Why are you a truck driver?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
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O.K. Everyone,when did you know you were destined to be a trucker?
No, this is is not a poll or a questionnaire,but a simple question.

For Me it was as a 5 year old watching the wagons going past the school gate.
These trucks were A.E.C Mammoth Majors, Mandators,Atkinsons,Seddons,Magirutz Deutz and if I was lucky a Ford Transcontinental or a Volvo F88.

Later on I was lucky enough to travel with my older brother in various wagons, in the school holidays.These included a Fiat 684T tractor unit (Does any-one remember them?) on contract to Carrons of Falkirk,A Leyland Marathon, A Leyland Roadtrain and finally a F10 Volvo (1983).

After driving a number of different wagons from flats to heavy haulage,I just wondered where you got the bug from.

From Dads? or Brothers? or someone else.

Take time to reply - and remember!!!

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I got the bug from me dad… he used to drive all over europe, and I have spent many a fair mile sitting on the engine hump of a Volvo F88… and even the left hand drive F89… But, it has taken me 13 years to sort my life out and get the licence… (only passed last thursday!! :smiley: )…

But that was what dad always told me… “Son”, he said… “Get yourself a trade and the worlds your Oyster!!”… Which is what I did…

I have worked in a factory for all those years since leaving school, but it wasnt really until I started my training that I thought… "What have I been doing all these years?? :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: … this is what I shoudl have done from the start!!! :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: "…

And Start I do, this coming monday!!! May 17th… Yahooooo :wink: :wink: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

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I was a truck driver, man and boy, hardest game in the world son! :stuck_out_tongue:

I remember watching the trucks passing my house on the main drag between Hull and Goole, The Scammel crusaders and Leyland Marathons with the massive cabs, A filling station across the road where the foreign Willi Betz trucks called in to buy fuel
It was the neighbour who ran a small 15 truck business, He always had the most up to date trucks apart from a couple of Leyland Mastiffs

He had an F reg 1967/8 F86 volvo and ordered 10 more from the demonstration. The 86’s were swapped for F88 and an 89

He ran a couple of DAF 2600 and a 2200 rigid with drawbar and I spent every spare moment around the yard

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my dads to blame!! i used to ride with him at any chance i could… europe or uk i didnt care… just as long as i could smell diesel :exclamation: malc, have willy betz really been coming here that long? genuine question mate i`m not being funny

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MY Dad’s fault … like JonBoy, I went everywhere with Dad … I could never wait for the school holidays to come round quick enough. Poor old dad was medically retired 16 years ago but he still loves to hear what I been up to in Europe. No matter what story I tell him, he can always bloody top it though!!!
Is yours like that, JonBoy?? lol

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yes he is bear! check out his post on the europe forum under davis turner :open_mouth: . i`ve warned the old cowboy not to embarrass me lol :blush: :blush:

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my old mans a trucker… do do do do do… sings the song… hehe

On my 4th birthday my dad decided to take me out in his truck. He let me sit on his lap and steer on an old airfield we were tipping at and ever since then the only thing i’ve ever truly in my heart wanted to be is a trucker.

I’ve sat in an office having my backside chewed day in day out, done the college melarky and it didn’t get me anywhere. It wasn’t until two years ago when someone i was chatting too finally gave me the push i needed. I know i did the hard work in getting it but the thanks truly has to go to the encouragement he gave me… THANK YOU.

I haven’t looked back, i will never look back… :smiley: gunna start crying in a minute! hehe typical bird eh!

tiggz

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i grew up in a village on the old A5 near tamworth so i used to see trucks everyday and they just fasinated me i was4 and down the road at fazeley rowe and sons had some atki boarderes and re aucott had a fleet of claret and blue ERFs.my dad was yard man at smurft papermill in tamworth and id go down on a saturday and be taken out by the drivers in f88and f10s. but my dad has never trucks.oh and just for the record MR STOBART i was spotting your lorries long before the fan club was invented.(honery membership coming my way methinks)NOT :laughing: :laughing:

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At this present moment in time I have no idea what so ever and I’m really wondering why I bothered. :cry:

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Ladytrucker679:
At this present moment in time I have no idea what so ever and I’m really wondering why I bothered. :cry:

Thats a great shame! :cry: Its funny because I feel exactly the same! :imp:

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Im only 15,but im going to become a Lorry Driver,this is down to my dad mostly,although nearly every male in my family are Lorry Drivers!
Ever since i was a todler i have been going with my dad,i have been lucky because every boss he has drove for didnt mind him taking me.
The company he has just left,but worked for several years,has known me since i was little,and i hope to drive for him when i get my licence.
I have been in england and over the water,every half term i went with him ,its a shame that he gave up with going abroad,and now works for a comapany that dont allow passengers :cry:

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I am also only 15. But again it is down to me old man. I have been going to Scotland (his regular run) with him since the age of 5 on every school holiday. He used to have a low cab DAF 95 and we used to sleep top an tail when he was having his time off. I still go with him to this day but now he has an XF so I have me own bed. He does markets and I wheel the pallets to the back and often collect the tickets. To me it is the attraction of the trucks. It sounds sad but I will be one of them you see hiding behind their big tassle curtains whilst blinding you with my spotlights. It is simply the love of trucks and that is why I want to become a truck driver. Oh and yes I do realise that it is low-paid, long hours anytime of the day but I am prepared to do that. So some may say I’m insane.

