Hi everyone and before I start big thanks to any positive help which is much appreciated. I have and will be continuing to read the many posts on here about the industry. I am very glad I have found such a place. As the title suggests im 35 wife and kids usual story. I have been in catering believe it or not since 18. I don’t have to tell you the hours, shifts and pressure that’s involved in that lol. I love driving having my car and motorbike licence ect. I understand a HGV drivers life is not chilling out listening to the fav radio station getting paid £30,000 like the papers will tell me. I am on here for support and guidance. I am guessing if I go ahead I most likely will be doing the worst of the jobs due to no experience and pay will be low. I live in Manchester so I guess even though I have a ton of questions can I ask a couple of basic ones and please note I have looked at some previous posts prior to this.
From what I have read here there is no national shortage so is there work out there for newly qualified drivers?
What sort of starting pay can I expect? I have heard many say minimum wage/only part time hours ect.
Good place in Manchester for training? ( i understand this maybe a question for another section, I have seen the other section briefly and used the only one connection for Manchester that I can see and emailed them).
I must say I am a bit downhearted with some posts I have seen as they are a bit of doom and gloom and people who ask me about becoming a chef I could say to run for the hills but everyone is different and what one person hates another may like.
once again many thanks and please dont stone me guys lol
There is a huge driver shortage looming. A large percentage of LGV drivers are aged over 55 whilst only 2% (I can remember that one) are under 25. Asda recently announced that 85% of their LGV drivers are aged over 55. It’s very clear what’s on the horizon. Already there are cases of trucks being stood because there isn’t a driver (who’s worth having) to be had. But I’ll accept that there isn’t a lot of evidence of a current driver shortage.
Most employers will ask for 2 years experience and age over 25. Ignore all this. Apply for everything. When they cant find a driver with the 2 years experience, they’ll think again. They have to. They are also having to pay a bit more than they used to.
The money isn’t good. No-one ever got rich driving a truck. Maybe this is why it’s called a “vocation”. This means that you do it because you feel “called” to do it. I feel sorry for folks who resort to truck driving because they feel they cant train to do anything else. That will lead to misery. The hours are frequently unsocial. That’s how it is. But it’s perfectly possible to earn a decent wage without living at work.
Having said that, some of the best years of my life were spend driving trucks and coaches all over the UK and E and W Europe.
So far as choice of trainer is concerned there is a DVSA (the people who operate the driving tests) list of DVSA Accredited Training Centres. Take a look at the list; I’m your closest. dft.gov.uk/fyn/lgv.php Note that there is no requirement for any instructor to be qualified, let alone registered with DVSA. Accredited centres can only employ DVSA registered instructors.
Always visit the trainer before booking. Have at least 2 assessment drives and don’t part with any money without knowing who you’re dealing with.
Thanks for the reply so soon! I am up at 5am so I wont be on here long but great bit of advice and stats. I think I have read a similar post you put on before with these stats. I guess my worry is I spend £1,500 plus the other bits and come away with nothing. I was looking initially at maybe doing a part time role and part time catering role until I could earn a full time driving role. I am committed in everything I do and I know I cant go into this if I don’t enjoy it to some degree. Which I do think I can. I also want to get that assessment done I think it would be very wise. Can you inbox me your details please so I have them on file and I will take a look at that link also.
must have been tired lol seen your link under your avatar thanks. will spend the next few weeks having a good read on the forum. I was also told they are making the tests harder next year? not sure if that was to get the sale?
thaks for the replies again, good to see im not the only one that might have to do part time lol.
so far via this site I have saved on the medical cost, found recommneded training companies, companies to potentially avoid, lots of videos and so on and its only my second day. My inital Idea now is get the medical done, get the provisional sent off (do I need a provisional if I have full car?) then get my theory done which is all releatively cheapish. Meanwhile I will look at more videos and get some ideas of the gearbox and driving skills required. After this I will do an assessment test for myself just to confirm its what I want and maybe even a further lesson or two. I have looked at Hindley Green this morning from this site anyone used them?
can someone point me out in the right direction for info on my initial cpc I dont seem to be entering the right info into the search engine. Should I be paying around £200- £250? this is the first one as I passed my car licence in 1998.
cheers
I’d save all my money if I was you. I recently done cat C+E, and got myself a hgv job. Biggest mistake I ever made. The job is awful. Money is terrible, hours awful, Spending hours upon hours on your own and it costs a small fortune to do this. The reason there is so much doom and gloom on this forum is because the job is ■■■■. I suppose its handy to have the license in your back pocket for emergencies but if you have a wife, children or friends this job isn’t for you cos you wont get to spend any quality with them.
