Hi all, first time posting on here but after a few years in Canada as a driver I am looking at coming back to the uk for some work. I have held a full class 1 (c+e) since 2000 but was in the army till I worked over the pond. I could already have a good euro job set up through family and friends ect but any help would be much appreciated. Thanks
If youve got the chance of a euro job id take it, there ain`t alot going on in the good old uk at the moment Also it will depend on which part of the uk you are relocating to.
How do you go on about sorting out your licence?
Canadian and UK car licences can be used in both countries, But LGV and CDL arn’t transferable as far as i know.
It has been discussed on here before, But i can’t remember the outcome.
Cheers mate. I’m off back to Lincolnshire. Any advice on cpc? I know i have till next year to do the basics but what are they? and whats the cost?
5 modules 7 hrs per module. Cost? I did 21 hrs for £100. Different trainers, different prices.
limeyphil:
How do you go on about sorting out your licence?
Canadian and UK car licences can be used in both countries, But LGV and CDL arn’t transferable as far as i know.
It has been discussed on here before, But i can’t remember the outcome.
I got in touch with the dvla and they said because I had a full license C+E, D ect before I moved to Canada that all i had to do was fill a form in and surrender my Canadian license. But if you went to Canada then you have to do there very laughable class 1 test. 
As you already hold a UK class 1 just tell the dvla you’ve lost it and get a replacement sent, that way you’re not surrendering anything and if you wish to go back to Canada at any time you have not got to prat about getting a replacement Canadian licence again. The province who issued your licence in Canada keep them on file in the provincial captial and do not send them back to the UK so the DVLA have no idea what licence you hold and dont.
Mick 6527:
limeyphil:
How do you go on about sorting out your licence?
Canadian and UK car licences can be used in both countries, But LGV and CDL arn’t transferable as far as i know.
It has been discussed on here before, But i can’t remember the outcome.I got in touch with the dvla and they said because I had a full license C+E, D ect before I moved to Canada that all i had to do was fill a form in and surrender my Canadian license. But if you went to Canada then you have to do there very laughable class 1 test.
Go on then. 
Tell us about the laughable test.
was canada to cold for you ■■? 
Get your dcpc done asap, the prices will go silly by the end of the year. The bloke that did mine has just last week been asked to go into a large national concern and to name his price. There is going to be a large number of people doing it next year and nowhere near enough trainers.
I would stop where you are buddy…your going to be taxed to do the job even before you get comfy in the drivers seat…good old blighty…yeh rite…
Share Shytalks opinion,what the hell are you coming back here for,homesick…well don’t worry you’ll be sick enough soon enough when you get back here.
limeyphil:
Mick 6527:
limeyphil:
How do you go on about sorting out your licence?
Canadian and UK car licences can be used in both countries, But LGV and CDL arn’t transferable as far as i know.
It has been discussed on here before, But i can’t remember the outcome.I got in touch with the dvla and they said because I had a full license C+E, D ect before I moved to Canada that all i had to do was fill a form in and surrender my Canadian license. But if you went to Canada then you have to do there very laughable class 1 test.
Go on then.
Pre trip then twice round the block and a blind reverse.
People always say Britain is on its knee’s and what a terrible place it is etc and anyone would be mad for wanting to return. I’ve now been in Canada for four years and been on the verge of returning to England on more than one occasion. Canada is all well and good, until you get past the novelty of a big bonneted truck and the long distances sometimes driven and realise that you spend an awful lot of your life sitting on loading docks or truckstops earning absolutely nothing because we get paid purely on milleage. For example, its a half measure bank holiday here in the US right now and as such I’ve done 10 miles driving today, from the truckstop I parked in last night, 5 miles down the road to unload, and 5 miles back to the truckstop and I’ll be here until at least tomorrow morning. For that 36 hours of being 2000km away from home in the truck I’ll earn the grand total of $3.40 / £2.17. My current job isn’t usually too bad with waiting times, I’m normally only an hour on a bay getting tipped or loaded and usually have something to head to once I’m empty but many jobs here are absolutely dire, you’ll do a full days driving, then a full days unpaid waiting, then drive a day, then wait a day, often re-writing log books so you can lose the unpaid delay and just try and scrape a wage together. Those are the jobs that usually go to the foreign workers because those companies can’t get local drivers but when you get paid by the mile in any job, the slightest delay out of your control costs you an awful lot potentially. Yes the job in England is horrible now with all the bureaucracy and H&S b/s but if nothing else at last you know that when you go to work on a Monday morning or Sunday evening for a week away in the truck you’ll be bringing home a consistent wage and at least you know that once you park at night, you’ll be getting a guarunteed 9 or 11 hours off. None of that can be said about Canada. I do like Canada overall but lets not pretend its a uptopian dream compared to the UK because it most certainly isn’t. You’ll work a darn sight harder and longer here for the same or less money as in the UK and as a truck driver your social/family life will be non-existant in comparison to what you’d get in the UK. If anyone back in the UK wants to experience what it’d be like to be a Canadian long haul trucker, go and work for a few months at a Polish or Lithuanian firm that tramp all over Europe and get paid by the kilometer not by the day or hour and never get to go home unless they just happen to be passing close to their home town with a non-urgent load. I’ve done Sunday/Monday to Friday/Saturday tramping in the UK, I’ve done continental work to Germany and Swiss and turned around a few times on the trot to be away for 3 weeks or so on many occasions but thats nothing compared to what this job usually is.
