35 years an artic driver. No more. The job just kept getting worse. The industry used to be run by hard working men with common sense. It's now run by box ticking children with laptops. I now drive a desk. Love it.
Your right in the day there was a lot of hard men running these haulage firms, Jack Wild was one Wilds Haulage,you had a guy down here in the south Jack Sunderland Sunderland’s Transport, Giovanni of Lea Anto International, to name but a few,but these were from my days back in the 60s early 70s.
Used to be run by good transport managers one's who had done the job and still did the odd night. Now run by young pups who don't even hold a class 1 licence. Did 25 years as a class 1 man and a HGV mechanic as well. Did my time have semi retired now will retire for good in October when my licence runs out. will not bother to renew. Will not miss it at all
If you love lorries, being away from home, eating crap food, putting on weight & talking to yourself for hours on end, then welcome to a career as an HGV Driver.
I didn’t mind being away from home didn’t bother me, as for food I used to cook my own in the cab, as for putting on weight never happed Iv been just over 10 stone all my days, I do admit to talking to my self though we did have some rows and some laughs,yeah we got on alright Lol!😂
The biggest issue for me in 20 years of class 1 driving is the clowns in transport offices, I was about to pack in a few years back because of the cretins who go out of their way to make your day as difficult as possible and if you refuse or protest about anything you will be singled out as a troublemaker regardless of if it is borderline illegal or immoral, fortunately the company where I work now treat their drivers well and know what you can and can't do probably because they are all experienced drivers themselves, so it is possible to find a good firm to work for but they are extremely rare
That was my main issue. It's like they breed them in factories somewhere you move from one company to another, and its like the same awkward cloned tw@t followed you, the last place I worked they had a bunch of gossiping women in the office, the shit they caused was unreal and then the main supervisor was total control freak and petty with it too, he started shouting down the phone at me once " IM YOUR BOSS ". I was told he had a meltdown when I hung up on him 😂
This is the case everywhere. Our lot have recently removed all of the ex drivers who were running the office and doing a decent job. They have now employed office staff who have zero experience in the industry the whole lot has gone too rat shit.
Clueless office workers and planners seem to go out there way to make your day shit. Easier to stop in laybyes in the 80s too busy to find a good spot after 15.00 any day of the week.
Years of cheap foreign drivers drove the wages down to a ridiculous level. Road changes and rules that are clearly to remove HGV's from the road. The opinion that a 12 to 15 hour day for a driver is acceptable but god help the office planners if they have to do more than 9 hours. A common attitude that "its just driving" is a good percentage of why my previous points are a thing. I left the industry full time about 9 years ago. I continued to do a bit of part time work to help out financially but gave that up a couple of years back. I dont miss it and will just be letting my CPC and licence expire when they come for renewal.
Yeah right fvcking foreigners this, that. Best course of action if you shut the fvck up. I'm bloody foreigner In the UK and I can reassure you that for less than £25 p.h. I wouldn't get out of bed, I get same wage what most hgv drivers on FLT. You go and work.
foreign drivers never worked for pennies, is the amount of drivers that pushed the wages down, you could see when Ir35 law came in force how many foreign drivers left UK the salaries skyrocketed then.
I'd agree totally 12 to 15 hour day no life at all and if you sleep out it's like 1 long ass day that never ends and when it's busy it's all about pushing you harder to do the job. I left after 19years driveing in ireland I did have some great jobs and sorry I left 1 or 2 another hadnt enough work but then other jobs with there bosses were under the impression if I can do the stupid hours you'll be able to do them,granted uts there company but burning drivers like that no one will stay. Off the road 2 years with a start and finish time can't beat it for work life ballence and family time but doing about 4 to 5 days a month for extra finances,it scratches the itch and makes me realise what I have Monday to Friday handy time
This is sarcasm surely? ! I’ve collected UK cars from Romania and the roads are lacking slightly . For example Try planning a 44t route to Suceava and see how that works out
@@TabbingUKyou know why they drink in the uk? Because UK is sh!t country to drive hgv, and statistically, in the uk, that's where most thefts happens on regular basis, UK is a most robbing country of hgv drivers as soon as their registration plate reads PL, LV, CZ, RO, EST, SLO,SK.
@@alexmore8527 I driven HGV's in the UK and across Eastern Africa. My take is that the UK industry is over regulated whilst in Eastern Africa regulations are only followed on a need to basis. But working conditions are much tougher & salaries abismal.
Not a HGV driver but I am an FLT driver unloading trucks. I always try and have a conversation with a driver and ask how it's going, so I've heard all the stories of planning and distribution management being riddled with hypocritical, box-checking people who have no common sense. Personally I always put my foot to floor and get deliveries turned around as fast as possible so that drivers can get on with their days. I used to do vans and so I know how bad the roads are, and how much sh*t planning pile on drivers while treating them like 2nd class citizens and brushing off all problems as "moaning". One point about the being treated as an inconvenience at delivery sites: I don't defend it at all but worth pointing out that people working in these sites can be getting shat on by their own management too. Our place runs on as little staff as possible and we are usually trying to get so much stuff done at once that suddenly having to also go and spend 30mins (that you don't have) tipping a delivery and all the other stuff that goes with it (sorting all the yard gates, loading up with waste/recycling afterwards, all the site segregation/safety nonsense) can really break your day. As I said, not defending it because at the end of the day I see myself as being in it with the drivers, both of us against bad management, red tape, and penny-pinching businesses, but just saying that sometimes there might be a bad attitude on site because that person is getting shafted too.
