When I started class one 40 odd Years ago it was a pretty good job. Had respect from other road users and you were basically your own boss no mobile phones no governers on your back got your work notes and got on with it. Drivers all stuck together helped each other out. Saw the changes over the years and glad I out of it now.
I've wanted to get into HGV for years but have always been put off by family ( my dad who was a trucker all his life) and things you hear about truck driving! I realised I wasn't getting any younger so got into it! I did 12 months on class 2 driving a 32t hook loader, then my company put me through my class 1 so I could pull trailers. I now drive all over the country wag and drag, and although I do enjoy it, I find it knackering! Up at 03:30 ISH check lorry off and on road for around 5, sometimes earlier, getting home around 6pm ish. There's just 2 things I find stressful, the tacho, and trying to find somewhere to drop my trailer so I can go deliver my containers. It's not easy because a lot of sites I go to, you couldn't get in with the trailer. With the tacho, i just find it all so confusing! 😮 The wtd and all that... 😵💫 The pay is ok, I'm never going to be wealthy but it pays the bills! Oh and the CPC is a load of horse shit tbh, it doesn't help you get a job in any way! The majority of transport companies will turn new drivers away, but if you keep looking, you will find a place that will take on new drivers. I would also say, if you don't like big trucks or you don't like driving, or doing long hours, I'd stay away from it. Also, if you're going into it for the money, don't bother! Although some companies pay well, you'll find most won't pay any more than £14/15 pph (I live in the west midlands) most places I tried were paying £12 pph class 2 and £14 for 1, which isn't great! Personally I think for the skills you need and the knowledge you need to have, the pay should be a lot better! It's especially depressing to think I could go earn more per hour stacking shelves in Aldi! 🤯 But it's each to their own! 🤷
I have had my class 1 from the mid 80s now a london black cab driver for the past 20 years. I'm now in my 60s, and I'm back in a class 1. The job is from Italy to Monaco. i got my licence back in covid . The cpc is a money-making con that it does not need to be so long-winded. I enjoyed being back in a lorry, so I'm looking forward to this job and glad it's back in Europe where you are respected. And you are correct. Trucks are so easy to drive now and the trailers are easy to work with now, too. Regarding the money night rates being a pound or 2 more than day rates so why would you do nights. Btw good video
Back in the day, Moscow Istanbul but mostly mainland Europe Italy Spain France Greece when we did customs on every country's borders. Not just driving paperwork banker loader strip out trailers. Hard work but fantastic times. So yes, I would give up the cab now to do a trunking job or trailer swap. Never been treated well in the uk overworked and underpaid.
Nearly 30 years tramping I decided to semi-retire. Doing 2 nights a week trunking or hub work. Trucking is not a job, it's a way off life. Very long hours 3x15 and 2x13's it was very tiring, then on a Friday running out of time arriving back Saturday morning. It screws up the weekend, back in the saddle usually within 45 hours. Not much home life. Not a job for younger drivers with kiddies. Can also be a strain on relationships. I was in Carnaby Yorkshire when my father passed away, was in Perth when my mother passed, was in Norfolk when my sister and Avonmouth when my other half left me 😢. I think we are born to be truckers not trained to be. It is a vocation. However I had enough. Bad drivers, road rage and attitudes, R.D.C's, sometimes impossible demands by traffic planners, C.P.C, V.O.S.A, W.T.D, infringements, London problems, Overnight parking the list is endless.
I love my job but sometimes you get that one snotty security guard or forklift who wants to give grief. I just smile sweetly and walk away, it annoys them more than you. I quit my first long term agency contract after 5 months due to a warehouse supervisor and his forklifts deliberately delaying me every night. When I handed my keys in and told the boss that's it he was like "Whoah! We're going to off you a permanent job". I looked him in the eye and said "I've told you for months I won't put up with abuse down there, I would rather sh*t in my hands and clap than take your job... See ya!". The moral is you're not paid to take sh*t off anyone
No-one should have to deal with it. I treat people how they treat me sometimes just to prove a point. Normally I just let it all slide coz I'm not at places very long.
Expectations need to be managed for new people to the job….there’s a new(ish) starter with us who wants to work less hours for much more per hour….nice idea but it’s not gonna happen. If you want to earn good money then you put the hours in, that’s it.
Trying to manage expectations. I Tey and give a balance view on being a hgv driver because its a good jobs I'd it suits you but a shite one if it doesn't.... like any job!
I'd love to give you my opinion, but since i passed last April i haven't had a sniff since, you mentioned all the things that need to change but the biggest road block in the whole system no experience no job.
Honestly it should be advertised now that there’s a big chance you may not get a job after handing over £3k for a licence. It took me 2 years for someone to give me a chance.
I tried it but dont mind admitting it just wasnt for me. Started an apprentice scheme with a large chilled co.Had no idea what start time ( had to call / check with the office the afternoon before) could be anytime midnight to 8am. Long hours, no sleep due to early starts. Sitting on bays for hours. I am the wrong side of 40 so that probably made it harder ! Thats just my experience tho.
I've been driving class 1 and 2 since 2020 .I work as an agency driver it suits me , recently I've noticed the money getting lower being offered for assignments on various job sites. Whether this is due to more drivers or other factors I don't know but this won't help attract
belive it or not my wife is a cleaner she gets £16 a hour the real madness is you think £16 a houir for driving a killing machine is good . truck driving is one of the few jobs that can find you in prison if you cock up
Ive been trucking for best part of 20years. Being spoken like your one level lower than a shit heap is part of the job. By all means complain to your employer.....who in turn wont do anything whatsoever to upset customers. To be totally honest ,most of management you will work for will also treat you badly. I did say 'most' not all. In a nutshell you aint going to change it not now not ever.
