I’ve just watched a film that has nothing to do about driving.
But the line from the lady struck home.
She said"It’s not a job, it’s a life"
.Who would agree?
DaveL for one.
i would completely disagree
i love driving for a living, but thats all it is, a living, i drive because its all i can do, maybe because it runs in the family as well, but i drive so i can make money to pay my bills and live my life.
but everybodys different
Driving for me is a vocation and a hobby. I love to drive but for some odd reason I love teaching it more, especially the Advanced. It is a great feeling when an associate that I have taken from being an ‘average’ (hate that word as it usually means that the driver is classed as ‘standard’ when in reality most are below that), passes the advanced test.
MSM is out and IPSGA is in - GREAT 
I would love to do the same for the LGV trainees but I do not think they would want to pay for the time that would take 
I still get that buzz when my LGV trainees pass the DSA test though
i would have to agree with davel , i think it is a way of life especially on the continent being away for sometimes weeks on end , i wouldnt change it . the fact that i get paid to do it is a bonus .
Same here I love it also, the job is not for everyone as it messes up your social life. I love trucks so driving up the Mway is like being at a truckshow all day!
The fact that you get paid for it is a bonus
bit like marmite, some like it others loath it,me its all i have ever done,so yes its a way of life.
I see it as a lifestyle but certainly not my life.
I think I’m lucky in that I just happen to enjoy what I do - most of the time but as with everyone else there are still things I would change or do given the chance.
“It’s not a job, it’s a life”
Well it is if you let it be. Like Rog for me its a hobby and a vocation, coming into it when I decided on a change or career.
It is far easier for ‘oldies’ like me to pick and choose jobs and hours, but I appreciate for younger guys with mortgages and family, you can end up with it being your life.
Hopefully when the driver cpc bites and with it driver shortages, wages and status of being a driver will improve (we did think the WTD would do that I suppose!). Then we may see driving become a job with sensible hours and a wage to reflect, thus ending the way of life syndrome.
Smart Mart:
Hopefully when the driver cpc bites and with it driver shortages, wages and status of being a driver will improve (we did think the WTD would do that I suppose!). Then we may see driving become a job with sensible hours and a wage to reflect, thus ending the way of life syndrome.
OOOH LOOK - A flying pig 
I am a born optimist of course!!
I do think it doesnt hurt to see it as a way of life as I believe it can lead to you doing something to the best of your ability (not that you cannot do this if it isnt your “way of life”). I know I always work better if I’m enjoying myself. I enjoy trying to improve my driving, seeing the country, dealing with good and bad people and yeah I do get job satisfaction from what I do, and although I have the mechanical skills of a one pawed retarded hamster keeping the truck decent/running well as I feel it reflects not just the firm (the boss will love that one) but me as I’m the only one who drives it. If I ever found myself at work when I’m not paid to be or buying light bars out of MY money then yeah I will have a problem.
I could earn more money (have done) and be home more (the major downside to this job, I feel) but I ended up just being unhappy.
Life should be enjoyed not endured!
i come in at 5am every morning, i do all the work thats asked of me, i keep my truck and trailer as sparkling as humanly possible, and i go home about 5 or 6 in the evening, so knackered that once i hit the couch im asleep, so actually doing anything of an evening after work is impossible, i do this 5 days a week, then i have my 2 days off at the weekend, during which i try and do stuff that me and the missus want to do, and have a life.
i can appreciate that a lot of people on this forum pretty much live in their unit, but thats only as the job and its conditions dictate, you see it as a way of life becase you wake up in the bloody thing every morning, as much as i love driving artics, im not willing to sacrifice a real life for it, as ive seen my father and many others do.
I wonder how many people would carry on driving if they won the
lottery.
Not many i guess
I enjoy my driving at the moment,
but would jump at the chance to retire
(p.s. i,m only 31 
)
I love driving trucks and the bigger the better as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve been driving artics since I was 21 and still love driving now.
I wouldn’t say that it’s my way of life, more a passionate hobby that happens to pay the bills!
I’ve recently had 6 and a half years in a totally different job and as I come back to driving trucks, I realise just how happy I am being a driver. Am i weird, or is it normal to look forward to work?
Family comes first, and work is a nice place to be (most of the time), so I reckon I’m lucky.
I would say it’s a part of my life, not my whole life. There is certainly the the fact that i absolutely love driving and feel lucky that i have a job i enjoy, but there are the downsides such as not seeing my home for a week, or my partner or animals. However I look at is something which i won’t be doing forever and for now, as long as it doesn’t cause a problem with my home life then i shall continue to do it.
HI rog;
Accompanied a driver thro’his test when I was 21, passed my HGV Class 1 the week before. This was 1997. Good intro to the job, but never my thing (even Norbert Dentressangle himself asked me to instruct English drivers)
Had to give up driving in 2006 after a heart attack. Hell best, 29 years 11 months 22 days of my life
Now I sit in front of this thing & drink myself to death.
.
if i won the lotto id buy a truck and just work it part time
I don’t think it’s a way of life, to me driving is a hobby, it’s something I enjoy and to get paid to do it is the ideal job IMO. Even in my time off I like to drive or ride, god knows what i’ll do when the petrol runs out 
I think maybe if you’re tramping all week or doing long haul like they Americans then it could be described as a way of life, as they spend most of their life at work technically.
if i won the lottery i’d continue to drive artics but i’d buy my own, convert a trailer into a caravan and just go travelling.
I love driving its just loading/unloading i hate. Lol
i thought you were doing well smart mart until you mentioned the silly working time directive