Please define
Well, if you care to differenciate between a lorry and a truck, then you might cut the debate (or the deviation from your question) in half. 
But as a generalisation, it is
Involvement
The former might participate in the game.
The latter is involved, and is indeed committed to being in charge, of the project.
Involvement and also responsibility, maybe?
If summat goes wrong an attendant will blame someone else…
The driver may (begrudgingly) have to admit responsibility for an incident?
Steering wheel attendant = poor quality driver. Not so much the physical act of driving but more the peripheral stuff, the guy/girl who can also be classed as a car driver who happens to have a class one licence. The type of person who’ll abandon a truck across the front of in use loading bays, who’ll let it go downhill when you’re passing them, who’ll pull out in front of you from a side road and make no attempt to accelerate, who’ll start to overtake you 100 yards from a roundabout, who’ll do their shopping whilst parked on the fuel pumps, who’ll sail past the queue of waiting lorries and push in at the front.
In short; an ignorant person who has no concept or care of the repercussions of their selfish actions. Or the type of person who I’d like to peel their face off!
And breathe
Steering wheel attendant: person who drives a truck
Lorry Driver: person who thinks he is special, because he ones drove a truck with a manual gearbox.
the maoster:
Steering wheel attendant = poor quality driver. Not so much the physical act of driving but more the peripheral stuff, the guy/girl who can also be classed as a car driver who happens to have a class one licence. The type of person who’ll abandon a truck across the front of in use loading bays, who’ll let it go downhill when you’re passing them, who’ll pull out in front of you from a side road and make no attempt to accelerate, who’ll start to overtake you 100 yards from a roundabout, who’ll do their shopping whilst parked on the fuel pumps, who’ll sail past the queue of waiting lorries and push in at the front.In short; an ignorant person who has no concept or care of the repercussions of their selfish actions. Or the type of person who I’d like to peel their face off!
And breathe
WHAT ! No mention of Eaton, Fuller or any splitter gearbox , Rope and sheeting , Sleeping on a bit of ply wood in -20 with only spud sacks as a blanket
Stuck for a week on Shap in 4ft of Snow
Only air con was manual windy windows
Cab floor so rusty you could see road
Using string to operate wipers because the vacuum supplied by truck was less than yer granny’s ■■■■
I could go on but I’ve not got Rose tinted specs 
Queue CF
Just a way of people a bit full of their own self importance to look down on people they deem lower than them
blue estate:
Queue CF
Nah, he’s in the corner, sulking.
In my mind, it’s the difference between someone who can read traffic and approaches driving with pride and professionalism, against a person who lacks the above, drving only because they have to.
Star down under.:
blue estate:
Queue CFNah, he’s in the corner, sulking.
No, he’s gone Space Trucking through the wormhole, to his other dimension, look
Here’s what’s on his CD player youtube.com/watch?v=S4m11zVGYEo
Back to the original question, Steering Wheel Attendant does the bare minimum at every level, a Lorry/Wagon/Truck driver has a sense of wanting to do a decent job, for their own personal standards, even when no one is watching
blue estate:
the maoster:
Steering wheel attendant = poor quality driver. Not so much the physical act of driving but more the peripheral stuff, the guy/girl who can also be classed as a car driver who happens to have a class one licence. The type of person who’ll abandon a truck across the front of in use loading bays, who’ll let it go downhill when you’re passing them, who’ll pull out in front of you from a side road and make no attempt to accelerate, who’ll start to overtake you 100 yards from a roundabout, who’ll do their shopping whilst parked on the fuel pumps, who’ll sail past the queue of waiting lorries and push in at the front.In short; an ignorant person who has no concept or care of the repercussions of their selfish actions. Or the type of person who I’d like to peel their face off!
And breathe
WHAT ! No mention of Eaton, Fuller or any splitter gearbox , Rope and sheeting , Sleeping on a bit of ply wood in -20 with only spud sacks as a blanket
Stuck for a week on Shap in 4ft of Snow
Only air con was manual windy windows
Cab floor so rusty you could see road
Using string to operate wipers because the vacuum supplied by truck was less than yer granny’s ■■■■
I could go on but I’ve not got Rose tinted specs
Nah there are a lot of experienced guys like you mention who are SWAs, and on the other hand a lot of young lads with only a couple of years under their belt that are ‘Drivers’.
It’s more about attitude, application, and professional.ISM, than just experience. 
What Maoster says, but he forgot to mention you absolute f/wit toss pots who almost overtake me and cut in on my windscreen 
…I’d like to watch you ■■■■■ burn while I pour petrol over you at same time. 
