Can you work HGVs and still have a family life...

[D1on]

Always fancied doing my class 2 and then onto class 1.
My problem is with having a young family would i be able to find just day work?
Most HGV drivers seem to take any shifts regardless of the time of day...

[blue estate]

If you can stick it , look at pallet network day deliveries
Every depot uses a unit and trailer in the day time for bulky industrial estate deliveries and collections
Hours usually 7/8 till 5


Sent from my truck

[8wheels]

Definately you can, such a broad spectrum of work that there is plenty jobs that will give you hours to suit.

I started out when children were 5, 3 and 1. First job was multi drop foods with silly early starts, meant i could sometimes collect them from school and go to things at the school or take them to clubs afterwards.

Next job in piling didn't pan out so good, was burning the candle both ends and taking me away nights out which I'd been told wouldn't happen. After 9 months we had a falling out and I moved on.

Did scrap metal skips on days for a short while and then back into plant hire where I've been for last 14 years, day work with more or less regular times. Early but not silly start times, and home early evening with no weekend except for a very rare job to get us out a muddle.

That's all been driving rigids but my colleague doing same job as me on lowloader works same rough hours. There are numerous other familiar trucks in the area that you see as a matter of course all working regular hours.

Over the years I have worked with many old boys who had missed their kids growing up as were always working long hours chasing more money. I figured early on to not let time slip by, I've still earnt well but rarely clock more than 50 hours a week. Works for me
I'd say finding class 2 work keeping local will be easier but not mutually exclusive.

[Paul@PSTT]

Always fancied doing my class 2 and then onto class 1.
My problem is with having a young family would i be able to find just day work?
Most HGV drivers seem to take any shifts regardless of the time of day...
D1on
MEMBER

Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2020 7:56 pm

When my kids were young I worked for Hovis delivering bread to supermarkets. The starts were early, but I was able to pick up my girls from school. I even managed to get a couple of hours sleep before I went for them. That could be another option if there are any near you?

[bald bloke]

Always fancied doing my class 2 and then onto class 1.
My problem is with having a young family would i be able to find just day work?
Most HGV drivers seem to take any shifts regardless of the time of day...

Try getting on with a supermarket they don’t push you for long hours and there’s always an option to change your shift start times or amount of hours you do, I work 3 x 12 hr shifts currently.

[D1on]

Would it be wise to start on class 2 tippers first as I imagine they are mainly days then see where I end up?...

[Truckerian99]

Always fancied doing my class 2 and then onto class 1.
My problem is with having a young family would i be able to find just day work?
Most HGV drivers seem to take any shifts regardless of the time of day...

Can you? NO!!

[Noremac]

You should be able to get day work (which may include starts as early as 4am btw). There is quite a lot of night work on C+E, but there always seems to be a fair number of drivers willing to take those shifts / jobs, for whatever reason, be it quiet roads, better pay, peace and quiet etc etc. Apparently it becomes normal to be up at night.

There doesn't seem like a reason to accept a job doing shifts covering a large part of the day (vastly different start times etc). Professions where this is the norm would have significant shift allowances.

Never fall for any argument put forward to the effect of: 'it is legal, therefore we would expect you to do it'.

[m2z]

Start on class 2 tippers, skips, roro. All local work. You can earn around £27k - £30k+. Doing 10/11 hour days. 5/6am to 4/5pm.

If you get bored of tippers try roro. Once fed up with roro back onto tippers etc. I enjoy tipper/roro work, easy work. Good laugh with the drivers. You dont have to drive like a maniac like you have probably heard. I dont speed for no company. Clean license.

When i passed my class 1. Only places who offered me a start wanted 70 hour weeks and/or tramping mon - fri. Not interested in paying a mortgage to sleep in a truck, working silly hours instead. Not the life for me

[Zac_A]

Builders merchants are a good bet if you get your hiab ticket (and the necessary experience of course). Usually 7am or even 8am start and you're all done by about 5pm, all local-ish work so no nights out.

[Build5]

Always fancied doing my class 2 and then onto class 1.
My problem is with having a young family would i be able to find just day work?
Most HGV drivers seem to take any shifts regardless of the time of day...

As a new pass driver I'll give you my take on things.

