HGV Drivers

[Keith Tindell]

I see the dire shortage of lorry drivers is causing lots of problems in the UK, now the cheap labour market has closed down, Tesco offering a £1000 for a new driver to sign up.The way i see it is that haulage firms have never bothered to do their own training of drivers, some maybe, but most not. In the Fire Service we trained all our own personnel for HGV and paid for the licence renewal, which was £40 many years ago. Driving huge HGV vehicles in our crowded little UK is skilled work. KT

[Fouro]

I drove HGV's for years during the time when drivers had to rope and sheet their loads.

Regards from
Fouro.

[Graham Shaw]

I drove HGV's for years during the time when drivers had to rope and sheet their loads.

Regards from
Fouro.

Yes,I often look in on a British Road Scene site on Facebook and there is often discussions among the older drivers about roping and sheeting their loads and their conditions in general ,long hours,no driving hour regs to protect them,no sleeper cabs and heavy steering and gearboxes,especially in pre-motorway days when it was through towns all the way,not many by-passes either,and of course main roads usually snow and ice-covered over places like Shap.What they would give to drive today's pre-loaded boxed in wagons with sleeper cabs,heating,air-conditioning and car-like controls,all for relatively high wages. Today's HGV drivers(they say) couldn't hack it,but I suppose that's like we seafarers complaining that today's lot have it much easier...... life moves on in every way.
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[Keith Tindell]

Thats right Graham, when i first went to sea 1957 it was normal to have 4-6 in a cabin, in my very short time compared with many here, after 7 years in my time, single berth and air-con was becoming normal, still a galvanised bucket for dhobi, but washing machines not too far afterwards, times change. As far as HGV driving, i had a class3 licence HGV, and i would certainly not like to drive one of those juggernaughts on todays roads in the UK, power steering or not. A very good friend of mine from Perth WA, came to visit me 10 years ago, big itinerary , going from North to South for the first time since 1968, he had been a lorry driver here and in Oz, he hired a Vauxhall corsa, and last stop was us, he was shattered, he was driving in his mind from when he lived in UK, big shock to him, kt

[j.sabourn]

#5. When the wife and self have been back to uk have always had a hire car . I have always let the wife drive first until I have got used to the roads. She is or was a much better driver than me as she drove in the uk previously and I never did . The last time over there 3 years ago she did all the driving as I was over 80 and entailed extra insurance etc. so I was quite agreeable to give up on the driving whilst there, a cowards way out no doubt. When I was over there by myself about 6 years ago I didn’t even bother with a car. Cheers JS

[Graham Shaw]

This is what I was talking about in my post # 4 - --lorries on Shap(the old west coast A6 Route between England and Scotland before the M6 was completed in the early 70's.)
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[Keith at Tregenna]

Jet pilot, 37, who lost his job in lockdown when Flybe collapsed now earns MORE as a lorry driver in Britain's HGV crisis

Pilot Aaron Leventhal, 37, lost his job during lockdown when Flybe collapsed
But he has now revealed he earns more as a lorry driver in Britain's HGV crisis
Salary at Flybe was £30,000, but freelance truckers are now earning £40,000

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...GV-crisis.html

[Fouro]

This is what I was talking about in my post # 4 - --lorries on Shap(the old west coast A6 Route between England and Scotland before the M6 was completed in the early 70's.)
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A very good photo of a very busy Shap in winter Graham. The Atkinson in the foreground shows a very good example of roping and .
Many thanks for the photograph.

Regards from
Fouro.

[John Gill]

#10 travelled the A6 through Cumberland (as was) many times in my hgv days, some might recall a transport cafe in Shap called The Jungle. Very welcome on the night trunk to Glasgow during the winter and Lay-by Lill was usually available for those who needed defrosting.
Gilly

[Bill Morrison]

#2 Hi Fouro. You may have seen this before. I first saw it on local ITV. I has been cleaned up from the original. The original was a promotional film for CAV fuel pumps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elLJ4gZpuzE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-S2k11_E8A