Working for as HGV driver.. and hopefully eddie Stobart
Discussion
I've just done a month with Stobarts prior to starting my new job.
Pay, not good, this is the main reason I didn't go on the books.
Wagons, well maintained but mostly Scania which are the s
ttest trucks on the road , in my opinion.
I worked for the ports side of it ( containers ), it was a different contract to the general haulage side, it wasn't a bad job but not well paid enough for me.
I have a mate on the general haulage side, he says they have changed the contracts and as a result are not retaining drivers.
OP if you do this you will be started on something like a Thursday, this means you won't get your weekends off, something for you to think about.
OP I agree with MartinMRT, why the fk do you want to do this, the jobs fked, not many good jobs about these days, UK haulage is in its twilight.
Pay, not good, this is the main reason I didn't go on the books.
Wagons, well maintained but mostly Scania which are the s
ttest trucks on the road , in my opinion.I worked for the ports side of it ( containers ), it was a different contract to the general haulage side, it wasn't a bad job but not well paid enough for me.
I have a mate on the general haulage side, he says they have changed the contracts and as a result are not retaining drivers.
OP if you do this you will be started on something like a Thursday, this means you won't get your weekends off, something for you to think about.
OP I agree with MartinMRT, why the f
k do you want to do this, the jobs fked, not many good jobs about these days, UK haulage is in its twilight.It's a st job in a st industry that everyone is.desperately trying to save from going down the pan. desperate times call for desperate measures...do you really want to do this? It isn't all driving down the road being "king of the road", it's waiting in disgusting rooms that wouldn't be fit for animal habitation, arguing with some jumped up desk jockey with an attitude problem, dealing with problems on the move with no equipment. at every turn there is something that you are required to do that vosa could endorse your licence for, fine you (personally) or remove your hgv entitlement.
why anyone would want to do this job is beyond me. It is st.
t job in a st industry that everyone is.desperately trying to save from going down the pan. desperate times call for desperate measures...do you really want to do this? It isn't all driving down the road being "king of the road", it's waiting in disgusting rooms that wouldn't be fit for animal habitation, arguing with some jumped up desk jockey with an attitude problem, dealing with problems on the move with no equipment. at every turn there is something that you are required to do that vosa could endorse your licence for, fine you (personally) or remove your hgv entitlement.why anyone would want to do this job is beyond me. It is s
t.StuntmanMike said:
I've just done a month with Stobarts prior to starting my new job.
Pay, not good, this is the main reason I didn't go on the books.
Wagons, well maintained but mostly Scania which are the sttest trucks on the road , in my opinion.
I worked for the ports side of it ( containers ), it was a different contract to the general haulage side, it wasn't a bad job but not well paid enough for me.
I have a mate on the general haulage side, he says they have changed the contracts and as a result are not retaining drivers.
OP if you do this you will be started on something like a Thursday, this means you won't get your weekends off, something for you to think about.
OP I agree with MartinMRT, why the fk do you want to do this, the jobs fked, not many good jobs about these days, UK haulage is in its twilight.
Scania trucks are better than any of the other options available in the UK.Pay, not good, this is the main reason I didn't go on the books.
Wagons, well maintained but mostly Scania which are the s
ttest trucks on the road , in my opinion.I worked for the ports side of it ( containers ), it was a different contract to the general haulage side, it wasn't a bad job but not well paid enough for me.
I have a mate on the general haulage side, he says they have changed the contracts and as a result are not retaining drivers.
OP if you do this you will be started on something like a Thursday, this means you won't get your weekends off, something for you to think about.
OP I agree with MartinMRT, why the f
k do you want to do this, the jobs fked, not many good jobs about these days, UK haulage is in its twilight.fire and frying pan.
As above, dont bother it's st. Going down the road is crap, every driver I know at my place moans about it.
I started driving after leaving the forces and not settling down into office type jobs ( got my Hgv in the Army)
I have never driven choosing it as a career path, it's always been a means to make money and pay the bills. No diesel running in my veins, to coin a phrase from some of the nutcases out there.
The hours are st, you will be expected to run at max hours all the time, the places you go to are st, the people there will be sts. Most companies will pay st wages, you will think its good but it only looks good because you have worked 60 hours this week..
There is some companies that pay good money but they never seem to take on new staff. ( company I work for is like this, only known them take on 4 people in the 10 years I have been there)
I still do driving based activity at work but I never leave town. Shunting on terbergs.
Suits me, I'd had enough of going down the road, never knowing when you will finish or if you will get back home.
