advice sought on becoming a hgv driver
Discussion
Why do you want to be an HGV driver? (serious question from an HGV Driver)
Edited to Add...
Currently there are some big changes in the way Drivers hours are recorded. From May this year, aptly nicknames, Digital May, Digital Tachographs will be introduced throughout Europe which means that every HGV in Europe must carry a Digital Tacho card, even if the vehicle they are driving has an Analogue Tachograph. Annoyingly, we need to pay for the bloody things, and I believe most companies are giving training sessions as well.
You will also have the problem of '2 Years Experience Required' wherever you go for a job, so you will probably end up on an Agency's books, which means that you could potentially be doing a different job everyday (a good thing IMO), but you will also have to travel here there and everywhere (a bad thing), not sure what Agency rates down in Hampshire are, but up here they are pants.
I like HGV Driving, get to travel around, certainly in my job I'm rarely in the same place 2 days running and I just do local work. There aren't to many drawbacks apart from poor driving standards and dirt, but the dirt only comes in if you decide to drive Tippers, Skips or Bins.
I would suggest having a look at the Forums on www.trucknetuk.com , loads of information on there and like PH, there is bound to be someone in your area who can recommend the best way to go about getting the licence.
Hope you decide to go for it and Good Luck
>> Edited by tvradict on Monday 20th March 20:34
Edited to Add...
Currently there are some big changes in the way Drivers hours are recorded. From May this year, aptly nicknames, Digital May, Digital Tachographs will be introduced throughout Europe which means that every HGV in Europe must carry a Digital Tacho card, even if the vehicle they are driving has an Analogue Tachograph. Annoyingly, we need to pay for the bloody things, and I believe most companies are giving training sessions as well.
You will also have the problem of '2 Years Experience Required' wherever you go for a job, so you will probably end up on an Agency's books, which means that you could potentially be doing a different job everyday (a good thing IMO), but you will also have to travel here there and everywhere (a bad thing), not sure what Agency rates down in Hampshire are, but up here they are pants.
I like HGV Driving, get to travel around, certainly in my job I'm rarely in the same place 2 days running and I just do local work. There aren't to many drawbacks apart from poor driving standards and dirt, but the dirt only comes in if you decide to drive Tippers, Skips or Bins.
I would suggest having a look at the Forums on www.trucknetuk.com , loads of information on there and like PH, there is bound to be someone in your area who can recommend the best way to go about getting the licence.
Hope you decide to go for it and Good Luck
>> Edited by tvradict on Monday 20th March 20:34
Its not all yorkies and Swedish hitchers,
More like stupidly early starts,
and hold-ups culminating in a late arrival, at timed delivery points,
(through no fault of you own)
and consequently sitting around for hours, waiting to be unloaded.
the days of leaving in the morning, and simply dropping off the map
went out the day the cellphone and satellite tracking arrived
sorry to dispel any favourable views mate
More like stupidly early starts,
and hold-ups culminating in a late arrival, at timed delivery points,
(through no fault of you own)
and consequently sitting around for hours, waiting to be unloaded.
the days of leaving in the morning, and simply dropping off the map
went out the day the cellphone and satellite tracking arrived
sorry to dispel any favourable views mate
Go with someone recognised for goodness sake if you must do it
Ring up the test centre, as I did,
and by a process of elimination
(examiner woulden't openly say which trainer at the time was just crap)
but he would say who was OK.
My mate did his on the cheap, unlike me, and failed a couple of times, before scraping through on the day before rigids became a stepping stone for artics.
it was a fun option job-wise at the time, although all I seemed to get offered
with lack of experience, was 'store deliveries' Tesco etc,
perhaps the signpost poster brigade have turned your head.
don't believe the hype
with the introduction of credit-card sized records of your driving hours, the old option on a tacho of the 'hammers' symbol
now appears to be a new sitting in traffic option apparently
thats how i read it anyway
Ring up the test centre, as I did,
and by a process of elimination
(examiner woulden't openly say which trainer at the time was just crap)
but he would say who was OK.