I started driving full time 11 years ago at age 38, and its the best career move I ever made.
Despite all the gloom merchants you will read on here I have a good job and enjoy it, money isn’t brilliant but not bad either - I take home around £450 pw for doing 4 days a week (no nights out, no silly o’clock starts). I do a couple of collections (open doors, drink coffee while someone loads me) and a couple of deliveries (open doors, drink coffee while someone unloads me) a day. Hardly hard or stressful work
The 2 year thing is not definite either. My place has just taken on drivers with zero experience having just passed their test.
You will probably have to do some crap jobs at first but thats just the way it works
As to whether you will enjoy it, who knows ? Some people love driving, others (as you have read) hate it.
Also best to remember that although there might be 10 -20 people posting on a forum that the job is crap, there are hundreds of thousands more doing the job every day without feeling the need to post about it
really interesting points of view and comments from peolple both good and bad is welcome and like many jobs it does seem its a personal choice but it is good to get the feedback because it will help my decision be more accurate. My gut feeling is I will go ahead and have it for at least a back up option.
I wouldnt take to much what san miguel has replied… sounds as thought he was after big money and an easy life, thinking the grass was greener… I mean he use to drive buses, how much easier did he want it… obviously didnt do his research very well before taking the plunge…
Be warned there are people out there that have spent loads of money and found the roads not painted in gold…
All Id say to you biker, if you enjoy driving which out getting stressed, prepared to work long hrs then simply go and have one of them free hours assesment to see if its something you want to do, if it is, get your class 2 licence under ya belt…registar with couple of agencies, do some ad hoc work whilst keeping a hand in catering …you arnt gonna be rich driving a truck, but it is comfortable income…
If you enjoy the work then its down to you to decide if you want to progress further with full time, gaining class 1 licence… or any of the additonals that are available …ie Hiab.ADR
To chuck my tuppence in the ring there are so many different areas of HGV driving that it does cater (pardon the pun) for almost everyone.
As a career change you need a few things the main one is to like your own company although in this technical age your never far from a tinternet squabble. Hours of boredom is common, traffic stress, having to be nice when instinct tells you otherwise and pretty much any other real or imaginary scenario incurred by driving something that gets in folks way.
The upside is that to some degree this job still gives you freedom. Yes your tracked or monitored but the illusion of freedom is still there. Also your driving a big truck.
For me the moment I got inside a truck I knew its what I wanted and 24 years on from passing me test Im still cab happy. Tramping now on container work so away all week and love it, course there are bad days but those long drives with the wind in me baldpatch and disco tune on the radio always make me remember why I do it.
As any good instructor will tell you passing your test is just the begining but once passed armed with your licence to continue learning then the world is your lobster (well not all of it).
So give it a try you have nothing to lose (well apart from a wad of cash), as a wise man once said: “Better to have tried and failed than loved and lost on a rolling stone in the moss with 2 birds in a bush”.
I have just landed my first full time Cat C+E driving job starting on Monday next week. I am 50, was previously employed for 17 years at a well known automotive company doing an office-based job and sat at a desk looking at a computer screen for most of my time.
I was a casualty of redundancy in December of last year and having taken some time out to decide what my next career move was going to be I decided to invest in myself, get trained up as an HGV driver and get a ‘professional’ qualification.
Numerous people were (and still are) questioning my decision, mainly I guess because I have gone for a complete change of job role in a completely different industry which can be a high risk strategy. However, throughout the whole process from the medical to passing the C+E test, I believed that I was doing the right thing for me, and as a bonus, from the start I had the full support of my better half.