1. Is there jobs out there that have a good work/life balance?
Yes, there is. Will you get one? Probably not. There's guys out there with decades of experience looking for that job and as a new pass you stand next to zero chance of getting it.

2. Day work... well, it depends what you call "day work" there's loads of jobs out there that advertise as day work. In my experience starting work at 4am is not uncommon and that's considered a "day shift" but it might involve getting up at 2am to grab a shower, breakfast and travel to site.

Is getting up at 3am a day shift to you?

...And you might have a 15 hour working day in front of you so maybe getting home at 7pm eat, sleep, then get up and do it all again.

You might as well tramp and get paid £25 to sleep in a lay-by on your own away from your family

....£25 to be an unpaid security guard sleeping in a metal box that stinks away from your wife and kids?

Class 1 is pretty grim in my experience. It's a single mans game. Unless you want to go through several marriages.

Class 2 is better especially if you can get in with a local 'brand name' builders merchants.

Days Pallet network class 2 is grim. You'll be fighting traffic, time constraints, deadlines, working hours. You'll end up thinking about cutting corners just to get the job done. You'll risk your license for the princely sum of £10 an hour. Not being funny, but I could stack shelves in Morrisons for £10.50 an hour and nobody is going to take my licence off me or threaten me with fines or prison and I'd be home on time with certainty.

Trucking is pretty grim in my experience.

You won't make a million quid. In most cases you'll be working through an agency who will strip your pay down to the bone to pay themselves. Employers seem comfortable with this. Agencies are obviously happy with this.

I'm class 1 and am totally dejected, fed up and annoyed with the amount I paid to get these licences to be treated like a piece of worthless meat.

Would I do it again?

No. I'd go and work for a supermarket stacking shelves and save myself several thousand pounds and be paid more.

[DAF_Daily]

In my experience yes you can. I drive class 1 and work 42hrs over 4 nights a week. Only had licence a couple of years. Just got to find right place for your needs

[JohnTheTaxiDriver]

When my kids were young I drove a Taxi, 6pm till midnight 6 evenings a week. I took my kids to school, picked them up and had dinner with them in the evening before work. Those were the days nothing to be earned as a taxi driver since coronabollox though...

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[adam277]

When my kids were young I drove a Taxi, 6pm till midnight 6 evenings a week. I took my kids to school, picked them up and had dinner with them in the evening before work. Those were the days nothing to be earned as a taxi driver since coronabollox though...

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Ah the premium hours. No risk without reward. During those time there is certainly a bit of risk.


Yep. Not much money in taxi driving at the moment. Especially if your a black cab driver. Hopefully few more months and it will be back to normal.

[Build5]

Well there seems to be several ideas around this topic. I think it needs breaking down.

18-25 would I drive a truck?
No chance! Get trained to be a plumber, gas engineer, plasterer, bricklayer, garden landscaper, driveway refurbs, roofer, etc etc

21-35 would I drive a truck?
No chance! Get trained in gas boilers, gas engineer, electrician, solar installation, electric car chargers (EV charger installation)

Guys, if you can handle the paperwork, sat nav, tacho, CPC, for driving a truck you're clever enough to get yourself a proper trade and make proper money in years to come. Don't settle for a tenner an hour. You're worth more.

40-50 would I drive a truck?
You've been a self employed taxi driver or some other self employment. You think this is going to be the same. It isn't. You're constantly badgered. Your time is not your own. The big firms are even worse. They can track the movement, breaks, stops, harsh breaking, overspeeds, you're treated like a child.

If you're really lucky you'll get with an old school firm that doesn't have any of that.

You'll run "bent" every day. You'll never do a proper rest. You'll never strap a load. One day VOSA will tug you. It's not a lottery, it's a certainty. It will happen and when it does you'll be chucked under the bus. You'll be fined. You'll have points. Just like the Mafia they'll quietly offer to pay the fine and keep your job open as long as you keep your mouth shut.

Think I'm joking?

Wait and see.

For us guys 45 and upwards with less options, here's the advice I was given from a proper old time boy - "build, stick to your guns. Don't run bent. They'll throw you under the bus. You're the boss of that truck, you don't like it, it doesn't move. Tell them to go f*CK themselves and get another driver. You do what's right. It's not just your life you're risking"

You will be pressured to do things you're not comfortable with. And you'll say you're strong enough to resist. And that makes you a really bad employment bet. Why should they keep you on when everyone else is getting 30% more work done than you?