Not been down the road for 2 yrs, no plans to go back to it either.
t. Going down the road is crap, every driver I know at my place moans about it. I started driving after leaving the forces and not settling down into office type jobs ( got my Hgv in the Army)
I have never driven choosing it as a career path, it's always been a means to make money and pay the bills. No diesel running in my veins, to coin a phrase from some of the nutcases out there.
The hours are s
t, you will be expected to run at max hours all the time, the places you go to are st, the people there will be sts. Most companies will pay st wages, you will think its good but it only looks good because you have worked 60 hours this week.. There is some companies that pay good money but they never seem to take on new staff. ( company I work for is like this, only known them take on 4 people in the 10 years I have been there)
I still do driving based activity at work but I never leave town. Shunting on terbergs.
Suits me, I'd had enough of going down the road, never knowing when you will finish or if you will get back home.
Not been down the road for 2 yrs, no plans to go back to it either.
Justaredbadge said:
It's a st job in a st industry that everyone is.desperately trying to save from going down the pan. desperate times call for desperate measures...do you really want to do this? It isn't all driving down the road being "king of the road", it's waiting in disgusting rooms that wouldn't be fit for animal habitation, arguing with some jumped up desk jockey with an attitude problem, dealing with problems on the move with no equipment. at every turn there is something that you are required to do that vosa could endorse your licence for, fine you (personally) or remove your hgv entitlement.
why anyone would want to do this job is beyond me. It is st.
Sadly this is pretty much spot on.t job in a st industry that everyone is.desperately trying to save from going down the pan. desperate times call for desperate measures...do you really want to do this? It isn't all driving down the road being "king of the road", it's waiting in disgusting rooms that wouldn't be fit for animal habitation, arguing with some jumped up desk jockey with an attitude problem, dealing with problems on the move with no equipment. at every turn there is something that you are required to do that vosa could endorse your licence for, fine you (personally) or remove your hgv entitlement.why anyone would want to do this job is beyond me. It is s
t.Add to it health and safety lunacy, and the fact your day can soon be altered by some bone idle docker, goods in/out staff, the road network etc, its certainly a job that doesn't get any easier.
alot of the public will hate you, they all want their goods, but the lorry is just a big hassle and inconvenience on 'their' daily lives. No one will give a stuff that there is a woeful lack of facilities in the uk for truck drivers, well not unless your parking your wagon near there house ovrrnight.
I started at a firm full time at the beginning of October, doing containers and was thinking about it as a long term thing, but within 4 weeks I'd seen enough to make me realise the job is f
ked, general haulage in the uk in my opinion is rubbish.so despite the time away, I'll be going back on the tours in the new year.
mind you, don't agree with the scania thing
good looking, but highly overrated these days, not the force they once were.
Edited by chilistrucker on Thursday 26th December 12:18
Jobs s
t.Stobarts probably more so as they do things 'properly'
Standard pay is s
t almost everywhere, you have to stick in stupid hours to make it worth while. Can't remember the last time I did less that 60 hours Mon-Fri and I still look for weekend work to top it up.Scanias have been far from the best things on the road for quite a few years now.
I wish that I jumped ship about 5 years ago, I can't see it getting better for a long time and can think of many things that I would rather do if I was starting out again.
Off topic, but what would you prefer instead of a Scania?
As I understand it;
Volvox are loud.
Man interiors fall apart.
Renault are just French cabs on Volvo chassis.
Daf are cheap and cheerful
Mercedes lack rear traction.
Iveco don't deserve to be on a list of working vehicles. Curved cabs, straight doors etc.
Am I missing the magic manufacturer? I have always been lead to believe that is Scania...in v8 format
As I understand it;
Volvox are loud.
Man interiors fall apart.
Renault are just French cabs on Volvo chassis.
Daf are cheap and cheerful
Mercedes lack rear traction.
Iveco don't deserve to be on a list of working vehicles. Curved cabs, straight doors etc.
Am I missing the magic manufacturer? I have always been lead to believe that is Scania...in v8 format
Justaredbadge said:
Off topic, but what would you prefer instead of a Scania?
As I understand it;
Volvox are loud.
Man interiors fall apart.
Renault are just French cabs on Volvo chassis.
Daf are cheap and cheerful
Mercedes lack rear traction.
Iveco don't deserve to be on a list of working vehicles. Curved cabs, straight doors etc.
Am I missing the magic manufacturer? I have always been lead to believe that is Scania...in v8 format
think this 1 is mainly all down to personal preference.As I understand it;
Volvox are loud.
Man interiors fall apart.
Renault are just French cabs on Volvo chassis.
Daf are cheap and cheerful
Mercedes lack rear traction.
