If you’re never going to be able to afford retire, you might as well enjoy the ride

For them, traditional life-affirming milestones such as owning your own home—or retiring in comfort—are slipping further and further out of reach with every month that passes.

What’s worse is that many of them feel powerless to do much about it.

But there are some things that are in their control—if they have the drive. How? By getting behind the wheel.

After all, just about everything we buy, consume, or own has to be transported from A to B at least once. In fact, four years on from the driver crisis of 2021, the UK is still crying out for people to do the job.

Driving for a living pays well and offers a debt-free way to enter a sector that makes the world go round. How many university graduates can say that?

Some people love it so much that they spend a lifetime on the road. Plenty more use it as a stepping stone to a career in the office, running the fleets and operations that power the global economy.

One guy I know started driving at 18 and is now a compliance manager at a major UK civil engineering company aged 32. A great job. Great prospects. And no university debt.

Others use their driving skill as part of a ‘squiggly’ career path, knowing that they can move freely between jobs. Why? Because good drivers are always in demand.

And it seems the message is getting through. A nationwide survey of 1,001 18–25-year-olds by Samsara found that 58% of young people consider driver-based jobs as somewhat appealing, while 21% describe them as very appealing.

These are real, in-demand jobs that technology still can’t replace.

And it's not just young people who are prepared to make the switch. I know someone who left a senior role in adult social care to fulfil a childhood dream to drive a lorry. And a former wedding planner who swapped bridal bouquets to manage a fleet of 4,000 drivers. For her, it’s a dream job.

The truth is, all too often, driving is dismissed as old fashioned. But nothing could be further from the truth. Technology is transforming the industry, creating new career paths for people who want to work with cutting-edge tools.

In fact, today’s drivers are so positive about the role that technology plays in their work that more than half say it makes driving safer, more efficient, and more sustainable. If only the same could be said for the economy.

Unfortunately, people can’t change that. But they can choose how they navigate it. I won’t pretend that driving is the answer for everyone, but for those with the right mindset, it offers a roadmap to the future.

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Martin Bain is the Area Vice President at Samsara

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