Becoming a HGV driver?

[BulletToothTony]

Anyone any advice on where to start?

I was recently made redundant and so it could be perfect timing for me to retrain and start working in the industry.

Not really sure where to start though, apparently the government are putting on fast track subsidised courses? This is obviously particularly appealing if I could.

Is there a chance that once this hysteria dies down though, that I could be struggling to look for work in this industry next year, even if successful this winter?

Any advice welcome.

Cheers

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

I'm sure things will settle down at some point next year, but if you are being made redundant and you can take advantage of a government scheme, you had might as well ride the crest of the wave whilst it lasts.

[sunbeam alpine]

The cost-free way to start training is to practice pissing into a plastic bottle without getting your fingers wet) and taking a dump behind a tiny bush, preferably in an area with a high volume of passing traffic.

Even as I type this I fear that this may not be the answer you're seeking.

As a slightly more serious answer, here in Belgium (if you're registered unemployed) you can enrol on a training course to get your driving licence for a lorry. Maybe something similar exists in the UK?

[Its Just Adz]

Look for your local hgv training school and give then a call.
Also, take what you read in the media with a pinch of salt

[Muzzer79]

Try and talk to some experienced drivers

It really isn’t a nice job, sadly.

ETA - I work in logistics and don’t think you’ll be scratching around for work for some time. What rate you’ll be paid, I couldn’t say though.

Edited by Muzzer79 on Friday 1st October 21:01

[James_N]

Muzzer79 said:

Try and talk to some experienced drivers

It really isn’t a nice job, sadly.

Agree 100% with this. My dad did it all his life (I spent many a week in the truck with him). My best friend also followed in his dads footsteps and became a HGV driver. He now absolutely hates it with a passion!

[valiant]

Get this moved to the Commercial Break sub-forum.

Plenty of drivers on there to give you a steer (steer, geddit? I’m here all week).

There’s a few threads on getting into it.

[Vintagejock]

I meet truck drivers every day, it takes a strange breed to endure it. I remember once being asked to fit a new drivers seat to a truck that had been brought in on a wrecker a couple of weeks earlier. I opened the cab door to find the backrest of the seat missing. Long story short, the driver had a heart attack and died in his bunk. Fire service had cut the seat to recover the body. The cab was still full of the gear he needed for a week tramping. It was a bleak existence clearly. I wouldn't want to spend my last minutes alive as he had, alone and scared.

[Glenn63]

Don’t let some of the comments in here put you off, it will be like any career some jobs are ste some are good it is what you make of it.

Once you have your licence you will always have work. I could be sacked now and have a new start on Monday (and that’s not just because of the current issues).

You may have to start at the bottom and endure some ste jobs while you learn but there’s many to choose from depending what you want/ pay you want. Monday to Friday home every night, mon- Friday tramping ie sleeping in the cab 4 nights a week, 4 on 4 off is common, or work for agency and work whatever/ whenever you like.

Can have some very interesting jobs if you want to go into specialised stuff, I worked as a ballast driver on heavy cranes for a few years so super interesting and paid well but I was away for a few weeks at a time.

Pay can vary Iv worked from Monday to Friday for about £400 a week to the crane job for £1300 a week, now I have a cream of a job doing Monday to Friday 7-11 hour shifts nothing but trailer swaps and home every night for about £50k a year. General haulage can be ste sometimes being messed about waiting to be tipped/ unloaded but it is what it is unfortunately your unlikely to stride straight into the top jobs but you’ll get there eventually if your a decent driver/ person in general.

[lornemalvo]

Just on the point about sustained job security, you are no longer competing with drivers imported from 27 other countries. That must surely help both job security and income levels. It will be all about how many new drivers come through over the years compared to how many retire/leave the industry. A more natural situation perhaps than relying on cheap labour. I don't know much about funding but I would be enquiring about training grants, nationally and through your local authority. As a last resort, people borrow tens of thousands for degrees that may end up being useless, so perhaps it may be worth approaching your bank?

[BulletToothTony]

Glenn63 said:

Don’t let some of the comments in here put you off, it will be like any career some jobs are ste some are good it is what you make of it.

Once you have your licence you will always have work. I could be sacked now and have a new start on Monday (and that’s not just because of the current issues).

You may have to start at the bottom and endure some ste jobs while you learn but there’s many to choose from depending what you want/ pay you want. Monday to Friday home every night, mon- Friday tramping ie sleeping in the cab 4 nights a week, 4 on 4 off is common, or work for agency and work whatever/ whenever you like.

Can have some very interesting jobs if you want to go into specialised stuff, I worked as a ballast driver on heavy cranes for a few years so super interesting and paid well but I was away for a few weeks at a time.

Pay can vary Iv worked from Monday to Friday for about £400 a week to the crane job for £1300 a week, now I have a cream of a job doing Monday to Friday 7-11 hour shifts nothing but trailer swaps and home every night for about £50k a year. General haulage can be ste sometimes being messed about waiting to be tipped/ unloaded but it is what it is unfortunately your unlikely to stride straight into the top jobs but you’ll get there eventually if your a decent driver/ person in general.

Thanks for the advice mate.

I'm at a bit of a crossroads personally, I want something that I can have as a solid skill and not just be dispensable in middling office jobs.

I intend to pick up other skills but having a HGV licence and having that the my bow seems a no brainer. I'm in a position now where the timing couldn't be better really either, if I managed to get the ball rolling soon it could become a solid career path like yourself.

You have any advice mate or be able to give me an idea of what to expect in the short term if I did try to pursue it?

