First step to becoming a HGV driver
Discussion
GC8 said:
That's an extremely vague answer Adam...
Yes, I suppose it was haha. I get 400 in my bank every week. Usuly start wrk at 7am and it's very rare I work past 4pm, so I'm happy with it.
Like I said, if I was class 1 and tramping I know it would be a lot more but at the moment I don't feel the need.
GC8 said:
That's an extremely vague answer Adam...
If you're thinking of taking it up the pay has never been better. However to earn good money you need to be based in the golden triangle (Northants and surrounding areas), have a class 1 with no more than 6 points and be prepared to work shifts out of a major DC.https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
Its Just Adz said:
GC8 said:
That's an extremely vague answer Adam...
Yes, I suppose it was haha. I get 400 in my bank every week. Usuly start wrk at 7am and it's very rare I work past 4pm, so I'm happy with it.
Like I said, if I was class 1 and tramping I know it would be a lot more but at the moment I don't feel the need.
Venisonpie said:
If you're thinking of taking it up the pay has never been better. However to earn good money you need to be based in the golden triangle (Northants and surrounding areas), have a class 1 with no more than 6 points and be prepared to work shifts out of a major DC.
https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
Thanks, but I already specialise and I’m well paid for what I do. https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
Venisonpie said:
GC8 said:
That's an extremely vague answer Adam...
If you're thinking of taking it up the pay has never been better. However to earn good money you need to be based in the golden triangle (Northants and surrounding areas), have a class 1 with no more than 6 points and be prepared to work shifts out of a major DC.https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
Car transporter jobs are agency?!? Id always presumed that it was an old school job. Paid for what you do, well paid and something that people specialise in.
Loading a transporter must be daunting if youre thrown in at the deep end. Speaking of which: I thought that drivers were personally responsible/insured for damage to carried vehicles? Mix that with agency = disaster...
Loading a transporter must be daunting if youre thrown in at the deep end. Speaking of which: I thought that drivers were personally responsible/insured for damage to carried vehicles? Mix that with agency = disaster...
ezi said:
Venisonpie said:
GC8 said:
That's an extremely vague answer Adam...
If you're thinking of taking it up the pay has never been better. However to earn good money you need to be based in the golden triangle (Northants and surrounding areas), have a class 1 with no more than 6 points and be prepared to work shifts out of a major DC.https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
Venisonpie said:
If you're thinking of taking it up the pay has never been better. However to earn good money you need to be based in the golden triangle (Northants and surrounding areas), have a class 1 with no more than 6 points and be prepared to work shifts out of a major DC.
https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
Utter garbage. https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
I've been in the 'golden triangle' (Birmingham) and worked as agency for Sainsburys. Fantastic money.
Now working in southampton for tesco's as a much smaller DC - still taking home more than 700 a week. No nights out. 12 hours(ish) days.
milkround said:
Venisonpie said:
If you're thinking of taking it up the pay has never been better. However to earn good money you need to be based in the golden triangle (Northants and surrounding areas), have a class 1 with no more than 6 points and be prepared to work shifts out of a major DC.
https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
Utter garbage. https://www.totaljobs.com/job/hgv-class-1-driver/y...
I've been in the 'golden triangle' (Birmingham) and worked as agency for Sainsburys. Fantastic money.
Now working in southampton for tesco's as a much smaller DC - still taking home more than 700 a week. No nights out. 12 hours(ish) days.
Ah - you mean location. Great that it's not just the Midlands, that's a decent rate!
Edited by Venisonpie on Saturday 9th March 06:57
Its Just Adz said:
True, it isn't going to make me rich, unless I move to a big company like ECM and work out all week. But it makes me happy.
Which is important. I passed my class 1 when I was 21 and used to go to Austria once a week - I couldn't believe someone would pay me to have such great adventures. Latterly I delivered flour to bakeries in East Anglia, lovely scenery to look at, free sausage rolls and cakes all day and pretty girls to chat up. I actually looked forward to 5am starts, great days. Glad you're enjoying the adventure too.Venisonpie said:
Er, I think we're saying the same thing are we not - fantastic money if you work shifts at dc's?