…I know you are on here reading this.!!..you need to sort your ■■■■ selves out !..Use your ■■■■ mirrors and count to ten at the point YOU decide to wrongly pull in ffs!
robroy:
blue estate:
the maoster:
Steering wheel attendant = poor quality driver. Not so much the physical act of driving but more the peripheral stuff, the guy/girl who can also be classed as a car driver who happens to have a class one licence. The type of person who’ll abandon a truck across the front of in use loading bays, who’ll let it go downhill when you’re passing them, who’ll pull out in front of you from a side road and make no attempt to accelerate, who’ll start to overtake you 100 yards from a roundabout, who’ll do their shopping whilst parked on the fuel pumps, who’ll sail past the queue of waiting lorries and push in at the front.In short; an ignorant person who has no concept or care of the repercussions of their selfish actions. Or the type of person who I’d like to peel their face off!
And breathe
WHAT ! No mention of Eaton, Fuller or any splitter gearbox , Rope and sheeting , Sleeping on a bit of ply wood in -20 with only spud sacks as a blanket
Stuck for a week on Shap in 4ft of Snow
Only air con was manual windy windows
Cab floor so rusty you could see road
Using string to operate wipers because the vacuum supplied by truck was less than yer granny’s ■■■■
I could go on but I’ve not got Rose tinted specsNah there are a lot of experienced guys like you mention who are SWAs, and on the other hand a lot of young lads with only a couple of years under their belt that are ‘Drivers’.
It’s more about attitude, application, and professional.ISM, Spot on. than just experience.What Maoster says, but he forgot to mention you absolute f/wit toss pots who almost overtake me and cut in on my windscreen
Robroy, you and Moaster need to come out of your shells, don’t hold back, say what you really feel. 
“Robroy” I’ve do a regular tip in Unipart Cowley and the waiting times lately have been bad , so instead of just browsing the internet or snoozing for 5/6hours I’ve been keeping the outside of my truck clean as it’s been dry lately ,
I also don’t go chasing the goods in as it’s not their fault if the bosses take on more work but don’t up the staff level
I mentioned it here before, young chap had to swap trailers where i was already tipped up discharging and blocking his natural access, in the dark with poor sporadic lighting.
He wasn’t trying to hurry me up, there was another way to do it but would require some serious blind side maneuvering and i said i’d act as his banksman if he wanted to have a go.
He ripped my arm off and did it well, the difference being his vehicle was already set up for him to win, spotlessly clean windows mirrors and lights,clean grease free suzies and catwalk, those simple but obvious things made all the difference he’d hedged luck his way.
Age? i’d put him at 23 or so, and more of a lorry driver than far too many much older than he.
Another one, i’m waiting to go round the back of a food factory, they’ve dug the access up so its nasty enough going round the slight left hander forwards.
This chap has tipped and he’s having to blind side it out, i went and asked him which of two possibles he was going for and would watch his blind area whilst he concentared on the nearside he had a clear view of.
He did the job well, i congratulated him on a job well done, he then told me he’d passed his test 6 months ago but was grateful for someone to watch the blind spot he couldn’t see, in his 30’s probably.
Both those two are young and/or newish drivers, but both of them were trying their best to do the job well, hence lorry drivers.
I’ve worked with blokes been driving far longer than me who were and in some cases still are a bloody menace, one bod in particular i made a fair amount of overtime ferrying his monthly wreckage to and from the bodyshop (mechanics at the on site workshop saved those of jobs for me, not cos mates but because i gave a crap), he was a wheel operative 45 years ago when i first met him and 25 years later when i unfortunately ended up the same place as him again, still wrecking kit regularly…45 years ago he deliberately drove his A series ERF into the front of the one i was sitting in then attempted to push mine up the yard bumper to bumper, idiot.
Later place among his more memorable feats were knocking the trailer over beside him because he swung out too soon and knocked it off its landing legs, different time ripped the stainless rear frame off a fridge trailer by once again turning before clear, another time narrowly missed a security guard when he smashed the front overhang into the back of a rigid the guard was checking the seal on, never gave a monkeys and never got the sack, the mind boggles.
Perfect example of SWA in a chap who really never should have been allowed within a mile of a truck yet had been at the wheel for 40+ years.
Its good these people are in the job, they make the rest of us look brilliant even if we’re winging it as most of us are.
Steering Wheel Attendant vs Lorry Driver
Curtains loose - ie not tightened front and rear and buckles slack and tails of buckles flapping in the wind - my pet peeve - I can’t stand to see curtains flapping about and the black marks where people haven’t tucked the buckle straps up in out of the way.
Straps and ratchets like a birds nest heaved in the back door. straps rolled up (hook out )and ratchets folded and if they need it hung on the trailer chime and a shot of WD40 before folding them up and putting them into the strap box ratchets one side , straps the other with corner pieces neatly stacked
load not properly strapped with the excuse - sure its an ENEXL curtain - nothing boils me more than having to start and open up a cutrainsider and restrap a load , or find that its been strapped with the ratchet handles all down the drivers side . If something happens and you have to tighten / readjust a ■■■■■■■■ the roadside from a saftey point you want the ratchet handles on the passengerside / kerbside.
