Thought i would post this in here as it seemed the best place, i see a lot of people asking questions about training/driving/first driving jobs etc, searching for the same answers i was looking for before i took my Hgv tests.
After moving out to Austria in late summer 2010, at the age of 21, i had held many jobs, my first winter working in an apres ski bar, and in the summer 2011 i started working on the building sites out there, i trained as a joiner in england so it seemed the natural choice as it was a job i really enjoyed. In the winter that followed i worked in the local ski hire shop then near the end of the seaosn i got injured snowboarding, i injured my back which needed operating on which put me out of action for the whole of the next summer, i was advised by my surgeon to stay away from the building site and heavy lifting. During the long summer of recovery i had a lot of time to think of what i would like to do as a job/career, which brought me to driving Hgv’s as a job. Lorrys had always amazed me as a child, and seeing as i was on a building site at a very early age i thought driving a lorry would still keep me “in touch” with building sites which i also found very interesting.
This where i stumbled across trucknet uk. I spent a lot of time searching the forum, and just literally reading every thread and trying to process as much as possible. I never registered but checked the whole forum pretty much everyday. After a few weeks i decided to do it, and visited my local truck driving school, spoke to the boss about everything, including his opinions on me actually being able physically and mentally complete the course. Being in Austria the classroom part of the course all exams and all lessons would be in german, which i had only started to learn after moving out there a few years previous. He told me that he thought my german was to a very high standard and i should have no problem completing the course, so i signed up. During the next two months i was at the driving school three times a week for Theory and Practical lessons, passing a total of 6 individual exams including my C95(cpc equivelent). And that was it, i had my C+E license and was ready to look for my first driving job. By this time the building season was pretty much coming to an end (end of nov) and i already had my old job back in the ski shop for winter so i decided to wait until spring until i started looking for a job driving. Spring came around and i started just literally e-mailing and visiting everywhere, asking if they were looking for drivers for the coming year, most places didnt need anyone, at the few places that did need drivers wanted experience and did not want to give me a chance, then came a phonecall asking if i still needed work, i said yep and told him id be at the yard in an hour, after an informal chat which lasted about 15 minutes he told me to come back on monday to start work. So i turned up monday morning, met the boss who introduced me to his son and of we went. The boss’ son gave me the keys and told me to show him how i would start the day. I went through everything id learnt at driving school, walk around checks, tacho etc etc. Then he took me through everything i needed to know about the truck, 8x4 Mercedes Actros with a 9m3 Liebherr cement mixer, after a week of “schooling” i was allowed out on my own.
The Yard i operated out of is a pretty small yard with only about 10 mixers, most of the guys were quite a lot older then me, which i found to be very useful. Probably half of them had been driving there whole lifes, so they were full of advice which i was very happy to take on board and also had a hell of a lot of questions for them to answer aswel. To sum up my first year i could only describe it as perfect, after doing my license with no guarentees for a job im really glad i did it, i would advise anyone whos thinking of taking there license to go for it, especially if its something that genuinely interests you.
Im currently back in england visiting my family for the christmas and new year period as i havent been back in four years, work is currently in “winter shutdown” mode, which means i probably wont be back at work until the end of febuary/beginning of march time, depending on the weather conditions. And i cant wait to get back to work. Il leave you with a few pictures i took while on my travels.
After my first week at work my boss asked me if i wanted a “day trip”, i jumped at the chance. Ahorn Ebenwald lift station, just under 2000m.
On the way down, a view onto the village of Mayrhofen(ca625m). I was stationary when the photo was taken.
Sometimes there were no roads to the site. Me waiting my turn to unload with the helicopter.
My Favorite site of the year, 40million euro two year project to build basically a reservoir to make snow in winter. The site is where the two cranes stand(2267m).
The same site, middle of november. Some jobs just have to be finished, whatever the weather.
Sorry for the mega long post, didnt realise i had written so much.
James