Becoming a HGV driver?

[the-norseman]

100% depends on the place, got a mate who drove for Irlam then Stobart and now Culina, he was a tramper in the same truck all the time, now hes in different cabs all the time.

[Its Just Adz]

Who you working for Glenn? I seem to remember Royal Mail but could be wrong.

[Smint]

The truck industry is huge, with equally huge variations of working practices.
Even if 20 of us described our typical working day there's every chance a new driver's role (or any of us oldies if we changed jobs) will be completely different.

Just make the best of what you find, eventually hopefully you will find your niche, some of us have and actually enjoy our jobs, some never fnd anything that suits them and remain miserable and anti all of their lives, i call them the grand a week crew, ie if you paid them a grand to week to lie in bed they'd still moan endlessly.

[Glenn63]

Its Just Adz said:

Who you working for Glenn? I seem to remember Royal Mail but could be wrong.

Yes Royal Mail or technically parcel force, best job Iv had.
Iv done a few different jobs, started on general haulage, the worst job.
Then went onto heavy haulage for Ainscough cranes, super interesting job all over the country but was tramping for several weeks at a time which got a bit to much with the mrs.
Then went to Waitrose which was a decent job but not the best hours, working weekends, bank holidays etc. My mrs also drives and she’s at Waitrose now.

[r3g]

Koyaanisqatsi said:

Medical done, and all theories passed in one afternoon, now on to the practical training.

Time for a few noob questions re: trunking. Does one simply travel to the depot/RDC in question, jump in a lorry, drive to another place (probably bringing a trailer back), and that's it? Are you in the same cab every day or just chucked the keys to a different one each time? If you're doing the day shift, is another driver doing the night shift in that cab? Any further info?

I'm not concerned with obtaining a job with no experience as there seems to be plenty of jobs listed, and I would assume that most training schools would be able to guide towards companies who are happy to take on new drivers.

If you're wanting your own truck with nobody else driving it, you'll need to be doing tramping work and where the trucks do not get double-shifted. Most of the bigger places will double-shift them, so if you're a tramper but you've just brought a load back to the yard on Wednesday evening, rather than give you tomorrow's delivery to "run down the road with", they'll send you home to save paying a night out and have a night man use your truck for a trunk run, That night man could be an agency guy or Big Dave who works for the same company on nights but only gets a bath once a month and wipes his arse crack cheese on your seat/bunk and wipes his bogies under your seat.

The small one-man band places often give you your own truck which is parked up overnight in the yard, but these typically pay comparatively poorly vs the big logistics companies because that's 50% of every day the truck isn't earning anything and needs to be recouped somewhere - your wages being one.

Night trunking can be one extreme to the other. Doing overnight parcel or pallet hub trunks can be a real baptism of fire at some places. You're expected to know what you are doing and be confident at reversing in tight spaces with shunters flying around in both directions at 50mph and other drivers impatiently tapping their fingers on their steering wheel waiting for you to get out of their way so they can reverse into the slot alongside you. Some yards are massive and a piece of piss, others not suited to anything bigger than a 7.5 tonner. I have fond memories of TNT Leeds .. .

At the other extreme you have trunking between the depots at smaller companies where you are off the beaten track and there's only you out on the road, so you get given a gate code or key to a padlock to access the sites to drop your trailer and pick up your return. These are better for newbies as you have all the time in the world to do your manoeuvres without any pressure.

Agency circuit is where you need to be for night trunking. You'll get a good selection of jobs and maybe one you quite like to apply direct. Be creative with the inevitable "do you have 6 months experience?" question. "Well I work on my brother's farm every year driving the tractor and trailer doing the silage so I've plenty of reversing experience, but I might be a bit rusty". Once your licence is 6 months old then you just lie, but make sure it's a company at the other end of the country that they won't know.

[Its Just Adz]

Glenn63 said:

Yes Royal Mail or technically parcel force, best job Iv had.
Iv done a few different jobs, started on general haulage, the worst job.
Then went onto heavy haulage for Ainscough cranes, super interesting job all over the country but was tramping for several weeks at a time which got a bit to much with the mrs.
Then went to Waitrose which was a decent job but not the best hours, working weekends, bank holidays etc. My mrs also drives and she’s at Waitrose now.

That's it, I remember asking you about Ainscough.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

I must admit, I've struggled a bit to get my head around the combinations of daily rest periods, weekly rest periods, reduced rest periods etc. I got lucky in the theory tests and only got a few basic questions on hours.

[fttm]

They’re very complicated but it will come in time . Ours(Canada) are easy, drive 13 work 14 , can take 2 hrs off during the 14 hr work day which extends it to 16 hrs . 70 hrs in 7 days max and 36 hrs off after your 70 . Work 4/4 rota so weekly breaks are never an issue. Totally irrelevant reply sorry, we used to have a short shift option years ago where you could drive 13 , 4 hrs off , and go again for 13 , quite handy to get you home sometimes.

[Glenn63]

Koyaanisqatsi said:

I must admit, I've struggled a bit to get my head around the combinations of daily rest periods, weekly rest periods, reduced rest periods etc. I got lucky in the theory tests and only got a few basic questions on hours.

There are far more complicated than they need to be. Plus the cross of drive time and work time to adhere to. Itl come in time and practice and tbf unless you’re maxing out your driving hours a week or doing 6 days the weekly rest/reduced and pay backs shouldn’t be an issue.

