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

[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.