Driving jobs at 18?

[twazzock]

Right, this may be a bit of a long shot, but here goes...

I've just finished college and am now on a gap year, looking for full-time work in order to fund some travel next year and give me some extra £££ for uni.

What I want to know is if there's any potential for me to get paid to drive, rather than working in some drab retail job? It just seems like a vastly more appealling way to spend my time.

Obviously I can't afford to be picky, but if the possibility's there, I'll go for it!

I live on the edge of London/Essex (Havering), 18, had my license less than a year (December), no previous employment.


Any advice would be much appreciated ,
thanks in advance.

[Original Poster]

You will never get a driving job mate, stick with retail for a year...

[omgus]

Unless you are willing to use your own car as an indy courier you will need to wait. My old company had to change their insurance to get me on before i was 25, current poolcar insurance is for 28 or older only.

[Chris_w666]

My 1st job after leaving college when I was 17 was unloading car ferries (new vauxhalls), no idea if you could find an importer near you but I loved the chance to drive pretty much every vauxhall being sold in the uk in 1997 and the pay wasn't too bad. The work was via an agency but doubt that will help.

[Nolar Dog]

No chance of a decent driving job and the idea is a lot less glamorous than you think it might be by the way. Personally, I'd prefer retail any day.

Do you have a local small auction house? They might have work for car jockeys.
Other than that... make sure you have change on you. You'll need it when they pay for their pizzas

[essexgt4]

this is not strictly true, most companies wont hire you for delivery work van driving etc but i started learning to drive busses at 18 with arriva and got my liscence within a monthalthough you will have to work for them for a minimum of a year otherwise you will have to pay them back for your liscence.

[twazzock]

Chris_w666 said:

My 1st job after leaving college when I was 17 was unloading car ferries (new vauxhalls), no idea if you could find an importer near you but I loved the chance to drive pretty much every vauxhall being sold in the uk in 1997 and the pay wasn't too bad. The work was via an agency but doubt that will help.

There's a port at Tilbury (not too far away) and I've seen cars being unloaded there, will look into it, thanks

Nolar Dog said:

Other than that... make sure you have change on you. You'll need it when they pay for their pizzas

essexgt4 said:

this is not strictly true, most companies wont hire you for delivery work van driving etc but i started learning to drive busses at 18 with arriva and got my liscence within a monthalthough you will have to work for them for a minimum of a year otherwise you will have to pay them back for your liscence.

I was looking at the Arriva site earlier and it states they require you to have held your licence for a year (which I haven't). Is this rule solid or could I worm my way in?

Wouldn't actually be able to work for them for a year but paying for the extra training might be worthwhile, as an 'investment' (Do you know how much it costs?)

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[paolow]

Approach larger independant bodyshops and offer yourself as a valeter/derliverer/dogsbody. aim for those like the VAG group which sell humdrum cars but also have something with a bit of sparkle. If you are hardworking and prepared to do the job for not much (i think i got circa 700 a month (ish)) you can indeed drive some nice machinery.

[Jerry Can]

you need to do a google on fleet management companies or vehicle logistics. Most Car manufacturers employ a thrid party to move demo cars around the country, those third parties require drivers. Generally the drivers are retired types and i suspect being 18 you will get nowhere as you'll have trouble convincing them that you are capable of driving a 3.0 audi a5 from london to leeds without crashing.

[Superficial]

Delivery driver? Not very glamourous, but it's what I do and I prefer driving to my previous retail/ office experience.

[twazzock]

Superficial said:

Delivery driver? Not very glamourous, but it's what I do and I prefer driving to my previous retail/ office experience.

Who do you work for, or are you self-employed? I've seen lots of ads for 'Driver Owner' couriers, in their own vans/cars, and whilst I'd be willing (as long as the pay makes sense) to do that, I don't have my own car or any money to 'invest' into buying one.

Driving for a company is a possiblity but obviously I'm at a disadvantage due to my lack of experience.


I have found one unloading ferries/trains at Purfleet, which I'm applying for, as well as quite a few others from here:
http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk
Just trying to whittle down the ones I'm suitably qualified/experienced to get.


Can anyone recommend any fleet management/vehicle logistics agencies/companies I should be looking at applying to?


Thanks again

[al1991]

I'm 19 and I really wanted a driving job for over the summer before I go back to uni.

