We have all heard the stories & seen the stupidity of some 7.5 ton drivers but should we treat all 7.5 ton drivers as lunatics as a result ?.
I have work with many excellent 7.5 ton drivers, on recovery work they did exactly the same work as me, just in a smaller vehicle. They were very good safe drivers, one of could not use a tacho, but knew the law & only did work that did not need the tacho, (vehicle transportation jobs being given to the rest of us).
There is a myth that says that 7.5 ton drivers are want to be HGV drivers & that if you drive a 7.5 tonner then its, mostly, only until you get an HGV licence, but many drivers are happy with the work they do & do not want an HGV, does this make them unprofessional drivers ?.
Also its worth remembering that some jobs are ideally suited to a 7.5 tonner, & that if we say no, then should we also judge ourselves by the lunatic activities of some HGV drivers.
Yes they are. I think all drivers whether they drive 7.5, 17, 38, 44 or whatever tonnes are professional unless their actions prove otherwise. Just because you see a driver in a 7.5 tonne vehicle doesn’t make them a ‘wannabe’ they may indeed have a class C or C+E licence but for what ever reason they happen to be in a 7.5 tonner when you see them.
Being a professional is as much, if not more, to do with attitude as it is to do with the category of licence.
Of course 7.5 tonne drivers are professionals, the same as I am and hopefully you are, There are poor & dangerous drivers in every kind of vehicle. Some drivers start off in small trucks to gain the experience before they are old enough to go for the big one. As a lot of companys will not employ under 25s on Class 1, that is 7 years experience of the road system and heavy traffic before they start.
Some of the drivers I see in the supermarket trolleys and parcel shunters are the ones who let the side down. How can you generalise that anyone in a small truck is a poor driver.
It is the drivers who dont ease up when being overtaken, those who sit 3 feet from the back of your trailer and the ones who break the hours rules who are unprofessional
I sometimes have to drive one at work, I struggle to force myself into the 3rd lane because Im not used to been there in a lorry 
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having done a bit of home delivery work on agency recently, I have met both types of 7.5tonne driver. Some were nutters and rude to customers and bad drivers. Others, especially one driver I worked with who drove for Powerhouse, were highly profesional in all aspects of the job. they have to get the truck to places we would never be sent in an HGV, residential streets and cul de sacs and deal with customers in thier homes.
So its like all classes of driver there is good and bad.
Would a class 1 driver call a class 2 driver unprofessional just because he has the extra license?
I’m doing a bit of white van man work this week. I do not become ‘unprofessional’ the moment I step out of my truck and into the van.
I’ve posted else where that I drive a 7.5 tonner by choice. I hold a C+E License but I choose to drive the smaller lorries. I’ve done most UK work on Artics and 26 tonners but have gone dow to a 7.5 tonner. Not only is my pay about the same but I start at 8:00 every day and finish at 5:00. Monday to Friday. I consider my self to be a professional driver. I still have to abide by the tacho regulations and hours. Some of the drops we do to farms and smallholdings would be impossible in anything bigger, sometimes even with the 7.5 tonner I struggle! 
Dave
there drivers end of story,so yes they are professional drivers.i know a few lads that hold class one & two licences and they want to do 7.5 ton work because it suits them. 
The Cat. C Sureway driver who overtook me (on my bike) this afternoon, giving plenty of room, was a lot more professional than the idiot steering[1] the Tesco C+E who then overtook me shortly afterwards and nearly ran me off the road.
IMHO, “professional” refers to the way that someone conducts themselves whilst driving, not the sort of vehicle they drive.
[1] I’m loathed to refer to him/her as a “driver”.
What if you drive an 11 tonner does that make you semi-professional?.
I cant understand all this professional stuff any way all you are is a glorified labourer who can drive a truck, and work all the hours God sends just to earn a decent crust.
When do you become a professional is it after 10 years or as soon as you can drive an arctic like when the licence comes through the post is that it?, are burger flippers professional,s ? after all some of them are on more money than some truckers?.
Or does it depend how much you earn or how many nights out you do someone please enlighten me why can`t you just be happy being called a trucker .
