Is HGV/LGV driving worth it?

Bit of a stupid queston i Know, But

Is HGV/LGV driving actually worth It?

I’ve scoured the internet for info/stories & found a few putting down the job, due to poor wages, ■■■■■■■■ agencies, etc

Found this post forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sho … l?t=509647 a good insight■■? :confused:

I’m sure you all have diffeing views, please post them :sunglasses:

I am £180 per week better off than I was driving buses for a living.

Get the right job, and its a no brainer.

Was for me at least.

It is worth it.

When I worked in an office I managed a wholesome £28k with all the stress and grief that it involved.

Decided to go self employed so took the Class 1 as “filler” work for when there was nothng else to do. It allows me to concentrate on running my own stuff in the day and then work at night. Plus I can drop it at a days notice if something comes up.

A lot depends on the wages. Some places paid crud. £7-9/hour and you were never going to get more than 8 hours a day. The current one pays well. £11+ per hour with an avg of 55 hours.

Depends on your circumstances.

Depends what you are already doing as a living, will the wages be better etc… Ive worked in transport since i was about 21. Started out as a motorbike courier made lots of money in London but always risking serious injury, moved into vans, then managed to get put thro my class 2. Eventually got my class 1 just under 2 years ago.

It works for me wages are better than a lot of others jobs i could be doing and as others have mentioned depends on where you get work.

I’m wanting to also do other stuff self employed away from truck driving, but the truck driving is great because with agencies i can supplement my income as much as i need to and ive always got that to fall back to if i need.

Saying all that ive i was young again i.e. in my teens i would have done things differently gone and got my self a trade done a YTS these guys are on silly money these days.

seeker019:
Bit of a stupid queston i Know, But

Is HGV/LGV driving actually worth It?

Tough question to answer for somebody else. For me getting and HGV licence has been worth it.
I might have been able to earn more money doing something different, I’ve got freinds with similar backgrounds and qualifications to me who earn a great deal more. But they also deal with loads of big company [zb] which I don’t get, I’m left to do my own thing, I know what’s expected of me and get it done, so nobody really gives me loads of hassle. :smiley:
I’m also the envy of many of them because my job envolves working with a motor racing team and travelling round to all the European GP’s, Off to Budapest tommorow and was at the Nurburgring last w/e so another w/e away is a bit of a downside. :frowning:
But I had no idea getting my licence would lead to this when I passed my test all those years ago and in between I’ve driven some rough old trucks and rough old work.
I’ve also work for some good bosses who treated you fairly even if the work wasn’t the most glamerous and they didn’t operate the latest top of the range motor.
On a final point I’ve tried to leave haulage and ended up missing driving a truck, so went back into it, until the motorsport thing turned up.

Basically the jobs right for me and the reason for that has very little to do with pay and hours worked.
I don’t know if it’s right for you, or whether you’d be happier driving regular shifts for a supermarket or happier tramping for a small haulier. Only you can find that out by giving it a go.

30 years ago I thought the job was great but the old hands were saying it was ■■■■■ and not what it used to be.
Now, the youngsters I chat to think it’s great and I’m saying it’s ■■■■■ and not what it used to be.
I guess that any job that takes 30 years to progress from great to ■■■■■ can’t be all bad.

i took my hgv in oct both my class 2 and class 1 now i earn about 250 on top of what i use to driving a van, i enjoy being given my work and being left to get on with it nobody to nag get this done get that done. But like everyone else it’s upto you to make the decision!

I’m probably going to spend the guts of a couple of grand on acquiring my C and C+E licences later in the year. View these as a valuable insurance policy.

Get a bit of time off on my regular job so have used agency van driving job to fund my training and all other expenses (books, DVDs as well as theory/practical training + tests).

Will then hope that agency will provide me with valuable experience when I pass - can then decide if I want to continue with my current employment or switch to driving f/t - even though the permitted hours of work look quite limited in this day and age.

Hi mate here’s my two pence worth.

I’m now 38 yrs old and my work experience has involved driving forklift trucks, inventory management, I have also worked in I.T as a datapreper and even worked as a shift manager. Oh also a project manager setting warehouses up. One thing I have learned is this.

Through my working life I have given 110% to the companies I have worked for. My work record is second to non and so is my sickness record (I mean no time off lol).

Over the last 10 years I have been made redundant twice and am currently being made redundant again. I aint getting any younger and as I get older it will get harder to find work with decent pay, Even with all my experience. As a result of all this I decided to retrain in something and doing my HGV was the right way to go.

Why did I think it was the right way to go?
Answer is this… All around me are class 2/1 drivers and not one of them are worried about losing their job because they know they can walk into another one.

Here’s an example of age… One of the guys retired a year ago and decided to do shunting for some extra cash (just 3 nights a week as he plays a lot of golf) He has been doing some driving for them as a favour because they where short staffed on a few instances and they have asked him if he fancies doing more driving for them. He decided to say yes (he goes on holiday twice a year and plays golf) What a life.

My point is this…no matter what your age…as an HGV driver you will always be in demand. You won’t get a young whipper snapper taking your job and you will always have security. Thats my angle on the matter anyway. Let me know if you agree.

Thats why I decided to do my HGV.

