Lorry Driver
CEVA Logistics
Tony N
My name is Tony, and I’m a lorry driver, a multi drop, for CEVA Logistics, Bristol. They took my contract over from an original company, so I have been unbroken for about ten years on this job. The kind of goods I deliver are nails, and screws, and fixings, studding, anything to do with the building trade and DIY shops.
00:00:26 My starting time is six thirty in the morning. So I come in, clock in, get my paperwork, go out to the vehicle, check it over and make sure it’s all dieseled up, oiled up, and everything, ready to roll, and then I leave the yard at seven o’clock. The first delivery, I will be there normally at half past seven, and then every quarter of an hour, half an hour, my next delivery.
00:00:48 The things I like about my job is driving, obviously, and then going through the pretty parts of Wales where I mainly deliver – mid Wales – meeting different people. I deliver to the same customers nearly every day and I get on first name terms with them. I always have a cup of tea with them, and generally get on well with all the customers and the people I meet on my daily journeys.
00:01:18 I enjoyed school. I went to a secondary modern school. I was quite happy at school. I’ve always wanted to be a lorry driver and that’s what I’ve done.
00:01:28 I’m fifty-eight – fifty-nine in January – and I’ve been driving since I was twenty-four – big lorries. My line of work, they’re always wanting drivers for it anyway, so there’s always a job for me. I would recommend any person coming into the industry to take up lorry driving because you’re your own boss, you can virtually do what you want to do, as long as you get the job done, and you haven’t got the bosses on your back. At the end of the day, you know you’ve done a good job because you’ve gone out and done all the deliveries, and everybody is happy.
00:02:04 I like travelling, yes. I’d like to go somewhere else. I’ve been to most places in Europe with the trucks because I used to be a truck driver on long distance, so most of the ports I’ve been to. It’s just nice to go on the cruise liners to go to the ports and have a walk around, and have the guided tours to the bits I’ve always missed.
00:02:22 It’s important now, in my time of life now it’s important that I can spend more time with the family now because when the children were growing up money was very scarce so I had to work away a lot and I’d never seen the children growing up. In ten year’s time, I can see myself still doing the same job because I’m quite happy with what I’m doing.
ENDS
Tony N is a Lorry Driver with CEVA Logistics. He loves being independent and not having bosses on his back all the time. “At the end of the day you know you’ve done a good job because you’ve gone out and done all the deliveries and everybody’s happy.”
More information about Large goods vehicle drivers
The UK average salary is £29,813
There are 37.5 hours in the average working week
The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male
Future employment
- Checks tyres, brakes, lights, oil, water and fuel levels and general condition of the vehicle;
- Drives vehicle from depot to loading/unloading point;
- Agrees delivery schedule and route with transport management;
- Assists with loading/unloading and ensures that load is evenly distributed and safely secured;
- Drives vehicle to destination in accordance with schedule;
- Maintains records of journey times, mileage and hours worked;
- Undertakes minor repairs and notifies supervisor of any mechanical faults.
