Hiya I’m asking for some advice
I’m a yard Shunter the firm I work for
Imperial Tobacco Nottingham ( John Player and Sons) have just announced there closing down all their UK production and moving it to Poland
Is it worth going back lorry driving or would choose another career?
I had about 3yrs shunting using a tug and was happy ,one of the lads was going on holliday so i asked to swap jobs for abit,that was it never went back shunting again ,its ok if u want set hours but it the rest that goes with it ,when you think about it the jobs you do or get involved with when you are shunting is unreal,get the keys for your truck on a morning ,get your trl and get out of the way for the day,no 2 way radios goin all day ,and doin warehouse work ,fitting and security work ,id never do it again 
gazsa401:
Hiya I’m asking for some advice
I’m a yard Shunter the firm I work for
Imperial Tobacco Nottingham ( John Player and Sons) have just announced there closing down all their UK production and moving it to Poland
Is it worth going back lorry driving or would choose another career?
Gaz,
I’m retired now,thankfully,but from what I have read and talked about road haulage,from a drivers perspective is poor choice of career,FWIW,I would look to make a change…for the better,either way good luck with whatever is your decision.
David
5thwheel:
gazsa401:
Hiya I’m asking for some advice
I’m a yard Shunter the firm I work for
Imperial Tobacco Nottingham ( John Player and Sons) have just announced there closing down all their UK production and moving it to Poland
Is it worth going back lorry driving or would choose another career?Gaz,
I’m retired now,thankfully,but from what I have read and talked about road haulage,from a drivers perspective is poor choice of career,FWIW,I would look to make a change…for the better,either way good luck with whatever is your decision.
David
Thanks all our transport is done by different contractors some of the drivers I speak too who are coming to retirement age can’t wait to pack up yet others still love driving
I haven’t drove lorries on the road for a living for over 12 years
We got rid of our last tractor unit about 3 years ago which I used to take out for urgent deliveries once or twice a week
I’ve still kept up my class one as I’ve my own restored lorry but I haven’t done the dreaded DCPC yet
We’ve been giving til March 2016 that’s when it all finally shuts down manufacturing the lot but I can see our side of the business which is the distribution side going way before that and I don’t fancy working for a certain large company whose lorries are yellow with a red stripe down the side and have got their fingers in allsorts of pies because we think that’s whose going to be operating the whole distribution/ warehousing and storage and for the past 5 years they’ve been doing most of our haulage and to be truthful how they keep contracts and any business is beyond me I wouldn’t trust them with a pram never mind with a fleet of lorries and trailers
Anyway I think I’ll try my hand at plumbing
Anybody need a middle aged apprentice plumber ?
Do not fear the DCPC, aside from the cost you just need to sit and listen. I was worried about it but it really isn’t a problem.
Jarvy:
Do not fear the DCPC, aside from the cost you just need to sit and listen. I was worried about it but it really isn’t a problem.
Gazsa, re DCPC. I did the ADR course, this includes credit towards the DCPC, (21hrs in my case). If your company are paying take advantage of this, then you only need another 16hrs for the DCPC. Regards Kev.
In short - no!
I am finishing in the summer, no DCPC for me, my truck licence expires in 2½ years also, I will not be renewing that either.
Much better ways to earn a wage without all the bull these days, my opinion only. I have loved my time around transport but there comes a time when its all just too much, you get your ticket after jumping through hoops of fire and as soon as you are on the road the buggers try to take it off you by one mean or another. You try and keep it legal and you have the office on your back all the time and the boss saying that your slacking or to drive faster because so and so can do that route in half an hour less, the list could go on … forget it, buy an ice cream van and sit in the park in the sunshine.
It’s certainly not the job it used to be. I would go back IF THERE WAS NO ALTERNATIVE. But jobs are hard to come by these days, crap zero hours jobs and crap wages . If you’ve got your licence, it’s a job you know, go for it.