Now that I have paid my way, got all my certificates and have been fortunate enough to be offered a good job with good pay at a good company, I am going in with an open mind, commit myself to the work while learning new skills, take it seriously but have fun doing it and take all the positives I can and see where it takes me.
After all it is what you make it and clearly old dogs can learn new tricks!!
From the comments I think the key thing is to be realistic, try before you buy and make sure I can enjoy it to some degree at least. I do enjoy riding/driving and yes sometimes you can get irate but its something I can work on lol. Just coming onto this site I estimate I have saved around £700 on fees so I was clearly going wrong there and the training sites are recommended too. My theory dvd turned up today and hazard perception too. I have had the backing of the wife because we have to be realisitic after many years of bad chefing jobs I have found one with good hours and good pay however if I was to loose this one or it closed or was sold on which is a possibility I would have to take a paydrop and my hours would go back to nightmare land again. I dont mind the hours if I get paid! in catering you work 50,60,80 hours but still get paid 37.5 and go home stinking of fish if like me you used to work at livebait in the town centre hahaha. Theres certain elements with catering that are similar to driving, pain in the arse customers, bad hours, adverage pay so as long as I take the negatives fingers crossed all will be rosey ill be soon driving to the south of france with a truck full of vintage wine or dropping off frozen chips at the kebab house in Gorton
Swampey2418:
I wouldnt take to much what san miguel has replied… sounds as thought he was after big money and an easy life, thinking the grass was greener… I mean he use to drive buses, how much easier did he want it… obviously didnt do his research very well before taking the plunge…
Be warned there are people out there that have spent loads of money and found the roads not painted in gold…
All Id say to you biker, if you enjoy driving which out getting stressed, prepared to work long hrs then simply go and have one of them free hours assesment to see if its something you want to do, if it is, get your class 2 licence under ya belt…registar with couple of agencies, do some ad hoc work whilst keeping a hand in catering …you arnt gonna be rich driving a truck, but it is comfortable income…
If you enjoy the work then its down to you to decide if you want to progress further with full time, gaining class 1 licence… or any of the additonals that are available …ie Hiab.ADR
Interesting how you wouldn’t take much notice of what i say, but my points are still valid. The hours are long and untimely. The pay doesn’t reflect that and you do spend a lot of time away from family and friends. Still if that’s what you want knock yourself out. I prefer less hours on more money and seeing my friends and family. But as you say don’t take any notice of what I say.
I trained with Paul @ Hindley Green and I thoroughly recommend him. Granted his trucks aren’t the newest but the manner in which he teaches you make up for that no end.
Swampey2418:
I wouldnt take to much what san miguel has replied… sounds as thought he was after big money and an easy life, thinking the grass was greener… I mean he use to drive buses, how much easier did he want it… obviously didnt do his research very well before taking the plunge…
Be warned there are people out there that have spent loads of money and found the roads not painted in gold…
All Id say to you biker, if you enjoy driving which out getting stressed, prepared to work long hrs then simply go and have one of them free hours assesment to see if its something you want to do, if it is, get your class 2 licence under ya belt…registar with couple of agencies, do some ad hoc work whilst keeping a hand in catering …you arnt gonna be rich driving a truck, but it is comfortable income…
If you enjoy the work then its down to you to decide if you want to progress further with full time, gaining class 1 licence… or any of the additonals that are available …ie Hiab.ADR
Interesting how you wouldn’t take much notice of what i say, but my points are still valid. The hours are long and untimely. The pay doesn’t reflect that and you do spend a lot of time away from family and friends. Still if that’s what you want knock yourself out. I prefer less hours on more money and seeing my friends and family. But as you say don’t take any notice of what I say.
Hi Mate, I take all comments on board good and bad so thanks for yours its important to consider all sides of the coin. So no disregard for you comments what so ever. Its ultimately down to me but everyone’s input gives me things to consider that I might not before so cheers
666D4m13n:
I trained with Paul @ Hindley Green and I thoroughly recommend him. Granted his trucks aren’t the newest but the manner in which he teaches you make up for that no end.
thanks for this, I think I will do an assessment with him in a couple of weeks or so maybe even end of next month I want to get as much info as possible. Good to hear some positive feedback on him!!
