I am seriously thinking of quitting my job as a postman and becoming a trucker and possibly tramping. I have been in contact with a haulage firm near to where I live and they said I can do a apprentice scheme with them where they pay for my class 1 (as I already have a class 2) and I pay them back out of my payslip over 3 years which I have to stay with them for. I enjoy driving a lot and I don’t think that sleeping in a truck would bother me much. does anyone have any advice or extra information that they can share? also how much can I expect to be paid? Ive heard about £120 a day including night out allowance. thanks guys
This will answer some questions for you without too many having another rant 
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=128418
are you a trucker then? do u enjoy it?
jaustin:
are you a trucker then? do u enjoy it?
well, I was a trucker, then left now going back into it.
I’ve done tramping over Europe.
All jobs have good and bad in them but I LOVE IT, I miss it dearly and am so happy to be going back to it now.
At the end of the day no one can tell you if it’s something you will love or not. Sounds like a good thing in theory what this haulage company is offering you, if you have done the calculations and you are ok with it all then go for it, what have you to lose? ok you will lose the postie job, don’t know much about that ie: priviliges/salary/etc and whether you would ‘suffer’ from dropping out of it or not, you will know though hopefully won’t you? can you get back to being a postie quite easily if you want to in future?
If you’ve got a class 2 licence, why don’t you simply approach the employer, would be an easier way to get ya class one, only down side its how long they might tie you to them for.
I don’t think so, I am taking home about £400 a week at the moment but that is due to the fact that I am doing so much overtime, however that overtime will be stopping soon so I feel that is my cue to take a chance and go for it. Are the lorry’s comfortable? Are they maintained well and If I had a phone to charge or laptop while tramping how could I charge it? would there be a power outlet in the vehicle?
The proof is in the pudding.
Personally, if I was you, and I was already earning £400 a week, I would save up and pay for my own class 1 training. Saves you being tied down to a firm and you’re then free to explore more avenues.
All the trucks I have driven have 12 and 24 volt outputs. Buy yourself an inverter for tramping, that way you can charge a laptop up or various other items aswell as your phone.
jaustin:
I am seriously thinking of quitting my job as a postman and becoming a trucker and possibly tramping. I have been in contact with a haulage firm near to where I live and they said I can do a apprentice scheme with them where they pay for my class 1 (as I already have a class 2) and I pay them back out of my payslip over 3 years which I have to stay with them for. I enjoy driving a lot and I don’t think that sleeping in a truck would bother me much. does anyone have any advice or extra information that they can share? also how much can I expect to be paid? Ive heard about £120 a day including night out allowance. thanks guys
Asking people if you should quit your job is like asking people of you should eat broccoli!
IMO it’s a great job, but he aware of long hours, unpredictable finish times times etc. It’s not an easy job.
Something I would be wary of is tying yourself to an employer for three years whilst you pay them back for your licence. Lots can change in three years. Best case scenario, you love it and wondered why you didn’t do it earlier, worst case, you hate it and are stick there for three years. (Or maybe you could buy yourself out of the contract, paying them back the money they invested in you.)
Do you have chance to use your class 2 licence at your current employer? Or maybe weekend work with an agency.
Good luck whatever you decide.
Cavey.
Endgame:
Personally, if I was you, and I was already earning £400 a week, I would save up and pay for my own class 1 training. Saves you being tied down to a firm and you’re then free to explore more avenues.All the trucks I have driven have 12 and 24 volt outputs. Buy yourself an inverter for tramping, that way you can charge a laptop up or various other items aswell as your phone.
+1
And buy a DECENT inverter! Cheap ones have poor AC sinewave signal generation.
Captain Caveman 76:
jaustin:
I am seriously thinking of quitting my job as a postman and becoming a trucker and possibly tramping. I have been in contact with a haulage firm near to where I live and they said I can do a apprentice scheme with them where they pay for my class 1 (as I already have a class 2) and I pay them back out of my payslip over 3 years which I have to stay with them for. I enjoy driving a lot and I don’t think that sleeping in a truck would bother me much. does anyone have any advice or extra information that they can share? also how much can I expect to be paid? Ive heard about £120 a day including night out allowance. thanks guysAsking people if you should quit your job is like asking people of you should eat broccoli!
IMO it’s a great job, but he aware of long hours, unpredictable finish times times etc. It’s not an easy job.
Something I would be wary of is tying yourself to an employer for three years whilst you pay them back for your licence. Lots can change in three years. Best case scenario, you love it and wondered why you didn’t do it earlier, worst case, you hate it and are stick there for three years. (Or maybe you could buy yourself out of the contract, paying them back the money they invested in you.)
