I’ve seen many threads about what we hate about the job or what winds us up so I thought I would start one about what you love about the job.
For me it is about not being stuck in an office or factory, the feeling of independence from management on the road, new scenery every day and visiting new places (although I admit I only see most places from the ring road), the fact it doesn’t feel like actual work and witnessing some of the most spectacular sunrises imaginable. Also in previous non driving jobs I was always watching the clock waiting for the day to end. Now I look at the clock and wish for more time.
Very little effort for quite a decent wage. I can only speak for my own job as all driving jobs are different but i dont even see it as working. I basically gallivant round the country delivering a few pallets here and few pallets there. The most strenuous thing i do is probably open the curtains.
Not being stuck in 4 walls all week, variation of places, couldn’t do trunking, same as a 4 walls scenario. Not really one for routine so it suits me just fine, although I wouldn’t mind a set finish time on a friday
Me ?.. I just love sitting in a tin can, getting stuck in traffic jams, avoiding all the idiots on the roads, meeting obnoxious goods inwards staff, being tracked all day, getting moaned at cos i havn’t quite managed to get all my drops off… going without a proper meal or getting ripped off in the services for something you wouldn’t dare feed to prisoners… then going home and getting it in the ear cos my supper is in the dog… but then I think of my fantastic wages… ( NO, HANG ON…DREAM ABOUT THE FANTASTIC WAGES I SHOULD GET FOR WHAT I DO, INSTEAD OF THE PITTANCE I GET.)
I have good and bad days like everyone but I look on driving as getting paid to driving round and listening to the radio.
As the other poster said it’s not bad money for a job that usually requires little effort.
Trukkertone:
Me ?.. I just love sitting in a tin can, getting stuck in traffic jams, avoiding all the idiots on the roads, meeting obnoxious goods inwards staff, being tracked all day, getting moaned at cos i havn’t quite managed to get all my drops off… going without a proper meal or getting ripped off in the services for something you wouldn’t dare feed to prisoners… then going home and getting it in the ear cos my supper is in the dog… but then I think of my fantastic wages… ( NO, HANG ON…DREAM ABOUT THE FANTASTIC WAGES I SHOULD GET FOR WHAT I DO, INSTEAD OF THE PITTANCE I GET.)
Fantastic wages you get paid for sitting on your arse all day listening to the radio you mean? Ha Ha, have you considered a job in local government? I hear the foods better and I am reliably informed the only way you can get sacked from a govt job is by being UN-PC … well that was the case a few years ago. These days I think all the local govt chair attendants are ■■■■■■■■ themselves ,
The pleasant smells you get in the early morning when the mist is about,comes from the fields.Getting a better nights sleep in the cab than you get at home.
Finding a decent place to stop over when you have low value goods on,so it does not matter too much where you dump the lorry.
Going to places you would not go to in your time off,like i passed Six Mile Bottom,home of the National Horse Stud,and saw a museum and vistitors centre that i could visit in free time,i would not have known it was there otherwise.
Pay is OK, reckon I’m worth more but don’t we all .
Coming up empty roads just before or after sunrise
I’m agency but am usually with the same company, so on different runs every few days, first day on a new run is nearly always a pain but the variety suits me
Also being agency I can take a day or week off when it suits, ok I let the agency know the Friday before but this is the reason I’m on agency rather than with a company I fit driving round my life not the other way round
I used to love the job but now … I HATE IT
The jobs I had back in the UK were mostly enjoyable and I had a lot of fun, there was no rush and I actually stopped for meals
I have a job here that pays more than any other company drivers get and its a fixed minimum even if I do virtually nothing all week, even so when I am on the move its flat out all the way and the dispatch get angry because I tell them I am stopping for a shower and food. I don’t get home now from monday till friday night and sleeping in a box, albeit about 3 times the size of European or Brtish cab is not the life I want.
I did a spell self employed and saw most of the country but got home about 2 days a month, I enjoyed seeing the amazing differences in the scenery but couldn’t do that for long.
Give me a desk job please.
Funny how Squiddy asked for posts about enjoying the job, but the whingers cant help casting the mist of doom. . I personally enjoy my job, comfy seat that goes up and down, radio/cd to listen to what i want, comfy bed, different view out of the"office" window. Night heater ,aircon pod. Seeing different places ,seeing the seasons come and go, dropping off and picking up a few pallets now and then. Decent office staff at my company, new vehicles dealer serviced. Whats not to like.
I always loved travel, especially foreign travel and I also loved driving from the time I was old enough to, so it seemed like a good way to get paid for doing something I enjoyed anyway.
I didn’t like being in an office with people watching everything you do, when it’s quiet, you still had to look busy, when someone was ill, it went round like wildfire.
So I gave that up and became a bin man / street sweeper, and 1 day, sweeping the streets, saw a bus pulled up with the driver reading his paper in his warm (so I thought) bus whilst I was freezing, so I went on the busses.
I went from liking people and being really friendly to hating everyone and being a git, so I did my hgv licence to do same job without passengers.
Job’s ok, money’s ok, just a shame that we have to share a road with muppets, and I don’t suffer fools - whoever they are, planner, security jobsworth, idiot in a car etc, and it gets me into a L O T of trouble.
But, the morons don’t realise, when we snap, it’s not because we’re angry as such, but because we’ve just saved their bloody life because of their own stupidity
love the job i do , i’ve always been around farms anyway & this gives me the chance to visit farms all over the south of england & wales & to talk to like minded people about things we have in common, & because of the ammount of trucks that also deliver to mills & docks , i get to meet drivers from all over the country as well , i have some good kit & decent company to work for , & always something new to see everyday, everyday is different even though i’m doing the same thing
Squiddy:
I’ve seen many threads about what we hate about the job or what winds us up so I thought I would start one about what you love about the job.
For me it is about not being stuck in an office or factory, the feeling of independence from management on the road, new scenery every day and visiting new places (although I admit I only see most places from the ring road), the fact it doesn’t feel like actual work and witnessing some of the most spectacular sunrises imaginable. Also in previous non driving jobs I was always watching the clock waiting for the day to end. Now I look at the clock and wish for more time.
Ohh,i earned great Money with that Job,till a few Year ago when i got contracted to that Site :-!
I like trucking basically because as soon as I leave the yard in the evening, then I’m the boss-man, and as long as I acheive what is on my paperwork, then alls ok. I very rarely get to go anywhere outside of East Anglia these days, but there’s always some item or other to keep the experience fresh, so there’s never really two days(or nights) the same. Added to that, I easily doubled my money from when I worked in a factory, and I live near enough to be able to cycle to and from work, so yes, it ticks most of the boxes.
One thing that is annoying,when the customer calls you while you are driving,and you expected to know the exact contents of the trailer load,and all the references on the packaging,and ask have you done that drop and what is left to do,but dont go to the next one,and remember what was supposed to come or off while not getting distracted,best thing to do is say call back in 30 mins when i have found a safe place to take your ridiculous call,you know what is on board,as you are lookin at the manifest.
Harry Monk:
I always loved travel, especially foreign travel and I also loved driving from the time I was old enough to, so it seemed like a good way to get paid for doing something I enjoyed anyway.
Chatting up the office staff,nobody has done that then,and had a peep up their short skirts!!As they swivel around on their chair to give a Sharon Stone moment.
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. I personally enjoy my job, comfy seat that goes up and down, radio/cd to listen to what i want, comfy bed, different view out of the"office" window. Night heater ,aircon pod. Seeing different places ,seeing the seasons come and go, dropping off and picking up a few pallets now and then. Decent office staff at my company, new vehicles dealer serviced. Whats not to like. 