If there is another alternative, give lorry driving a miss.
its a joke the job has had its day low rates 14 hour shifts to make around 650 quid a day with 300 used in fuel everything is tight going these days
If someone waved a magic wand, and I was fit again. I would go straight back to it. Always wanted to be a lorry driver, and never regretted it. I would still do the job regardless of all the crap that goes with it.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
If someone waved a magic wand, and I was fit again. I would go straight back to it. Always wanted to be a lorry driver, and never regretted it. I would still do the job regardless of all the crap that goes with it.
Cheers Dave.
Same hear Dave, But alas its not going to happen is it, I like your good self could go back to it , But I preferred the 50/60/70s Era before things started to change in the Haulage industry,
Lawrence Dunbar:
Dave the Renegade:
If someone waved a magic wand, and I was fit again. I would go straight back to it. Always wanted to be a lorry driver, and never regretted it. I would still do the job regardless of all the crap that goes with it.
Cheers Dave.Same hear Dave, But alas its not going to happen is it, I like your good self could go back to it , But I preferred the 50/60/70s Era before things started to change in the Haulage industry,
Cont. I must admit I made a very good living as a small family haulage Co. But it must be bloody hard these days with all the new rules & regs, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Dave the Renegade:
If someone waved a magic wand, and I was fit again. I would go straight back to it. Always wanted to be a lorry driver, and never regretted it. I would still do the job regardless of all the crap that goes with it.
Cheers Dave.Same hear Dave, But alas its not going to happen is it, I like your good self could go back to it , But I preferred the 50/60/70s Era before things started to change in the Haulage industry,
I was a kid in the 50’s Larry, riding with my Dad in a lorry, as he drove lorries for over forty years. I started myself in 1967 and drove into the early 70’s before I had my accident. As you say those days were the best, not so many regulations and such. I’ve remained in transport by being a part-time manager for small operators, which has kept me involved. I would have had a go on my own if things had panned out differently, probably have gone bust. 
Cheers Dave.
I would go back tomorrow (just in time for a Bank Holiday ) if my circumstances were different, I still keep my class 2 ‘just in case’ anyone is daft enough to employ me or want something delivering free of charge ha ha! However it isn’t likely to happen so the driver CPC will put the Tin Hat on my relatively short lived trucking career no doubt. 
The job has obviously changed, but then which one hasn’t? 
Pete.
Yes in your position i would return to transport, but not any old job.
I wouldn’t go on general haulage, nor would i put meself through the hell of delivering to the many big name gulags currently masquerading as modern RDC’s, where drivers are treated with a contempt previously reserved for kiddie fiddlers, and simultaneously assumed to be as thick as two planks, incapable of being allowed to keep your own keys or even be within sight of your lorry in case you drive off for no apparent reason (presumably they employ monkeys and assume lowest common denominator law)…i will not be part of this syndrome and nor should any self respecting driver.
Personally I wouldn’t go back onto nights out either (though that may suit you) I’d find a day (or shift but going home after every one) work job and feel me way back in, keeping eyes and ears open…many long served drivers think they are going to pack it and not do the DCPC, however the reality of 60 hours a week on minimum pay in a security cabin in the middle of winter will have some of those returning, but i suspect there will be some vacancies coming up later in the year as things sort themselves out.
Despite all the gloom and despondency on the main forum, there are still some good jobs and good employers out there, and they do take on, BUT they never advertise for staff, finding those jobs and knocking on the door the way we used to do is the way in, unless you already know someone in such a job who might recommend you.
Isn’t there a new CO-OP depot up near junction 28 supposed to be a good number…just a suggestion, lots of people knock working for the supermarkets, but their own drivers are usually on a decent number, the job i enjoyed the most of all was working for Kwik Save.
No.
David
Juddian:
Yes in your position i would return to transport, but not any old job.nor would i put meself through the hell of delivering to the many big name gulags currently masquerading as modern RDC’s, where drivers are treated with a contempt previously reserved for kiddie fiddlers, and simultaneously assumed to be as thick as two planks, incapable of being allowed to keep your own keys or even be within sight of your lorry in case you drive off for no apparent reason (presumably they employ monkeys and assume lowest common denominator law)…i will not be part of this syndrome and nor should any self respecting driver.
