In my mind, a cushy job is one that is (1) Hard for most people (2) easy for myself and (3) pays fairly well, so you can actually have a whole life paid for by the “career” job.
Jobs that pay minimum interest on debts run up because you couldn’t actually afford to have a family, mortgage, & food on the table - out of your wages obviously don’t qualify as “careers” in the first place.
This, alas seems to be what the entire transport industry has become today. Go to a transport yard, and you’ll often find that the Mrs has to work as well, because Hubby’s money just isn’t enough to make ends meet. Sometimes you might find them both working at the same yard of course.
I’d be the first to admit that the job of truck driving has become easier over the years. Automatic gears, no roping and sheeting at most yards, better kit, and of course the workforce being for the most part “of many years experience”. Even back in 1991 when I first got my C+E license, I had to be taught how to drive crash gearboxes on Chieftans, still double-declutch on roadtrains, and get arms like popeye driving full loads with no power steering as well. All that is gone now, but I don’t think it would have put newcomers off if it had stayed.
Driving is like Diet and ■■■. Nearly all of us participate in our lives, and we all think we are doing it the right way. There are plenty of drivers professional and not that clearly can’t drive for toffee nuts, or get unduly stressed whilst doing it, implying that it is not for them. The same thing applies to all of us watching our weight, and we all like to think we’re top notch in the sack as well - but of course oh so few are.
In wider society, the outward appearance of people tends to make onlookers make incorrect judgements about our abilities in all three of the above as well.
For example, see someone “big” and you think they have a poor diet. They might actually be large!
See some bloke with a good looking bird on his arm, and we’ll assume he’s got her because he’s better than us in some way, especially ■■■■■■■■. Complete rubbish of course - he’s either luckier than us, or richer than us. If there was no competition, we’d all get the bird we want - because we’d quite happily have all those available - right?
Then with driving - the public thinks truck drivers are crap. Some of us think we’re crap. So what are our kids going to think with all this low self-esteem going about?
Unlike diet and ■■■, where “success” is apparent from the outside looking on, a top-notch truck driver is going to be recognised how exactly by even the people he works with?
WIthout outside recognition, ANY career will decline to that of “just a job to pay the bills”, and these days, not even that, the bills rising faster than wages as they are.
Change for the better won’t come until fuel prices drop, and put a premium upon good drivers again, whilst insurance costs need to soar, so employers might actually take a bit more care who they employ.
These two factors above will have a much bigger effect on the future of “career drivers” than any number of immigrants flooding the labour market in general - because “cheap” is what it’s all about at present, and you can be cheap without being an immigrant if you have low self esteem, and dare I say, a mis-guided work ethic as well.
Remove the “cheap”, restore self-esteem across the industry, and our kids will once again say "I wanna be a truck driver when I grow up".
ps. When I was asked that question at school, I was one of the majority of lads who said I wanna be a TRAIN driver when I grow up.