I quit last year after 25 years in the UK and Europe. Everyone you meet in the course of a working day seems hellbent on being difficult, as you said. The road network is in a sorry state and driving standards are appalling.
a few years ago i was making a delivery to Tesco rdc at teesport they'd unloaded the container but wouldn't let me leave because of a discrepancy told them in the office I going to phone the police i was still on the phone when they brought the paper work its classed as false imprisonment if u want to leave they have to let you funnily enough didn't get sent to Tescos again
Lot of negatives from people but i love driving trucks, i drive for a little company, only 6 of us, gaffer drives his wagon, no planners to worry about, 2 nights out max, decent wages, great overtime rates and christmas bonus, proper old fashioned outfit. I would not drive for one of the big outfits, 3 years at Dick Head Logistics was enough for me. The job is what you make of it, i have 500bhp, a bed, microwave, a kettle, i can fart when i like and the scenary is always changing, whats not to like. It beats the crap out of being stuck in an office all day with people that make you want to give them the good news with a 3lb lump hammer.
@@trevorford9432Yes m8 totally agree. These FXXXXN desk jockeys are a pet hate of mine. "It'll only take you 10 minutes" If there's no other traffic on the road and no-one waiting to tip !!!!
After 35 years on heavies I have retired and was glad to park up for the last time. Car drivers have no respect, it’s almost as if they can’t see us! In my last week I was cut up by impatient Audis so many times I lost count.
@keithmarshall8796 Sorry, got confused with the difference between paud for the course and paying for you to attend. They have to pay you for attending, but not the course itself.
Got my licence in 2003 and spent a year driving in 2004. I only did it because my dad used to take me along in the 70s so it was sort of nostalgic and was in the process of changing career. However 2004 was exhausting. Felt like I was constantly up against time and tacho regs, and all before VOSA. Although I remember reporting defects that would never get fixed, warning lights and so on. Probably changed now. Poor planning was a norm with runs that were obviously not do-able. Regularly ran out of hours at services where they then sent out a driver in a transit to swap over. Then there was the “just nip in here or there” when you thought you were done for the day. Then there was the Distribution centre nonsense, probably a lot worse now, but turning up with a single pallet taking hours to get tipped, and even having a tail lift and pump truck. “Nope, has to be dropped on dock”. Then there were stacker drivers that would see you drive in the yard and go on break. I remember just a general sense of hostility around the job.
If I had defects on a truck back in the day and they hadn’t been done I’d refuse to take it out! For example I worked for a company in Hemelhempsted. I said to the boss I need two new tyres on front of the unit, leave it to me he says! I went in the next day about 6am looked at the tyres and saw to my amazement he’d had them recut, so I did no more I woke him up at home and said I’m going back home when you decide to put new tyres on the unit I will come back a take it out until then it can sit in the yard, Oh! Bloody hell he says that’s got to be there early ! I said tough shit you should have thought about before recutting them! See ya later! 10am he rings me , all done ! Never did it again don’t drive anymore retired when I was 70 loved the job 40odd years.
Same i loved going out with my dad, i got my class 1 and did ADR for 28hrs cpc , but so far never had to drive truck just as a backup, but the pay is so poor.
I was a driver trainer for a large fuel tanker fleet, at a drivers meeting with management the drivers were complaining about defecting trucks and being told to just get the work done, I stood up and said they should drive into the nearest vosa checkpoint and report it, nearly lost my job.🤡🤡🤡
Did class one from early 80's until 2017, was a victim of road rage caused by a 65 year old QC. I was found guilty of dangerous driving, not paid as a professional, but judged as one in court! Typical British legal system!!!
As a hgv driver for over 40 years I can agree with everything you said, treated like a leper and 2nd class worker, my hourly rate working for great bear distribution was £10.35..that was 3 years ago, iam retired now, I couldn't wait to finish, my girlfriend was on £10 an hour 15 years ago.
I remember when I raised the very same issue regarding incompetent office staff with a company director I worked for 30 odd years ago, his reply was " they might be rubbish, but their cheap ", also having spent nearly 40 years in this game, I still remember what an old guy told as a Newby " this job is like Guinness laddie", you either love it or hate it. Just a pity the things I loved about this job are gone now.
I am currently a tramper driver that does container work. I packed it up once completely back in 2005 because I had had enough, my soul was never my own and even on the days when I did think maybe I could get home at reasonable time I would get the” can you just nip” call or someone would have a crash and the road would be closed or it was on the opposite carriageway but we all had to slow down for a look. However back in 2018 I found myself in need of a job so I got a medical, CPC and digicard and got back behind the wheel. If anything it’s worse now than it was then for many of the reasons listed in this video but also because the standard of driving in this country has got worse, the roads are jam packed everywhere you go and are almost unsafe to drive on. I have three years before I retire and if I thought I could get a decent job for those three years I would be off.
The other thing you mentioned with tramping was parking overnight ,on industrial estates I have always done that or tried to ,avoiding very busy and noisy services were a fridge comes and parks next to you ,at 3 am in a morning but the last few years I've found firms won't have that ,they insist you park on services many saying they aren't insured ,if you don't and again in a way I understand because you only have to look ,at curtainsiders last 10 yrs or more slashed all the way down ,no coincidence it never used to happen before major immigration into our country ,but it's another reason the job is crazy for trampers trying to get through ,a very hard week .
Totally agree with this. Although my company are pretty chilled with where you park. They are happy if you want to rough it or they will pay for parking. Like you say you need to be well rested in this game, being surrounded by fridges buzzing and humming all night is absolute hell
Same here, in services you have traffic in and out all night, in truckstops you have the 11:30 talking loud session and door slamming contest, then about 5am the engine revving contest.
