Hi all im an ex class1 driver ,still have 7.5 entitlement , ive been out of wrk for a while , and have managed to find myself a vacancy doing breakdown recovery , ive enquired a bit about the job ie do you have to drive frm one end of the country to the other taking people back to there home if they break down in your area ie Ipswich and they live in Newcastle say , and have been told that they no longer travel long distances any more .
They have a area and its as far south as sth mimms and as far west as nthhampton , no long distances involved , also I do not need any real mechanical knowledge just able to change a wheel and jumpstart a flat battery ,the company I believe sub contracts for the big players .
my question is what is this job like in the real world , and what kind of wages can I expect , I realise I will find this out at the interview but was wondering if any body on here had experience of this wrk , oh ive been told the hours are 6 days on and 3 days off and they work a shift ststem days and nights …
I liked it, hard work and not possible if your wife/kids want you home at night.
I lasted 3 months.
Thanks 4 reply but can you elaborate a bit more , im single no wife or kids , but they have said that it wont be long distances , how exactly do you mean not home every night ? they have also said that guys like me with no real knowledge of mechanics will only be sent to m inor breakdowns just wheel changing jump starts etc , the guys that are mechanics will go out with diagnostic equipment and fix things , they have small vans and 7.5 tonners no tacho needed apparently ?but they have also said no long distances involved only breakdowns in there area , any idea of the wage I can expect ?
I done it for a couple of months years ago before i had hgv.
No tacho is the clue. Firm i worked for you was on call 7am to 11pm and could easily get a call at 10.55.
They paid a percentage of what the trucks earninhs where. This was many years ago do vould well be different now
kr79:
I done it for a couple of months years ago before i had hgv.
No tacho is the clue. Firm i worked for you was on call 7am to 11pm and could easily get a call at 10.55.
They paid a percentage of what the trucks earninhs where. This was many years ago do vould well be different now
Thanks I know I will find out more at the interview but just trying to get some idea b4 I go in , that’s why im askin these questions , this might sound silly but if your waiting 4 a job do you sit at home or do you hang around at the depot twiddling your thumbs .
and like I said he has assured me (the controller ) that they have a set area and do not go outside of it ie fairly local , there is none of running a car and driver hundreds of miles back home like in the past , just wondering what I can expect to earn ■■
Your on Tacho after 60 mile radius from base. There are no driving rules before then! You can legally leave your house at 8am Monday and not get home till 6pm Wednesday doing local jobs. You will get a call to a job 5mins before you want to go home and be out till late. You will do distance, normally late at night when the car clubs have run out of drivers or cannot be bothered. A lot of the time you do relay customers up / down the country but if they moan they can get taken all the way on one lorry.
It’s normally 27% of the job outside of normal hours. You can earn good money assuming the work is there.
Good luck with the van load of builders on a Friday covered in muck and dirt who trash your truck, or middle or the night car load of ■■■■■■ lads who don’t shut up for 150 mile! Or the couple who have to stop for the loo at every services!
You will either love it or hate it! The lack of sleep got to me in the end and went back to Class 1 work, although I still miss the recovery life!
Try it, you may just like it!
If its going to make your boss money or he owes a mate a favour you will end up doing it!
We used to hang around depot when quite servicing trucks etc. when the fuel started getting expensive we stayed at home and then waited near to the last job we had done for further instructions. I can be very boring and you need to like your own company!
cheers mark , don’t sound that great , but beggars cant be choosers , mind you im an ex driver so im used to my own company so that side of it aint a prob , I guess it could have its upside substitute ■■■■■■ blokes for a cab full of ■■■■■■ women on a sat night after the clubs have shut ■■ , ok I guess I will see at the interview what exactly is involved , sorry to be thick but 27 % of the job still gives me no clue as to pay ? roughly on average how much take home a week .
I forgot to ask but is this a salaried p a y e job or do you think its self employed , I was presuming it was a basic wage job .
when I did it 8 yrs ago I would come on shift at 8 and then wait for a call, have been sat at the services at Exeter for 8 hrs before and just get ready to go home and get 3 jobs in a row. to be honest that’s were I earned my money on the extra call outs as the basic was crap,
some of the jobs you have to do you will need a strong stomach If doing the police accident work as I did, sorting through a car to get the personal items out when its full of blood and smelling like a butchers shop can take some doing 
Nobody can tell you what you will expect to earn apart from the people you work with or for. I did the job for 6 months when I got out the army and I really liked it. Out & about all day, never the same job, place or people so it’s good that way. We didn’t do many long runs, relay mostly, just working around the Yorkshire area. We did police work which was interesting to say the least, hard to tell who the criminals were sometimes as well. We worked days, nights and had a callout rota, however, as stated earlier, if they get busy they will call you in. Its the only job ive had where people are glad to see you & made a few quid on tips. Only jacked because the wife couldn’t settle in Barnsley.
