I know this subject has been covered many a time. I have searched the forums and haven’t found the answers I need.
What I am after is first hand experiences of doing ADR work. Is it mainly petrol, or are there other avenues to go down? Has your ADR been a good investment? How easy was it to find a job that took advantage of your ADR?
Currently I am a Class 1 multiple drop driver based in Bristol. I’m relatively close to Avonmouth and Portbury. Im just looking for a change and want to progress a bit. I know the money in ADR work won’t be a huge amount more, but any wage Increase would be great.
In my opinion I would say getting your ADR will be of benifit to you.
I certainly don’t regret it for a second and it’s provided a good standard of living for myself and my family in comparison to alot of jobs in this industry which, if we’re being honest, can be a bit depressing at times!
I’d say go for it especially if you’re close to Avonmouth fuel terminal, should give you a few options at least.
I have worked trunking gas cylinders class 1, and gas tankers class 2. For me it was well worth the £500 odd I payed out for my ADR.
The trunking was trunking, easy as you like and very well paid, but highly boring. The tanker work was much more interesting, and again very well paid.
I think theres a BOC depot in Bristol, XPO do the trunking work. Although there’s just been 100 redundancies nationwide at BOC. But it will definitely pick up again.
There’s a massive range covered by ADR from petrol tankers and tankers full of nasty acids, to multidrop of Comfort fabric conditioner (marked as corrosive).
What you get is partly dependent on where you are, driving experience, possibly experience with certain vehicles (eg: tankers) and a bit of luck. Thing is, would you really trust someone with 30,000L of acid, if they had 6 months driving experience?
I do pallet trunking overnight between our depots, and then dayshift deliver multidrop during the day. This is ADR of everything from washing powder (also corrosive) to acids, to farm chemicals mixed with a load of non ADR. Money is about £11/hour or £10 for days, do no extra for having ADR. Thats East Midlands area.
Is it worth it - if you struggle to get a job then yes. Got this one directly because I had ADR and there’s a major shortage of ADR drivers for that anyway but will you guarantee to make any more money…nope.
i used to have ADR for packages years ago. We used to deliver pesticides to farms. It was the best job I ever had but the money was dire.
I once went for a job interview with a local haulier and when he found out I had an ADR licence he offered the job there and then to me. I then discused wages emphasising that using my ADR licence requires paying me a small increase on my wages. He refused and dint want to pay an enhance wage. I walked out there and then. He rang me at home later that day saying he was desperate for me to come and work for him but he still refused to pay the premium for using my ADR. I refused to work orange plates on basic pay.
I reccomend that if you get your ADR is to make sure you get the Tanker side and make sure you get paid a premium for all the hassle that goes with ADR
trevHCS:
Money is about £11/hour or £10 for days, do no extra for having ADR. Thats East Midlands area.
Is it worth it - if you struggle to get a job then yes. Got this one directly because I had ADR and there’s a major shortage of ADR drivers for that anyway but will you guarantee to make any more money…nope.
This is why there is a massive shortage of ADR drivers. They expect you to educate yourself and enhance your credentials but dont want to pay the premium for having a qualified driver.
msgyorkie:
… but dont want to pay the premium for having a qualified driver.
Yep, that’s why its a useful way to get a job and sometimes get passed the 2 years experience thing. Plus I got 4 days CPC credits it saved doing that separately.
Doesn’t seem to pay brilliantly however except on more specialist jobs. Those rates seem to be pretty standard.
I did 12 year at Tesco and my 1st year in ADR Tanker work paid £25k more for the same hours.
If you want to earn top money ie £60k plus then do Croygenic tanker work, the problem is these jobs don’t come up very often and when they do you’ll be in a long queue. BOC, Air Liquide, Air Products, Flogas, Calor, all do Cryo work and all pay well.
I have worked straight through the pandemic including getting a bonus
I have two friends that are fuel tanker driver’s that want to work with my company and yet we haven’t recruited any new drivers in over 4 years so that tells you what your up against.
Best bet is to get on Fuels or LPG there are plenty around your area, then sit and wait for a Cryo job.
With the orange plates up , you are more likely to be stopped by the DVSA and the commercial vehicle unit of the police , yes , they do exist and are fluent in ADR regulations , both of them are very strict with missing kit , such as a flat battery in your torch and load security .
Some firms pay a few quid more a week for having ADR but most won’t , as the driver , you need to know the codes and quantities of your load to inform the fire brigade of what type of specialist equipment to arrive on the accident or fire scene with .
Adding water to some nasty stuff can cause a reaction .
They may specific materials to arrive with .
ADR doesn’t make you a qualified tanker driver, there is nothing in the training that requires you to even touch a tanker, you may get to roll a fat bloke around the floor or grab a crafty feel of sweaty Betty or resus Annie.
Petrol will require further training and a refinery ticket.
You don’t need a PDP (the “refinery ticket”) unless you’re going into a refinery, plenty of tanker drivers do fine without it, sometimes there’s one guy with a PDP who goes in and out then just swaps trailers with the guys who don’t have it.
I’d say ADR was worth it, you can get a full ticket (packages and tanks) here in the North for just under £450 including 28 hours of DCPC, so knock off what you’d pay for that as standalone courses and it’s more like £250 for your ADR. One week of ADR work at a time when the non-ADR work has dried up, and it will pay for itself.
If you load bulk bags of fertilizer out of Ince , near Liverpool , it’s a fast reload , no waiting in a boring RDC waiting room sat next to drivers who have never used body deodorant spray .
You won’t know where the deliveries are , until they print out the manifest on check out .
Normally drop the load the next day to Somerset , Devon or Cornwall to isolated farms where you ring the farmer when loaded for an ETA and instructions .
Never turn up to the address on the paperwork without checking with the farmer as he may want the bags ten miles away .
Sometimes blocking off the lane to unload one side of the trailer then turn around to tip the other side .
In winter and if you lose traction on steep untreated lanes is one to watch out for .
While in transit the ratchet straps become lose so on breaks just give them a quick tug .