Just about to retire in April after driving since 1989. Had a few jobs, and made redundant from a few. Argos was the best, delivering to stores, and all aspects of the job done properly. Done the supermarket distribution centres where delivery drivers are treated like 💩 and kept for hours, and Iceland Swindon was the worst. Just doing 3 days a week until I finish in April. Been working for a waste company since 2012 and had it's ups and downs like most places. Away from home all week and keep your own truck, which IMO is the way to go. Retiring at the age of 61, although I suggested to my pension advisor that I could do the 3 days a week till my driver card runs out in September this year 2024 like thousands of other truck driver's, but she assured me that I don't need to, so I aren't. Driving standards is a big one for me, especially London and other big towns and cities where there is a big demographic of a particular brand, and who's driving standards are absolutely shocking and makes you wonder if they have a driving licence at all. Anyway, bring on April, but I don't envy those who are still doing it. I will miss driving my truck, and I'll miss some of my fellow drivers too, but the standard of truck driving and the camaraderie is going in one direction, and I blame that on the influx of Eastern European driver's, who's standards differ. Im not saying British driver's are perfect, but some of the EU's finest are not upto standard. Anyway, Keep on Trucking 🚛🚛🚛🚛
@Francis-xl2gu Your not wrong, the general standard has gone downhill pretty sharply in recent years, and simple stuff like joining a motorway in front of a truck and not indicating or adjusting their speed to join the traffic flow is one that boils my piss, and if you don't let em on, they give you grief 🤷♂️ I will miss the actual driving of my truck, but the rest of it, I won't.
I have driving experience in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, England, Wales and Ireland. There are only two places where I hate to drive, one in Italy because they don't know what is the brake, however, I have never ever seen an accident. While in England every single occasion is there something on the motorways. Everyone is blind and deaf but always blames everyone else and is too pride to be a defensive driver. England’s driving standards are the absolute winner just from under… As I know car insurance is the most expensive there, not a coincidence.
Currently a van driver at a supermarket, looking to upgrade to an artic. I'll say this now before the replies start flooding in - I'm only doing it and going into the supermarket role as I've spoken to all the drivers that come to our shop who have all said it's a piece of piss. Clock on, vehicle checks, wait for the green light, hook up the trailer and go. Three drops a day, 10 hour shifts. The supermarket pays the HGV drivers the same way as us van drivers; PAYE, so they definitely want you clocked off at or before that 10 hour mark. The only down side is the 12am starts, which don't bother me as I'm a goblin anyway. That's the only route I'd be willing to take. There's no way I'd ever get into tramping after hearing about the working conditions and ridiculous fines. The extra few coins are just not worth it. Tramping is a complete scam. If you're spending your night sleeping in a truck you should be getting full pay all the way through. No questions. It's disgusting that people are expected to basically live in a box for £25 a night with no facilities. Specifically talking about our supermarket guys. There's absolutely no convincing me that our truck drivers have it anywhere near as bad as the van drivers. Take all the negatives mentioned in this video and then add in a completely useless leadership team and the absolute nightmare that is customers. You think customers are bad when you work in retail? Try delivering to their home. You're on their turf. They're ruthless! They could live on the sixth floor of a block of flats with no lift. Guess who's carrying it up there. You! Hand loading your own van full of crates of ale and cat litter. I know three drivers that have all had the same shoulder surgery because of it. Nightmare of a job and all for £11ph.
Supermarket class 1 is ok its just usually bad shifts. Theyll get you on 00.00 starts or 1.00 or something awful at most places. Favourites or guys who have been in the job years and years will get the better shift patterns. Messes with your sleep a lot. I loved the job but in the end couldnt function and do it safely on 2-3 hours sleep a day. If you can hack the shifts then its a great job
i worked for GXO it was fucking shite, shifts were bad, runs were badly planned, locations were an absolute joke, but you never know, you might like the job at your place, best of luck pal.
Yeah that sounds pretty rough. I work self employed on the agency and love supermarket work. Bit different to the usual as I’m delivering milk. Average 8-12 drops on an urban or a 44, so you do graft. But money is very good and I love a 0300 start 💪🏻✌🏻
I semi- retired 2 weeks ago. Tramped for just under 30 years. I now work 2 nights a week, trunking 😊. The job has changed tremendously over the years. My saying used to be with demanding planners push push rush rush crash crash 😮. With car & van aggressive driving style, attitude, and being the most hated on the road. Plus V.O.S.A. (Gestapo). Fines, Ulez, infringements, overnight parking, motorbike
Well done you for staying in the industry for so long away from your family so hats off to you, I hope that you made a decent living out of this through your hgv career, I have newly passed an hgv license but after what I see happening on uk roads, it really puts me off, wages aren't so rewarding for what you have to put up with, best if I stay in the warehouse for just little less money then.
I have to say, 24 years in the Army and left a little over a year ago. Done many jobs some good and some not so good, some hard and some not so hard. Thought I’d give HGV driving a go for retirement, worst job I’ve ever done! If you care for your mental health stay clear.
I’m now retired, my advice to anyone thinking about doing the job is be prepared for it to be your life, if tramping from say 4am Monday morning until finishing Friday night or Saturday sometime, there is nothing else in your life but work, don’t worry about what you get given or how you are treated their all a bunch of c*#@% end of, doesn’t matter what you’ve been given it’s simple, 15 hours curtains, if you can handle that then have a go and if some spotty kid planner tells you to tip over your hours or anything else illegal ask him/her to text or email that instruction to you and put his/her name to it, that stops em stone dead in my experience
Not a lorry driver but have 2 friends that are. And 2 different stories. One, drives nights, which he loves as he's a night owl, and just moves empty trailers around depots. He loves the job, same start time, same end time, night pay, no unloading/loading. My other friends despises the job and as you mentioned in this video, it's the irregular start/stop times each day, and it's getting him down i can tell. And if anything, it's unhealthy, all workers should have the same set times/days /hours, as humans we function better that way. Appreciate what you guys do, i couldn't do it.