I was about £19000 basic for 8-5. Anything after was 27% of what boss earned. Used to get £10 for every wheel change and jump start but that didn’t mater if I went to my next door neighbour or 40mile at 3am, still £10! As for take home, prob a average week will find you about £400+ but you need the out of hours work to earn.
As above if in a busy police patch then you can earn some cash. Especially when police are having a tax / insurance campaign! But police work can also be difficult and luckily I managed to think of it as a job and just get on with it, but It did get to me picking up kids toys from the middle of the road!
If you have no other work on then give it a go. This is the time of year when cars don’t start in the morning, and the white stuff can earn you ££££’s
thanks everone but just to clarify I asked about accidents and recovering crashed cars , and was told they do not go 2 in his words green sheet jobs ie fatalitys because they are scenes of crime and the police don’t want anything moved because of forensics , he said I wnt be going to major accidents only minor shunts .
and the depot is a garage near me on the industrial estate so I guess I wnt be parking up anywhere I guess I will go 2 the garage to pick the recovery truck up wen theres a call out then bring vehicle back 3 the garage ■■?
Everyone does it different! It’s possible he doesn’t do police work but bear in mind a lot of contracts change hands yearly. If he looses a contract he will want something to replace it. I did a short stint with a guy who just contracted to other recovery firms. This was ok when they were busy.
ok thanks im only quoting what ive been told over the fne ,that they don’t go further sth than sth mimms or west further than nthhampton otherwise they will be on someone elses area.
ok off topic but I just had a txt earlier from a adult film company who I apllied to as a actor , I have been in contact by fne and e mails and they interviewed me over the fne and asked for pics of me , they said they can use me for a shoot in Camden town this weekend ans I will be paid 900 pounds cash for the day , and a driver will collect me frm Ipswich and take me there and back after the filming .
Now this was 2 weeks ago this was all sorted but the thing is they wanted 150 upfront 4 a ■■■■■■ health check they wld arrange , I said no im not paying any money upfront obviously thinking it might be a scam,they then said ok 4 get it , and I havnt heard frm them since today wen I gt a txt to my fne from the driver checking I was still on 4 tomorrow and he will be round to collect me at 9.30 ,I rang him back and said theres a mistake I havnt paid 4 health check he said that’s ok the company are fine wivout 1 , now this company has a website and a uk landline ive checked , is this all a bit odd and do I have 2 be a bit wary , I mean is this something I need to be worried about , it seems a bit strange but if it was a scam why would they send a driver to collect me at there expense , they even said if all goes well they will put me up in a hotel for another film on sunday
WTF■■?^^^^^^^
Bairdy:
WTF■■?^^^^^^^
yep deadly serious im not on a wind up im only saying what happened earlier . I wasn’t prepared 2 pay the 150 upfront and would advise no one else to either , the company if anyone is curious is realitycastings.com they have a website and based in London …
but my main interest was the breakdown job and thanks everyone for your advice…
you dont know it yet but likely you are going to be the “bride”
corij:
you dont know it yet but likely you are going to be the “bride”
lol not even for 900 I wouldn’t be ! but I reckon its a scam
I do a bit when I’m quiet for a local firm. It’s honest to god terrible. Long hours, crap wagons driven by any Tom, ■■■■ and Harry and generally in rag order inside. You have to put up with all sorts of people some decent enough, some scum. It’s out in the ■■■■■■■ rain at the side of the road getting dirty and getting moaned at by Mr and Mrs 10 year old Micra about how precious their POS is.
That said I did get £100 tip off a bloke who didn’t look like he had a fiver for jump starting his Honda.
If you don’t mind hard, wet, cold tiring work then give it a rip, as I said I only do it when I’m very quiet, it’s one above sitting on my arse not earning.
Any idea what the film is called? If it “shaving ryans privates” " nobbing hill" or “willie [zb] & the chocolate factory” I would stay well clear. And don’t forget to do some downstairs gardening before you go, back, sack & crack I believe it’s called. Got wood anyone?