I passed my cat C in November last year and have been doing a mix of temp controlled and general haulage since. Now I have a little experience I am starting to consider what I want to do long term. So I have been looking around online for info about heavy haulage but not finding much in terms of driver requirements and training etc.
I would like people’s advice on what qualifications are worth getting and what type of jobs would help get me to my end goal.
So far I know I need to get my C+E sorted which should hopefully happen later this year.
Erm, well you could do hiab (ALLMI), If you need to lift the load off, as well as different certificates to drive vehicles if you have to load them/back them off yourself. Depends what the load is? I’m sure others will add to this for you
Could you get any heavy haulage work when you’ve only just passed? I’ve had quite a bit of class 1 work but no outsize or abnormal loads. You’d have to be specially trained by the firm, I suspect.
But yes, HIAB would be useful as a lot of trucks that carry containers, portakabins and the like have cranes to load and unload.
Looks like a hiab course is worth investigating further.
I’m realistic and expecting it to take a few years to get to the end point. I just want to avoid wasting time and money on stuff that is irrelevant.
I was also contemplating whether working for a plant hire firm was worth while from a point of view of starting with smaller loads and building up in size as I gain experience and confidence.
Would people agree that this would be sensible or not?
It might, but certain firms will mess you about and have you driving little Japanese trucks picking up and dropping tower scaffolding, even when you’ve been told it’s a class 2 job.
Also, when you do the HIAB course, make sure you do the brick grab part of the course as you’ll get lots more experience using cranes with builders’ merchants etc., even though heavy duty HIABs always have hooks.
ard81:
I was also contemplating whether working for a plant hire firm was worth while from a point of view of starting with smaller loads and building up in size as I gain experience and confidence.
Would people agree that this would be sensible or not?
Completely agree with starting in plant hire firms…you don’t need certificates for operating plant on loading/unloading operations as you should be shown and pick it up as your skills develop. Most decent companies will show you how to operate and how they want them loaded…but you’ll develop your own technique as you develop your skills.
You’d never be able to do all the plant operator certificates for all the different pieces of plant you may operate in your typical day and keep the certs upto date.
You’ll have people tell you, you need all these different plant certs, usually they’re not in the game, but you don’t by law and a lot of plant hire companies have no requirement for certs or any desire for you to do them. I can show you the Health and Safety at Work Act laws if you need it…doubt you’d be interested though [emoji4]
The only ones I can think of you needing a cert is an IPAF for MEWPS which my old company paid for and most do if its part of your work. Also maybe specialist plant in for example railway engineering and if you have to unload near a line…but that’d be a site dependant thing.
I’ve seen it written in method statements when i was a civil engineer never seen it implemented but i stand to be corrected by those who actually do specialist rail plant work.
As for HIAB, some other companies people work for on here would expect the drivers to pay for it but most companies prefer to sort that out for you once your in…as they’ll know what role they have in mind for you to do…personally i wouldn’t rush into it save your money.
I ain’t keen on HIAB work to be honest and grateful i ain’t got the ticket and only have to do the work occasionally as cover.
Best to ask 8wheels as he does both daily…I only on the other hand do plant and steet clear of the HIAB as much as possible [emoji1]
Ps Proper Heavy Haulage like Rikki on here does, is a closed game and really based on who you know and starting at the bottom to work your way up. It takes a while to be recognised and your attitude has to be spot on as its team work not just being a driving.
The STGO type work I’ve done in past and a little and more C+U Regs work I do now…can be written as heavy haulage but usually not PROPER heavy haulage. Its easier to get in and learn your skills there…but again wide/heavy/long loads you usually develop yourself into it once you’ve got a job with a company who does and if you have a wise decent bloke on the fleet to get advice from to become better at it over time.
I passed my cat C in November last year and have been doing a mix of temp controlled and general haulage since. Now I have a little experience I am starting to consider what I want to do long term. So I have been looking around online for info about heavy haulage but not finding much in terms of driver requirements and training etc.
I would like people’s advice on what qualifications are worth getting and what type of jobs would help get me to my end goal.
So far I know I need to get my C+E sorted which should hopefully happen later this year.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Hi,
I would say that in order to get to that goal, you need to seek work with a firm that does heavy/wide/abnormal loads, as well as the bread-and-butter general haulage work. There’s quite a few around, when you get looking. I started work with my present employer just covering a few weeks holiday for their drivers, and am still there now 9 months later. They are a general haulage firm that specialise in heavy loads & plant - I found that after a few months the opportunities to drive the more challenging loads started to come my way, starting off with longer loads on extending trailers, and then wider loads, and farm machinery & big tanks etc. I should add now, this was my first Class 1 opportunity, Class 2 license was only 18 months old, Class 1 was held for about 4 months (never used)
I’d recommend this approach, as each step in responsibility has always been incremental, with training on the equipment and usually as part of a team (multiple loads to same destination) so advice was always there when needed - and you will need it! Best ways to strap the load, when/how to use different restraints, rub strips, rubber strips, wood chocks - the list seems endless, but each has a reason.
If you go this route - I recommend that you scrutinise what your mentors do, listen to their advice and above all apply it! There is no better feeling than finishing a difficult load, say a long & wide tank that had to go the last few miles down a winding narrow road to it’s destination.
Realistically the only way in is to start at the bottom and earn your stripes, you’ve done the first bit by getting driving experience, the hardest bit is probably going to be getting a start in a job where you can get relevant experience.
Constantine is a good example to follow, he’s local and had asked for a bit of advice on here and picked up a few tips. One day he spotted me on site and somehow badgered, cajoled and pestered me enough to sit in my passenger seat for a day or two. Having watched it first hand on one day the next I had him loading 14t diggers on my 8 wheel beaver tail the next. A bit of advice and guidance was given but it got things underway for him, tapping into my contacts was another useful thing as it is a small industry where everyone knows everyone else.
Once in, you’ve just got to take things one step at a time. It can be hard and demanding, but also can pay handsomely.
You might also find a company who’ll take you at the start and teach you their way of doing things. Either way you’ll have to find that job by talking to people and actively looking, just opening the paper and looking for jobs is unlikely to pay off.
