NewLad:
If he earns 20k he’ll be worse off, tax credits will go right down and he’ll have to pay full rent, prescriptions, dentists the list goes on, if that’s all your gonna earn stay at Tesco and watch your kids grow up with your eyes, rather than with pictures your mrs took.
I don’t know about the benefits system, never used it, if thats the case then thats interesting and then fair enough stay at Tesco. But I still think my point remains that getting your LGV license very quickly opens up doors for much greater earning potential for somebody unskilled & without decent qualifications. If you have young kids at home and want to be around them then driving a wagon isn’t the career choice for you really, but otherwise I really think it’s far from the worst ‘career’ (use that term loosely) move.
NewLad:
If he earns 20k he’ll be worse off, tax credits will go right down and he’ll have to pay full rent, prescriptions, dentists the list goes on, if that’s all your gonna earn stay at Tesco and watch your kids grow up with your eyes, rather than with pictures your mrs took.
I don’t know about the benefits system, never used it, if thats the case then thats interesting and then fair enough stay at Tesco. But I still think my point remains that getting your LGV license very quickly opens up doors for much greater earning potential for somebody unskilled & without decent qualifications. If you have young kids at home and want to be around them then driving a wagon isn’t the career choice for you really, but otherwise I really think it’s far from the worst ‘career’ (use that term loosely) move.
I agree with both of your posts Rob,all I read on here is people bleating on about poor pay and conditions etc when there aren’t many unskilled jobs around that will pay you for driving round the country and potentially earning £500 a week in the bank.It’s a fairly easy job and easy to get a licence when you see half the arses and complete morons with a class 1 licence and like you said most decent employers will pay for the DCPC.
Santa:
At least someone accepts that driving a truck is not a profession, just a semi skilled (at best) job with a lot of overtime as standard.
True enough, I have missed Christmas’s, birthdays, kids plays, holidays just to name a few, luckily enough I still have the same wife I started out with, only just at times though.
Can’t these expenses not be written off against tax? When I did my Australian licence I booked it as self education to improve earnings. Safety boots, sun glasses, gloves, shorts/trousers, sat nav, hands free kit for mobile phone etc and even sun screen can be deducted from your tax return. Hell, I can even claim mileage to and from work carrying tools in the ute!
robbiminator:
Can’t these expenses not be written off against tax? When I did my Australian licence I booked it as self education to improve earnings. Safety boots, sun glasses, gloves, shorts/trousers, sat nav, hands free kit for mobile phone etc and even sun screen can be deducted from your tax return. Hell, I can even claim mileage to and from work carrying tools in the ute!
I was self employed and at the time i had a choice, do my hgv or pay tax, it was a no brainer.
Bought theory book and CD,
Had to do theory test,
Hazard perception test (3 attempts),
Medical,
Something like 12 hours class 2 training,
Class 2 test and 1 retest,
Class 1 training,
Class 1 test,
CPC theory test,
CPC practical test.
Bought digi card.
Cost me £2450 from start to finish and just over 6 months of my time.
Regarding it paying for itself, I’m better off now for doing it. Worked in a warehouse on good pay but was hard work. I work a few more hours each week now but I also take home more each week so happy days.
I have only paid for my car licence, HGV in the Army and then started for a bus company who first got me through the class 3 then class 1 PSV, I let them go and when started driving again this company has paid for all my medicals and everything including paying me to gain the DCPC.
I cant grumble they even pay for maps though I bought my own sat nav
car- 16 lessons £20 a pop, 2x test £50ish (+hire of instructors car for 1 hour £50), theory test+hazard perception £30
motorbike- CBT £100, Theory test £31, 4 days training and test £450
HGV Theory: multiple-choice test £35
HGV Theory: hazard perception test £15
Drivers medical- £40
class 2- £910
class 1- £910
Theory: Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) case studies test £30
initial CPC £250 ish
all in all £3421
+ADR and HIAB into the mix and your touching £4200ish
Medical
Online theory training
Classroom theory training
Theory tests
CAT C and test
CAT CE and test
Driver cpc (Mods 2 and 4 or 35 hrs as appropriate)
We normally charge £2900 for all this incl VAT. Promotion at our newly opened Peterborough site: £2200 incl VAT. (offer open all year but deposit to be paid by end of April).
Drift:
I have only paid for my car licence, HGV in the Army and then started for a bus company who first got me through the class 3 then class 1 PSV, I let them go and when started driving again this company has paid for all my medicals and everything including paying me to gain the DCPC.
I cant grumble they even pay for maps though I bought my own sat nav
Peter Smythe:
Medical
Online theory training
Classroom theory training
Theory tests
CAT C and test
CAT CE and test
Driver cpc (Mods 2 and 4 or 35 hrs as appropriate)
We normally charge £2900 for all this incl VAT. Promotion at our newly opened Peterborough site: £2200 incl VAT. (offer open all year but deposit to be paid by end of April).
Drift:
I have only paid for my car licence, HGV in the Army and then started for a bus company who first got me through the class 3 then class 1 PSV, I let them go and when started driving again this company has paid for all my medicals and everything including paying me to gain the DCPC.
I cant grumble they even pay for maps though I bought my own sat nav
All this comparison with “stacking shelves” - I was led to understand that non-drivers already get paid more than we do - once they’ve been there for a while in an actual proper full time job version of whatever shop floor staff they represent.
Once could argue that the main reason that HGV licence holders of any kind carry on doing the job is because - they already have the job!
Times must be right tough now for those without a full time job who “won’t stoop” to working on agencies either…
Holding out for something that may well be gone forever - well at least until we boot the reds and blues out of office, and actually ‘take control of our government back’.
We can’t ‘take control from Europe back’ without doing the former first eh?
stacking shelves is really pherapeutic with a bit of music on,but it does your ■■■■ in when you keep getting called off to do other stuff.
works work whatever you’re doing.
cost me a small fortune to do my class 1 in 1991 because i caught for some spiv in leeds who taught me all wrong so i had to be retrained by someone else,but hey,live and learn.
If driving is the type of work you really want to do then I’d say go for it and pay for the licence. I always wanted to do class one work and got my licence 25years ago as soon as I’d turned 21, cost me nearly £400 though … For me the money I paid out back then has been the best investment I have ever made ! I’ve been laid off a few times but never been out of work, to this day I still enjoy the job and could never see myself doing any other work plus some jobs I’ve earned some pretty good wages (…long hours though )
How much is it to gain a PPL for a single prop Cessna in comparison?
Mine is roughly as follows:
Car Lessons 48225 = £2,400 Third Time Lucky Tests were £40 each and provisional was £15. With theory being £30. = Circa. £2,600
Class 2. Third Time Lucky again. All in around 7 days of tuition etc. £1,500.
Class 1. Fourth Time Lucky. Failed once on crunching a gear, another crossing a white line etc. Super strict and no tolerances whatsoever. All in about ten days tuition. Plus extras. £2250.
Got the motorbike also. First time lucky. about £450 all in. So about £6,500-7,000 invested in my licence.
