i mentioned before in another post a DCPC trainer noticed the average age of drivers was now in the 35’s & over & he was seeing very few drivers in their early 20’s or late 20’s .
I have also has been noticed on the wannabe drivers & newbies board , someone did point out , this is the only industry drivers actually discourage new drivers from wanting to be lorry drivers ! although to be fair , when someone passes we all give him praise & support & good luck in his new carreer however down trodden we all feel at times !
The youngest driver on our fleet 40-50 drivers is 26yrs old
I think things like the CPC will do nothing to encourage more drivers - it’s an extra qualification necessary to drive trucks for a living but has no use in any other field of work and won’t do anything to increase your chances of getting a decent job within the HGV industry. And those young drivers who do come through will, after a while, vote with their feet, as it’s impossible to know what the job’s really like until they’ve actually done it for a while and get to see the true state of the industry and the direction it’s going in. That said, for some new drivers, the job will be exactly what they’re after, but I doubt there will be hoards of people like that coming into the job.
MolePower:
i mentioned before in another post a DCPC trainer noticed the average age of drivers was now in the 35’s & over & he was seeing very few drivers in their early 20’s or late 20’s .
I have also has been noticed on the wannabe drivers & newbies board , someone did point out , this is the only industry drivers actually discourage new drivers from wanting to be lorry drivers ! although to be fair , when someone passes we all give him praise & support & good luck in his new carreer however down trodden we all feel at times !
The youngest driver on our fleet 40-50 drivers is 26yrs old
me i passed at 21 & i’m now 40
You are bang on there mate. Its crazy!
I am 22. I have yet to meet a lorry driver out on the road who is near my age.
I think that so many younger folk are having to pay for all sorts of training that they cant afford to pass their car test never mind trying for lorry or bus qualifications.I was 15 years old when I left school and started earning a small wage but was thinking about learning to drive.
I’m 28 next month and got my class 2 in feb '08, class 1 early august this year. I often meet drivers my age or younger but the vast majority look to be between 35 and 50.
Taking my Class 2 in a few weeks. Turned 30 in July. Wanted to be a lorry driver for as long as I can remember (always went out driving with the old man, usual story) but ended up in engineering when I was 16.
Man was that a mistake. Factories are like prisons. Gimme 55 hours in a truck over 35 in a factory any day.
If the current rules and regs discourage new drivers then that’s all the more jobs for those who do take it up to choose from.
I am 28 now but been on class 2 since I was 24 and class one coming up to 2 years and never met anyone younger then me doing the job although there obviously is younger. Most blokes I have worked with or met on the road seem 40+ if not higher mostly. If I hadnt done my HGV when I did I doubt I would of done it now due to the cost and how tight the job has got. Who wants to pay out around 3k from start to finish to have near enough NO chance of getting a job at the end, and when you get a job have so many rules and regs to get used to with the drivers hours that when you get them wrong you could get your wages took off you??
If I could re train I would, however I have no money to and probably never will so I am stuck now. I do like the job, I get more satisfaction then most I know from what I do but then I have to work nearly double the hours to make it pay so not really a good advertisement to young or old lads who are thinking of getting into it. Too little power for the drivers in my opinion, probably due to the good old English way of putting up with crap that lead us here hence everybody hates us
One of the things that might put kids off this job, apart from the cost of getting a licence £2,500, ant the 2 year trap must be the appalling wages some companies are offering, Benton Brothers £6.49 per hour for example, and I can think of a dozen others in and around Immingham that pay similar wages, Tesco trolley pushers are on nearly £8 per hour, so why go to all that trouble and expense.
I was in a canteen at Heathrow the other week at midnight Sunday waiting to tip, about 6 other drivers there plus others coming and going, and at 57 I was probably the average age.
Passed class 1 aged 22 now 47,trouble is when you get to my age and see a young driver you think christ he only looks about 15…must be getting old!!
Do see a few in their 20’s about tho and young women on class 1 and 2.
I’m 25 started on 7.5 tonners when I was 19 which I had to put myself through that licence exactly the same cost as doing a class 2 but the job was mine if I got my licence, when I turned 21 did my class 2 and class 1 been driving for vita foam out of middleton Manchester.
Out of 160+ drivers at my place I doubt if there are more than a dozen under 30, i’m 42 and the majority of the others are older than me, yet I see lots of young un’s learning but never seem to see them earning, do they just give up when they realize they can earn more doing less hours with less grief?
calebs gramps:
Passed class 1 aged 22 now 47,trouble is when you get to my age and see a young driver you think christ he only looks about 15…must be getting old!!
Do see a few in their 20’s about tho and young women on class 1 and 2.
Hiya… passed my test at 21 and jumped straight into artics my class one cost me £45. but i,d been going around with
my mates and having a sneaky drive on unfinished motorways and private ground. this you can,nt do nowadays and the job
dos,nt even register with the younger kids(not there fault) and now the insurance dose,nt consider under 26/28 years olds.
Thats a joy rider thing and everyone comes under the same blanket. KIDS. its a great shame!!!. Times have moved on some
things better and it seems even more things worse, Its that type of freedom you have and not stuck inside four walls.
I alway had really good paying jobs(7 in all) i never did anything only UK and somtimes would have liked to have gone
abroard but its to late now 59 and 11/12ths not 60 yet and retired.i loved every moment even sitting at liverpool dock
for two days at a time thats before containers took hold…i see you said the drivers look young I saw a copper and thought
it was a school kid in fancy dress.
Cheers John
im 26 now youngest on our fleet out of fifteen see some drivers around my age but not many i started driving artics at 22 and love it my two daughters love trucks but they are only 5 and 2 so will grow out of it. Alot of young drivers like the bling trucks and easy work not many are seen doing bulk tippers and livestock work.
im 21, i think the im the youngest driver @ work? anyway loads of people tried to put me off when i was training, i just laughed at them, knowing full well the reasons they put you off!
I was 25 this August just gone and i’ve had my licence since i was 21 and i wouldn’t change for the world i love what i do,( ask me the same question in 10-15 yrs time i might give you a different answer)
I’m 23 and planning on doing both C and C+E next year. The majority of drivers I’ve tipped seem to be in the mid 30s to mid/late 40s, although I have seen a couple of younger guys come in with rigids.
I think the most off putting thing for younger drivers has to be the “2 years experience”, which is a hurdle for any age, combined with the “Under 25 and insurance won’t touch you” mindset which seems to be prevelant.
My brother is 19 and passed his C earlier this year. He’s sent out dozens of CVs, signed up for multiple agencies and he always hears the same thing. It probably says something about those who are in charge of employing people when his age is clearly visible on his CV, he gets called in for an interview and they say “Oh you’re only 19? Sorry we can’t use you, we apologise for wasting your time.”
I’m hoping the fact I’m a bit older and, although I doubt it’s worth anything to a potential employer, I have plenty of experience of warehouses/unloading, will give me more luck, although options are certainly limited.
