In keeping with the “what makes you do it” thread, there would also be a number of menbers who for whatever reason have given up driving. What are those reasons?
Mine was no life away from trucks coupled with ever decreasing pay structures and constantly chasing my tail.
More money in other work and home every night was a big draw card.
All said, I do miss certain parts of the job. The agro, you are welcome to keep.
Been there , done it all, got the T shirts.
But I’m 66 now and don’t intend giving up just yet.
I now have a job that takes ten minutes to get to from home.
I’m on good money and easy night trunking.
I will pack it in when I feel that I am not fit enough or when I reach 70.
After being on the road in one form or another since leaving school at 15,at 65 it was time to hang up the keys.Kept my Licence going until it expired,just in case the pension was not quite enough,never used it as our combined monies is more than adequate. Now at 72 I have no regrets finishing when I did,have been able to do what we want as and when we want,don`t miss it, only the banter.Still like to see whats going on like on here,but as for driving NO WAY
Medical…and DVLA keeping my licence.
However now I am properly retired I still hanker after a drive sometimes, normal after about 6 beers with the rose tinted specs on !
Sod all the crap nowadays you lads endure.
In my case it was the getting out of bed in the middle of the night coupled with long hours, usually coping with morning and evening rush hours (both in the truck).
I miss the good bits (yes, there were quite a few good bits contrary to what you read on here, but I suppose it depends on what particular job you’re on).
I now run a small business which keeps me in beer tokens, but if that ever went ■■■■ up then I would happily return to the game but only on a part time or sensible hours basis.
In a nutshell “Respect” well lack of it anyway.
Passed test in 86 and been agency for more than half that time, I was always treated with respect and did a fair days work for a fair days pay.
Been early retired now for 8 months and found for probably about the last five years things have turned bad.
Expected to be working every minute of every day and have to account for everything that you do became too much to take.
The last company treated drivers as no more important than the wheels on the truck.
The final straw of the introduction of inward and outward facing cameras with all telematics being recorded was the final straw.
I was lucky to be able to make the choice to retire early and now feel it was the best decision I ever made and wish I’d done it even earlier.
Trying not to be one of the “Things ain’t what they used to be” gang but I really feel for the industry.
The good times have gone and will never return and I do genuinely feel for those still driving, I just wish companies would realise that people count and should be respected.
It’s all very well saving a quid or two per day but when the chips are down it’s the drivers who can save the company hundreds if they are made to feel they count.
Rant over, self respect restored 
I just got fed up with long hours, bad roads where you can spend half a day sat in traffic and still be expected to do your run, being sent to places built for horses and then saw a temporary crossing keeper job with Network Rail starting in September and lasting until the crossing closed anytime from 3 months so thought might try for the winter, got the job until crossing closed in April but instead of letting me go they gave me a full time contract, trained me for a signaller job and 5 years later I’m still here and loving the job. Only a 35 hour week £28500 doing odd days overtime and extras bring another £10000. I wish I’d done it years ago.
It isn’t bad everywhere lads, there are still decent job about, where you are respected if you earn it, some don’t it must be said, with class leading terms and conditions, with good well maintained equipment, where they leave you alone to get on with it once you prove you can do the job and show you are competent and reliable.
Mostly you won’t find the best terms or jobs in hire and reward, cos there aint no money in it and there’s still too many people with licences…if this wasn’t the case then supply and demand would kick in, let us hope Brexit might offer improvements, time will tell.
One big problem in our industry (and many others) is the drivers themselves, so many now simply don’t give a toss and think money grows on trees, even when they land the best of jobs they can’t help themselves taking the ■■■■ out of it, either they wreck the kit by accident neglect or sometimes maliciously or do the sickie shuffle or use any one of hundreds of excuses why they shouldn’t be doing whatever it is they are supposed to be doing.
Too many drivers think good jobs will last forever forgetting the one thing that is universal, that unless the company makes a profit and offers a service to the customer, and everyone from the top down has to do their bit, then those job will disappear just like so many others have done.