Do you have chance to use your class 2 licence at your current employer? Or maybe weekend work with an agency.
Good luck whatever you decide.
Cavey.
I agree, sod that 3 year lark, save it yerslef or stick on the plastic card or get a loan least then you have complete freedom.
Thanks everyone for your response. Only problem with getting the lisence myself is that company’s want 2 year experience. At least if I get with this company then atleast I will gain the experience and a guaranteed job.
jaustin:
Thanks everyone for your response. Only problem with getting the lisence myself is that company’s want 2 year experience. At least if I get with this company then atleast I will gain the experience and a guaranteed job.
Really! !! What part of the country are you in mate?
Being somebody who quit a job to drive a truck over 20 years ago that bit’s not a problem, my problem is you having to pay back the training cost, Of course you should pay back a percentage of the cost if you leave them before an agreed period of time, but to charge you for training is wrong.
If the company wants you they should pay for the training, it’s the lack of companies doing so which has lead to the much talked about driver shortage time bomb.
My company offered to pay for my Transport Managers CPC, but I decided to pay for it myself and do it during my holiday, then I felt I didn’t owe them, when I got my CPC and took over as the companies CPC holder I got a decent pay rise, which more than covered the cost of the course and spending 2 weeks of my holiday in a classroom.
jaustin:
are you a trucker then? do u enjoy it?
I’ve only just passed my test and have my first class 2 work today so I’m not best qualified to answer that.
However I have been working on a 3.5 ton pickup doing light haulage for the last 7 months and decided I liked the work (and theirs not much left I can do with my health).
You can kiss goodbye to a morning routine. You’ll be starting anywhere from 1:30am to 7am (I found 4am most common in my old job). You’ll get stuck in traffic so even if its a ‘shorter’ day it could turn into a very long day.
All that being said I love the work, I love the freedom, being out and about seeing different places every day. You don’t have a manager breathing down your neck, and if he does phone you you can tell him you can do naff all about the traffic (Just remember to keep them informed about delays, learnt that one the hard way).
I’ve never had a job above minimum wage and I’m now getting £8.50 an hour with an agency even though I’m newly qualified, but as I’ve just started out I can comment on the reliability of work with agencys.
So that’s me so far. I’m not regretting it and enjoying learning. I’m sure the job wouldn’t be for everyone though. You do meet drivers who say if they had it all to do again they’d go for a different career.
So personally I’m +1 for trucking, but I hope that gives you a balanced answer
jaustin:
Thanks everyone for your response. Only problem with getting the lisence myself is that company’s want 2 year experience. At least if I get with this company then atleast I will gain the experience and a guaranteed job.
You could see if they can get it cheaper than you could or ask if they are willing to subsidise it a bit as they will be generating profit from you.
3 years is a bit iffy though but you could always pay it back early, even at a discount. Also these training contract repayment larks are hard to enforce, if the worst happened and you buggered off after a year what could they do.
Well court I hear you cry but 3 years is a bit restrictive, possibly too restrictive. So you could Offer to pay em back weekly or a let a court deceide how much you pay back weekly if anything. Just guessin
I got a job with a big firm with only 6 months 7.5 ton experience. Get your licence sorted then go knocking on doors. Don’t quit until you have scored another job!
If it’s an apprenticeship scheme you shouldn’t have to pay back the training cost, I don’t know how old you are but I believe that if you’re 24 or younger the company will get a grant of £1,500 for taking you on as an apprentice, if that’s the case it sounds to me like the company expecting you to pay back the training cost is taking the ■■■■.
like everyone’s saying if its an apprenticeship you should not be paying back the money for training! as for being tied in with the same company for three years they might be a ■■■■ company, what if you want to change companies or leave I wouldn’t advise being stuck there if im honest with you. Training for class one is only going to set you back £1400 and you obviously have to get cpcp if you have not already done so before you can earn a living.
I had never sat in an artic in my life, one Monday morning, by the same Friday I was licensed to drive one.
Didn’t sit in one again for nearly 3 years, did a 15 minute assessment and interview with a biggish local company, and a week later I set off tramping in one.
There are jobs out there buddy. Don’t tie yourself to someone for 3 years when at the end of the day, you’ll still be ending up paying for it.
I drove 7.5s for 2 years, then a year on class 2, got fed up of getting the “dirty” end of the stick after a while, so put my backside into gear and went class 1 tramping, best career decision I have ever made, bar none, and I’ve been a suit-wearing manager (18 years) and then ran a smaller hands on company for 6, but what I do now is the only job I’ve ever truly loved, and actually enjoy getting up to start my working week.