Any hgv drivers in?

[Badger1bear]

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

Thats just it, get in thru agency and cut your teeth with different employers, when you find a job you like to do your damnedest to impress the companyand they may well approach the agency you work for and they will offer your agency a fee to take you from their books. Thats how I started out many many years ago

 

[BrokenBiker]

Well it seems I have a lot to look into them. Need to see what training companies are local, what needs to be done to actually start driving something even if it's only 7.5t to start with, find out what agencies are about and how much it will all cost and how long it will take

 

[Badger1bear]

The longest journey must start with a single step

 

[BrokenBiker]

I shall have a look on break tomorrow, atleast I will know then if I ca get a grant for it or not as I know how much I can get for 'education/training in order to increase job prospects' so if the training and test come in under budget then I may as well give it a go. Nothing to lose and it could turn into a prosperous move.

 

[Badger1bear]

good luck buddy

 

[BrokenBiker]

Last question, does minimum wage apply to commercial drivers? I would assume so but I have been wrong about this sort of thing in the past? If it does then there is no way I can earn less than I'm on now with a full weeks work

 

[Badger1bear]

I think minimum wage applies to everyone, you will build up your money with overtime just remember driving time and duty time are not the same thing, you also will need to take 35 hours off rest between your finish time on a saturday and start time on a monday every other week. You can start getting into borrowing hours from one week and needing to pay them back so you stay legal. It can be quite complicated but the rewards are there

 

[carbon]

I'm not sure but don't think you need to take a test for 7.5 ton (Cat c1) if you going to be doing a test for a rigid vehicle (Cat c)

 

[BrokenBiker]

Yea

I think minimum wage applies to everyone, you will build up your money with overtime just remember driving time and duty time are not the same thing, you also will need to take 35 hours off rest between your finish time on a saturday and start time on a monday every other week. You can start getting into borrowing hours from one week and needing to pay them back so you stay legal. It can be quite complicated but the rewards are there

yeahs neighbour, the haz chem driver, was trying to explain all that and even he got confused with it.

I would hope that a cat c licence would be what i do first up to 32 ton as it would open up more work opportunities than just 7.5

 

[colnerov]

Hi, You will still need a CPC and Tacho card for 7.5T. CPC is about £100 a day but it can vary, Tacho card fee is £32. Plus driving school for the licence, most will get you to do an assessment drive and tell you likely cost. You can then at least work in that weight and get an idea of the industry.

Colin

 

[pedrobedro]

A couple of friends were agency drivers. One got a job driving a sewage tanker a couple of runs a day between two fixed points on good money. The other went back to butchering but still does a few days now and then. I have friends who have been drivers all their lives and now retired and there is apparently a shortage of younger drivers going into the transport industry. I used to help out weekends at a recovery yard and the owner used to put his fitters through the test but none of them were ever tempted to take up driving full time.

 

[skotl]

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?...

Not exactly. First off, have a look at your existing licence.
Did you pass your test before 1997? If you did then you already have BE, C1, C1E, D1 and D1E which means that you can drive up to 7.5 tonnes gross right now.

If that's the case then you can go drive 7.5t (rigid, or with a trailer of up to 750KG) right now with no other tests (but you still need CPC to do this professionally).

If you want to drive larger trucks then you need to sit either a C or a C+E test. You could go straight to C+E (38t artic) without having to do the C (rigid) test first.

If you don't have C1/C1E right now then you can still go straight to C or C+E tests. You don't need to do one, followed by the next, followed by the next.

An 18 year old could go straight from a car driving licence (category B) to a full-blown C+E 38 tonne artic, if he/she wanted, in a single test.

Finally, C or C-E intensive training courses and tests tend to be in the £1200-£1400 area.

All of the above is from the summer when I looked into it as part of a "wonder what I'll do in my fifties" exercise

Finally - good luck in whatever you go for!

---

Edit: Just realised I've been talking about "38t gross weight" but that's a throwback to pre-European standardisation days. In fact, a C or C+E licence effectively lets you drive a vehicle of unlimited weight, but there are obviously specific restrictions on the vehicle operator over weight, suitability, etc.

 

[bump]

Grew up around the industry. Would I work in it? Hell no. Hours are horrific, common sense traffic policing has been removed in favour of cameras, deadlines only ever got shorter and contracts with customers got worse in their favour. With the rising fuel prices thrown in it was battle for the old boy to keep his lads employed.

 

[langy]

Grew up around the industry. Would I work in it? Hell no. Hours are horrific, common sense traffic policing has been removed in favour of cameras, deadlines only ever got shorter and contracts with customers got worse in their favour. With the rising fuel prices thrown in it was battle for the old boy to keep his lads employed.

Absolutely agree mate, spot on !!! I gave my class 1 and CPC up 2 years ago, no money in it.

 

[BrokenBiker]

My existing licence is after 97 and I just have cat a and b car and full bike.

Ideally I want to be driving artics but not really bothered what I drive as long as it's steady work

 

[steviec_lj]

C license first, which is rigid body.

Also entitles you to C1, which is 7.5t.

Then another bit of training and on to C+E, which is articulates and entitles you to B+E, C1, C1+E, C and C+E.

Don't forget your medical, and cpc.

Call HGV Training and speak to SanJay on 02079085414.

About £6k over 4 years at £125 a month for everything. Interview at the end of it too

 

[steviec_lj]

An 18 year old could go straight from a car driving licence (category B) to a full-blown C+E 38 tonne artic, if he/she wanted, in a single test.

Not any more unfortunately, that changed 2 years ago.

C, then C+E now, along with 35 hours of CPC.

 

[Kayos]

Friend of mine got a job driving lutons on his car licence, firm paid for his 7.5t and cpc etc, then with some experience he got a better job so was able to pay for his rigid licence. His plan is to drive artics but he knows it's a slow process.

My dad got his class 1 when he was 21 (now nearly 60) but gave up after a difficult medical a few years ago. He said the industry is pretty much ruined these days.

My point is it can be good if you know you want it, but as those who have done it for a while will tell you, it's not like it used to be

 

[Robotstar5]

Some of our delivery drivers must get bored, one example is 5 artics running a 30 mile "merry go round" delivering seats, we have one delivery every hour, 24 hours/5 days a week.

 

[Mikey D]

I took this step about 4 years ago now , cat c first then after about 18 months c+e . If you don't mind putting the hours in , you can make reasonable money , there's all sorts of work out there . Day work such as tippers or multi drop parcel delivery . Tramping that's out all week , night work such as trunking between to a parcel hub and back .
I do general haulage , maybe one night away a week sometimes none , some days it's car parts from South Wales to Ellesmere Port . One day it might be portacabins
To a building site and the next loads of woodchip to a farm for poultry bedding with a walking floor trailer .
Must say I couldn't do the same runs every day !just cabbages my head !
Do choose your training provider very carefully , don't go with a broker under any circumstances . Have a browse in the trucking forum , newbie and learners section www.trucknetuk.com
Cheers Mike