There have always been and there always will be crap jobs, and these should be treated with the contempt they deserve, used only until something good comes along so they don’t have the better drivers and end up staffed by the types they deserve.
So, if you do land on a good job, for Christs sake bloody look after it, or it won’t be there much longer and that sadly is a problem with some of the younger/newer drivers despite landing on a peach of a job treat it just like a crap job, hence why in some of the better places despite wanting young blood (and getting their fingers burned) they still recruit older staff who’ve been around and generally more likely to appreciate the job, not as some older drivers can’t be just as blinkered either 
Traffic is an issue of course, but it goes with the job, heat kitchen etc, where it becomes a problem is when the pay is bonus or productivity based so probably worth trying to avoid such schemes now, because you cannot make the progress that we took for granted 30 years ago and things are only going to get far worse year on year now whilst we increase the population by half a million people annually (it’s exactly what we voted for after all) and we are getting close to road saturation point, by the time the smart motorway ■■■■■■■■ is completed that extra lane won’t make a scrap of difference because volumes.
I’ve not given up driving but I gave up tramping and feel like my life is so much better even though I take home less.
Reasons being I felt like I had no life away from work. 1 and a half days at home and back in at 4am on Monday morning then not being able to make any plans because you don’t know when your going to be home next…nah not for me.
Now I don’t hsve to think about where I’m sleeping that night, I know I’ve got my own shower, and full kitchen for food, and I’ve actually got time for myself each day to do something other than work as well as just at the weekend.
I don’t intend to start a “tramping debate” thread. I’m just giving my own reasons. I know some love it and feel like if you don’t do tramping you aren’t a proper driver, and they like being away and like the uncertainty of it all. Fine.
My class 1 expired in 2012 and due to medical reasons and the ■■■■ poor rates being offered never bothered to renew it along with the impending DCPC so went back to sea full time where the medical is much more stringent and even more ■■■■■■■■■ but wages to compensate for that …
I’m 63 and though only did vans and 7.5s I did travel all over Europe and the UK .
I didn’t have any choice but to give up due to fairly major health issues.
I had no plans in retirement as my pensions had been plundered and I enjoyed the work for the most part .
A mixture of agency work and long distance dedicated time critical deliveries .
The increasing intrusive micro management of many companies was a Pita but was soon discounted when out on the road especially when away from the UK .
The sooner companies realise that good professional drivers are a firms most valuable asset the better for the industry .
I will freely admit that some drivers out on the roads are an embarrassment to themselves , the profession and their companies , they in many cases are holding the rest back and give the companies all the ammunition they need .
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[quote=“grumpyken52”
The sooner companies realise that good professional drivers are a firms most valuable asset the better for the industry .
I will freely admit that some drivers out on the roads are an embarrassment to themselves , the profession and their companies , they in many cases are holding the rest back and give the companies all the ammunition they need .
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk[/quote]
And this is the problem where too many from the schools of modern management don’t do their jobs sorting out the numpties THEY employed, instead of which their answer is one size fits all or lowest common denominator dumb the job down the level of the worse idiot you have on the books, and treating everyone else as if they are of the same standard.
Nothing drives good people away faster than treating them like idiots.
People don’t suddenly morph into incompetent sick notes after several years of working well, they show what they are within a few months of starting, certainly well within the time span of getting shot of them if needs be.
Some companies are paying the price for their own follies here.
Juddian:
[quote=“grumpyken52”
The sooner companies realise that good professional drivers are a firms most valuable asset the better for the industry .
I will freely admit that some drivers out on the roads are an embarrassment to themselves , the profession and their companies , they in many cases are holding the rest back and give the companies all the ammunition they need .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
And this is the problem where too many from the schools of modern management don’t do their jobs sorting out the numpties THEY employed, instead of which their answer is one size fits all or lowest common denominator dumb the job down the level of the worse idiot you have on the books, and treating everyone else as if they are of the same standard.