Guess what? I'm still working my retail job.

[essexgt4]

essexgt4 said:

this is not strictly true, most companies wont hire you for delivery work van driving etc but i started learning to drive busses at 18 with arriva and got my liscence within a monthalthough you will have to work for them for a minimum of a year otherwise you will have to pay them back for your liscence.

I was looking at the Arriva site earlier and it states they require you to have held your licence for a year (which I haven't). Is this rule solid or could I worm my way in?

Wouldn't actually be able to work for them for a year but paying for the extra training might be worthwhile, as an 'investment' (Do you know how much it costs?)

Thanks for the advice everyone.

as far as i know the rule is solid, when i did my licensce with them it would have cost me £1100 which included the tests and all of the training, but it is a good investment but the other downside for you is your age unless its a large company such as arriva, first etc then i doubt u would get a job anywhere else as most smaller companies insurance wont cover anybody under 25. but its still worth a punt, bugger ive jus realised its not 1 year it's 2 years, but you would only have to pay back half of the training fees after the first year.

[Celt]

essexgt4 said:

essexgt4 said:

this is not strictly true, most companies wont hire you for delivery work van driving etc but i started learning to drive busses at 18 with arriva and got my liscence within a monthalthough you will have to work for them for a minimum of a year otherwise you will have to pay them back for your liscence.

I was looking at the Arriva site earlier and it states they require you to have held your licence for a year (which I haven't). Is this rule solid or could I worm my way in?

Wouldn't actually be able to work for them for a year but paying for the extra training might be worthwhile, as an 'investment' (Do you know how much it costs?)

Thanks for the advice everyone.

as far as i know the rule is solid, when i did my licensce with them it would have cost me £1100 which included the tests and all of the training, but it is a good investment but the other downside for you is your age unless its a large company such as arriva, first etc then i doubt u would get a job anywhere else as most smaller companies insurance wont cover anybody under 25. but its still worth a punt, bugger ive jus realised its not 1 year it's 2 years, but you would only have to pay back half of the training fees after the first year.

I wouldnt fancy getting a bus if the driver is 18 and been driving a car for under a year!

Edited by Celt on Monday 28th June 09:48

[Drew b]

What about drivers mate jobs? I know it's not you doing the actual driving,but at least you'll be out and about rather than stuck indoors.

[10JH]

I worked as a delivery driver for a Chinese takeaway when I was 17/18.

It paid really well, on a weekend we'd earn more than the manager and chefs.

Insurance was a bit dodgy though, you had to sort it out yourself. A couple of guys crashed and their insurance didn't cover it, as they were classed as using it for work.

[lawrence567]

I've got a little'un on the way (Due Nov).
I'm in the South West (South Devon).
Had my license all of about 2 months (Although i'm 24 in a few weeks.)
What could i do, ideally driving based evenings/weekends except for deliverying pizzas & chinese?
Or is something like that not really feesable?

[al1991]

lawrence567 said:

I've got a little'un on the way (Due Nov).
I'm in the South West (South Devon).
Had my license all of about 2 months (Although i'm 24 in a few weeks.)
What could i do, ideally driving based evenings/weekends except for deliverying pizzas & chinese?
Or is something like that not really feesable?

Taxi driving?
Couriering at the weekends?
Delivering phone books/catalogues?

[paulmeow]

im 18 and a postman, and im allowed to drive all cans upto which my license permits, biggest van weve got is the ldv high tops.

i was suprised myself that they let me drive at such a young age. all i had to do was pass a driving assesment with the AA.

some days i only drive the van point to point. then walk and deliver mail, occasionally the odd packet run, collection etc.

but why do you want to drive so badly? if you have your own car have fun in that, i drive a red vauxhall combi most days, and the clutch hurts my foot and despite it being a turbo, it isnt exactly thrilling.

[Andy no gooder]

I didnt read the thread properly so i am not sure if you want to just drive or do abit of graft aswell but here goes anyway.

I know of a few people who literally passed their test then went into a job boarding up council property's. You get a van and basically a team of two men go and put steel sheeting on windows and doors.

They had some obvious perks depending on what happened to the tenant at the time, jail or such. I have seen some intereting things from "empty property's"

My brother actually started like this but now he is office based and gives the orders.

This is based in manchester but im sure their would be a london based company of similar type.