At the end of the day, driving an artic is not much different than driving a rigid, in fact I would say it’s a ■■■■ sight easier in the long term, if I could get the same pay and conditions I get at ASDA for driving a transit I’d be there like a shot.
For the same reason that the local yobbo has a Rottweiller or Pitbull, it’s because we’re as hard as nails & hard men don’t drive silly little bonsai lorries 
A few reasons.
Driving wise, cabs in artics are usually a lot bigger and spacicious than a class 2.
Artics are nicer to drive, class 2 are more noisey and rattely because you have a box right behind you.
Typically class 1 work is better paid than class 2. A lot of class 2 jobs here are barely above minimum wage.
Most of the class 2 work around here, is multi drop, ran ragged everyday, and humphing heavy stuff off the back of the truck all day long. Where the class 1 work is typically easier with no humphing.
hiya, driven allsorts in my time but as a tramper artics was my favourite for the simple reason if you brought rubbish from far afield for local to your depot it was usually drop that the local lads will shunt it you take such and such, quick turnaround and the guys who can’t, won’t go down the road get the pleasure of tipping something you didn’t want anyway, now you can’t do this if your’e stuck with a rigid can you, bigger cabs or having a sleeper didn’t matter to me,pay was usually better on artics because you carried more weight, mind you i do live in the past.thanks harry long retired.
tonyb70:
nick2008:
To be honest I prefer to drive Wagon and drags but we dont have them in our depot any more 
what a shame
You come to my place mate.Weve got 10 57 plate and 12 58 plate,no one likes them at all and they are all demount bodies aswell.And from my point of view they are also a pain in the arse because of shunting round the yard with them.
Tonyb
Hmmm interesting but I bet it aint tramping though 
Did the shunting with Dmounts too down at currys till they started shoving more little jobs on me.
Putting my own tin 'at on…
… I do notice a bit of latent snobbery towards rigid drivers from our articulated cousins from time to time. I’m sure it’s not intentional of course 
, but IMO it’s a false premise to suggest that simply driving an artic is the “pinnacle” of the driving profession.
Every job involving driving has its own particular set of skills. The driver who can cover the most of them, treating each with the same respect and care, is for me at the pinnacle of the profession. It’s called flexibility, and from my days as a recruitment consultant I can assure you that artic drivers, if you’ll forgive the pun, tend to be the least flexible of all.
As been said ,It’s the challenge to drive and master the top license you can get. Murphy put me through it to tow various plant. When I was made redundant I worked on ARKINSTALL galvernisers in DIGBETH Birmingham they had three streets surrounding their factory and the streets were parked full of cars deliver one side, trailer in another and collection and weighbridge in the third street. lifting axles and dropping air and blind reversing were part of your day. Now when I see people trying to park on a bay I have a quiet giggle but It keeps you on your toes and with practice you relish the challenge. Back to the point the money is a lot better and shorter days
Artics are nicer to drive, class 2 are more noisey and rattely because you have a box right behind you.
I think my rigid is much nicer to drive than our artic, with a much longer wheelbase it rides much better not choppy at all.
Typically class 1 work is better paid than class 2. A lot of class 2 jobs here are barely above minimum wage.
Back in the day when there were actually jobs advertised, there were often jobs paying less than what I earn.
i spent several years driving class 2 and watching the class 1 drivers with envy. after an arguement and a few days of refresher training i went through the transition from class 1 licence holder to class 1 driver. i havent looked back although i have accepted and even enjoyed some class 2 work since then. although i wouldnt disrespect class 2 drivers, i do prefer class 1. there is something about being top of the food chain. ask a lion why he likes being king of the beasts
Had a class 1 for 26 years now. First driving jobs were on rigids but then drove artics doing mostly distance /Euro up until being made redundant 3 years ago.Been on rigids since doing mainly local work since then.Would love to get back on Euro work but in all honesty the rate i am being paid for driving a “puddle jumper” at the moment is probably a fair bit more than i would get on the artics.
Less bling - more kerching imo .
nick2008:
tonyb70:
nick2008:
To be honest I prefer to drive Wagon and drags but we dont have them in our depot any more what a shame
You come to my place mate.Weve got 10 57 plate and 12 58 plate,no one likes them at all and they are all demount bodies aswell.And from my point of view they are also a pain in the arse because of shunting round the yard with them.
Tonyb
Hmmm interesting but I bet it aint tramping though Did the shunting with Dmounts too down at currys till they started shoving more little jobs on me.
They don’t tramp,but still do 4-5 nights out.They come back every day for a load and just run their time out.Or they run into sherburn depot and usually do scotch for a few days.But the cabs are the single bunk scanias with no storage or space in them.It’s a pity the highline wasn’t specced.As the taylors green fleet all get man xxl’s.
Tonyb
I just like driving artics.
Nothing wrong with class 2 driver, or many of the wagons they drive. In fact, if someone offered me a decent class 2 job right now, I’d take it. It’s just the fact that most class 2 stuff is local multi-drop, which isn’t my thing thanks very much. The cabs are nice in artics, but I’ve tramped in a class 2, and it was fine enough for a week out.
If there was a long haul job for a class 2, then I’d be in the queue, but they are in the same category as rocking horse wossnames and hen’s teeth.
and also claimed if my memory serves me that artic driver ‘look down’ on rigid drivers on this forum (which is clearly not the case) as after as someone pointed out they had to drive a learn to drive a rigid before they could drive an artic. and he was promply shot down in flames…i think. feel free to correct me if i’m wrong and i just imagined that topic. 