Ah - you mean location. Great that it's not just the Midlands, that's a decent rate!
Yeah - sorry my comment was a bit strong. Trust me to post after a few glasses of wine. Ah - you mean location. Great that it's not just the Midlands, that's a decent rate!
Edited by Venisonpie on Saturday 9th March 06:57
If anyone wants agency supermarket work - look at Staffline agency. They pretty much have it sewn up. It's better if you get the number for the person who manages that site. Staffline have an agency rep for drivers in each depot and they give out shifts and take on the new drivers. If anyone wants a number for decent people in Southampton/Birmingham let me know.
Interestingly - the rates don't really differ depending on where in the country you are. At tesco it's lower - but there is less messing around and imo you are treated a lot better on agency. Today I was asked what sort of day I wanted. I thought they were winding me up but said I would like to watch the rugby. And I was sat in front of the TV watching England at home as promised. If I'd said I wanted a long one to earn big ££ on the weekend rates they'd have sorted me out there as well.
Tbh supermarket work isn't for everyone. It's totally boring. And would be horrendous for someone with little or no experience. The yards are more than just a little tight - and about 50% of the reversing is blindside. But you are not rushed and generally, it's easy and doesn't involve nights out. I don't see why anyone would do pallet rubbish in comparison to it - but each to their own.
Hey all - Another update!
So its been almost 2 years since I passed and so much has changed. I apologise for not coming back to this thread as much as I wished but long days and being out on the road leaves little time or energy to come back to this thread and post.
Anyway, I now have my own company set up (Ltd) I get work through agencies and being self employed I generally get a higher rate than PAYE. I claim expenses (fuel/phone/food etc) process invoices and pay myself a little salary out of whats left.
This also allows me to work direct for a company, I have been calling up, knocking on doors and chatting to drivers, but no one had called to offer work. I've even had places where I dropped my card in, only for an agency to call me and offer me work there a week later!
BUT.....
Next week I start my first direct work for a client, no agency involved, they originally offered 2 weeks in Maidstone then added a 3rd week in Dover. This could be my foot in the door it's a big chain of Builders Merchants and if it goes well there could actually be more work there than what I can cover, This may give me the opportunity to find a driver that can work on an Ad-Hoc Basis and I get a small cut of the fee, I may then also be able to approach other Builders merchants and offer the same service to them requiring more staff etc etc.
Im glad that my hard work has secured me my first client, I have worked another builders merchants who actually offered me a full time job by the end of the week but I turned it down as im really enjoying the variety of the agencies.
I have been in London doing multidrop, Ive done long distance single drop, Hiabs, Curtain siders, flat beds tail lifts and loads of other stuff, Ive worked for some great companies and some terrible ones, I still make mistakes here and there but nothing serious and I am still 'only' a class 2 but hopefully this year i will get my class 1 and update you all again.
To summarize, I am still really enjoying this career move, my only regret is not doing this sooner, I knew I wanted to do it when i was younger but never bothered. It has given me more opportunities than i ever imagined and I never even considered establishing a business upon it but here I find myself.
So its been almost 2 years since I passed and so much has changed. I apologise for not coming back to this thread as much as I wished but long days and being out on the road leaves little time or energy to come back to this thread and post.
Anyway, I now have my own company set up (Ltd) I get work through agencies and being self employed I generally get a higher rate than PAYE. I claim expenses (fuel/phone/food etc) process invoices and pay myself a little salary out of whats left.
This also allows me to work direct for a company, I have been calling up, knocking on doors and chatting to drivers, but no one had called to offer work. I've even had places where I dropped my card in, only for an agency to call me and offer me work there a week later!
BUT.....