Depending what runs you’re doing but two 30 min breaks should cover you most of the time. If you’re doing general haulage different places every day that’s usually when you get caught out.

[DaveE87]

It does seem complicated at first but you soon get used to it. No longer than 4.5 hours drive time without a break, and no longer than 6 hours working time without a break.

Pretty much all digi tachographs give you a warning when you're on 4 hrs 15 min drive time, and most modern trucks will on the dashboard too.

If struggling to remember working time just set an alarm to remind you 15 or 30 mins before it's due. Some units/trucks will allow you to set an alarm via the dashboard, but a cheap watch with an alarm would do the same job.

Most of us make mistakes with the tacho at first too do if you make a mistake don't worry about it.

[wazztie16]

DaveE87 said:

It does seem complicated at first but you soon get used to it. No longer than 4.5 hours drive time without a break, and no longer than 6 hours working time without a break.

That's literally how I remember it. I just take a 45 within those times. Quite lucky in my work that we have the same runs/routes every week.

Made a booboo with the tacho yesterday, went to do my manual entry, messed it up and it told me I need rest immediately. I'd just had 2 days off

It happens.

[r3g]

I never bothered with the manual entries. If you listen to all the "experts" in the yard and what the "expert" DCPC trainers say, you'd never get anything done after all the manual entries they want you to do to justify every second of your working day. Pulled plenty of times over the years and never once questioned where the supposed legally required (BS) 15 minutes of 'other work' was before I set off driving to "show" that I'd done my daily checks. Nobody cared. It was the same crap for end of day too - supposedly legally required to show 15 minutes at the end, for .... ??? For what? I know that I've not driven into anything enroute and I know that the tyres are still black and round. If any bulbs have gone then it'll tell me on the dash. I ain't fking about sitting there like a lemon for 15 minutes to satisfy some BS made-up rule when it's after teatime and I've been on the go since 4am. As soon as the unit is in a parking slot, eject button is pressed and 2 mins later I'm in my car after dumping the lines in the office.

Can you tell I've never driven for DHL?

[Triple Six]

r3g said:

Pulled plenty of times over the years and never once questioned where the supposed legally required (BS) 15 minutes of 'other work' was before I set off driving to "show" that I'd done my daily checks. Nobody cared.

It is the usual situation that perhaps nobody cares, until something goes wrong. Not worth the risk, IMO.

[Stussy]

I just put my card in first job when I get to work, and by the time I’ve sorted my stuff out, lunch in the fridge, paper work and route sorted, truck checked it’s gone over 15 any way

[s p a c e m a n]

Yeah most of us park our cars Infront of the truck, throw our bag in and stick the card in and then by the time we've parked up and sorted our lives out 15 mins have gone.

Saw someone scanning barcodes placed around the truck on their walk around with a tablet the other day, fk that.

[Vipers]

Many moons ago did my HGVIII in the services, instructor said “In the mornings you have a wash, so do the same to your truck, clean all lights, mirrors and the windows”, to this day especially in wet conditions make sure my lights, number plates, mirrors and windows are clean.

[Its Just Adz]

Our place insist we do 10 minutes check at end of shift. Just generally check the tyres and lights and go wash my hands.
The artic drivers have to do 10 mins unit and 10 trailer, it's daft. Adds up to 40 mins a day!

[towser44]

Koyaanisqatsi said:

Medical done, and all theories passed in one afternoon, now on to the practical training.

Time for a few noob questions re: trunking. Does one simply travel to the depot/RDC in question, jump in a lorry, drive to another place (probably bringing a trailer back), and that's it? Are you in the same cab every day or just chucked the keys to a different one each time? If you're doing the day shift, is another driver doing the night shift in that cab? Any further info?

I'm not concerned with obtaining a job with no experience as there seems to be plenty of jobs listed, and I would assume that most training schools would be able to guide towards companies who are happy to take on new drivers.

I've done night trunking for the same place since I passed my test in late 2021. Drive from our main hub to one of our other depots, drop trailer and either back to the main depot or sometimes a collection at a third party on the way back. No waiting around as they are our depots and it is literally a trailer drop and swop and go. Used to be a different unit every night as I work 4 on 4 off, but last few months we've been allocated the same unit, albeit shared with the opposite shift pattern. As we leave around 10pm at night and don't get finish until lunchtime, our unit isn't used during the day. Last 10 months I've been on same run every single night, but it's nice, easy work and a route north rather than south so I get to avoid the M25, M1 and M6 around Birmingham. I've no inclination to go tramping or do general haulage, but I understand that every one is different and some like variety and different challenges. I want an easy life ha ha!

[the-norseman]

I applied for the government funded course, got a phone call last week like a telephone interview, only offering rigid in my area not artic but oh well. Not been accepted on it yet hoping to hear something today.

If I do go ahead and do my rigid, when it comes time to upgrade to artic do I have to redo my theory again?

[Triple Six]

the-norseman said:

I applied for the government funded course, got a phone call last week like a telephone interview, only offering rigid in my area not artic but oh well. Not been accepted on it yet hoping to hear something today.

If I do go ahead and do my rigid, when it comes time to upgrade to artic do I have to redo my theory again?

No further theory tests required when upgrading from C to CE, irrespective of when you do that.

Where are you living, England or Wales?