Stopped driving in 2017,best decision I ever made, when I started was on 26ph adr 20 yrs later now 19ph, vosa police traffic warden's, scam cameras, don't do this work.
Its a shit stressful job, i drove for 7y for wincanton on nights, nver again too many cons to put down here, worked in a factory for 40y with no stress, let the new young guys enjoy it, 60 when i jacked , covid helped, loving life now , good vid lad
Working for Wincanton was your mistake. Worst distribution centres I have ever delivered/collected from were Wincanton's. Terrible load times, miserable staff.
I smile to myself when i pass hgv training on the road, with fresh face kids thinking its all an adventure.Never crabbed my 27 years on the road it was a choice i made, but all the things you mentioned and more have killed the job.Im out of it 4 years now and have had a few offers to go back, but i never will.
totally agree with you,keep going it'll soon come round,i've got eighteen months then they can stick it,i started class 1 back in1982 the volume of traffic and the scum that drive it over recent years has changed the industry for me,i literally count the days down as i go,good luck to you
Yeah, it also seems the same to me. I have just passed my C+E on a government funded course and whilst I certainly don't think it's a "big adventure" as someone else has said, I'm at least up for giving it a go. It hasn't cost me a penny so far and I think there is at least some future proofing with it.... The British way is to moan and never do anything to change. Also, on the CPC. It seemed to be pretty painless to me, someone with no previous experience. Surely after 25 years in the game, you could do it with your eyes shut? Yes, it is a pointless government box ticking and money making exercise. I couldn't agree more on this, but welcome to 2024....
Yeah,gave up lorry driving 19 years ago,person in office playing games, giving best jobs to the favourites, poor money,long hours,early start,late finish, having to break the speed limit constantly to get work done,boss who treated drivers like dirt,was cab happy when I first started driving,that lasted for a few years but novelty wore off, it was a rat race, competing with other drivers to get the most loads done,when I got mucked about by the office person once to often then I said enough and packed it in, didn't take my medical,didn't renew my licence,when I got my photo licence the entitlement was removed, didn't care because I wouldn't take another HGV job, because it sounds like the same things are happening to drivers now
The biggest problem with the haulage industry is, the moment you sit behind the wheel of a 44 tonner, everyone thinks they have the right to treat you like Sh!t!!..And I mean everyone you come across in you work day every day!...Even though 90% of them couldn't do your job!!....Ask me how I know??....I've had 44 years of driving HGV as both driver and owner driver!.....Drivers have been fools to themselves, they should have got together years ago and said NO More! Parked up, for as long as it took, and demanded better treatment, to be treat like humans and better conditions!!...But I very much doubt it'll ever happen??...
most workers are treated like sheet. try being a security guard they take ten times the sheet a driver will and they risk their lives confronting people for a minimum wage. think about it, others worse off than you drivers.
@@deathvalleybro9320 They do get treated shit although most don't actually do anything either as they touch anyone especially if they aren't on the premises they get fired and reported to the police, it's a thankless job I considered it because I was really good at stopping shoplifters when I worked at a supermarket but I got fired from that job for pushing one of the fuckers over. I feel bad for the ones who do nightclubs because they attacked all the time and spat at racist abuse etc and are expected to show restraint when dealing with the fuckers.
As a "day driver" I've started anywhere from 2am to 9am with a 1hr commute to work. Many won't do that but next week I'll have 2yrs experience gained on agency and I've got glowing references from certain clients. Yeah you can get attitude from some sites you visit, in my first agency job I quit cos of it and the supervisor at the delivery site got a final written warning for it, the best thing to do is smile sweetly at idiots cos it annoys them far more than it annoys you. The big one for me is agencies giving false promises of big money etc and you find it's just b******t to get you on the books but you soon suss them out. Overall the best job I've ever had, I won't go back to working inside.
You do have to work out what's real and what's not. That's why I'm trying to make these types of videos so people can understand. Hopefully, I'm giving a balanced view of what it's really like as an HGV driver
Forget it, worse job ever, £300 for my license 1978 A prisoner in a box with wheels Any problems with VOSA you the driver will pay £1000s in fines Get out Now
They are a corrupt bunch, relying on the fines from drivers,as no funding from the government I drove for a crap company for a short time ex hill hire wagons, best place for them was the scrap yard, never got stopped by self appointed bully's
@@AshleyHaleUK was earning appropriately £80 a week with overtime good old days, we all had a laugh, plenty of cafe's for a brew, if you had a flat battery or tyre always another driver to help you out Nowadays a driver from the same stable zzoomm
Cpc is a total waste of time it doesn’t improve anyone’s driviving skills. Money has gone down again because of all the eu drivers willing to do it for nothing. Standards have gone down the pan for the same reasons. Your always to blame no matter what. I wouldn’t recommend this industry to anyone. Told how to drive watched on camera and treated like s*** by everyone. Good luck it’s only going to get worse.
Since I come off HGV driving the law has changed regarding strapping your load even if a curtain sider as for the CPC that was introduced by the EU so why do drivers still have to have this when only doing UK work it's just a money raiser.
Disagree. The CPC is needed to ensure people know what theyre doing and can prove they are competent in the role. several 'old school' drivers at my place have the same argument as yourself towards CPC but two of them have had infringements since christmas because they can't even do correct manual entries. One of them even picked a wagon up from Scania and drove back to the depot without his card as he didnt know how to add his manual entry.
