hello people,
i have been looking at these forums and found them very interesting and helpful (glad i found this site).
i was jus wondering if this is still a male dominated industry? as i am a young woman taking a training course soon LGV2.
i know there are female drivers out there somewhere, but you dont get to see them very often.
have you got any advice for me.
thankyou.
galaxy77:
hello people,
i have been looking at these forums and found them very interesting and helpful (glad i found this site).
i was jus wondering if this is still a male dominated industry? as i am a young woman taking a training course soon LGV2.
i know there are female drivers out there somewhere, but you dont get to see them very often.
have you got any advice for me.[/b]
thankyou.
[/quote]
Yes, go for itIt will give us guys something to look at when we’re sat at Tesco’s twiddling thumbs etc …
What advice do you want exactly ?
Basically it’s a not a bad job if you enjoy driving (but not sitting in traffic) but it’s regular as clockwork long hours and unless you know someone who knows someone etc, it’s [zb] pay. Dunno where you’re based but £5/hr is about the norm for class 2 rigid work (£6/agency).
There’s a few lassie drivers on here (LucyR class 1 on containers, Allikat’s class 1 and Tiggz (Marie) is new on here and class 1 too. There’s another lassie in Selby class 1 on tippers but I’ve forgotten here name). I’m sure they’ll all add their tuppence worth soon.
Enjoy.
Hello Galaxxy & welcome to the Truck Net.
Best advice would be sit down & think about what YOU want, what YOU can afford & decide if this is the job for YOU.
I would go along with Rob except to add that hours & pay depend upon the kind of work you do, lots of jobs involve driving HGV’s that do require long hours.
Truck driving is the best job you can ever do, but only if its what your ideal job.
The transport industry is certainly predominantly male, whether it’s male dominated is another quetsion. Out of around 400,000 lgv drivers I’d guess (and as editor of Truck & Driver magazine have a fair overview) you’d be pushed to find a 1000 females.
Having said that things are changing and more women have come into the business in the last few years than in the preceeding 20.
For the younger guys this is no big deal. For some, and I stress ‘some’ of the older guys this can present a problem and responses vary from the hostile to the patronising. The same applies to women in a lot of manual trades
The character traits important to being a professional driver have always been initiative and self reliance, if you’ve got - or are determined to get those - you’ll make it. At worst the job offers long hours and low social status, at best travel and freedom.
If you can get to class one you’ll have a wider choice of work but jobs vary and withe working time directive about to come a lot more jobs are based on shifts with no nights way. Take the test, at least you’ll have a skill to fall back on even if you don’t making driving a full time occupation. Goodness knows roadtransport could do with a few more women to bring a sense of perspective.
I was at Leicster forest east this morning and i saw my 1st lady trucker in a rigid, ihad to look twice to make sure i wasnt seeing things!! it made a change to see a lady behind the wheel!
Ben 
Hi Galaxy
I’ve been driving LGV1 now for 22 years and tramping for most of that time.
It’s a great job, and one I love but there are drawbacks as have already been mentioned above.
The hours are long, and the physical side of things cam sometime come very hard until you get the hang of the easy way of doing things (there always is one, it just takes time to find )
The main thing is the attitude some women have, to the ‘male dominance side’ of the job.
My advice is to go into it totally forgetting you’re a female, your a lorry driver 
If you earn the respect of the lads you work with they will give you that respect back every time, and if you are happy to be ‘one of them’ and ask no favours, they will stick by you, through thick and thin 
The guys will always offer to help …if you offer to help them too.
It’s a great life and once you get used to finding ‘safe’ parking places, clean loos, and laughing at yourself when it all goes wrong, then there’s nothing better
Pat
Pat:
Hi GalaxyI’ve been driving LGV1 now for 22 years and tramping for most of that time.
It’s a great job, and one I love but there are drawbacks as have already been mentioned above.
The hours are long, and the physical side of things cam sometime come very hard until you get the hang of the easy way of doing things (there always is one, it just takes time to findThe main thing is the attitude some women have, to the ‘male dominance side’ of the job.
My advice is to go into it totally forgetting you’re a female, your a lorry driver
If you earn the respect of the lads you work with they will give you that respect back every time, and if you are happy to be ‘one of them’ and ask no favours, they will stick by you, through thick and thinThe guys will always offer to help …if you offer to help them too.
