’t apply if your out on the road.
So what your doing is working and day and a half every day for a normal weeks wages
No wonder the job is ■■■■
Harry Monk:
It may not be politically correct to say so but men and women are not the same and driving a truck is not something which would appeal to the vast majority of women. I expect the fingernail painting industry doesn’t employ many men.
I don’t normally disagree with your comments Harry but in this case you’re not only politically incorrect but you’re completely wrong.
There is no reason whatsoever why women should not be as equally competent driving an HGV as a man, and many do. Not just the supermarket trollies either, increasingly I’m seeing women driving bulk tippers, tankers, tramping and pretty much everything else. And personally I welcome that.
The real issue, as some others have pointed out, is the lack of decent facilities; if it’s bad for blokes the girls will inevitably have it worse particularly on the toilet side. who knows; if there’s more female drivers on the road it might even discourage the dirty buggers who ■■■■ on the tarmac at MSA’s.
It may not be politically correct to say so but men and women are not the same and driving a truck is not something which would appeal to the vast majority of women…
Having removed the fingernail part of the post i would say i couldn’t agree more.
Why are there so few women drivers they don’t know how crap the facilities are before taking lessons so its not that putting them off, maybe its the thought of having to stay out all night and having to use a layby as a toilet especially when they are on their period, as the OP above says we are not the same.
Wheel Nut:
I know more than a couple of dozen “lady” hgv drivers, some have come from a horse background but several have done it for employment prospects.
Half a dozen of them drive 8 wheel tippers and home most nights, a couple more either double man with their bloke or drive his vehicle on a weekend. I only know one who does long distance and operated her own lorry until the lucrative contract was taken over by a multinational.
There were far more females driving lorries in Holland, France and Belgium than the UK, but I put that down to the facilities, the parking and the food, much like what puts off the male of the species.
na im going to give up with horses worked with them for over 13 yrs fed up with being hurt with them ,wouldnt even do horse transport .
yeah would be fine coming home at night but that wouldn’t bother me sleeping in a cab ive slept in livestock sheds with animals in the past with work .i know that facility’s can be naff but when u need to go u just hold ur nose and go .same goes for emergency p break in random places .as long as there is signal on my phone n i remember to set alarm to wake up layby’s in the morning i would be happy
It may not be politically correct to say so but men and women are not the same and driving a truck is not something which would appeal to the vast majority of women…
Having removed the fingernail part of the post i would say i couldn’t agree more.
Why are there so few women drivers they don’t know how crap the facilities are before taking lessons so its not that putting them off, maybe its the thought of having to stay out all night and having to use a layby as a toilet especially when they are on their period, as the OP above says we are not the same.
i know how bad facility’s can be ive been in them .a quite layby is all u can ask for ,when u got to go p u got to go .na women diffrent we don’t p up the wheels marking your territory
Sidevalve:
I don’t normally disagree with your comments Harry but in this case you’re not only politically incorrect but you’re completely wrong.
There is no reason whatsoever why women should not be as equally competent driving an HGV as a man, and many do. Not just the supermarket trollies either, increasingly I’m seeing women driving bulk tippers, tankers, tramping and pretty much everything else. And personally I welcome that.
Yes, this is true but while women may be as competent as men driving an HGV that doesn’t mean it’s something women want to do in equal measure. Women are equal to men but that doesn’t mean they are the same as men.
albion:
Basically what good friend said and Justin’s last paragraph. Women that want to do the job find their way into it. But basically most women don’t want to. I hate this let’s tempt more women into the industry, no, just people.
I agree with that; but I’m sure you would also agree that if better facilities were provided, more women WOULD consider driving as a career. Furthermore, those better facilities might also induce higher standards amongst male drivers and help to marginalise the dirty sods who give us all a bad name.
It’s not just lorry driving either; my ex-missus is a PSV driver and during lockdown she had hell’s own job finding public toilets that were open, even with a RADAR key.
albion:
Basically what good friend said and Justin’s last paragraph. Women that want to do the job find their way into it. But basically most women don’t want to. I hate this let’s tempt more women into the industry, no, just people.
I agree with that; but I’m sure you would also agree that if better facilities were provided, more women WOULD consider driving as a career.
The problem with that argument is most potential drivers haven’t a clue how bad these facilities are so that cannot be the reason so few drivers are women.
dozy:
No , I remember that Sonia doing that ■■■ video , then there was that raving lesbian who said she wanted to ■■■■ me , stuff that carry on , might be ok when your young but I just want a quiet life
I guess there’s some nice quiet women around , but works wise I seem to end up with opposite
No from me
Was that the name of the Stobbie’s driver from t’ telly? I saw her once when she delivered to the RDC I was at. (what a sad claim to fame… )
Yes Sonia solseak ( 2 nd name was something like that ) , yes you’d think she’d of thought of the consequences of making that type of video before doing it
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