AaronBRL:
Hi,I’ve just passed my class one coming from a car. I’m currently on an apprenticeship scheme that has supplied all the training for me. It’s a 12 month long program and I’ve only just entered month six. The company I’m at is plant machinery and only has rigid vehicles, of which will take me a long time to progress up. It’ll probably take a month or two to even get onto 7.5 tonne. Doing the apprenticeship scheme means I’ll be on near minimum wage all the way up to early next year, even though I now have my class 1 licence.
After driving the artic which is something I’ve always wanted to do, it’s a bit naff having to go back to between 3.5 and 7.5 tonne for probably the next 2-3 months at least. I’m just wondering what you guys might do in my situation? I’ve yet to do my Mod 4 but that’s something and nothing and I have the means to put myself through that. I do enjoy my job but it’s a long commute (70 odd miles a day) and the money is quite poor and I also don’t get to drive any artics. On top of all that, it will be ages before I even get to the bigger stuff.
Do I look into getting my mod 4 done and finding something else which is more driving based or do I hold out here on this wage and hope that I get progressed quickly?
I understand it’s quite a personal thing and everyone’s answer may be different… I’m just looking for some insight as really it seems quite silly to stay where I’m at.
Thanks in advance
ps. I can’t find anything in my contract stating that I’ll need to pay back any money should I decide to leave.
I assume that because its an apprenticeship you are under 25? You might have to stay put and get some experience under your belt because a lot of companies wont touch you without experience, either because its their policy or their insurance providers restriction. You might get lucky but I wouldn’t count on it.
When I came back to lorry driving 5 years ago I couldn’t get a start and I was 48 and had 2 years class 2 experience but no one would touch me because I hadn’t driven one for about 15 years.
You could maybe try and get some work through an agency when your hours legally allow you to, and maybe tell your employers that you are doing this to get some time behind the wheel, you never know it might give them a push because they will think you are after leaving.