It’s a great life and once you get used to finding ‘safe’ parking places, clean loos, and laughing at yourself when it all goes wrong, then there’s nothing betterPat
You need a VGSOH too and definitely don’t come into the industry if you’re easily offended Some guys do go a tad OTT to “impress their mates” for the want of a better phrase.
Its fun. Give it a try. As with all jobs there are good bits as well as bad bits. Gender doesn’t really cause an issue. A few transport managers might hmm and aaah a bit but they don’t actually care so long as you can do the job. Once you get in there and show them, its a doddle.
Other drivers - some are great, some are bogeybutts. Do you care what they think? There are idiots in all walks of life.
As a male, I couldn’t agree with Pat more.
I’m the lassie from selby on tippers and i agree with Pat wholeheartedly. Go for it I dont have very many problems in this mucky old job. You may have to take some time to find the aspect of the industry you like best. Pat loves her general haulageand hates tippers, I love bulk work and cringe when I see a tautlineer0. Like in any walk of life there will be things you prefer. Pat already told you all you need to know. The GSOH thing is true too. I made a complete ■■■■ up of getting on a weighbridge yesterday, for someone who does it all day everyday!!! I just joked with the weighbridge man and it was all forgotten and made into a joke. Dont take yourdelf too seriously. And have fun There is nothing better than a spring morning on a country road with the radio on
Yep everything Pat has said makes sense to me. I have worked with several women drivers, all were good at thier job and just mucked in as one of the lads. You can’t do everything, but the same goes for us blokes, so don’t try and lift a load that to heavy for you just to prove a point, then find out the most male drivers wouldn’t have lifted it anyway. However in some situatons the novelty of being woman truck driver might work to your advantage.
As for the job in general, give it a go, if its right for you then great, if not then you can leave the industry and you always have your licence to fall back on if you need work. If you don’t give it a go you might spend the rest of your life regreting it.
muckles:
…but the same goes for us blokes, so don’t try and lift a load that to heavy for you just to prove a point, then find out the most male drivers wouldn’t have lifted it anyway.
That’s so true
Nice one!
I’ve been driving class 1 for a few years now, the last 12 months i’ve been on intermittent continental work. Go for it girl! It might be wise to invest in a t-shirt saying " Talk to the face cus the t@ts aren’t listening!" It works for me.
A girl where I work got told to change her T’shirt
It was a Coke Cola shirt and It had the slogan
“if you’ve got the balls, I’ve got the bottle”
I’m only class 2 right now… worse luck.
Go for class 1 straight off, it is quicker that way, and you get into better work.
Good luck. Some men are anoying [zb]s and others can be so helpful
now alicat thats not nice is it
i used to drive with a lady trucker and boy did she know her stuff, and she was pretty useful with the trailor too 
have got to hold my hands up when i see ladys driving 44t of artic it is bit a bit of a shock, but why the hell not why should it be male dominated trucks are now getting much easier to drive so why shouldnt the ladys have a go, makes traffic jams much more bearable to
chris
caveman:
…but why the hell not why should it be male dominated trucks are now getting much easier to drive so why shouldnt the ladys have a go, makes traffic jams much more bearable to
chris
Chris I hope you meant they need less grunt and more guile. If not you better grab a tinny, (thats a hat not a lager).
caveman:
trucks are now getting much easier to drive so why shouldnt the ladys have a go, makes traffic jams much more bearable to
chris
Not at all patronising, Yep and I think the new Merc even has a special handle for your handbag and a holder for your lippy.
hasnt the new scannie got a mirror on the sunvisor too
so would women have driven back in the days of no power steering, double declutching, sleeping over the seats because of no bunk?
i dont mean to sound patronising if i do sorry
but it is true that trucks nowadays are more driver friendly for men as well as women and as attitudes are changing why the hell not!!
suit of armer in place
chris
caveman:
so would women have driven back in the days of no power steering, double declutching, sleeping over the seats because of no bunk?
i dont mean to sound patronising if i do sorry
but it is true that trucks nowadays are more driver friendly for men as well as women and as attitudes are changing why the hell not!!
suit of armer in place
chris
I think the lack of women drivers in the past had more to do with social conditioning than truck design. My mother used to do farm work and because of this she is probally more able to drive a truck without power steering etc than I am.
Of course during WWII many women had to drive trucks and many women round these parts take to the roads every weekend in old Bedford TK horseboxes with no power steering and rough old gearboxes and many also sleep in the back.
But I think you are right modern trucks and load handling makes truck driving much more appealing to both sexes.