Trucking....Do you love it?...or is it just a job?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Interesting to read some peoples’ posts in recent weeks…and it does seem that there is a clear divide on this
forum between those drivers who love trucking, love the job, are real truck enthusiasts, into all the accessories,
the lifestyle, have opinions on every type of different sat-nav etc…and could never ever see themselves doing anything
else for a living.

…and those, like me who have no real love of trucks, never mind accessories or sat-navs…and have simply
fallen into trucking in middle-age, after having been made redundant in a different industry. For me it’s just a
job and something that I have to do to earn money to pay the bills. It’s not the best job around…or the worst,
but it is just a means to an end.

I’m not judging anyone on here …if you love the job, and love trucks, and could never see yourself doing anything
else in life…great! …you’re in the right career and fair play to you.

I also understand it, if you’re like me and don’t particularly enjoy any aspect of trucking, but simply do the job to
pay the bills and make ends meet.

Which camp are you in? …and why?

2

Lancsdriver70:
Interesting to read some peoples’ posts in recent weeks…and it does seem that there is a clear divide on this
forum between those drivers who love trucking, love the job, are real truck enthusiasts, into all the accessories,
the lifestyle, have opinions on every type of different sat-nav etc…and could never ever see themselves doing anything
else for a living.

…and those, like me who have no real love of trucks, never mind accessories or sat-navs…and have simply
fallen into trucking in middle-age, after having been made redundant in a different industry. For me it’s just a
job and something that I have to do to earn money to pay the bills. It’s not the best job around…or the worst,
but it is just a means to an end.

I’m not judging anyone on here …if you love the job, and love trucks, and could never see yourself doing anything
else in life…great! …you’re in the right career and fair play to you.

I also understand it, if you’re like me and don’t particularly enjoy any aspect of trucking, but simply do the job to
pay the bills and make ends meet.

Which camp are you in? …and why?

Neither I’m retired

3

Love trucks, the job itself and the lifestyle.
Having said that… the missus also has a licence and has given me a break for a few weeks, the enthusiasm is still there but wouldnt mind now doing 3 weeks on, 1 week off.
Semi blinged truck. nothing OTT, durabrite Alcoas, side deflectors, low light bar, Eminox stainless stack. Im no sat nav enthusiast though… :slight_smile:

4

Pretty narrow minded to assume there are only two categories of driver to pigeon hole isn’t it?

What about the type of drivers who love the job but hate the bling and fairy lights, or those out there that hate what the job has become (or maybe just their own turn of events) but avidly attend truck shows and such because they love paint, chrome lights and stacks?

Me, I love driving trucks, I’m not a fan of our overstretched and over-congested road network but give me an open road free of numpties and I’m as happy as a pig in excrement. Also I’m not particularly a fan of chrome bling,frilly curtains and shiny fuel tanks but I can appreciate the effort put in by those that do and would sooner look at a spit and polished truck over a half plastic fleet spec plain white one…

The job is what you make it, if you don’t like it then [zb] off and do something else, I’m sure I’m not alone in being sick to death of hearing overly lazy and/or overly stupid people moan and whinge and cry about it, it’s your life, if you’re not happy with it ■■■■ it up and then get off your arse and change it!

5

I suppose I fall into the love it camp, although love might be a bit of a strong word for why I do it.

I have tried other jobs, even qualified to do other jobs, I’ve done warehouse work, I’ve done office work, I’ve done technical work, but I get drawn back to driving a truck.

Saying that I’m not into the accessories, not worried about rows of lights, exhaust stack etc, I like to drive a decent truck, but only because if you spend a fair amount of time driving something you want something that is nice to be in.

I do it because I like being on the move, going to different places, ticking off another country and the relative freedom. I’m lucky to have found a job where I have a fair amount of freedom, I get to go to some interesting places, get treated with respect and I get paid well for it.

But of course I know this isn’t the reality for many drivers and I can understand their hatred of the job and if I was stuck on some general haulage job, being micro managed by the traffic office and dealing with RDC’s, I probably wouldn’t be doing the job.

6

Love it, it’s a way of life and not just a job.

Like has been said I can understand why a lot hate it, driving crap trucks to and from RDCs where they treat you like excrement and working for corporate companies who treat you even worse can’t be enjoyable at all.

A.

7

Never had any interest in trucks but always loved travel and saw it as a a way to see a lot more of the world while getting paid for it. I totted it up once and I’ve been to 28 or 29 different countries in the course of work. Now all that has ended I just view it as a way to earn money which isn’t too taxing in between going away on the boat.

8

Absolutely loved distance Euro work was a great life style . Now that all is left is mundain channel hopping or local to medium distance uk work it was just a job

9

If you’ll excuse the pun, I’m in the same boat as Harry.
It’s a means to finance my leisurely lifestyle and pay the few bills every month.

10

peirre:
If you’ll excuse the pun, I’m in the same boat as Harry.
It’s a means to finance my leisurely lifestyle and pay the few bills every month.

Yep. In my current job (12 years now) the good days still far outnumber the bad ones. For every time I get home cold, wet and late, or have to park up in a lay-by in the middle of nowhere, there’s far more times when I get a paid for trip around beautiful countryside, meet and talk to interesting people who are genuinely pleased to see me and best of all, still to a certain extent I get to be my own boss. Done factories, warehouses, management and HR in past lives, still happiest behind the wheel.

11

I spent last year in college and now I am a first year university student. In 3 years I can potentially cut my tacho up although I suspect that it may take longer than that to get a job and even then it could take up to 8 years before I am fully qualified to no longer have unpredictable hours.