3 examples of the difference between STA’s and Drivers - I could go on but my blood pressure is rising just typing this
beefy4605:
Steering Wheel Attendant vs Lorry DriverCurtains loose - ie not tightened front and rear and buckles slack and tails of buckles flapping in the wind - my pet peeve - I can’t stand to see curtains flapping about and the black marks where people haven’t tucked the buckle straps up in out of the way.
Straps and ratchets like a birds nest heaved in the back door. straps rolled up (hook out )and ratchets folded and if they need it hung on the trailer chime and a shot of WD40 before folding them up and putting them into the strap box ratchets one side , straps the other with corner pieces neatly stacked
load not properly strapped with the excuse - sure its an ENEXL curtain - nothing boils me more than having to start and open up a cutrainsider and restrap a load , or find that its been strapped with the ratchet handles all down the drivers side . If something happens and you have to tighten / readjust a ■■■■■■■■ the roadside from a saftey point you want the ratchet handles on the passengerside / kerbside.
3 examples of the difference between STA’s and Drivers - I could go on but my blood pressure is rising just typing this
Hmmm. some would say that a lot of that is more down to a ‘perfectionist’ nature…and hey!, nothing wrong with that btw.
(Just curious as to how long you have been in the job?..poss still in the ‘honeymoon period’?
But I’m maybe way off. )
My point is I too was a bit that way .myself once over tbh, and for a long time, but all the unnecessary b/s aggravation and hassle in this industry, that has developed over the last 30.+ years,.(and especially the last 10 : 
) , has had an adverse and negative effect on me.
A lot of the stuff you mention?.., I’m at the stage where I really do not care anymore, .my CGAF attitude develops more all the time.
In fact one ‘perfectionist’ thing that grinds my gears is picking up a trailer when some smart arse has tied back the internals in a loop,.causing me to have to climb up and untangle the ■■■■ things …
Annoyances as minor as that indicate how I have become. 
With you on the curtains and buckles kept tight,.deffo with you on ■■■■ s dropping trailers unstrapped …, not so much on position of ratchets, but I do use the wd40 like you do,.but all that stuff is more to do with safety and risk awareness I would say, ie a bit of professionalism.
I like the type of work that I do, but all the underlying b/s from authorities and especially the company has just made me…shall we say ‘A tad less enthusiastic about the job’ these days, my keen and wide eyed days are ancient history, so minor unimportant stuff is now way off my radar, like some you mention, but we are all different.
On positive side still strive to do 100% effort btw in my work,.that just comes naturally as a driver, but reaction to all the crap is usually ‘■■■■ off and leave me to do my job’ then the CGAF stuff increases as a result…maybe just me eh?
Hey…looks like I’m a bit of a hybrid.
Part ‘proper driver’ Part SWA.
Yet ANOTHER reap and sow reaction and situation in the job I reck.
the maoster:
who’ll let it go downhill when you’re passing them
I don’t see the issue with this if I’m honest. It’s not like they’re impeding your progress. You don’t have to slow down, it just takes a bit longer to overtake them. Ironically, you would be impeding their progress and lowering their fuel economy by expecting them to brake while they’re eco-rolling down a hill. I can kinda see why it frustrates some people but it ranks right near the bottom of things that irritate me on the road.
As for my own pet hates. A few have already been mentioned.
Blocking yards off for no good reason. I regularly see people swing out to line up for a bay, get fully broadside across the yard completely blocking it off, then open their back doors. This is doubly irritating in yards where you can open then doors when between 2 trailers.
Similarly but actually much worse, I see lots of drivers needlessly blocking roads off when queuing to get in to places. Worst place is Royal Mail Atherstone. If a truck is sat at security there is no room to pull up behind it. You have to swing out a bit to get in and theres’s also a pedestrian zebra crossing so if you try and pull up behind the truck at security you block the road off as well as the zebra crossing. Yet I see this happen almost every time I go there and many of them are uniformed drivers who should know better. They gain nothing from doing this as they can’t move until the truck in front moves.
Another place I go to has the same problem except this place you absolutely do not need to swing out to get in. Yet people do and block the road off. And if the driver at the front has a problem and security won’t let them in you can be sat there for ages. I just can’t get my head around it, really baffles me
I encountered a marvellous SWA recently too. I was doing a trailer swap on a bay and she (yes she) came and parked her unit in front of mine and disappeared into the office. I sat there and waited for her to come back. She’d dumped her trailer in the yard for the shunter to put on despite it being agreed that we do it. She then hooked up to her trailer on the bay, dragged it forward with the brakes on, jumped out with the engine running, put her plate on, connected up, legs up, no checks of any description and off she went.
The ultime SWA 
Part 2
Not leaving the steering wheel straight, especially in trucks where you need the steering wheel buttons to check the oil. You’re only parking a unit up FFS you should’ve been straight long before you got in place.
Winding the legs ups before dropping a trailer. Again, I cannot get my head around this. Really bizarre thing to do 