Iveco don't deserve to be on a list of working vehicles. Curved cabs, straight doors etc.
Am I missing the magic manufacturer? I have always been lead to believe that is Scania...in v8 format
back in the day, when ever that was, i think scania and volvo were regarded as the "kings of the road" as someone earlier put it. you could only get away with the ol leather waistcoat, cowboy hat, wallet on a chain and furry clogs if you drove a scania/volvo.
seriously though they seemed to be the truck that everyone wanted, and they proved to be the motor to have.
these days i'm not so sure, still think the scania is one of the best looking trucks out there, (although that doesn't pay the bills) i'm just not a fan of the layout, and think inside they appear as cheap and cheerful as a daf.
i'm with you on most of the above.
for me though, with the long periods away, the daf is still the one that suits me best, it is still abit cheap and cheerful, but everything works, its a decent enough drive, and the cab is nice and big and pretty well layed out.
I must be one of the lucky few, worked for Royal mail for many years, no probs there.
Took early voluntary redundancy and got a job through job-center plus delivering plant.
Start at 0530 finish 1600 ish, 48 hour week, never work at weekends,none of this "night out" stuff,5 weeks hols plus bank hols, workwear and PPE paid for and the money is good.
As for trucks, i have always been happy with good old "cheap and cheerful" Daf.
So its not all bad out there.
Took early voluntary redundancy and got a job through job-center plus delivering plant.
Start at 0530 finish 1600 ish, 48 hour week, never work at weekends,none of this "night out" stuff,5 weeks hols plus bank hols, workwear and PPE paid for and the money is good.
As for trucks, i have always been happy with good old "cheap and cheerful" Daf.
So its not all bad out there.
Edited by markymarkthree on Thursday 26th December 20:38
Its a living but not a nice one.
If you like getting pulled over and hassled for tiny trivialities by a teenager in a VOSA hi-vis coat then go for it, if you like getting told you are not unloading because you missed your slot by 2 minutes then go for it, if you like being a second 9th class citizen when trying to get from A to B and have people hassle you for going too fast/slow overtaking not overtaking being big and generally existing then go for it.
You will only be referred to as a "professional Driver" when someone is pointing the waggly finger of blame your way, the rest of the time you are little more than a piece of st in everyone way.
My advice is to go and work in a shop, at least you will be warm and no-one will treat you like a leper.
If you like getting pulled over and hassled for tiny trivialities by a teenager in a VOSA hi-vis coat then go for it, if you like getting told you are not unloading because you missed your slot by 2 minutes then go for it, if you like being a
You will only be referred to as a "professional Driver" when someone is pointing the waggly finger of blame your way, the rest of the time you are little more than a piece of s
t in everyone way.My advice is to go and work in a shop, at least you will be warm and no-one will treat you like a leper.
sat1983 said:
....Decent career? Anyone with any experience care to share their views?
Don`t do it. It`s not a career it`s just a job and a proper st job it is too.Poor pay, poor hours, poor conditions, piss poor job through and through. You`re treated like s
t everywhere you go.Given another chance I`d never go near a bloody truck.
This is before we get into the realms of hours regulations and trying to eek out a living while running as close to the rules as possible for an employer who will try to push you to run bent and then tell you off for it if they find out.
A traffic department that will be staffed by people who don't know that Derby is not an hour from Cornwall and that Truro and back in a day is not only possible but you can do it on multi drops.
And if you end up working in the wonderful nations capital city, London, you will not be able to find anywhere to stop for breaks and if you do stop you will get a ticket, that is if you are lucky enough to manage to drive more than 100 yards without a cyclist trying to kill themselves on your side rails and if they do manage it you will be blamed regardless of if you were at fault or not, except you WILL be at fault because you will never manage to run 100% within the frankly baffling rules, you will have an infringement somewhere and they will be able to go back into your driving history so even if the infringement happened three days ago you will still be in the st.
Seriously, go on the sick, its a more noble pastime.
A traffic department that will be staffed by people who don't know that Derby is not an hour from Cornwall and that Truro and back in a day is not only possible but you can do it on multi drops.
And if you end up working in the wonderful nations capital city, London, you will not be able to find anywhere to stop for breaks and if you do stop you will get a ticket, that is if you are lucky enough to manage to drive more than 100 yards without a cyclist trying to kill themselves on your side rails and if they do manage it you will be blamed regardless of if you were at fault or not, except you WILL be at fault because you will never manage to run 100% within the frankly baffling rules, you will have an infringement somewhere and they will be able to go back into your driving history so even if the infringement happened three days ago you will still be in the s
t.Seriously, go on the sick, its a more noble pastime.
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