There are good days but I dont enjoy trucking as much as I used to

12

After leaving school at 15 I worked as a butcher I was in in that trade until I was 18. Since then I have always been a driver, never wanted to do anything else since. Yes it pays the bills and I do like the job, but not to the extent of the job coming before anything else.

I liked being away, liked doing the longer stuff into Europe and going somewhere new. I noticed a change after a few years that when home I wanted to be away. Over the years that evolved into not caring if I was at home or not, and then evolved into when I was away wishing to be home, so I knew the time had come to knock that particular chapter on the head.

I quite like seeing a bit of bling on a truck but never have had a blinged up vehicle. I cant justify spending my hard earned on bits for someone else’s vehicle. I am perfectly happy in the job I have now, I have my own allotted truck. Only the boss or a retired ex driver of ours drives it when I am on holiday. The pay is decent enough, the work is varied and the runs are mostly different every week.

I have become more disillusioned with driving in general over the last few years though, there are more idiots on the road, the standard of driving has dropped dramatically, even with us professionals. I an sick of overdone health and safety rules. I detest city driving, cyclists (and i am one !) anything inside the M25 and lack of amenities for our noble trade like hardly nowhere to park safely. Retirement looms closer for me at the end of August 2019, that’s when my Drivers Qualification Card expires. Would I have changed anything if I had my time again?..probably not, Theres just that something special when I climb those steps after a few days off and stick the key in the ignition that I have enjoyed over these last 42 years.

13

I don’t love it but I don’t hate it. :-')

14

Love is a bit strong,but I certainly have no desire to do anything else.

15

Loved it in the 70’s/80’s, the 90’s I liked the money (car delivery), since then it’s become a job that I will quit very soon and retire.

16

Used to absolutely love anything to do with trucks and trucking when I first started, keen as mustard.

Later on managed to own my own and expand to a few.
Somebody mentioned bling…I had all the bling on some of mine, but no way in hell I would buy it for a truck that did not belong to me :unamused: (apart from in cab functionals)
I know of definite examples where bosses just see it as a licence to take the ■■■■, as they know these guys who spend half their wages on their truck 9 times out of 10 are deluded, and will do any old thing asked, so they take full advantage of it…that’s fine when it does not affect me but when it does I do get a bit ■■■■■■ with some drivers who tend to ■■■■ up the job a bit.

Nowadays cynicism and seeing the true picture has set in with experience, so now it’s a job…end of.
Don’t get me wrong I still enjoy it to a point, and it’s better than factory work.
I preferred running Euro for the foreigners, but now I like the little number I have sorted for myself with my UK only firm, but I aint too keen on the firm it’s self, due to their cynicism towards their drivers, (although my local depot aint too bad tbf) so I have to juggle that with trying to do the job to the best of my ability…which I manage.

I try and make the best of things by not getting stressed out or succumbing to pressure, so I tend to be left alone unlike some of my colleagues.
No 15 hr days/9s off unless it suits me (you don’t HAVE to do them despite what they may tell you) but lately I’ve done one a week to ensure an eary finish on a Saturday or something similar.

I also try and get a bit of social life out of the job when parked up, that definitely helps, but not every night (yeh shock horror, not everybody parks in msa.s or ■■■■ lay bys. :open_mouth: ) but maybe a couple of nights a week if I meet up with mates.

If I had to do the tramping job like some do on here, a rush around work/sleep pattern endurance excercise :unamused: , I’d simply jack, it would just ■■■■ me right off within a week.

So on the whole I still kind of enjoy it, but I don’t have the rosy specs anymore and see things beyond official lines and crap.
That has just come about by past experiences both good and bad, but tbf mostly good on the whole.

17

My only problem with the job at the mow is having to part with the money I have for a new lorry just because of the emissions rip off zones when there’s nothing wrong with my current one ,I often think I’d be better doing something else as I have the premises , like chassis alterations and crane fitting body building ect or building Shepard huts or restoring old lorries I’ve been asked a few times to do , you don’t need many lorries before you have a 5 yrs waiting list .

18

80s…

Passed my test and I looked forward to where ever I was going with my ropes, sheets, dogs and chains.

90s I enjoyed wandering across Europe, getting a suntan and drinking far too much of the local hooch.

00s Went Ltd and creamed it in working directly for clients or via agencies. Just did what ever people wanted without thinking about it. Liked the money, didn’t enjoy the bull that went with it.

10s Disolved the Ltd company went back on PAYE. I have a really easy job which although I don’t look forward to and I wish could go down to 1 or 2 days a week, I just put up with cos it’s so creamy.

Now it’s just a job.

19

Punchy Dan:
My only problem with the job at the mow is having to part with the money I have for a new lorry just because of the emissions rip off zones .

This Emission zone bull crap aint real, anybody with a brain knows it’s true agenda is like every bloody thing else in this country…money making related. :smiling_imp:

What do they charge Dan everytime you go in there with your motor, is it more economical just to bear it and put it against your tax, or buy a new/newer truck, I suppose that depends on how often you go in there eh?

If you do go down the new truck route, what are you fancying?

20

Same as you Lancsdriver,i used to really enjoy the job now it’s just a way of paying the bill’s,got no interest in it anymore and stuck in a rut,too old to retrain for a start (54)no employer in whatever you choose to retrain in would want someone my age,they want youngsters nowadays,so i just buckle down,moan and get on with it,mind you i think it’s my turn to win the euro/lotto in jan,lol