Next week I start my first direct work for a client, no agency involved, they originally offered 2 weeks in Maidstone then added a 3rd week in Dover. This could be my foot in the door it's a big chain of Builders Merchants and if it goes well there could actually be more work there than what I can cover, This may give me the opportunity to find a driver that can work on an Ad-Hoc Basis and I get a small cut of the fee, I may then also be able to approach other Builders merchants and offer the same service to them requiring more staff etc etc.
Im glad that my hard work has secured me my first client, I have worked another builders merchants who actually offered me a full time job by the end of the week but I turned it down as im really enjoying the variety of the agencies.
I have been in London doing multidrop, Ive done long distance single drop, Hiabs, Curtain siders, flat beds tail lifts and loads of other stuff, Ive worked for some great companies and some terrible ones, I still make mistakes here and there but nothing serious and I am still 'only' a class 2 but hopefully this year i will get my class 1 and update you all again.
To summarize, I am still really enjoying this career move, my only regret is not doing this sooner, I knew I wanted to do it when i was younger but never bothered. It has given me more opportunities than i ever imagined and I never even considered establishing a business upon it but here I find myself.
rob0r said:
I've posted on here a few times about doing my Cat C and perhaps C+E later on, just for personal reasons as we have an Atego 7.5t with a recovery body going on the back of it for trackdays etc. I've done some training and I've now failed two tests - feeling pretty frustrated!
The first test I failed on not spotting a car tightly sneaking up the side of me in the left lane as I was about to go right on a roundabout. I thought I had checked my mirrors leading just before setting off but I missed the car now alongside me. As I left off the car had to wait and I gained a serious fault. Apart from that I had a pretty good drive so I wasn't too annoyed.
A week later (yesterday) I sat another test. They took me down a tight residential road that finishes with a T junction, it has very tight left turn and I misjudged and came out straight too far before turning full lock left. Even as slow as I could go I still clipped the kerb on the opposite side, and I had to reverse to make the turn. Aside from this I only had two minors, but I was done...
Yesterday I turned up at 8:15 at the test centre to find my 8:45 had been cancelled! I was pretty livid since I've had to book the time off work, and the retest / lorry time is not cheap. By the time I got back to the instructors depot it had been reinstated to 10:30am, which then meant more time off work and unhappy bosses... To then fail after all the kerfuffle was gutting.
I can now either try another retest before Xmas while it's still all fresh (each time is £400 a pop...) or go for more training. Each retest has 1hr 30 mins before the test to practice / train which is useful. I feel my general driving standards are good enough but I'm not really confident on the individual "harder" turns along the test routes, as yesterdays test has shown. I just wonder if I will have enough time to practice all the tight turns in before the retest.
Or I could opt to take some time out, wait until the New Year and then book extra training on a Saturday (four hours) for a retest first thing Monday (also with the 1hr 30 practice). This might be the most sensible option but costing is likely to be two retest fees, so I could just take a quick retest with little to lose and hope the practice time is enough, with the knowledge I could then take another one for the same amount of money as the extra training... If I pass the retest first time then it's £400 saved!
I'm not sure why I'm posting this up, but it's good to get my thoughts written out anyway!!
So my hiatus was a little longer than expected but I had good news on Tuesday! Cat C achieved!!The first test I failed on not spotting a car tightly sneaking up the side of me in the left lane as I was about to go right on a roundabout. I thought I had checked my mirrors leading just before setting off but I missed the car now alongside me. As I left off the car had to wait and I gained a serious fault. Apart from that I had a pretty good drive so I wasn't too annoyed.
A week later (yesterday) I sat another test. They took me down a tight residential road that finishes with a T junction, it has very tight left turn and I misjudged and came out straight too far before turning full lock left. Even as slow as I could go I still clipped the kerb on the opposite side, and I had to reverse to make the turn. Aside from this I only had two minors, but I was done...