Thanks

[BulletToothTony]

lornemalvo said:

Just on the point about sustained job security, you are no longer competing with drivers imported from 27 other countries. That must surely help both job security and income levels. It will be all about how many new drivers come through over the years compared to how many retire/leave the industry. A more natural situation perhaps than relying on cheap labour. I don't know much about funding but I would be enquiring about training grants, nationally and through your local authority. As a last resort, people borrow tens of thousands for degrees that may end up being useless, so perhaps it may be worth approaching your bank?

I did enquire to a few companies about subsidised courses, but didn't hear anything back and/or was told they were no longer open. This was about a month ago or so and haven't really thought about it a great deal until this evening, the broader job hunt is draining and not going as well as I'd hoped.

I would be prepared to do a paid course, take a loan etc, if it got me a solid job fairly quickly, it's just knowing where to start really and being pointed in the right direction. I read some gov promises about how they intend to resolve the shortage of HGV drivers, but then there are people like me out there who are keen and interested, and it seems clear as mud how you take them up on their proposals.

[Glenn63]

I’d would look up and speak to a few local to you HGV training places and also search for local agencies and maybe give them a ring they may be able to point you towards some decent training in your area and be willing you have work lined up for when you pass.

It’s a good thing to have in your back pocket IMO as there is always work but also if down the line you fancy learning a different trade it’s super easy to just work the odd days/ fit some work in around learning the new skill/ going back to uni or night school etc.

[stef1808]

If truck simulator is anything to go by it’s a great job and very profitable

[matrignano]

Are you German with a pre 1999 drivers licence?
If so, you’re good to go!

[Bodo]

matrignano said:

Are you German with a pre 1999 drivers licence?
If so, you’re good to go!

<7.5t included?

[Frankthered]

lornemalvo said:

Just on the point about sustained job security, you are no longer competing with drivers imported from 27 other countries. That must surely help both job security and income levels. It will be all about how many new drivers come through over the years compared to how many retire/leave the industry. A more natural situation perhaps than relying on cheap labour. I don't know much about funding but I would be enquiring about training grants, nationally and through your local authority. As a last resort, people borrow tens of thousands for degrees that may end up being useless, so perhaps it may be worth approaching your bank?

By all accounts, there was a shortage of drivers even with the ones from the other 27 countries, which has obviously been exacerbated by their departure.

OP, it might be worth having a word with your local job centre (or whatever they're called these days) they will know about any grants or government schemes. I believe that these have been in place for some time as well.

Otherwise, I would suggest finding a local HGV training school/centre, rather than going through one of the national type places that will just send you to the same local place but take a chunk of money for themselves.

I toyed with the idea of doing this myself as a way to bring in some money about this time last year but I found something else in the end.

[CarlosSainz100]

BulletToothTony said:

Thanks for the advice mate.

I'm at a bit of a crossroads personally, I want something that I can have as a solid skill and not just be dispensable in middling office jobs.

I intend to pick up other skills but having a HGV licence and having that the my bow seems a no brainer. I'm in a position now where the timing couldn't be better really either, if I managed to get the ball rolling soon it could become a solid career path like yourself.

You have any advice mate or be able to give me an idea of what to expect in the short term if I did try to pursue it?

Thanks

Tony, I work in this industry. It can be awful, lonely and unless you're a serial killer not much fun. But, that's not always the case and the good thing is nowadays you can quite easily move from a job that has bad conditions. I don't see this changing anytime soon. Just Google your local hgv driving schools and go from there. The actual test is not as easy as some would lead you to believe. Pass the test and go from there. Costs vary but expect it to be around 1200-1500 quid to get fully qualified. Note, being fully qualified does not i repeat does not mean you are a good driver and know what you're doing. Only experience will get you there. Take it slowly and understand that you're dealing with a skilled industry and if anything goes wrong you'll be the first one they come to blame.So make sure that doesn't happen to you. Get well trained and get some experience before taking on a long journey or big job. I can't stress that enough. A half decent HGV driver will make it seem easy, it's not and can go tits up very quickly with serious repercussions.

[towser44]

Took my medical in July this year and got the logins for study material and test entries for the 3 theory tests at same time - £200

Got Provisional HGV Licence back from DVLA end of August - Free

Booked my theory tests for this Monday (27 September) when the above licence came back - Free (and passed them)

Got my Module 4 CPC Practical Test on Sunday - £250

Got my Cat C Driver Training and Driving Test booked for 1st week of November - Cost £1,200

Although the Govt. have announced the combined Cat C and Cat C & E test, it's not live yet and isn't likely to be until November/December, so I'm doing Cat C and will then do C & E separately at some point in the future and will hopefully just get a Cat C job to start and get some experience in.

Edited by towser44 on Friday 1st October 23:06

[Frankthered]

towser44 said:

Took my medical in July this year and got the logins for study material and test entries for the 3 theory tests at same time - £200

Got Provisional HGV Licence back from DVLA end of August - Free

Booked my theory tests for this Monday (27 September) when the above licence came back - Free (and passed them)

Got my Module 4 CPC Practical Test on Sunday - £250

Got my Cat C Driver Training and Driving Test booked for 1st week of November - Cost £1,200

Although the Govt. have announced the combined Cat C and Cat C & E test, it's not live yet and isn't likely to be until November/December, so I'm doing Cat C and will then do C & E separately at some point in the future and will hopefully just get a Cat C job to start and get some experience in.

Edited by towser44 on Friday 1st October 23:06

That sounds about the same as the place I spoke to - I think they were saying about £16-1800 but had rolled CPC, medical and some tests into it.

They were saying they'd have me in a class 2 job within about 3 months.