Any hgv drivers in?

[BrokenBiker]

Thinking about looking into hgv licence as there is naff all else about down here at the moment and things really aren't looking good in work.

I enjoy driving, so much so that I volunteer to airport runs, be the 'taxi' for mates on nights out etc and if I'm bored I will just just in the car and pick a random motorway junction to get off at and drive around.

Anyway, anyone know roughly how much and how long it takes to get a full license for artics?

Can most likely get a grant for it if I'm made redundant but not sure how likely I am to get a job if I get a license

 

[Windy Miller]

Mine runs out on Tuesday. CBA to renew it!

 

[BrokenBiker]

How long do they last?

 

[Badger1bear]

the old sayin is, ya cant get a job without experience and you cant get experience without a job. Some times the best way to get into driving is go down the agency route. You can work for one company one day and be working for someone new the next day. Agencies are more likely to take on a rookie driver with no experience and you can cut your teeth that way. BUT believe me the ability of car drivers on the roads these days can get you stressed out to the max. They have no comprehension of what room a hgv needs when turning or braking. Not only do you need to think for yourself but you also need to think for them. Analogue tachos are still available in older lorries but now we have digital tacho's, basicly its a drivers card that stores your details and monitors and stores any and all infringements that you have made. I think the tacho head in the lorry holds info for 5 years before it starts over writing itself and the drivers car can hold 2 years of history before it starts to overwrite itself. Traffic officers can ask you to remove your card and they can analise what your driving has been like. It can be a minefield driving these day but some days can be a dream

 

[BrokenBiker]

I'm fairly used to putting up with kn@bhead drivers around here. We have a roundabout in particular that is not only signposted, and road marked, but it even has lines to guide you into your lane where there are more road markings, arrows, road names etc and more signs to say where that lane takes you, I use it 4-5 times in an average day and nearly get my car written of 11-12 times a day...just learn to assume everyone is trying to drive into you and be as aware as possible of everyone around you. I can imagine it is a lot harder with a 40 foot artic though.

My missus seems to think it's a good idea but she also seems to think that all lorry drivers are loaded from the moment they sit in a lorry...

What licence would I need for artics?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Couple of mates have Class 1's. They struggled to get decent jobs at the start so end up with the dregs on low pay, crap employers, little security etc. It's the established drivers with a track record and contacts that get the decent jobs so as long as you realise you'd have to start at the bottom and work your way up the HGV hierarchy then why not go for it. Forget the dream of "king of the road" for a few years otherwise you'll quickly get disillusioned. One mate gave it up for a few years and became a carer in a nursing home for same money, less hours and more job satisfaction ! He'd still be there if he hadn't broken his ankle so was off sick then developed complications so they terminated his employment and he went back to driving. He found the only way to earn decent money was to do long distance (in UK) and accept night out so he was only home for part of Saturday and all Sunday each week therefore had no home life nor saw his kids growing up.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I'm not interested hugely in massive money to begin with, just enough to pay the bills and save a bit. I'm on 13k a year at the moment so don't suppose I could be on less than that doing full time work.

 

[Badger1bear]

I'm fairly used to putting up with kn@bhead drivers around here. We have a roundabout in particular that is not only signposted, and road marked, but it even has lines to guide you into your lane where there are more road markings, arrows, road names etc and more signs to say where that lane takes you, I use it 4-5 times in an average day and nearly get my car written of 11-12 times a day...just learn to assume everyone is trying to drive into you and be as aware as possible of everyone around you. I can imagine it is a lot harder with a 40 foot artic though.

My missus seems to think it's a good idea but she also seems to think that all lorry drivers are loaded from the moment they sit in a lorry...

What licence would I need for artics?

its not badged as class 1 and class 2 etc now, it catergory C for up to 32t and catergory C+E for artic, things are always changing tho

 

[BrokenBiker]

So cat c is rigid up to 32 ton? And ce is for towing? So does cat c also include lgv as well? I.e is it just the cat c to drive any rigid or is there a lower cat for up to 7.5 ton and then cat c for above that?

