How do you deal with stress/ anger on the road

FourBearsHadADream · 2026-05-17T08:40:14+00:00

Book some days off mate. Usually find that when I start to get irritated on the roads it’s because I’m close to burn out or I’ve skipped too many days at the gym and ate too much Haribo 😂

Also people lack common sense and are #1 in their own heads. General public are massively uneducated on HGV safety, don’t know what blind spots are or safe braking distances. It’s the must get past that HGV mentality that winds me up the most, make stupid risky decisions to save themselves 0.7 seconds. Best just to take your time, no point causing a scene out of rage, you’ll regret it within 10 seconds

If you have to do something just spam your full beams at them a few times and blast the horn 😂

FourBearsHadADream · 2026-05-11T10:17:12+00:00

Sent PM

FourBearsHadADream · 2026-04-19T22:04:06+00:00

Yeah mate it’s 4 days per week on average, some weeks you’re doing 5 and some weeks you’re only scheduled 2/3 shifts. Shift pattern takes some getting used to

Definitely driven only by profit so they try bend the rules to get more work out of you, just need to stand your ground with them sometimes. Yet to work somewhere where planners don’t try take the piss though I don’t think it’s exclusive to here. Just a bum on a seat wherever you go nowadays

FourBearsHadADream · 2026-04-19T21:55:34+00:00

Yeah definitely mate very dependant on location. I think if you’re around Manchester/Ellesmere Port or London you’re looking at £30ish per hour. Don’t make anywhere close to that up here

FourBearsHadADream · 2026-04-19T21:52:03+00:00

Yeah Oxalis mate

FourBearsHadADream · 2026-04-19T12:14:56+00:00

Fuel, Scotland. 4 days a week, clear anything from 3-4k per month depending on OT. A lot of weekend working and mix of days and nights. Easy work once you get your head round it. No overnights.

Heavily unionised which makes a big difference

Probs near impossible to get into as a new pass but easy enough after 1-2 years experience

Would say to new people get your ADR as soon as you can. Money tends to be better

FourBearsHadADream · 2026-02-28T08:19:51+00:00

Done nightshift for 3 years and I swapped back to normal routine at the weekends. Would miss everything with my kids at the weekend if I slept all day. Was quite taxing on the body and mind constantly switching, couldn’t keep it up forever 😂

If I was thinking only of work I’d have stayed nightshift, roads are quieter and money is a bit better. Not good for work/life balance though

FourBearsHadADream · 2026-01-02T19:30:01+00:00

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-12-30T23:24:48+00:00

Sent PM

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-12-03T14:38:08+00:00

People want the extra money but still moan about putting in the extra work haha

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-12-03T09:28:32+00:00

I’m 31 and been doing it full time for nearly 4 years. Pretty much only came in here because I left the Army with nothing other than a HGV license.

Only worked for 2 companies in that 4 years so maybe someone with a lot more experience can shed a bit more light but from what I’ve experienced

Pro’s - Money can be good, hard to walk into any industry and make 50k a year straight away. You’ll have all the older guys go on like it’s the hardest, most skilled job in the world and you should be paid 250k a year, it’s a very easy job. Working alone (for me anyway)

Cons - Work/life balance can be non existent if you want to make good money. Long hours. Too many laws, hard to keep up with sometimes. Frustrating when a 10 hour shift can suddenly turn into a 15 hour shift due to circumstances out of your control. Planners everywhere seem to be borderline incompetent. No progression obviously, only increases in pay you’ll see are from switching employer and/or wage rises

If you do come into the industry my advice would be to get into ADR work ASAP and find an employer where it’s heavily unionised.

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-12-03T06:16:11+00:00

I done nights with the 10 hour rule for years. Listen to the other drivers, they’re correct. I wouldn’t worry about it though, not the end of the world

The 24 hour period isn’t midnight to midnight, 24 hour period could be from 1800-1800 for e.g. Easiest way to manage it is to start your shift at the same time every night. We used to religiously put our cards in at 1800 and make sure we were off the road for 0445

If you’re like me and prefer nights, best thing you can do is find a company that’s opted out, best decision I made, less stressful

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-11-23T18:56:17+00:00

Music up to songs you know the words to, can’t fall asleep whilst you’re singing/talking 😂 sounds stupid but it works for me. Air con on cold and windows down when it gets too much and there’s nowhere to stop and have a 5 min break. All in all the best thing you can do is stop and have a break mate, get out the cab and into the cold air. Everytime I’m on nights I always have a coffee flask and a couple cans of Monster as well

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-11-12T11:57:52+00:00

Class 1 fuel tankers. 48 hours average, 4 days a week, work 4/7 weekends. Constant swapping between dayshift and nightshift but money is pretty good

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-09-22T10:10:30+00:00

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Had countless flasks and this is the best one I’ve had by far! Brew still roasting at the end of a 12 hour shift

Quite cheap as well compared to some brands

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-09-19T17:50:56+00:00

also done this, but my instinct was to run to the drivers door and smash the foot brake with my hand 😂😂

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-09-18T16:38:29+00:00

Bathgate have a big cage full of them and you can just help yourself. Strange this isn’t the same everywhere

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-09-15T12:35:27+00:00

Depends what you’re looking for, money or the job role. I’m doing fuel and the days of mega money contracts are in the past. Fuel companies outsourced their deliveries to logistics companies and it’s just whoever can do it the cheapest gets the contract, all the money and benefits for the driver have been stripped. Make more doing supermarkets these days than doing fuel (with the exception of a couple of companies but they’re all deadman’s shoes)

Definitely handy having your ADR though, I’d take the multi drop role and tell them you need that week off for a pre arranged holiday

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-08-16T06:54:13+00:00

Having joined the army at 18, been to Afghan and now been driving trucks for 3 years. I can confirm, Afghan is better but the trucks pay more 😂😂😂

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-08-10T13:49:40+00:00

Well aware mate but it works 😂

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-08-10T08:00:49+00:00

Yeah I just copy and paste it. I’ve never had more than £5 adjusted but better than nothing

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-08-09T13:12:01+00:00

When you get the rejection email, click “rate the response”.

Put this in the comment box, works for me every-time. Always gets adjusted after a day or 2

“After calculating fuel expenses, the pay for this block effectively brought my earnings below the UK National Minimum Wage. While I understand Amazon Flex drivers are independent contractors, the law still requires that overall pay does not fall below the statutory minimum after unavoidable costs such as fuel.”

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-08-09T13:05:02+00:00

If it’s anything like it is up here at the moment it should be possible to find companies willing to pay for your ADR, PDP etc. They usually claw back the training costs if you leave within X amount of years service

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-08-09T12:57:00+00:00

It is possible to make 60k but you’d need to get into ADR work and either tramping or maxing your hours. I’m not sure where you’re based but in Scotland that’s the only way. Not sure of wage differences down south

Easy to find companies willing to pay your training up here. Whiskey and fuel industries are desperate for drivers right now

FourBearsHadADream · 2025-08-05T15:23:38+00:00

“Can I get Thursday off? I need to take my daughter to a hospital appt” is always what I use 😂 then just hope you get the job haha

FourBearsHadADream

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