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it,s the same with me as most of you guys went out with my dear old dad. on school holidays or bunking of saying it was a day off :laughing: and got the smell of diesel and the urge driving. when i past my test my old man was just as pleased as i was ,and he got me my first driving on the same firm…i,ve left three times but yet again and i wouldn,t do any thing else

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Ladytrucker679:
At this present moment in time I have no idea what so ever and I’m really wondering why I bothered. :cry:

TheCritic:
Thats a great shame! :frowning: Its funny because I feel exactly the same! :imp:

Oh guys… Can I ask why exactly??.. or is it a number of things??..

I hate reading things like this :cry: :cry: :cry: . Theres me, and a few others on here, and no doubt many many more, that are Just about to join the army of lorry drivers out there, and when we here things like this, it makes us wonder what we are getting into… and it dont exactly fill us with confidence… :frowning:

I know there are some of you that have seen the ‘Good Old Days’… and have seen things deteriorate from what it used to be, but the new guys and girls amongst us havent got anything to compare it with, so we dont know any different. :confused: :confused:

I do realise that what some peolpe think is the best thing sliced bread, others wil deagree with prefusly… :wink:

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The old Yorkie advert in the early 80`s? was the leading influence in my trucking life, i think it was a blue erf? although i may be mistaken but it was definately a blue wagon .

I remember this big tough guy climbing down the steps from the cab and biting a yorkie bar,and thinking thats what i am going to be.

I don`t drive trucks any more as many of you will know however i work on accasions for an agency but its few and far between these days :slight_smile:.

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Shaggy:
It sounds sad but I will be one of them you see hiding behind their big tassle curtains whilst blinding you with my spotlights. It is simply the love of trucks and that is why I want to become a truck driver. Oh and yes I do realise that it is low-paid, long hours anytime of the day but I am prepared to do that. So some may say I’m insane.

This is exactly the same as me,i cant wait to drive, i cant wait to put stuff on my truck,like wheel trims,lights curtains etc,and no matter how many people say dont do it i will because thats what i love,its my dream.
And Shaggy your not sad,if you are that makes two of us.

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it was a blue erf? although i may be mistaken but it was definately a blue wagon
i thought it was a yellow daf 2800 :question: or was that another advert

18

Well andy
They say driving is in the blood/bones! :open_mouth: I still don’t know if its true or not to be honerst :open_mouth: For some maybe but for most its just a job!

OK here on Trucknet the majority do have derv for blood but when you think about it at the moment with just over 1000 members Trucknet doesn’t even scratch the surface! and TrucknetUK is by far the largest and best web site for truckers!!

Does that make you wonder why over 100,000+ truckers dont use this site?

It does me!! OK govenment stats now state over 80% of all households now have access to the internet :open_mouth: so lets take 80% of truckers to start with.
So now we have 80,000+ truckers who dont bother with the best website for UKTruckers. OK maybe even 50% of these people dont know or even have the remotest interest in the internet… So now we have 40,000 truckers who still dont want to post or visit a web site that is and was for them!

the stats stated above are made up just like 99% of all stats! :open_mouth: :laughing: :laughing:

You see for a huge majority of Truckers driving a truck is just a job! just like Teachers, policemen, Nurses :open_mouth:

And for me now is the worst time in our short history for professional drivers! (thats driving trucks not TruckNET’s) :open_mouth:
Just like its proberbly the worst time to be a Teacher,Policeman, Nurse!!

Mal made a point not so long ago that driving trucks has always been the same, forget about Knights of the road etc its never been like that!! I don’t agree with him Truck drivers were respected as were Teachers Nurses and Policemen.

Society has changed as has the jobs of all our respective professions… Policemen, Teachers and about time too Nurses, they all get rewarded for all they efforts, if not by the peoples gratitude by monitary rewards. Even Firemen are catching up!

When I see jobs in the Job Centre and local Newspapers for Nurses at £24,000 for 37 hour week it makes my blood boil because just below is the now regular advert for a class 1 driver.

I am sorry but driving in this country has became the poor mans option.
most Drivers if on a 37 hour week, as is now advised by the BMA and all unions including the TGWU and other drivers unions ,would be earning less than Tonys mop and bucket friends as well as the kids who flip burgers

I love Driving trucks! I just dont much like the industry we are working in! :cry:

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Thecritic:
I am sorry but driving in this country has became the poor mans option.
most Drivers if on a 37 hour week, as is now advised by the BMA and all unions including the TGWU and other drivers unions ,would be earning less than Tonys mop and bucket friends as well as the kids who flip burgers

I love Driving trucks! I just dont much like the industry we are working in! :cry:

TC, that made very interesting reading mate. The way you put it across there, does make you sit up and wonder… :frowning:
I realise from readin some of the other threads and posts of others that Lorry drivers are very much fround upon, which is sad. And this all boils down to the general ‘Joe and Josephine Public’ not understanding what lorry driving does for them. And what it means to their everyday lives.

It is so sad to see this happening to the industry, that has so much going for it, but seems to be going nowhere… :cry: :cry:

Thanx for your comments TC… appreciate it… :wink: [/i]

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jammymutt:
The old Yorkie advert in the early 80`s? was the leading influence in my trucking life, i think it was a blue erf? although i may be mistaken but it was definately a blue wagon .

I remember this big tough guy climbing down the steps from the cab and biting a yorkie bar,and thinking thats what i am going to be.

They showed the Yorkie ad on telly the other night, on a programme about milestone adverts, and he was driving a 2800 Daf. It’s amazing that after nearly 30 years people still think truck drivers are still linked with Yorkie Bars.
I think they should re-run the ad it might raise our profile. Need to update a bit still need the guy with rugged model looks and a top wagon like a Renault Premium, Maybe Rob (primo) K would like to apply for the job . :laughing: ( Words like red rag and Bull springs to mind)