My mate did his on the cheap, unlike me, and failed a couple of times, before scraping through on the day before rigids became a stepping stone for artics.
it was a fun option job-wise at the time, although all I seemed to get offered
with lack of experience, was 'store deliveries' Tesco etc,
perhaps the signpost poster brigade have turned your head.
don't believe the hype
with the introduction of credit-card sized records of your driving hours, the old option on a tacho of the 'hammers' symbol
now appears to be a new sitting in traffic option apparently
thats how i read it anyway
[quote=loose cannon]i never get bored of driving, + most of the jobbs ive seen advertised pay far more than im currently earning as a techie
thought so
that £800 per week
will almost certainly be a combination of unwanted shifts over weekends
that no-one else wants to do,
untill the next shipment of poles/chechs arrrive,
clinging to the underside of a eurostar,
With some grubby document he insists is a valid licence
and he'll take your job off you, and work for £5 an hour.
oh yes, it happens allright
thought so
that £800 per week
will almost certainly be a combination of unwanted shifts over weekends
that no-one else wants to do,
untill the next shipment of poles/chechs arrrive,
clinging to the underside of a eurostar,
With some grubby document he insists is a valid licence
and he'll take your job off you, and work for £5 an hour.
oh yes, it happens allright
i did my apprenticeship at a reme workshop so i have driven a few large barges in the past
scammel ecca, leyland crusader, bedford tm's , drops vehicles etc but all on military ground.
thanks for the advice so far guys,
those race trucks look awesome i wonder if steve parish does any driver training
scammel ecca, leyland crusader, bedford tm's , drops vehicles etc but all on military ground.
thanks for the advice so far guys,
those race trucks look awesome i wonder if steve parish does any driver training
I keep eyeing up trucks to take the race car about in.. I have a soft spot for trucks and got my class 2 (as was) at 19 with the Army whilst at uni 
I drove a few things in green, Bedford tk,mk 4x4 TM 4x4 and 6x6, the reme recovery stuff and a couple of drops... I did have a cabby in a scamell commander once too the tank transporter... you could have a party in the cab..
last thing i drove though was a road runner which isnt quite the same...
G
I drove a few things in green, Bedford tk,mk 4x4 TM 4x4 and 6x6, the reme recovery stuff and a couple of drops... I did have a cabby in a scamell commander once too the tank transporter... you could have a party in the cab..
last thing i drove though was a road runner which isnt quite the same...
G
loose cannon said:In terms of training, I recently used Zenith (based in Lee on Solent) for my PCV training (they do LGV as well), and although the company is a touch disorganised, the trainers were excellent and the vehicles seemed pretty good as well.
im thinking of throwing in the spanners and going into hgv driving,
does anybody have any experience of this
where can i get the best training as i dont currently have a lgv or hgv license.
and any other advice would be much appreciated
thanks in advance.
As an employee of a haulage company and the son of a truck driver I would recommend the following:
Agency work can be good as long as you know what you're letting yourself in for - The money's not too bad compare to a 'regular' job but the hours are poor - it'll either be late in the evening/night or early in the morning (or both!)
The bigger the agency/employer the better- small tin pot companies will have you going here there and everywhere for no extra money and will probably encourage you to 'bend' the driving hours laws....
Try and avoid multi-drop work - i.e several different deliveries from the one load. This will save time and hassle. The simpler the better - pallets or such like to one delivery address is what you want to be doing.
Once you have experience, become an owner-driver. A lot of companies now sub-contract haulage out and specialist hauliers like owner-drivers as they're more dedicated (no delivery = no money) Also, a guy who I know started as an regular driver, now has 6 trucks and a rather nice 2005 BMW M5 on the drive......
Agency work can be good as long as you know what you're letting yourself in for - The money's not too bad compare to a 'regular' job but the hours are poor - it'll either be late in the evening/night or early in the morning (or both!)
The bigger the agency/employer the better- small tin pot companies will have you going here there and everywhere for no extra money and will probably encourage you to 'bend' the driving hours laws....
Try and avoid multi-drop work - i.e several different deliveries from the one load. This will save time and hassle. The simpler the better - pallets or such like to one delivery address is what you want to be doing.
Once you have experience, become an owner-driver. A lot of companies now sub-contract haulage out and specialist hauliers like owner-drivers as they're more dedicated (no delivery = no money) Also, a guy who I know started as an regular driver, now has 6 trucks and a rather nice 2005 BMW M5 on the drive......
loads of great advice to think about 
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