Hi does anyone know of any US or Canadian firms looking for uk driver willing to relocate? 
Firstly, forget about the US, you won’t get in.
Canada, I would also like to learn of any decent employers looking and funding. 
check this site out, all you need to help you should be here.
dtr74x:
Hi does anyone know of any US or Canadian firms looking for uk driver willing to relocate?
According to my mate, who is back for a two week UK holiday, they are crying out for ANYBODY from the UK, who has a trade, which includes HGV driving.
He is based in Edmonton, he has been out there for over 10 years, and he loves it.
The temp @ -30 puts me off though, at this time of the year 
He reckons we have a GREAT reputation as “graffters” out there 
Plenty of work, whatever your chosen proffession is, thats the word from CANADA…
Can you ask your mate, who the decent employers are ? to avoid the messers and jokers ?
My youngest son lives in Kimberley, BC. A ski resort area and he has had nothing but trouble in his attempts to stay in the country. He owns a house there and he has a plot of land that he wishes to build on.
It is only a couple of months ago that he managed to get a two year working visa which he said allows him to apply for permanent residency after a year.
There is nothing like doing your own research to find the Canadian companies that are in the transport game. The reason that HGV drivers are always wanted is because, basically, it is a job for loners. The pay is poor the hours are long. You have to run miles to earn, no pay for loading or unloading, at least not in the USA. Canada may be different.
Having said all that I only wish I could be out there now.
DAFMAD:
Can you ask your mate, who the decent employers are ? to avoid the messers and jokers ?
Sorry, I went to his farewell party on saturday night, he was catching the big bird today, back home.
As he is an electrician, his knowledge of trucking companies who are good / bad, would be “iffy”, he was just pointing out that there is plenty of work for everyone out there…
I do know loads of “lads” who are now investigating the possibilities of moving over there, purely on what he has said over the last two weeks, no doubt he will be sending details back home, when he is back in Edmonton.
Fair enough, thanks.
When i was on holiday in Florida i would buy the USA papers and there were loads of just but they paid by the mile. There was some jobs were you were home every night. Not sure if the firms were any good tho. I could get into the states as my girlfiend is American but i would have to marry her
thanx for the response, does anyone know of companies employing uk drivers, not the scam artists for canada 
As I’ve said before, google Canadian Trucking Companies, get there number and ring up. it’s that easy.
A word of warning, there is a company that are actively recruiting British drivers, they are in Lesmahagow, that place just off the M62 at Castleford, begins with a W but I can’t remember the name, it’s a ■■■■■■■■ though 
& Rugby, they run green trucks on flatbed work & will be promising you the earth.
Be very very careful, they are coming to the Uk because nobody locally will touch them with a bargepole, a number of TNUK members have worked for them & all have left for the same reasons, namely a lack of miles & therefore money, being treated like ■■■■, breaking down all the time etc etc, they tie you into a contract that requires you to pay back $3000 for training costs if you leave in the 1st year, $2000 in the 2nd year & $1000 in the 3rd year, a number of recent newcomers have already left as they were going skint & the company is making life very hard for them.
I worked there & I left over having to argue to get my miles all the time & my motor breaking down far too often & I can honestly say they’ve been very good about it, this is not the case with many many others, but then they know I write for Truck & Driver so it could be that they want to keep me sweet, as it is they’ve played this game very well, I have a plan in mind to bring this to light but I’m keeping it under my hat for now.
I know who you mean Mercman and never did like the sound of them, but, who do you recommend to approach that is any good ? pm if you prefer. 
This whole question of which companies are good and which are bad depends on what your personal expectations are.
Over here all long haul work is paid by the mile. I find this excellent. If you work at a company with a decent amount of work and you are on the average milage rate you can make a good living without any stress. It is easy to do big miles over here compared to Europe and the more you do, obviously, the more you make.
Now, imagine 2 guys who have arrived from the UK are on 40c/mile (25c/km) and getting an average of 5000kms a week. One guy may say… “this is a brilliant job, decent rate and good miles.I always dreamed of driving an American rig and i am seeing the whole continent. This job is everything i wanted.”
However the other guy may say… “5000kms a week to make a living? This is exploitation! The trucks are old fashioned and i am sick of being away for weeks on end. This job is total crap!”
Another important point to consider is the fact that when you first emmigrate you have very little to offer other than willingness to learn. That goes for anyone and included the guys who are now settled down here with good jobs. Even If you have 10 years long distance experience with 5 of them running to mainland Europe you will feel like a novice here because things are done so differently. It is for this reason that the really good companies do not bother to recruit foriegn workers. This does not mean that they will never employ you. It just means you will need some experience of work over here first and preferably your permanent residency status. As i have said before, the companies who recruit from the UK are not going to be the most competitive to work for.
Also, one more point, the green flat deck company mentioned above. I fully respect Newmercman’s feelings towards them and everything but i personally found them to be OK and basically only left because the job i have now was offered to me through a friend and is a lot better.
That said, while i was there i saw most of Canada including both Vancouver island and Newfoundland and 32 US states. I also learned a lot and without that i wouldn’t have the job i have now.
I hear what you’re saying Mark, but the USA side of things has dropped off considerably on ■■■ freight, it’s mainly Ontario & Alberta now with the odd Minnesota thrown in, my own experiences confirmed this, the job has changed dramatically in the last year, there’s a lot of waiting around between loads now, there are still some that do ok but the majority… add to that the crap motors, tarping with those awful patchwork tarps & the rest of the downsides of flat deck work & there’s not a lot going for it, they also seem to have no concern for their employees at the moment. As I said my own experiences on a personal level were very good, but as a job it fell well short of the promises they made to me in the UK, Eric Slatcher told me that I would spend more time in Texas than anywhere else (I never went) that I would be begging my despatcher to get me home (begging him for work, more like) When I confronted Eric about this he denied it even though one of the other blokes who was in South Mimms with me when he told us was stood next to me having the same argument with him, it was then that I decided to look for something else, I was using my savings to subsidise my wages & I’m on my own with minimal outlay, how you could support a family I don’t know. Times have changed & a person within the company & it isn’t Jeff, told me that they can’t keep people once they get residency & the locals won’t go near the place so they’re getting new Germans & Brits, tying them into the 3yr contract & then they’re trapped, they’re not earning enough money to pay off the training costs so cannot afford to leave, I know more than one person in this predicament already & I’ve worked alongside the bloke & he’s a good lad, it’s a shame as it WAS a good job, not anymore though…
As you say, Canada has a lot to offer & the companies that import personnel do not reflect this, of the little gang of us that come on here there are none of us that are with our original employer, some of them are worse than others, but there’s me, yourself, Bob the Dog, Taebreak, Davey68, Scottish Dave on Jade (can’t remember what he calls himself on here) & many many others from ■■■ freight.
I hope that this controversy surround the big green machine is just a few isolated cases, but it appears not.
dtr74x:
Hi does anyone know of any US or Canadian firms looking for uk driver willing to relocate?
Hi mate
there’s quite a bit of info on Canadian companies hiring here at British truckers abroad under the transport/trucking co section.