I don`t drive trucks any more but i have the utmost respect for people who do no matter what they call themselves.
jammymutt:
What if you drive an 11 tonner does that make you semi-professional?.I cant understand all this professional stuff any way all you are is a glorified labourer who can drive a truck, and work all the hours God sends just to earn a decent crust.
When do you become a professional is it after 10 years or as soon as you can drive an arctic like when the licence comes through the post is that it?, are burger flippers professional,s ? after all some of them are on more money than some truckers?.
Or does it depend how much you earn or how many nights out you do someone please enlighten me why can`t you just be happy being called a trucker .
I don`t drive trucks any more but i have the utmost respect for people who do no matter what they call themselves.
Good shout!!
I do think all drivers are born professional, then go downhill form there!
I was travelling up the M5 (J29) when I was overtaken by a 7.5t box van, the guy had his left leg up on the dash and a newspaper over the steering wheel.
I appreciate that this is an exception and the guy seriously needed some training, on the whole most 7.5t drivers are responsible but there are a few (driving on car licenses) that are not responsible.
Had this guy had to take evasive action, where would that have left me?
Ollie:
I was travelling up the M5 (J29) when I was overtaken by a 7.5t box van, the guy had his left leg up on the dash and a newspaper over the steering wheel.I appreciate that this is an exception and the guy seriously needed some training, on the whole most 7.5t drivers are responsible but there are a few (driving on car licenses) that are not responsible.
Had this guy had to take evasive action, where would that have left me?
A professional driver would have been rolling a smoke as well so he cant of been that good
simon
i did a double manning job on the agy and i have a c+e licence.
the guy i was double manning with did the bulk of the driving as it was his round and he knew the route, i was just there to help unload when required and to drive back round the m25 reload and then back to the yard.
to say he was unproffesional is an understatement 
he drove well above the speed limits all the time, he got the truck airbourne over a humped back bridge and very nearly killed a cyclist.
when i said to him i want to get back in one piece he told me to “shut up your just a drivers mate you dont know anything!!”
and my reply " thats as maybe but a drivers mate with a c+e and 7 years experiance with a 7.5 tonner"
to this he scoffed that he was in his opinion an excellent driver and could get round faster than anyone else and that he wanted to sit his c licence and could pass the test easily 
i wanted to get out and catch a train to get back to my car and go home 
when i took over and drove the last bit he was asleep the whole way back even on the country roads to re-load, he reckoned that he could never sleep when others were driving his truck…
needless to say i never went back out on that contract because of the un-profesional way of one driver on that contract.
but i do think the majority of 7.5t drivers are profesionals, just some let them down.
chris
Where I used to work, when there was not enough stuff to be moved in an artic, I would take out a 7.5tonner. I drove in the same manner as I did the artic, with safety upper most in my mind, and with consideration for other road users. I am now in the process of starting my own business, a good part of which will involve driving my mini-bus, transporting disabled/special needs clients from A to B, and other authority work and private contracts. The bus will be driven in exactly the same way. With courtesy and consideration. Exactly the same way my van is driven. The size of vehicle is immaterial. It is attitude that makes the difference. I’ve had my class 1 for 2yrs, and my car licence for 31yrs. Just because I’ve been driving for 31yrs, it doesn’t make me feel that I know it all or that I am better than others on the road. Shamefully, some do have that attitude, and they are the ones who let us all down. x
jammymutt:
I cant understand all this professional stuff any way all you are is a glorified labourer who can drive a truck, and work all the hours God sends just to earn a decent crust.
Yepp, I agree with that, its all bull this proffessional lark its starting to give me the bile, it makes me tired.
On the origional question, Do they get paid? If they do then yes, I spose theyre proffessional. Amatures do it for love.
In answer to the question, from what I see day after day, no they’re not, at all, whatsoever.
agreed…
Oxford Dictionary
Professional, having or showing the skill of a professional; engaged in specified activity as one’s main paid occupation (often as distinct from amateur)
For health reasons I now drive a van but that does not make me any less courteous or considerate to other road users whatever they are driving.
There are good and bad in all walks of life and always will be.
keelman:
There are good and bad in all walks of life and always will be.
Bang on the nail.