Hi all,
Is it worth the additional cost of ADR training when looking for agency work here in the Essex area?
If so, is both packages and liquids worth the extra expense or is one or the other better.
I have read that this training can be offset against my next tranche of CPC training which I have to pay for myself so it might be worth doing it anyway to add another string to me bow so to speak.
As always, thanks in advance.
Puggy.
puggy:
Hi all,
Is it worth the additional cost of ADR training when looking for agency work here in the Essex area?If so, is both packages and liquids worth the extra expense or is one or the other better.
I have read that this training can be offset against my next tranche of CPC training which I have to pay for myself so it might be worth doing it anyway to add another string to me bow so to speak.
As always, thanks in advance.
Puggy.
Stick with the Tank work. It’s ‘pipe & slippers’ number.
puggy:
Hi all,
Is it worth the additional cost of ADR training when looking for agency work here in the Essex area?If so, is both packages and liquids worth the extra expense or is one or the other better.
I have read that this training can be offset against my next tranche of CPC training which I have to pay for myself so it might be worth doing it anyway to add another string to me bow so to speak.
As always, thanks in advance.
Puggy.
Hi Puggy,
Whilst most of what you’ve written is correct, liquids can be carried in packages. 
I’m guessing that you meant ‘packages or tanks’ 
A standard ADR course includes the ‘packages’ part so if you left that out completely, you’d miss out on 7hrs DCPC usually done on day #2 of the course.
If you’re looking just to do tank work, my advice is that you attend all day on day #2 for DCPC purposes, but tell the provider clearly (when you make your booking) that you don’t want to take the ADR exam for the package module.
That will save you the ‘packages’ exam fee of £20.
You might like to keep your options open though, cos if you ever found that you need the packages qualification on your ADR card, you’d have to find a course, book, wait… and by then the job might have gone. 
It’s up to you mate, but don’t let anybody tell you that the packages part is compulsory.
The rule is that you do EITHER packages OR tanks as a minimum to obtain an ADR card, but taking both is completely optional.
Good luck if you decide to go ahead with it.
Thanks both,
Oops, of course you are right DD, that’s exactly what I meant. I think, for the extra £20 quid I might as well go for both.
Can you tell me how to find a decent local trainer in my area? I have been given a name but not sure of I can ask references on this forum.
Thanks again.
To be fair if your looking at packages i would say dont bother as a lot of company’s only pay a bit extra when you carrying , and its not that much , if your looking at fuel yes you will earn well but be under no illusions its not the job it was a few years back and you will earn it and you will properly be doing shifts nights . days , and weekends
puggy:
… Can you tell me how to find a decent local trainer in my area? I have been given a name but not sure of I can ask references on this forum.
Hi puggy,
It’s ok to ask for recommendations, and I’m sure that you’ll be offered some.
I’ll also have a look at my list for you when I can get to my lappy.
I did ADR packages. Waste of time. Nobody wanted to pay a premium for me holding the ADR. I went for an interview and the fella said…“You have an ADR, Ill take you on now start on Monday”
My response was that I wanted a pound more per hour than advertised. He refused in case the rest of his lads (Non ADR) found out!!!
My response was…“I am wasting your time and you are wasting…cya”
unless you already know about a decent paying job you’re going into with it - absolute waste of money.
Like the guy above said, it’s worth diddly squat to 99% of the ‘general haulage’ lot. You’ll be on the same crap wage, only difference being - you’re the mug who forked out several hundred odd on his “ADR”, and now has to carry some dangerous kit along with the rest of the stuff at the back of yer wagon.
You’re looking at it the wrong way. With having ADR you were offered a job straightaway, a job you may not have been offered without it. So it gives you a standing start advantage over those non ADR drivers. Definitely worth it IMHO.
Héraultais:
You’re looking at it the wrong way. With having ADR you were offered a job straightaway, a job you may not have been offered without it. So it gives you a standing start advantage over those non ADR drivers. Definitely worth it IMHO.