Well said, and very well put!! Robert
Late to this thread but I have been driving all my life and am itching to retire at the age of 65 in two years time…I can’t wait !! I think times have changed, some for the better but alot for the worse. When I started there were no phones in cabs, no mobiles, the job consisted of ‘You’ making decisions, only when it went ‘■■■■ up’ did you call (from a phone box, reverse charge call) the office. In those days they threw the ball into your court and (if you were sharp) batted it back very quickly !! The plus side of driving has always been the sun rises and sunsets you get to see, I recall seeing so many great things, fox cubs playing in the snow being just one of them, just witnessing the changing seasons every year has always been taken for granted by most drivers, had I have been working in a warehouse with no windows and those bloody awful orange lights, never mind fox cubs playing in the snow you couldn’t tell if it was day or night until you left for home and the weather would remain a mystery until the end of your shift no doubt. In the ‘good old days’ ( please bare with me on this one, I sense most old lorry drivers beginning to yawn at those very words) I remember pulling onto the hard shoulder of the M1 with a ‘dicky’ rear light and three lorries pulling off to make sure I was ok !!, the advent of the ‘phone’ has put paid to all that !! you could, and it has actually happened, that drivers have died with the onset of a heart attack and only been found when the police arrive to check up on a stationary lorry on a motorway. Safe in that warehouse job you will have first aiders ready to administer help should you suddenly fall to the factory floor, not so in the transport industry. Back before cab radios were common place, if you wanted music you either whistled or sang, there was no alternative. Many hours spent alone in a cab gave rise to alot of long distance drivers becoming ‘Chatty Cathies’ once they were reintroduced to their fellow men, it was common when one stopped for a break to have one of these poor souls bombard you with a hail of nonsense should you get cornered before you had a chance to make your get away!! I’m proud to say I never had a CB radio ever and my guess is most of these veritable word smiths found solace in this equipment which meant they continued to talk crap but to like minded morons. Even today I fail to see the benefits of calling the ‘motorway’ the ‘superslab’ rather like cockney slang hardly ever abbreviates ‘Apples and Pears’…‘Stairs’…what’s that all about? No, the cell phone has been a blessing and a curse in transport, now throwing the ball back in ‘their’ court has never been easier but with the onset of this technology what appears to be an easy day can turn into a nightmare within minutes in transport. I could go on with all these facts but it’s a well trodden path by all lorry drivers who have spent a few decades behind a wheel so I’ll leave it there, suffice to say the biggest gripe I hear nowadays is the famous ‘old cookie’ about kids running transport instead of coming up through the ranks, on this one I have to agree, an ex driver knows what you’re up against and will view a major ‘■■■■ up’ with at least the hint of an understanding smile, not so this new breed of managers I’m afraid.
A ‘would be’ HGV driver starting out now would have to be insane to even contemplate investing their hard earned cash in gaining a licence, one it costs a fortune, two there are now written exams and three even if you pass all these tests there is no guarantee of a job at the end of it and when you do finally find a company willing to let you loose in one of their expensive vehicles they will talk to you like you’re some unwanted crap on their shoe until you can prove your not !! This doesn’t always apply either, I have worked for managers who have no experience in transport at all. I am quietly proud of the fact (touch wood) I have never killed, maimed or been involved in a serious accident in 42 years of HGV driving but it still didn’t stop this ‘class one pratt’ (Freudian slip there) handing out disciplinary after disciplinary for such ridiculous actions as climbing up the side of a lorry the wrong way !!..if it’s the wrong way how come I have never suffered any major (or minor) injury in all my time driving? We all know back in the day if a moron arrived looking for a job with less intelligence of that of a lump of wood he would have been given short shrift, not so today, they’ll take anyone who they can bully and mould into their way of thinking meaning that now all these rules and regulations are there to insure that ‘the company’ don’t land a gigantic claim in the laps after two weeks of work. We all have to work to the lowest common denominator and it would seem we are stuck with this forever now. Just remember when they talk to you like you’re something the cat brought in, if you make one mistake (however simple) you could end up in prison, mentally scarred or out of pocket to the tune of thousands of pounds. Apparently bankers and the stock market are paid handsomely (millions in some cases) because they have very responsible jobs handling this countries finances, one slip of the keyboard can wipe more money than you can imagine from the books. You on the other hand earn (in some cases £7 an hour for driving class one vehicles) a mediocre wage and (God forbid) when you make a mistake may take countless poor souls with you to the grave (women and children included) but I’m afraid you won’t be getting bonuses in the millions for achieving the simple (?) act of not killing and maiming innocent human lives !!