Myself after 25 years driving the CPC and agency zero hour contracts and 50 pound medical where a doctor just grabs your vitals and says cough easy money for them I use to be a tanker driver which was great until the oil firms let subcontractors (wincs,hoyer,etc) with their rolling week so sat and sun no time and a half or double time anymore take over the deliverys yes you have a job but terms and conditions change then 2 years later another firm get it and same again. When i was learning HGV instructor told me if you want to save your marriage try to not have nights away because you and your wife will drift apart and sadly it's true. I miss the driving but not the stress.Stopped driving at 60 .
It does put stain on relationships. Especially with nights out and the change over from being home. Luckily my wife is very understanding, she must be to put up with me 🤣🤣
Bit random but I hitched everywhere in the 1990s and I reckon 80-90% of all my lifts were HGV drivers, often 6-7 hour drives. Top bunch of people, always funny and good spirited. Only one thing they always insisted on - talk to me or I’m dropping you off, the main reason I’ve kicked you up is I’m bored out of mind and need someone to talk to 😂. Grateful to all those drivers back then, pretty sure HGV drivers were banned from picking up hitchers in the early naughties?
Yes ‘not covered by insurance’ is the line they use , same line they use to stop you taking your kids out for the day , I loved going with my dad as a kid , I’m now 57 so that was a while back lol
I was a class 1 driver for 15 years,i enjoyed it at first but ended up hating it,the pay is appalling now,they call us professional but don't get a professional wage,VOSA looking for easy pickings,car drivers have no respect,trying to get out of london at night with the M1,A1 and M11 closed going north,I fainted a year ago and lost my hgv license and now got a different job,passing out was the best thing that happened to me.😊😊😊
The iob is shit and getting worse! Anyone thinking of doing it for a career needs to stop and think. Ive got over 20 years in. In that 20 years its just got more and more ridiculous. Treated like shit by customers and shunters. Directed by a transport office who for the most part have not driven anything bigger than a car themselves and would need google to plan them a route to take them to the shit house. Lack of services, cab cctv...electronic driver performance monitering....etc etc etc Nah soon as possible im out.
I passed my hgv 1 in 95 i think..?,just for a laugh..im a mechanic by trade id say i was cab happy for 6mnths-ishthen the reality set in..the hours are ridiculous,the points of drops and there attitude towards drivers was abysmal the pay was CRAP..i went back on the spanners let my license lapse..oh and a freind of mine was told he was coming home one night as he had aappointment to meet the next day,he was called by his planner”you gota night out”to which he got in polite”you can flipping go away” planner said he had too..soooo he got outa the cab locked it up and dropped the keys in the tank and got a taxi/train home))) brilliant..😂
@@AshleyHaleUK i was agency for morrisons yrs ago…i used to do itas the owner of the unit paid cash..on this sat mornin at 1.30 am was going to carlisle,backed onto the trailor on the bay(green light was on)hooked up etc jumped in cab..looked back gota red showing..fk it..went to the air curtain saw stacker guy he said the bread hasnt come..so i called dispatch and i got this”yes drive bread isnt gona be here till SIX AM..!!,”ffs so i said il wait..but told him id wait..so 5.55 comes…i drop legs,undo suzzys..and call dispatch..he said”another hr OR SO drive”to which i said if its not here in 5min im off the bank”lol yea ok drive”6.01 comes,im driving past dispatch give him a parp on horn amd i was gone..fuck em all..lol needlesss to say i was banned..i cried for weeks about that…😂😂😂😂
Was driving class 1, company had a contract wi a Big International company moving Air Freight. Due to hold up on Motorway (usual crashes an roadworks) I was going to be out of working hours by the time I left the client. I told my company 2 hours 40 mins in advance, they said see how far you can get. Made delivery and pulled into services 5 mins down the road, rang company saying I was tipped an now nighting out. NO, we have driver here in office, he is on his way to you with another guy as will bring you back in a car. Office was 15 mins away, 2 hours 16 mins later he arrived. I ended up 17 hours 25 mins working time and was expected to start my next shift in 7 hours as my tacho would show I was on rest during the wait for my pickup. When I told him I was on POA which shows I'm still working he flipped. I got dragged into office next day an given written warning for exceeding working hours. When I started with company it was 80% core drivers and 20% agency, when I walked 2 years later agency drivers made up 80% of drivers, and were paid £3ph more than core drivers
34 years Class 2 driving for me, packed it in and now just pick litter up, the money is obviously less (but not as much as you think) but I actually 'enjoy' going to work now and don't dread the Monday morning feeling...
Overlong hours relitivly low pay poor conditions the HUGE responsibility of driving an HGV getting pushed to do more and more in a limited time etc etc
25 years driving in every category from skips to steel been their seen it done it! instructor/ QCF assessor and CPC trainer... on the spot fines upto £5000 , police always against you if something happens! traffic/ late long 15 hour days. I'm out sick of the industry, sick of the bullshit. Once we where kings of the road, now your just a bum o a seat!
One off the main things I used to go out off my way to try and get the lorry unload as quickly as possible to help the drivers out I had a good working relationship with most off the drivers
It just the uk, with the long hours shit pay and shit services, being a trucker anywhere else in the world is better then the uk. Uk, Australia and Europe is where ive worked you get you know just how much of a mug you are taken for in the uk. I did it for a whole year in the uk and what a joke, I took my licence to Europe and never looked back, services are all clean and never faulty. The job isn't bad...but it is in the uk, don't quit driving, just quit the uk. You'll be happier.
