I understand this will go down well but I’d like to speak up.
As a new and aspiring driver, trucknet is so negative and downright depressing.
I understand this industry has its issues but my word this forum is so negative. Many comments are critical and members seem to try their best to put everyone and anyone off.
Why not do your best to help people and give positive advice. If your so unhappy in your work then maybe stop advising others. No wonder you’re so overworked, you put everyone off.
Anyway cheers trucknet and those that helped for the advice.
Tlgamble:
I understand this will go down well but I’d like to speak up.
As a new and inspiring driver, trucknet is so negative and downright depressing.
I understand this industry has its issues but my word this forum is so negative. Every comment is critical and members seem to try their best to put everyone and anyone off.
Why not do your best to help people and give positive advice. If your so unhappy in your work then maybe stop advising others. No wonder you’re so overworked, you put everyone off.
Anyway cheers trucknet and those that helped for the advice.
ROG:
Are you referring to the whole of the site including the newbies forum
The newbies help each other to be fair. Someone put a long post on here the other week seeking interest. Multiple member comments stating don’t do it. Do bricklaying, you won’t have a life, you’ll only do 15 hour days. What’s this purpose of this forum?
Even that poor bloke who struggled without a satnav got ridiculed by that grumpy trucker. Whys it necessary.
ROG:
Are you referring to the whole of the site including the newbies forum
The newbies help each other to be fair. Someone put a long post on here the other week seeking interest. Multiple member comments stating don’t do it. Do bricklaying, you won’t have a life, you’ll only do 15 hour days. What’s this purpose of this forum?
Even that poor bloke who struggled without a satnav got ridiculed by that grumpy trucker. Whys it necessary.
I’ve not been on this forum long, but since I’ve been on here I’ve only seen helpful and positive comments. Although, I only look at this wannabe forum
ROG:
Are you referring to the whole of the site including the newbies forum
The newbies help each other to be fair. Someone put a long post on here the other week seeking interest. Multiple member comments stating don’t do it. Do bricklaying, you won’t have a life, you’ll only do 15 hour days. What’s this purpose of this forum?
Even that poor bloke who struggled without a satnav got ridiculed by that grumpy trucker. Whys it necessary.
You always get a few negative comments often from those who have had a not too good experience at some point but in general I would say most give good advice
Tlgamble:
I understand this will go down well but I’d like to speak up.
As a new and inspiring driver, trucknet is so negative and downright depressing.
I understand this industry has its issues but my word this forum is so negative. Every comment is critical and members seem to try their best to put everyone and anyone off.
Why not do your best to help people and give positive advice. If your so unhappy in your work then maybe stop advising others. No wonder you’re so overworked, you put everyone off.
Anyway cheers trucknet and those that helped for the advice.
First of all, you should post this in the main forum to see the crap that will get thrown at you.
Tlgamble:
I understand this will go down well but I’d like to speak up.
As a new and inspiring driver, trucknet is so negative and downright depressing.
I understand this industry has its issues but my word this forum is so negative. Every comment is critical and members seem to try their best to put everyone and anyone off.
Why not do your best to help people and give positive advice. If your so unhappy in your work then maybe stop advising others. No wonder you’re so overworked, you put everyone off.
Anyway cheers trucknet and those that helped for the advice.
Ask yourself why. Really, really, really, really stop and THINK.
If it’s such an amazing career why are there so many negative replies from guys that are doing the job? Because they’re telling you the truth.
Have a quick search on YouTube for “HGV driver shortage”
It’s the hours. The brutal hours. The crap pay. No family time. Too much responsibility for too little pay. No facilities to shower or ■■■ or pee. Sleeping in a truck for no pay…etc etc
I know they’re saying we make more than a lawyer in Waitrose but the truth is, a lawyer in Waitrose isn’t expected to be away from his family all week and to work 70-80 hours a week with no facilities to wash or go to the toilet or to work 15 hour days.
Maybe the doom merchants are just trying to make sure your eyes are well and truly open before you choose this amazing career nobody wants to do.
Tlgamble:
I understand this will go down well but I’d like to speak up.
As a new and inspiring driver, trucknet is so negative and downright depressing.
I understand this industry has its issues but my word this forum is so negative. Every comment is critical and members seem to try their best to put everyone and anyone off.
Why not do your best to help people and give positive advice. If your so unhappy in your work then maybe stop advising others. No wonder you’re so overworked, you put everyone off.
Anyway cheers trucknet and those that helped for the advice.
