I am just starting this topic to find out the good from HGV driving, all im reading is drivers being negative and complaining about the industry, driver rules, tacho times, pay being messed up, transport managers being ■■■■■, s/e people getting messed about and have to be careful (why should they be there doing the job-should get paid) surely they will be a legal contract showing work done, pay due etc on each job. It is really making the industry out to be a no go and not worth it anymore, putting a real downer on it for me and other noobs.
I understand, with the recession it is a bit crap at the moment and jobs are a bit thin, can anyone say anything good for us wanabe’s who are planning on entering the industry for a career, maybe give us some confidence for the future, surely it can be very enjoyable and you can earn a good honest living going from A-B with a load, make the world go round n all that.
Now what do you guys LIKE about the job and does the good far out-weigh the bad…is it just all down to the way it is atm and will soon improve?
can’t see things improving anytime soon. what i like about it is sitting on my bum listening to the radio. what i don’t like is agencies phoning you at short notice
Everything, I love my job so much. I get to travel all over Europe, it’s great. But then I work for an Irish company where it’s still fun and where they are not obsessed with every tiny rule.
switchlogic:
Everything, I love my job so much. I get to travel all over Europe, it’s great. But then I work for an Irish company where it’s still fun and where they are not obsessed with every tiny rule.
That is exactly what i would be looking for and i always thought it would be like, laid back so you would enjoy it and, in turn, perform better, just get from A-B in a big truck, have a laugh on the way etc but i keep reading a bad things so it is good to read some good instead of the usual grunts
I like working on my own and listening to the radio all day. I like travelling around and seeing different places.I like MOST of the people I meet and having the craic, and I love when you’ve got a good boss, then a drop messes you around and he/she saye zb 'em, strap it down and bring it back, we’ll charge 'em again for the trip
I like being out just me and a tipper on some quiet country road sunshine and radio.When you see trucks take a look at the driver ask your self how long till he retires.AS the avaerage age in this game is about 55 years he will be gone when the economy starts to pick up. There you are some positive thinking.!!
sean vernon:
I like being out on the road in the uk & Europe, where you can see a lot of great things and meet a lot of great people and ok some that are not ok .
That is pretty much why i want to get into this game, im almost 25 so its a good age and i love being on the road/driving, not the same office wall everyday and i like to be out doing my own thing.
All that attracts me to the job, glad we are still able to do that, seems nothing good lasts forever though
its pretty hard to describe i reckon.
i did a factory job for 12 years,and couldnt go back to being stuck in one place all the time.
i think its a mix of meeting different people,from different backgrounds,seeing different places and sometimes cultures,being left to get on with it myself without any hassles,and more specifically the actual job i do brings,laughs,tears,pressure,relaxation,the many friends i have made over the last 10 years,socialising with said friends.there are a lot of different things happening,day in day out,if i park up in the summer,i like to "investigate"the area im parked in(histories?),instead of sitting watching telly in the cab.
in short,i dont think there is anything i dislike about what i do for a living.im certainly no cab rat,just really enjoy what i do.
i like the driving all together, love goin to places i’ve never been before, love a challenge, always like it when im at places with our other drivers who take a few shunts to get on a bay were as i can get it on in 1 go, (ok i do have my bad days) i like meetin new faces and havin a good arl laff with the other peopel in the industry,
were r ya from jono d? am from walton workin out of kirby
I love the freedom, but I really think it depends on who you work for as to how much you can get out of it. We have a very very laid back working life, everything gets done when it needs to be done and we chip in and get the jobs done between us. Like tomorrow im out installing a half tonne safe with the gaffa then delivering ladders to a hospital then off with trailer full of boxes somewhere else. I could just say im only doing mine at 3pm but we all chip in so Im helping out, goes a long way when you need an early finish for a valid reason also breaks up the normal working day to. I love driving an artic and on odd occasion I have to drive or just move a rigid I cant park for ■■■■ and have to be laughed at while I take more shunts then I do with a trailer Then there is the fact I can sleep at work and get paid while being loaded or tipped I could go on all day really but I know im lucky to have such a good job
At 24 its a good time to start, im 26 and was 23 when I passed my class 2 but it took a break from someone most of us needed one if its what you want to do I say just do it life is too short to get caught up in all the negatives, you could be stacking shelves till your 70 you know
mark h:
i like the driving all together, love goin to places i’ve never been before, love a challenge, always like it when im at places with our other drivers who take a few shunts to get on a bay were as i can get it on in 1 go, (ok i do have my bad days) i like meetin new faces and havin a good arl laff with the other peopel in the industry,
were r ya from jono d? am from walton workin out of kirby
We’re practically neighbours then mate, im from Orrell Park, looking at going to Thomas Hardie in Kirkby for my licence soon as i can. How long have you been in this game then?
Its great to know you are able to meet new people in this line of work, im the same as most here, i like meeting new people, iv made some real good lifelong friends through work, i can imagine it would be a laugh going to new places and exploring the scenary, its why i love driving, i would certainly not stay in the cab if i was doing over nighters, it is always good to get out and mingle, more fun and good experience to see whats what. Also its good to know the job can be broken up with a bit of labour thrown in, but i guess it all depends on the job you land, thanks for eveyones input, keep them coming
Truck driving is the nearest you can get to being your own boss without actually being your own boss.
If you have a boss/planner that you can comunicate with, Like you change his plan for the better and he can see the sense in what you’ve done. That makes it a good job.
Meeting some characters. Other drivers, Customers, Some coppers and vosa men.
Getting to take pictures of senery that most people save up for all their lives.
I enjoy this life being out and about, But i don’t think i’d enjoy it so much if i worked for an English firm.
Crawling out of my nice warm bed at silly-O-clock and de-icing the car is no fun at all. Once I am in a nice warm cab and out on the open road with some coffee inside me things begin to improve.
Then I see one of those bright frosty dawns over the Malverns or the Chilterns and I remember why I enjoy this job.
.
Then there is the fact I can sleep at work and get paid while being loaded or tipped 
I could go on all day really but I know im lucky to have such a good job 
im totally unemployable in any otheir job as i DONT LIKE PEOPLE