u/Ok-Moose7861

This happened a year ago, just thought i'd share this here. I'm a fairly experienced HGV driver. maybe a bit too casual.

Went for an assessment and I got on with the guy ok. I explained I worked at the site before, did basically every store they had. I aced the silly theory test and all the vehicle checks, tacho and I think everything else.
He let me vape while I was driving so I did. Was chatting with him while driving around some A-roads and in town in a full size artic.

Got back to the yard, uncoupled parked up. Turned out I failed because I did not have both hands on the wheel at all times. lol.

I get it, that you should have both hands on the wheel especially on a assessment.

My question is do you always drive with two hands on the wheel? I'm usually a one hand on the wheel while on the motorway or straight A-roads guy. it can change a bit depending on the situation but I always feel fully in control. Not like im doing anything with my other hand just a comfort thing.

This is a mini rant but I see it so much drivers on £12-15 an hour. That is not a lot of money. Some are even below minimum wage when you factor in unpaid POA and other such stuff.

The UK minimum wage is £12.71. In my view that is too high, but that is what it is. So you need to really ask yourself.. Is the responsibility I am being given driving a HGV worth the extra 1-2 pound an hour over minimum wage? In my view its not.

Working at mcdonald's 40 hours a week is 27k a year and I have included a image that shows how much this is. If you cant comfortablely beat that as a HGV driver then just find an unskilled job.

I expect to get some stick but whatever. It seems that some drivers underestimate how much responsibility they have on their shoulders. If you do a bad job doing your vehicle checks even once you could crash and seriously injure potenially dozens of people and you'd be criminally responsible. Why put yourself in a position where that could happen for mcdonald's wages? If you mess up at Mcdonald's the worse that can happen is you get sacked.

Mcdonald's pay at £13 an hour for 40 hours a week.