Not really mate. I was already in work and just went to the interview as they wouldn’t give the pay rates over the phone. Turned out that the rates was slightly lower than what I was on so I stayed put at the job I was at.
And if paying £600 for a course that gets a job without a rise in rates is a headstart then no wonder we working men are ■■■■■■!
The whole point of doing an ARD is to increase your earning potential so if it dosent theres no point you just 500 pound poorer
We don’t do tanks only packages and with explosives, it means we get 28 hours towards the DCPC. We pay for the course and time spent there.
Having done the full T&P course twice in 14yrs, the 2nd time I was credited with 21hrs DCPC. I can honestly say that I have never needed to use it once, I’ve never been asked if I’ve got it, never been offered jobs with an enhanced pay rate for having the qualifications.
Is it worth getting …■■?
It depends on where you live, and the potential of finding employers who deal with this type of work. For a novice who thinks that getting the ADR ticket will enhance their employability, I’d suggest taking a step back and do a reality check and re-read the last 4 lines of text.
As for fuel tankers… the idea of being stood on a petrol station forecourt in the early hours, in mid winter with a howling gail or snow blowing down your neck while you unload the delivery somehow doesn’t appeal to me. Especially IF your getting paid the same pittance as a box jockey or trolly dolly, except they’re not out in all weathers while unloading.
Well, as far as I am concerned, I wouldn’t be doing the job I am doing, working for a company I wanted to work for, if I didn’t have ADR. So for me it was absolutely worth it. Each to their own.
peirre:
Having done the full T&P course twice in 14yrs, the 2nd time I was credited with 21hrs DCPC. I can honestly say that I have never needed to use it once, I’ve never been asked if I’ve got it, never been offered jobs with an enhanced pay rate for having the qualifications.Is it worth getting …■■?
It depends on where you live, and the potential of finding employers who deal with this type of work. For a novice who thinks that getting the ADR ticket will enhance their employability, I’d suggest taking a step back and do a reality check and re-read the last 4 lines of text.
As for fuel tankers… the idea of being stood on a petrol station forecourt in the early hours, in mid winter with a howling gail or snow blowing down your neck while you unload the delivery somehow doesn’t appeal to me. Especially IF your getting paid the same pittance as a box jockey or trolly dolly, except they’re not out in all weathers while unloading.
As above Fuel Tanker work isnt what its cracked up to be do your homework before you spend that kind of money a Hiab Ticket might be more useful and cheaper to acquire
If you get an ADR packages licence, my lot would take you on. We’re well short on ADR drivers. Those of us with the licence average between £575 and £600 take home, roughly 60-65 hours and one night out Monday to Friday. All local work.
There are quite a range of perfectly good opinions on getting/having an ADR licence, but one thing is inescapable…
If a load is an ‘in scope’ load, then only an ADR qualified driver can drive that load.
Sometimes, there are circumstances (maybe on agency work, but there are others) when there are two drivers available for one load.
If that load is an ADR ‘in scope’ load and only one of the drivers is ADR qualified, then the other guy goes home and has earned nothing that day.
A driver can obtain an ADR Card for himself, and thereby make himself more employable by being able to take on (or refuse) in scope ADR work. A driver who does not have an ADR card simply does not have that choice.
Saying that an ADR course was a waste of time can only ever be said in hindsight, but didn’t the DCPC hours come in handy because you were there anyway?
Whether to get an ADR card depends on a person’s point of view, and everybody’s circumstances are quite different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. That’s unless you know for a fact that you have a job for life and will never need one.
Don’t forget the vehicle has to be ADR equipped too. The licence alone is not enough
OVLOV JAY:
Don’t forget the vehicle has to be ADR equipped too. The licence alone is not enough
That’s very true Jay, but I’d left that out because equipping the vehicle is the owner’s ( = the carrier) responsibility.
I understand that Dave, but it could catch out a novice. We sent a wagon and drag on an LQ load that turned into a full haz job. Our lot asked if I could pop by and swap with the driver to bring it back. Took me half hour to swap all my stuff over.