That's the catch. Running straight is slow and expensive. Running bent is cheap and profitable.

Would I tell my son to follow me into this game? NO CHANCE! It'll do me for 10 years until I retire. I won't miss it.

[JohnTheTaxiDriver]

One thing that always surprised me as a taxi driver was the amount of so called family men who wanted to do days. "I want to work days because I have young kids" are you taking the piss, you'll never see them. Working evenings pulled in more money than 10hr days and by the time you get home they will be in bed. These blokes weren't interested in their family, they just wanted normal hours for their own selfish reasons.

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[SquireT]

The question is no different from many others plenty of jobs of there, many to suit a range of lifestyles, is the nice social hours, great pay and so no going to be easy to get, not a chance but likely to find a job you enjoy and suits you well enough most of the time.

Build5, you seem very bitter for somebody at the start of the career, maybe its not the job for you afterall

[trevHCS]

I would say pallet networks are the best since you won't do 3am starts, no nights out and if not finished by 5 then they usually want the truck back. Mostly available as 7am to 5pm ish Mon to Fri shifts. Not quite office work admittedly.

Ok, not the best money more like £22 to 24K I would say for days class 2 pallets depending where you are in the country. Maybe a little more for class 1 but not really enough to justify the cost.

Nights can he alright but you wont always see kids and you've really got to be a nights person. This is mostly a class 1 exclusive.

As for other professions - I used to think I should have gone to be an electrician, plumber, gas engineer, mechanic etc. But you get really crap apprenticeship wages for years and then the "work anywhere" Euro system decimated the jobs market for what used to be trades for life.

All jobs are subject to flux.

[Juddian]

Its like everything else out there, yes you can work the hours to suit what you expect family life to be, just don't expect to be earning fantastic pay for it.

The best pay in driving is to be found in several sectors, one is awkward shifts, i won't class overly long hours resulting in high pay as well paid (if you do the work of 1.7 people but get paid wages for 1 it aint well paid), other high payers include speciality work but the equipment is seriously expensive so quite naturally the invester needs to operate than machinery for at least 60 hours a week.

So yes by all means get into the game but don't expect £40k+ for a 40 hour week based around office hours, it'll be in the £20/24k region.
As mentioned above the bread game is a decent number, very early starts lots of drops rushing about but early finishes and usually decently paid, at least at the big bakeries.

As for the doom and gloom posters, yes the industry has its ups and downs, if your glass is permanently half empty and you're a bloody misery to be around don't expect the better employers to be falling over themselves to get you on board, but, if you carve yourself a niche and/or specialise and earn yourself a good reputation on the game then you can make a very decent living from lorrying, an industry where you arn't on the scrap heap aged 55 either, just don't expect it to happen overnight.
Finding your niche is the thing.

[SD1991]

Good to read this post as I'm keen to not let work ruin my home life like I have done in the past to some extent.

I'm looking to do my class 2 after 10 or so years In my current line of work. I've always fancied it and the work I do now isn't really very good for my health so it's about time I got out.

From what I have seen advertised, and speaking to 2 acquaintances, one a class 2 driver with 6 months experience and one Class 1 with 8 years, there is plenty of work around here (northants).

Seems like you can almost choose the sort of work you want to do based on where you're at in your life. The class 2 driver worked some pretty tough sounding agency gigs for the first 5 months and is now working full time for a well known builders merchants 7.30 till 4.30 who are paying for HIAB & Class 1 and paying around £27k. Sounds great to me for only 6 months under his belt. I could live with that. The class 1 driver I know doesn't mind being away on occasion and likes the money, has been Ltd up until recently and done quite well out of it but put the hours in.

I quite like the idea of local class 2 work, do class 1 at some point, maybe weekend shift when my other half stops work when we have kids to maximise on time at home, perhaps a 7 till 5 builders merchants jobby with a young family if possible. Wouldn't even mind some night shifts doing long runs. But personally I'd like to avoid regularly doing big hours as I've had enough of that in my current line of work, so once I've got some experience I will try to find something around 45-50 hours a week max if I can. Happy to do some extra hours if it's early starts and still get an evening.

Best of luck and I'm sure you can make it work long term even if you have to suck it up for a while until you've got some experience. Let us know where you end up.