Yesterday I turned up at 8:15 at the test centre to find my 8:45 had been cancelled! I was pretty livid since I've had to book the time off work, and the retest / lorry time is not cheap. By the time I got back to the instructors depot it had been reinstated to 10:30am, which then meant more time off work and unhappy bosses... To then fail after all the kerfuffle was gutting.
I can now either try another retest before Xmas while it's still all fresh (each time is £400 a pop...) or go for more training. Each retest has 1hr 30 mins before the test to practice / train which is useful. I feel my general driving standards are good enough but I'm not really confident on the individual "harder" turns along the test routes, as yesterdays test has shown. I just wonder if I will have enough time to practice all the tight turns in before the retest.
Or I could opt to take some time out, wait until the New Year and then book extra training on a Saturday (four hours) for a retest first thing Monday (also with the 1hr 30 practice). This might be the most sensible option but costing is likely to be two retest fees, so I could just take a quick retest with little to lose and hope the practice time is enough, with the knowledge I could then take another one for the same amount of money as the extra training... If I pass the retest first time then it's £400 saved!
I'm not sure why I'm posting this up, but it's good to get my thoughts written out anyway!!
I hadn't touched a lorry since I failed last time, I had a four hour lesson last Saturday and then a couple of hours before a first thing test on Tuesday. 7 minors which were varied, but I'm absolutely relieved...
Cat C was WAY harder than I expected, I'm now debating if I have the stomach for the full C+E as I still need a trailer test of some sort. I need at least 7.5t + trailer for my future exploits which should be easier on me if I just did C1+E, but I could just go balls out for the full artic...
rob0r said:
So my hiatus was a little longer than expected but I had good news on Tuesday! Cat C achieved!!
I hadn't touched a lorry since I failed last time, I had a four hour lesson last Saturday and then a couple of hours before a first thing test on Tuesday. 7 minors which were varied, but I'm absolutely relieved...
Cat C was WAY harder than I expected, I'm now debating if I have the stomach for the full C+E as I still need a trailer test of some sort. I need at least 7.5t + trailer for my future exploits which should be easier on me if I just did C1+E, but I could just go balls out for the full artic...
For what it's worth Class 1 is far easier to drive than class 1 imo. The reversing will be a pain at first but after that it's a doddle. I hadn't touched a lorry since I failed last time, I had a four hour lesson last Saturday and then a couple of hours before a first thing test on Tuesday. 7 minors which were varied, but I'm absolutely relieved...
Cat C was WAY harder than I expected, I'm now debating if I have the stomach for the full C+E as I still need a trailer test of some sort. I need at least 7.5t + trailer for my future exploits which should be easier on me if I just did C1+E, but I could just go balls out for the full artic...
No point in C1+e as it would be similar money to class 1. If you don't want to push yourself do it in a small rigid with a smallish trailer. You can do it in a 12ter with a small trailer. But I'd hate to see someone go from that to being thrown the keys to a real artic.
Plus a class 1 is a fantastic insurance policy. I got it for that reason and am using it now to pay the bills.
Congrats on the class 2 pass though bud.
Going from car licence to C is a bigger jump than going from C to C+E.
Personally I found the training for C+E much more enjoyable and rewarding than C.
I will admit I already had many years of shunting experience from our yard at work, but don’t let reversing them put you off, it’s just a matter of practice.
I’m now driving C+E milk tankers collecting from farms and love it!
It redefines tight, ignoring not suitable for long vehicles signs and having to go down lanes you wouldn’t want to go down in your car, let alone an artic
I’ll post some pics when I get time
Personally I found the training for C+E much more enjoyable and rewarding than C.
I will admit I already had many years of shunting experience from our yard at work, but don’t let reversing them put you off, it’s just a matter of practice.
I’m now driving C+E milk tankers collecting from farms and love it!
It redefines tight, ignoring not suitable for long vehicles signs and having to go down lanes you wouldn’t want to go down in your car, let alone an artic
I’ll post some pics when I get time
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