The top and bottom of it is there not the men they use to be hardened lorry drivers who most were brought up with farther being a trucker or uncle and use to go I the summer holidays with them now you have men and women who have never been in a truck until they start there lessons and I would say as I was always in the truck from a small child till I left school unknown to me I was learning how to take corners and brake with even knowing it that's a big plus and I would say like or not if these today had the year's I had flat Trailer roping and sheeting changing or own wheels at the side of the road in all weather's no night heaters clothes all damp windows Condensation freezing cold in winter no air conditioning in summer I honestly say there would be a massive driver Shortage today if it was still the same plus there wasn't the motorways there is today so if anyone of those drivers who are finishing today it proves you wouldn't have made 40 years ago no man enough.
If people did vlogs about office work you would hear all the bad doesn't matter what sector you work in it will always be the bad stuff people remember. We're human negative is what keeps us going 🤣🤣🤣
@@alexribeiro8805 Do it, better pay and better hours, home every night and know weeks in advance what you're doing, passengers can be dickheads but easy enough really they are no worse than some of the filth you will come across at RDCs. Once you get your feet under the table which doesn't take long you'll be on a rota of your choosing and you can choose to do all the hours god sends if you want or just do your rotad hours. Be very careful with the N/S mirror on buses they break very easily compared to a Lorry mirror they will snap straight off in order to protect the glass doors. You sometimes have to be firm with the controllers on the phone but generally they're alright especially once you've made a name for yourself. Only negative is some of the passengers but honestly not that bad.
Anyone who gives up their licence rather than do a day in a classroom for a CPC session is hiding their own failings. It's one of the easiest days "work" you'll ever do.
It doesn’t make you anymore wages though you still going to get crap money and plus even though you have a cpc your still surrounded by car driving morons that can do as they please and cut you up then slam on the brakes just to cause an accident.. Ive said this before if I need a cpc to be a professional driver I want a professional wage and I expect every other road user to have to take the same cpc course to prove they are also capable of professional driving standards too but sadly its always a one way street
CPC arrived & all the crap that comes with it ,So I said goodbye Road haulage after 38 years Went into fitting /engineering ,Should have done it years ago ,no stress now ,A very happy bunny ,Now retired
I was driving a HGV for 25 years before I left the industry, for a few reasons really, I do love driving a lorry there’s no better job and I saw Europe driving. However, the supermarket RDC’s don’t give a toss about you your a massive inconvenience to them, the motorway services are a ridiculous amount off money you have to pay and some off the showers are so dirty I had a pair off flip flops I used to wear in the showers because they was so dirty. Then you got vosa all they want to do is ban you and get you off the road. I’ve got no interest in driving again because off all that. 😊
Going to work to pay a £300 fine for going over hours because there is no safe parking and diversions sending you to the arse end of nowhere to shut a full motorway just to cut grass
6th March '82 got my ticket. Things were very different then. Crash boxes, iffy heaters. The truck had to be driven. Sheeting and dolly knots. We used maps. Not a screen with an arrow pointing upwards. No one learns the roads that way. Done most of Europe. Hard work. But no traffic, mobile phones, Vosa. Essentially trusted and left alone to do the job. Because it's such a cut throat business now owners want every inch out of their trucks. Who has to bear the brunt of that requirement? 15th September last, I hung up my clogs and now walk the dog, come rain or shine, at a leisurely pace. God bless you all and good luck in your ever deceasing circle.
Driving trucks for a living is just plain crap, you’re better on agency so you can say when you work, driven class 1 for 33 years and the worst thing about the job are the management, some of which weren’t even hgv qualified so hadn’t a clue what the job entailed and as for the CPC 🤔just a way to justify a job for someone or a money making exercise🤔I’m not sure, from my night to night experience I’ve witnessed some shocking hgv driving all over the country and this lowering of the age to drive just beggars belief
I get so sick and tired of other drivers going on about how great a job HGV driving is. It’s not good for everyone and depends what you want in life. This blokes pretty young looking. I am in my mid fifties and my body is wrecked with driving. I keep myself pretty fit but the stiffness is now getting to me. The security guards at my DC’s I go to get paid better than we do. And service stations at night have nothing open. Apart from some shop selling coffee for £4 a cup and £6 stale sandwiches. People need to know it’s not all a bed of roses and if you have a young family it’s crap. I don’t want people spending a fortune getting all the licenses and then end up hating the job. Try van driving for a while to get a taste for it. And then get your HGV licence. Plus if you’re young and planning to get married. No woman wants to see her husband two days a week or fortnight. my main piece of advice is. when you go to get your medical make sure get you head examined at the same time.
I've been a HGV driver for 25 years!!!!! It's the worst job in the world! 15 hour days 9 hours off. Would this should this even be legal? You really do get treated like dirt at RDC's. Try Farm foods stand outside under a useless canopy in sideways rain in January being ignored, but eventually your blood starts to turn into diesel and you accept your lot in life! I cut my teeth at Booker foodservice 3663. Ungrateful chefs who expect you to handball upstairs down stairs and round bloody corners! CPC is universally hated but isn't going anywhere. Anyone asks me about getting their licence i always say can you do something better? As we are the numptys who didn't get there heads down at school.
@@matthewdoyle3877 Yep far too many accept the shocking conditions and pay, bus drivers actually stick together and earn more more than HGV drivers they get rotas that don't involve working 70 hours or more a week. You can legally do a lot more hours than a HGV driver but you're not forced to its your choice and if you work mad hours you'll actually get rewarded for it and take home £1200 a week. The haulage industry is in dire need of a proper union and people actually standing together to sort the mess out.