Nothing drives good people away faster than treating them like idiots.
People don’t suddenly morph into incompetent sick notes after several years of working well, they show what they are within a few months of starting, certainly well within the time span of getting shot of them if needs be.
Some companies are paying the price for their own follies here.
[/quote]
Many of the companies are too arrogant to listen to those that know the industry and haven’t realised that paying peanuts only attracts monkeys .
I was interviewed by a company years ago when new to an area and needing an income , on arrival I had noticed that their vehicles were dirty and battered .
When one of the interview panel commented that anyone could drive I pointed out that if they upped the wages and were selective about who they employed and retained then they would save money on their vehicle fleet , recruitment costs and the customers would get better service .
It all went over their heads .
I ended the interview and left . They are constantly advertising for staff as they cannot retain staff .
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Juddian:
And this is the problem where too many from the schools of modern management don’t do their jobs sorting out the numpties THEY employed, instead of which their answer is one size fits all or lowest common denominator dumb the job down the level of the worse idiot you have on the books, and treating everyone else as if they are of the same standard.
Nothing drives good people away faster than treating them like idiots.People don’t suddenly morph into incompetent sick notes after several years of working well, they show what they are within a few months of starting, certainly well within the time span of getting shot of them if needs be.
Some companies are paying the price for their own follies here.
That applies to layers of management as well, you get incompetents taken on as managers, or people with a degree fresh out of uni and they just aren’t able to manage, yet they stay on making a mess of everything when anyone with a bit of bottle would get rid of them after 6 months. Then they apply their ‘knowledge’ to transport and drivers and because they all come out of the university machine and speak the ‘same’ language, all their peers think they are doing a great job. Aaargh!
haven’t driven bar the odd weekend for 4 years last month. Low pay and too many hours were the reason I don’t bother full time anymore, loved the job itself and hope to come back to it once I can afford too.
Jacked 6 month ago after 20 odd year (tramping / day cab / night trunk). Was tramping last, could never get a layby after 17:00, truckstops full by 20:00, getting diesel nicked and expected to be a security guard when parked up. Too many roadworks down England and constantly chasing my arse.
I’m 65 later this month; but in April, I packed it in. After a long Winter, the prospect of working one last Summer didn’t seem like a good idea so I retired early. Since then I’ve lost 3 stone just by eating healthy and riding my bike instead of driving the car. The swelling in my ankles has disappeared and my blood pressure has gone down. I feel a lot fitter. I have a 16 ton four-wheeler as a hobby truck, so can still get out on the road to enjoy some lorry-driving if I want.
I did 7 weeks of work-kamping; looking after a campground and some picnic areas, in the Summer and was surprised how nice people were towards me. It was my first job away from driving for over 40 years; it was so easy and stress-free that I could hardly believe it and the pay was less than two quid an hour below driving a truck. I really enjoyed doing something different and for years I had thought I wouldn’t like any thing else.
It’ll be the traffic volumes and standard of driving that push me over the edge.
3 wheeler:
Medical…and DVLA keeping my licence.
However now I am properly retired I still hanker after a drive sometimes, normal after about 6 beers with the rose tinted specs on !
Sod all the crap nowadays you lads endure.
Same here after a work accident. Also the same when I’ve been on the turps with me rose tinted’s on. I’d probably be shown the door after about 5 minutes cos I wouldn’t rush about for anyone.
commonrail:
It’ll be the traffic volumes and standard of driving that push me over the edge.
What is it with people who complain about driving standards all the time?
Britain has some of the best standards of driving in the world. I can’t recall a single instance offhand of a wagon driver who couldn’t drive, and even amongst car drivers the general standard is nothing to complain about.
I wonder if some guys aren’t just so stressed about other things, or so tired from ridiculous working hours, that every small misjudgement or instance of bad form from other road users is an outrage to them. Or indeed, perfectly normal driving from other road users is an outrage to them! 