Ask yourself why. Really, really, really, really stop and THINK.
If it’s such an amazing career why are there so many negative replies from guys that are doing the job? Because they’re telling you the truth.
Have a quick search on YouTube for “HGV driver shortage”
It’s the hours. The brutal hours. The crap pay. No family time. Too much responsibility for too little pay. No facilities to shower or ■■■ or pee. Sleeping in a truck for no pay…etc etc
I know they’re saying we make more than a lawyer in Waitrose but the truth is, a lawyer in Waitrose isn’t expected to be away from his family all week and to work 70-80 hours a week with no facilities to wash or go to the toilet or to work 15 hour days.
Maybe the doom merchants are just trying to make sure your eyes are well and truly open before you choose this amazing career nobody wants to do.
You sound incredibly unhappy in your work. Might be time for a change. Life is too short.
All jobs have their downsides (some pretty major). It’s to be expected.
If you want an easy life…wait…that was a dream.
My current-soon-to-be-old-job has me working 100 hours/week at times. The regulation of time limits and enforced breaks? Luxury!
The point about lack of facilities is certainly valid though. Pretty basic thing, and I’m surprised not taken more seriously.
My opinion: some of the negativity is justified, but some people like to complain or otherwise really should re-evaluate their life choices.
My current job ■■■■■, but I’m not complaining. I’m at my limit after 20 years, so trying something way outside my education and experience, because why not??
There will always be the occasional miserable sod who couldn’t say anything positive if they tried.
Most of us want to help new people, to encourage people into the industry and to see them do well. We remember what it was like to learn ourselves, what help we got, and more importantly, the help we didn’t get, in part due to things like forums not being available back in the day.
Ignore the negative ones, they aren’t worth the time, but there is plenty of knowledge and experience on this forum, and those who have it are always happy to share it
Hello, this is my first post after reading the forums for a few weeks now.
I am glad it is not just me that picked up on a lot of the negatives too, I
was working in hospitality, doing 65 hours a week sometimes and being in at all hours as well as being constantly mithered by my boss and customers 24/7 even while trying to be on holiday working until 2:00am and sometimes having to be back in at 8:00am the same day to clean and set up for some other event…for £25000 per year. That’s £12 an hour.
I have a degree in Journalism & English from 2010, then the news industry stopped taking as many people on and I had to do a lot of free work in my spare time just be get noticed as a writer so ended up in a rubbish hospitality manager job as described above.
There is no union or regulations to stop the nonsense hours and demands in hospitality either. And I was sick of having to leave my family in the afternoon and all weekends just to serve beer and buffets to ungrateful disrespectful ignorant people who have had too much to drink and expect the world for nothing.
I was furloughed, then hours reduced, then no work and at 37 I was thrown a lifeline having not been unemployed before and offered HGV training.
I fancied trying for my licence years ago with but having spent £20000 on a degree that got me nowhere I was reluctant to fork out again.
I have since July been doing work based courses to qualify me to get funding to help gain my full C-E and have a skilled career to support my family and pay my way.
Some comments DO put me off, but I can tell you there are other jobs that people are doing that are also terrible and for rubbish money too.
I want to show my 2 yr old boy that Daddy drives a big truck and is a key worker and is a skilled and in demand worker. I have tried a lot of things in my life and now this challenge is the next step, I am sure there are lots of people on here in similar situations.
I can assure you, the earnings are heeded but I would also warm people about some of the crap industries I have worked in too.
Hopefully, and it does sound positive, the government will soon be looking at improving drivers’ facilities, once the driver shortage has been addressed.
Nature of the beast o/p. Post on Doctor.net or pornactor.net and you’ll get a mixture of views regarding their chosen profession. The secret is to trawl the chaff and pick out the seeds and then make your own mind up.
Ask advice by all means but expect responses covering the full spectrum, and always bear in mind the old adage; far better to regret something you have done rather than something you haven’t.
There are a number of well made and correct observations, so my 2p worth will attempt to bring some balance to the proceedings.
It’s fair to say that the more experienced drivers are perfectly entitled to be dissatisfied with the many and various things that impact their working life, and that they’ve been suffering those things for a number of years. It’s also fair to say that those people have the right to express their views. However, the place for that is the main Pro-Drivers Forum.