Young guys out there, don’t pay over 2-3 grand to get a license, wild horses of the apocalypse wouldn’t get me behind a wheel of a van let alone a truck, crap wages crap bosses in the main, and the guys in yellow pulling you over Willy nilly is not worth the agro
@@AshleyHaleUK I became a production manager for a double glazing company, didn’t like the boss much so started my own company. I treat my people as I’d like to be treated, the way it should be
Hi I'm an old git now but back in the early 80s I was a goods vehicle/ plant mechanic and loved it I also got to drive a bit moving heavy plant / indivisible loads and loved that too because it was go somewhere pick up a machine and take it somewhere else then go home, non of the load up drop here there and pick up everywhere And now fast forward to today I could not think of a job I could hate more and mostly because of traffic density and the standard of driving by the general public and I have noticed a drop in driving standards by the hgv drivers I used to regard as lings of the road. You mentioned truck stops they have pretty much stayed in the 70s I can't think why they haven't moved on like our European counterparts. It's no surprise that new drivers don't stay in the job for long Keep up.the good work
If it's any consolation, I work in engineering and I have the same gripe with office types, typically female, often under 30 with a "better than you" attitude or over 40 bitter man haters. I've see how they treat drivers, couriers, etc, but they'll talk to engineers with 30 years experience, like something they wiped off their shoe, because you're "blue colar" and therefore a pleb, "not your job to think" they'll say. I can only imagine how much worse that is when you're alone all day except for those interactions, at least I can turn to a colleague and share thoughts/opinions and confirm i'm not the one with the problem.
I quit driving 44-ton tankers in 2006 because I didn’t need a crystal ball to see what the future would look like. I’ve never regretted the decision. I earned far more driving a little courier van than I did doing agency work after I’d quit my job. In fact I quit the whole country in 2012 and have been effectively retired since the age of 45.
Drivers are treated like dirt in the uk . No support services , no good truck stops , poor hours poor pay , high risk , more bell ends on the road,government added costs . Maybe if you got the 25 an hour you deserve you might stick it .All hail drivers , legends
60hrs expected, cameras, speed cameras, site cameras, shite food, unpredictable start finnish, driver telematics, traffic, spoke to like shit, risk of losing a months pay if DVSA get you for something, being givin ridiculous runs based off google maps issued by a giy with a degree and no driving licence wages almost on par with jobs without all the bullshit.....whats not to love
29 years doing this soul destroying Job altho it’s not all been bad and I had 10 year working in europe and Switzerland so i was a paid tourist really.😂 Sadly not the job it used to be back then and tbf I’m gonna leave the industry in four years from now when am 60 coz av just had enough and id rather go out with my good memories than leave with a lot of hate for the industry.. Years ago we had cheap roadside food stops nice truck stops which where all reasonably priced the lads where a good crack and you could have a bit of banter with people you’d never met before and have a drink with em it was just a good life. Now its over legislated poor over priced facilities highway robbers (dvsa) kids in the office who can’t even drive a truck telling you how its done and appauling driving standards by other people in too much of a rush to even give you the time of day.. Everyone is on their phone everywhere you go and no one really speaks to each other now… Sad times but no longer is this a job I can be happy to wake up to do everyday infact id rather stay in bed but my missus won’t let me😢
Driving HGV in the UK is a joke!!!! Fed up with Ad-Blu, CPC courses, over zealous police and ministry enforcement, shocking pay, and appalling employers running sub standard trucks, faulty cranes , shoddy tippers with crap tyres, and don't even get me started on HS2...... CPC???? waiting for it to expire 😊
@@AshleyHaleUK stopped driving truck over a year ago, van driving pays MORE than class 2 tipper work,even at Tesco or ASDA, no CPC/FORS requirements, no cap on working or driving hours,no periodic testing or standards, and I hold MANY additional licenses LOLA ticket (lorry mounted crane), Forklift, Reach truck, telehandler, side-loader, clamshell bucket (lorry mounted grab-loader) and experienced with rope and sheet, taughtliner, reefer, skip, Tipper, Hook-loader, Beavertail/plant, and while unlicensed have experience with all types of plant from mini-diggers to 30+ tonne dumper trucks.... I'm just saying, all that skill, liability, responsibility for MABEY an extra quid an hour????????? Are you mad, or are you mental 🤔 , I'll take the Van work thanks 😊 👍 Good luck with the replacement 🚣♂️
@@jockwilson-b8d would love to know the actual numbers who have given it up, as I know a few who have said the same, 'its a mugs game' 🍵🎮, and I passed UK HGV in '15 Only because they would not recognise my Aussie Class 1, Federal Interstate RT license 😡 (3 years clean logbook too!),I passed Aussie licence in 2006, so just settled for class 2 in UK, I can't see the point of going class 1, just to be an unpaid nightwatchman and living in a shoebox tramping
Yep I let my class 1 go when I retired, I had had enough by then , but I was driving tippers all the time so no nights out , but things need to change if the country want drivers😮. Good video, regards Frank
I done 50 years on the road long haul and short haul and tippers and I am gald i am retired nothing as changed i think it as got worse just promises but it does not change
"TRAMPING " the name says it all , the minimum wage is £11.44 come April 24, Aldi & Lidl and other RDC or factory workers paying £13hr+ so why be a "tramp " living in a truck all week for £40k ish 🤔 or pay £3k for your licences, ive worked in Construction & engineering and can honestly say HGV / logistics driving is the worse profession I've ever had , especially for your health and mental well-being, i had far more energy working on a Construction site tham driving a truck all day . Good luck 👍
After 36 years of class 1 driving it still makes me laugh how drivers blame everyone and everything if I did a job that I hated so much I wouldn’t do it nobody drags me out of bed and makes drive a truck if you don’t like it don’t do it simple
They say you cant do enough for a good Boss well after forty years on the road I never found a good Boss !, and at 65 my CPC was due I just chucked the licence and retired.