A fact that should be remembered here (and I do literally fear a call from a government officer) is a very very simple fact that tells me powers that be do not fear or value the likes of lorry drivers today. In my life time the dockers, railwaymen and miners all had the capability of bringing this country to it’s knees in less than a week!! such was their power. The dockers were gotten rid of via government policies, the miners were got rid of by Thatcher in the 80’s and the railwaymen are now virtually powerless…whose hands have successive governments transferred all this power to?..ROAD TRANSPORT…I have a theory, they don’t believe the common lorry driver has the intelligence to understand what a powerful weapon he has been given. Has it ever crossed your mind how much successive governments (Labour and Conservative) have invested in building and improving Britain’s road infrastructure? Considering these well paid ‘numpties’ of all political persuasions have had some of the finest (and most expensive) education this country can provide, they do (to me anyway) ,seem to be cramming rather an awful lot of eggs into one basket and at the risk of looking like the cocksure buffoons they really are. An intelligent man would probably say ‘They are taking the lorry driver for granted’ That old saying ‘If you’ve got it a lorry brought it’ has never been so true and the other famous saying ‘If the roads be the veins of Britain then the lorry is the blood’ should worry government ministers but i honestly believe they really do not fear Britain’s lorry drivers which says alot about 'our ’ standing in this country. They havn’t thought this thing through correctly otherwise you would be earning £100 an hour !! God they’ve had enough warnings…remember the tanker drivers strike, it only lasted days, brought the country to a halt. Has anyone else contemplated what the hell would happen if every lorry driver decided not to get out of bed for a week?..So next time a manager or politician talks about you like you’re a nobody just remember it’s only your good nature that stands between a good wage and anarchy !!..On the ‘should I go back into driving’ note?..Nah!!..give it some more thought when the powers that be come to their senses. Thank you and goodnight.
i’ve been driving hgv’s for 35 years…got just under 7 to go to retirement.another thing that is worrying these days,is the amount of drivers ending up in prison for what used to be classed as an ‘accident’.so,what happened ‘gazsa401’,are you still shunting? or have you put your 401 back on the road earning a living ? 
That’s right, if a city banker makes a mistake the results are financially damaging but in most cases even the biggest ‘bloopers’ (albeit often by greedy men and women who bends the rules) will probably be sent to an open prison with all that that entails, you on the other hand my friend will have no such ‘soft’ option, you will be quickly marched off to a ‘real’ prison after you have been found guilty with the aid of your tachograph, digicard, the walk round morning and evening inspection sheet, the camera footage from CCTV, the on board camera video footage and on top of all this your medical records will be brought into question. Vosa and the police will be just itching to make an example of ‘us’ lowly drivers struggling to bring up families and pay the mortgage !! Today’s lorry driver has very little union backing either, Mrs Thatcher saw to that decades ago when all our safeguards went ‘out the window’ with government policies which tied the unions hands so firmly that they virtually are powerless to do any good now and on top of all that they thought it was a good idea to give her a state funeral for taking away almost all working class voters rights !!!
Bugger !! you’ve got me started again !! 