We have a forum for New and Wannabe drivers, which has a completely different ethos to the main Pro-Drivers Forum. It’s fair to say that the questions asked and answered in there may appear quite stupid or obvious to the more experienced drivers. The thing about the Newbies’ Forum is that many of the people who post in there haven’t quite got to the stage of beginning that all important ‘first day’ and are therefore full of wonderment about the process and all the other stuff they’ll need to know. The Newbies’ Forum is exactly the right place to post such questions without the fear of being ridiculed.
To be fair though, if a newbie posts in the main forum asking how to get from Manchester to Leeds, then you’ve earned whatever you get!!
The more experienced drivers are kindly invited to realise which forum they’re posting in, and are politely requested to adapt their posting style and language accordingly. They should remember that none of them were born with the knowledge that they currently have. Those who have difficulty following a polite request can be assisted by us removing the Newbies’ Forum from their forum permissions so that they won’t even be able to see the Newbies’ Forum, let alone make the mistake of posting inappropriately in there. This is all part of the service.
For all posters in whichever forum, there is the possibility of simply scrolling past anything that’s not to your taste, or hitting the ‘report’ button on the offending post. This saves things from descending into an unseemly free-for-all.
Forum is the old Latin for discussing things, that is what this site is about.
No job is perfect in this world. There are the positive experienced crowd, clueless newbs in the middle, and grumpy ole venerable gits who will always have a negative opinion to throw at you like a monkey flinging its poop - that is a forum, deal with it!
Negative old codgers are needed for a balanced view of the industry, they only seem to be sociopaths because they have spent so long in a cab alone over the years, earning crap pay, working long hours, tramping, ■■■■■■■■ in a bag, ■■■■■■■ in bottles and avoiding their wives.
If what they say upsets you, ignore it! Opinions are like ■■■■■■■■■ everybody has one.
Tlgamble:
I understand this will go down well but I’d like to speak up.
As a new and inspiring driver, trucknet is so negative and downright depressing.
I understand this industry has its issues but my word this forum is so negative. Every comment is critical and members seem to try their best to put everyone and anyone off.
Why not do your best to help people and give positive advice. If your so unhappy in your work then maybe stop advising others. No wonder you’re so overworked, you put everyone off.
Anyway cheers trucknet and those that helped for the advice.
Ask yourself why. Really, really, really, really stop and THINK.
If it’s such an amazing career why are there so many negative replies from guys that are doing the job? Because they’re telling you the truth.
Have a quick search on YouTube for “HGV driver shortage”
It’s the hours. The brutal hours. The crap pay. No family time. Too much responsibility for too little pay. No facilities to shower or ■■■ or pee. Sleeping in a truck for no pay…etc etc
I know they’re saying we make more than a lawyer in Waitrose but the truth is, a lawyer in Waitrose isn’t expected to be away from his family all week and to work 70-80 hours a week with no facilities to wash or go to the toilet or to work 15 hour days.
Maybe the doom merchants are just trying to make sure your eyes are well and truly open before you choose this amazing career nobody wants to do.
You sound incredibly unhappy in your work. Might be time for a change. Life is too short.
Hmmm…I get what you’re saying but (there’s always a but) drivers are giving you their perception.
If you don’t want it, don’t ask a question. On the other hand mixed in with the negative, I see lots of good advice.
I’m at war with my employer right now; and I’m whining to whoever will listen.
Key difference is that I’m actively changing things where I work.
Just secured a retention bonus, started unofficial discussions on pay and overtime and secured a fixed window of 2 hours for start times.
I’m not sure walking away is a good answer. It might suit you, but that way nothing changes and the driver shortage goes on.
There is a wealth of knowledge and experience on this forum, at the top right of page below Contact Us is a search box. Some posters have seen the very same questions asked and answered over several years, there are many “sticky posts” about important topics such as laws, regulations and procedures, many of which havent changed for 25 years.
If a bloke asks how to get from Manchester to Leeds or indeed Scarborough to Newcastle, he is going to be ridiculed. Trucknet is internet based, just like Google and Google Maps.
What is DLH or TTN like to work for? will get a mixed response from drivers who have worked for them, seen them overtake on a roundabout or spoke to a driver in the showers.
One thing I miss on these forums is Location. I can see a user name with 1 post but have no clue as to where they are in the country, it doesnt need an actual address, just town and county so answers can be more properly directed. If you ask about a company in Kent, an answer from the Isle of Mull may be irrelevant.
I couldn’t comment about alloy wheel polish or the best clay bar to use though.
For all posters in whichever forum, there is the possibility of simply scrolling past anything that’s not to your taste, or hitting the ‘report’ button on the offending post. This saves things from descending into an unseemly free-for-all.