Not been in the hgv industry, but was a bus driver and coach driver. I guess there are similarities. There is a bullying culture from management to get the drivers to come as close to their legal driving limits as possible (then blamed for running over, or getting rescued)
I got fed up of sending me to collections and drop offs in places where you should be sending a van and not 40 feet of rigid. Forgot to add the numerous times I had the FLT drivers unload as I was overweight. Also dealing with the T**Ts in the RDCs waiting 4 hours to unload one pallet, Bookers, you know who you are.
for me it’s the over regulation plus the cpc i’m 5 years off retirement been a low loader driver moving heavy plant for 35 years now working part time driving a hook lift 3 days a week
3.5 yrs class 1. Love my job and my employers are top notch. Very well paid and drive a nice truck with all mod cons. Thought I'd chip in, so many negative comments, thought I'd add my positive response.
Plenty of Lorrie’s still on the road though. I don’t think people are quitting at all. Obviously it’s a weird job. You’re out there alone all day, which is what you sign up for. What I found since being a Class 2 driver is that it exposes everything to you, and it can make you bitter. You see what people are really like. It puts hairs on your chest and you have to have a thick skin to begin with or it will piss you off and you’ll quit.
It’s refreshing to hear so many outher people are going through the same thing. I left the army around few years ago and jumped into this industry on class 1 and absolutely hating it. Hours are a joke. I’m on £124 a day !! And always pushed to over 13 hours do the math, shocking ! Or more illegal below minimum wage. Traffic ,services ,people’s attitudes I have to bite my tongue all the time. Iv served my country and class my self as a loyal hardworking person but never in my life have. I felt so undervalued in so many way in this job. I feel the hgv industry needs union we all need to stick together and get things changed. Or fuck them see how the country gets on without hgv drivers in the future becuse I don’t think many young people will want to do this in the distant future.
I quit because the job is rubbish. After 35 years of doing it. They fleece you in hours and pay. Park you up after 9 hours and leave you to sit there for 17 hours off . I'm not getting paid on 25 quid night out money. 1.00 an hour realey to be a security guard. Roads are busy full of idiots in cars that are clogging up the roads going nowhere special. Just to go look at shops and have a coff. They crnt drive. They do dangerous manoeuvres. Then blame the truck driver. Sick off it. Leave ut to you youngsters. You can have all them problems now. I now srive a van on 13.50 an hour. 10 hours a day. Maybe 20 drops in total. All close together. So drive 2 hours to first drop, do the drops, get free food and drinks from the places we deliver to. A couple of hours home. Plus, i can take the van home. So you can all crack on.
I retired in june after 43 years an absolute shit job low pay and so much bullshit i was earning the same 20 years ago as for these blokes saying they are on 50 to 60 grand a year thats bullshit unless they are doing 2 weeks in one but hey ho I'm living the dream now
Am 61 very soon, been at this 25 years, had some crappy firms and bosses, iffy wages and conditions, but am able to compare all my experiences. Its not great for men in relationships, it tests them hard. Now single(lol). I do nights now, so less traffic, but more road closures, am on £54,000 at 61,im staying put with this one if poss, for the next 6-7 years, can't get this wage commonly. I like my own company, just listen too talking books, pod casts etc, am fine kipping out, long hours, its not for everyone. Told my son 10 years back, try something else if poss, he's now a painter and decorator! Summary, its been financially better for me and got me out of the factories, but, feeling the weeks a bit more now. Do your research before committing. 👍
I had HGV1 and PCV licenses - even though the CPC was paid for by the company they were a total waste of everyone's time and money. The coach driving I used to do - airside work at a major London airport, was quite specialized. It also had a number of its own rules and requirements - stupidly, the company that ran our CPC courses blanked our appeals to adapt any of its standard lesson plans (for mainstream driving out on the road) to the type of driving we actually did and our own company wouldn't intervene as it was really only interested in complying with legislation. So, every time we needed to update our CPCs we were obliged to sit for a whole day listening to guff which had absolutely no relevance to us. I'm all for proper training and refresher courses - and these days COULD have been really useful. Instead all we ever got was a box-ticking exercise.
@@AshleyHaleUK Hope you'll enjoy that - your Airside Permit is relatively simple to get, but (like everything else) you need to have your wits about you when you get out there. Good luck.
@siras2 thanks. I'll be up there with others who are much more experienced than I am. I'm only doing it for cover of holiday as its all done at night and I do days but will cover if needed.
Are there any other jobs where you work 50+ hrs a week and actually get fined a grand for not following the rules militantly? Serious question....what other jobs are there that have the ability to be fined such a huge amount of money for minor faults?
Here's one of many different reasons why I gave it up, I was on Falmouth high street, a blue badge holder had 'abused' his badge blocking the road, me and the traffic warden had to go and hunt him down took 20 minutes to find him. The rest is the abuse he gave me and the warden.
A lonely job. I gave it up after nearly 9 years. Takes a toll on your physical and mental health and destroys your personal life. I vow never to turn the keys in a HGV again.
HGV was always a crap job but which suited drivers because they enjoyed driving but then became virtually impossible because of insane bureaucracy with the intro of tacho`s, speed-limiters, cash-cow CPC requirement, & stupid strict laws coupled with awful parking & driver facilities, the threat of theft from load & of diesel ( yes very sadly we have become a nation of thieves ) & our Government wonders why there`s a shortage of drivers! My advise is to get out & never return as the powers that be don`t deserve you!!