Cheers. Nige

Thanks for all the helpful replys.
I’m a 37 year old Postie, maybe in need of something to fall back on if RM get thier way. :angry:

I see LGV Classes 2 then 1 is the way to go. :sunglasses:

i’m only 23 with no decent grades from school and had s*** jobs no career i drop a huge one leaving the army but i love the demand drivers have for work i’m only in my first year of driving but have had 5 perm job offers on class 1,i agree with big nige you’ll never be out of a job!

Is HGV/LGV driving actually worth It?

NO ITS NOT WORTH IT!!!

Its the lowest of lowest job in the world.

You get more repsect and less stress working for mcdonalds and I don`t the truck drivers deliving the food.

Anyone who wants to pay £1000`s of there own cash to become a LGV driver needs there HEAD READ!!!

Thats my 2p worth.

Thanks

Jimbo

Lets see, 10 say its worth it, 1 says no.

personally yes I’ve found it a bit tough but thats due to my location. I am no worse off than before and when I was working I would say I was better off. Its just unfortunate that tipper drivers are being laid off down here at the moment since the a 30 has finished.

having said that I have had at least 2 days a week thru 1 agency since I finished and still have a job in the pipeline when his new contract kicks in

Class 2 was definatly worth it, class 1 not quite so due to the nature of the work down in Cornwall. But if I hadn’t I would allwayw be wondering What if?
(although I may have some wag and drag coming up thru the agency)

so that makes 11 for and 1 against

A definite YES it is worth it. Every job has a downside otherwise it would not be a job and people would not be paying someone else to do it. The downside to driving would probably be the hassle you might get loading/unloading at your RDC or customer location (which to be honest is probably about 10/20% of the days work time), after that it is the open road and away you go usually in your own relaxed time at your own pace.

Better make it 12 - 1 to the YES

truckerjimbo:
Is HGV/LGV driving actually worth It?

NO ITS NOT WORTH IT!!!

Its the lowest of lowest job in the world.

You get more repsect and less stress working for mcdonalds and I don`t the truck drivers deliving the food.

Anyone who wants to pay £1000`s of there own cash to become a LGV driver needs there HEAD READ!!!

Thats my 2p worth.

Thanks

Jimbo

You really want to try bus driving then…

DAF95XF:

truckerjimbo:
Is HGV/LGV driving actually worth It?

NO ITS NOT WORTH IT!!!

Its the lowest of lowest job in the world.

You get more repsect and less stress working for mcdonalds and I don`t the truck drivers deliving the food.

Anyone who wants to pay £1000`s of there own cash to become a LGV driver needs there HEAD READ!!!

Thats my 2p worth.

Thanks

Jimbo

You really want to try bus driving then…

Oh yes, bus driving. :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:
schoolkids :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp:
late night drunks :imp: :imp: :imp:
I’ve got less stress from being made redundant than driving buses

In my case, yes it was worth it for me.

Before i passed my HGV i was in and out of jobs having the boss breathing down my neck…

Since gaining my HGV i have had plenty of work and quite well paid aswell.
and have now gained a franchise.
You will always find work, thats for sure.
And always the chance of gaining your own wagon later on down the line.

Id HIGHLY recommend it

DAF95XF:

truckerjimbo:
Is HGV/LGV driving actually worth It?

NO ITS NOT WORTH IT!!!

Its the lowest of lowest job in the world.

You get more repsect and less stress working for mcdonalds and I don`t the truck drivers deliving the food.

Anyone who wants to pay £1000`s of there own cash to become a LGV driver needs there HEAD READ!!!

Thats my 2p worth.

Thanks

Jimbo

You really want to try bus driving then…

LOL

NO THANKS

I had another good day truck driving today finished @ 17.45pm and ive got a 3.45am start tomorrow. I CANT wait.

I Love my job NOT!!!

You all need your head read. Including me.

Thanks

Jimbo

Semtex:
schoolkids :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp:

Really not a problem when they know whose boss - last school bus I drove they were spraying water around, so just pulled over and stopped and gave them a right b*llocking…unsurprisingly they were good as gold the rest of the run… :laughing:

late night drunks :imp: :imp: :imp:

Never had a problem with a drunk yet, but its all down to the way you talk to them… :wink:

true about the drunks, 98% of them fall into 1 of 2 catagories

  1. they fall asleep
  2. they babble on with a load of nonsence and bore you to death.

with the schoolkids, I found it depended on the discaplin at the school as well.
only real problem I had was when I pulled over like you said, one of the little scroats threatend to sue.

another time I gave them a bollocking for misbehaving. Next thing was they told the school I shouted at them for no reason and I recieved a bollocking from a school teacher (in front of the same kids)

A mate had a potentially serious issue with misbehaving kids. after repeated bollockings over a period of time, (weeks) this kid strolled up to the front of the bus and told the driver that if he didn’t stop bollocking them, his (14 year old) sister was going to accuse him of ■■■■■■ assault!!!

needless to say the bus company recieved a phone call telling them where the bus was and that the driver was making his own way back to the depot!

All these occured at schools where the teachers didn’t care once the bus turned up.

Incedently I had more trouble down in Cornwall than I ever did when I was in Bedford :open_mouth:

Its gotten to the stage where you as the driver can do very little to disciplin them (bring back the days when you could chuck them off) AND THEY KNOW IT