@@AshleyHaleUK For me its having total lack of control during your day. You can be the best driver in the country all it takes is one motorway/road to be shut and bang your on a 15 hour day or a night out. But the biggest for me is when youve had a crap day...bad weather/delays/loading problems etc etc.... Get to your drop your greeted by a clarke kent lookalike who treats you like shite. Like i say, i accepted it long ago.
I know a few agencies, and I'll see what I can find out about how they operate regarding work. I know when I did warehouse work, they wanted you at the last minute, don't know if that's the same for drivers as well
Well it would help if DVSA,managed to get licenses back in good time after the age of 45 when reapplying with medical forms , I have just turned 60 and am currently on 8 weeks wait , very frustrating
I did about 10 months before I went for my class 1. It made it easier because I didn't have to think about how wide the truck is. I would open up more job opportunities if you had both and we're will to do either for work.
I left the trade earlier this year. By far and away the best decision I've ever made. All a new pass or existing driver needs to realise is that what ever truck you're in, the person that owns it, or owns the company that owns the truck you drive, wants it to run it 24 hours a day, and pay who ever drives it the least they can, that's why your hours are maxed. The best tips I could offer for any driver are these, turn your mobile phone off so they can't ring or control you. Do manual entries every day, don't give them your money and cut your card up. Shit job, shit industry, and shunters, what that rhymes with is what them twats are
I have a question. I have applied for my hgv licence, but six years ago i was convicted twice in 2018 of DR10, so I was wondering if its worth me even going forward with this and spending the £3k it has cost, or if its a hopeless case with this on my record. Any and all advice would be appreciated
Anything like that, the application is sent to the local traffic commissioner who will assess and make a decision. I honestly don't know what will happen, it's on your licence for a long time so it may cause you issue's once you've passed as well. Hope that helps.
If the jobs were advertised as 10 hrs, I get it. Delays happen that are beyond someone's control. But if you agreed to a 10 hr shift and are being planned for longer, I get the annoyance
Are things really that bad for drivers? I'm just at the start of getting my c+e license as I don't like the job I'm in and thought being a hgv driver would be a good choice as I like driving and thought I could make some decent money at the same time but all I keep hearing is negative
It's not the worst job in the world it's also not the best, but what is? There is alot of negatives but also positives. Before you start in this game and comitt your dollar getting your licence make sure as best you can that it's for you. If you looking for a job with straight start/finish times then this isn't for you. It can therefore also have a big impact on your partner if your attached. Alot to consider!
Great info! Thanks a lot! I was wondering, if a bloke doesn't have dependents, wife etc can he live in the truck full time? Is that realistic? Would the companies be OK with it? Is it a luck thing, meaning finding the right company to accept it or is that completely out of the question? Asking for a friend 😅
Don’t allow yourselves to be treated like this, if the money is poor don’t work for them, if they talk to you like shit, tell them to stick it, if the conditions are rubbish and the hours are too long, walk away.
Nothing these delivery companies pay terrible job conditions are poor and driving is boring truck drivers are treated like trash even though it is the most important job out there
Whats poor wages? I get they vary from area to area but what is bad. I earn double what I was getting as a retail manager doing similar hours to what I actually did as a manager
Been retired now not far off a year best thing I've ever done hated everything about truck driving shit pay treated like shit and terrible people so called in charge who haven't got a clue
Any hgv driver who works for minimum wage needs their heads examined, if you go and work in a supermarket stacking shelves there is no way you could go to jail for doing your job but you have huge legal responsibility if you're driving a lorry and there's is so many ways you could fall foul of the law, so just don't accept these jobs, with regards to the cpc the intention behind it is good to raise the professionalism of the industry which is full of cowboys both companies and drivers but the way it is administered is poor, why not include adr hiab etc and get your training and refreshers so you can move easily between different roles and give drivers a choice so that they can leave crap jobs, but this is just wishful thinking it will never happen
Forget the money you couldn't get me behind the wheel again sick to death of been talked to and treated like a dog most of the drivers are brain dead remember blame the mother for not getting them any toys and then some that gives them a 44.ton toy with lights etc and then they are happy no thanks
You make good arguments but in my opinion you're flogging a dead horse! I've had my HGV for 50 years and I dip in and out of driving as I need to and at least with an HGV you will never be without work. Okay, some of it is not the best but you can always earn a living. Driver CPC? Bang on it is a money maker and will never go away now it's in place. Respect from other road users, RDC people etc? Never going to happen. As far as most people are concerned you are a labourer with a driving license and not a professional of any kind despite your 'qualification'. I did European for a while and there is a completely different attitude there, You are respected for what you do and people realise that without trucks, they won't be able to live. Don't forget that the rules and regulations the industry labours under are set by government and in this country ALL road users are seen as a cash cow for the government and an inconvenience for the elite and they will never allow anyone to lower costs or relax regulations.
All make sense. I'm justvtrying to give people who are looking at becoming a HGV Driver a more balanced view on what it's like, rather than just the negatives or positives.
get rid of cpc... and, as a newly qualified driver struggling to find work, give us a chance.... companies will only have themselves to blame for the shortage.