 

[Badger1bear]

get a cat C licence then get a haz chem licence which also needs to include tankers, not bad money there. I have Cat C and the haz chem licence + tankers, on occaisions I get asked to run asbestos or hazardous contaminated soil. A decent run I had for awhile was running soil contaminated in the 70's and 80's all the way up to Peterborough from Tonbridge in Kent. Set the cruise control and away you go, the truck I had cut out at a shade over 56mph, there wasnt many lorries you could not overtake on a run

 

[the snooper]

dont think you can go straight for class 1 anymore and it wont be cheap then there is the cpc just found one say between 190 & 275

 

[Badger1bear]

LGV just stands for large goods vehicle, I think im right that you need to pass a 7.5t test first and then your cat C and then go onto C+E, your cat C licence when you get it will have the entitlement of C+E so you can learn to drive them

 

[Badger1bear]

cpc certificate of personal confidence, thats a laugh. You need to put in 35 hours of classroom time every 5 years ( it can be made up in smaller blocks leading up to five years) The thing is you can take the same module of 5 hours over and over to make up your 35 hours of training. Unless they have closed this loophole it was making a farce of the system

 

[the snooper]

cpc certificate of personal confidence, thats a laugh. You need to put in 35 hours of classroom time every 5 years ( it can be made up in smaller blocks leading up to five years) The thing is you can take the same module of 5 hours over and over to make up your 35 hours of training. Unless they have closed this loophole it was making a farce of the system

it is a farce the whole lot, I don't know how the haulage industry ever operated with out it in the past

 

[BrokenBiker]

Right, so need to do 7.5 ton then cat c to drive rigids over 7.5 and up to 32 ton And then do cat c and e?

All starting to sound complicated and expensive now

The guy that sold me my Alfa does haz chem stuff, actually removes out waste acid and oil from work. He is on good money which is what makes my missus think I would be too if I did hgv even though it's not quite that simple.

 

[Badger1bear]

it can be very good money but you need to get experience with as many things as possible, lorry mounted cranes (hiab) are always sought after, Haz Chem is a damn good payer especially on dangerous goods load, clinical waste is not a bad job either, just need to watch out for the sharps Lorry driving can be rewarding but it can be an emotional strain as well, meeting deadlines, accidents, delays at depots. I am not trying to put you off but its not all wine and roses

When the weather is sunny and your window is rolled down theres not much to beat it

 

[BrokenBiker]

Suppose it's not far different from most things with deadlines, I know a lot of people that make themselves Ill with stress over minor things like making a certain amount of parts each shift and then others that are so laid back they are nearly asleep.

I learnt to deal with stress a while back when I nearly put a supervisor in hospital after he started screaming at me on the shop floor for not mopping up a coolant leak that I had no idea about as it wasn't anywhere near my machine. Had him in tears on the floor when I realised what I was doing and no idea how I got to that point. Now I deal with it properly and find healthy ways to get rid of it.

I like the idea of driving for a living, being alone and getting on with things. Granted there are going to be bad days, and worse days, and terrible days, but they can't always be avoided.

Starting to wonder if hgv is the right route though if I have to do 3-4 tests to get to any form of decent pay as these tests are all going to cost

 

[Badger1bear]

and the CPC has to be redone every 5 years as stated earlier, you can start them before the deadline of 5 years evn so you still have the outlay and 35 hours to put in

 

[cumbriasteve]

Starting to wonder if hgv is the right route though if I have to do 3-4 tests to get to any form of decent pay

The trouble is 3-4 tests don't get you decent pay, I know of a couple of local guys spent a fair amount of dosh getting tests passed and still struggling to find that decent paid job, one of them has finally got the type of work that should pay well but isn't...he see's it as experience though so will stick it for a year or so.

 

[brightspark]

most start of as agency drivers 1st and might score after a few years and get taken on by a firm if there any good