The bottom line is that for all of its many problems, Britain isn’t a bad place, especially to be a truck driver in. Yes theres too much regulation and paperwork in the job there now but at least you’ll be getting a consistent wage every week and unless you do one of the very few continental jobs, you’ll be home every weekend with your family. Whereas here you might leave on a Monday and be gone 2 and a half weeks, have a part of a Wednesday and a Thursday off and go again on a Friday and be gone another three weeks and then spend a day of two waiting for loads for no pay or run out of hours and need to take a 36 hour reset, again for no pay away from home, so that when you do get home a few days later you have to keep going as you cant afford too many unpaid days so close together. I personally know quite a few British drivers here who came across with families who are litterally living paycheck to paycheck here and totally at the mercy of how many miles they get, or dont get as to wether they can even pay their bills, let alone live life.
Both countries have their numerous problems, but in my opinion Britain certainly isn’t worse than Canada, just a totally different kettle of fish.
+1.
Completely agree. When I was cattle hauling I was lucky to be home 2 days out of the month cos you gotta keep the money coming. Plus a lot of uk drivers seem to think that we just go to all the nice sunny places in the south were there’s awesome truckstops and the roads are nice and smooth with these state of the art trucks, but truth is its not like that. Even the top of the range volvo that I drive right now is just a pimped up fl 12. If you buy a brew in western Canada you might as well just open the lid and chuck it all around the cab the roads are that bumpy. And its lucky if you can find a clean shower or a shower at all in the prairies. I know a lot of uk drivers complain if there inst a kfc in a services
Mick6527 I look forward to posts you make ‘when or if’ you come back but hell! Canada must be doing something right we have just appointed a Canadian as the boss of the Bank of England.
good luck whatever you do.
That is a realistic assessment if it out here.
Mick 6527:
+1.
Completely agree. When I was cattle hauling I was lucky to be home 2 days out of the month cos you gotta keep the money coming. Plus a lot of uk drivers seem to think that we just go to all the nice sunny places in the south were there’s awesome truckstops and the roads are nice and smooth with these state of the art trucks, but truth is its not like that. Even the top of the range volvo that I drive right now is just a pimped up fl 12. If you buy a brew in western Canada you might as well just open the lid and chuck it all around the cab the roads are that bumpy. And its lucky if you can find a clean shower or a shower at all in the prairies. I know a lot of uk drivers complain if there inst a kfc in a services
The truckstop facilities here in the US are certainly a world of difference to the UK, there is no denying that, but that doesn’t make up for never being at home with your loved ones and sitting around, in a company truck and earning absolutely nothing until the wheels start turning. Its not my fault they cant find a load thats ready right now, I’m a company employee, yet I take all the risk and take the hit in the pocket. How many Stobart drivers, or DHL or Wincantons or any of the thousands of small firm’s drivers would run up to Glasgow, unload and then sit from Monday evening until Wesdnesday afternoon on no pay at all, before getting a load to where ever, then sit again for a day on no money and then because of those delays, not go home for the weekend but carry on for 7, 8 or 9 days before going home? Not many I bet, especially when 3 or those 8 days away in the cab would be totally unpaid, no hourly pay, no day rate and no night out money.
Canada is the same as any country, there are good jobs and there are bad jobs 
Last month I did my usual 12,000miles and earned as much on extras (waiting time/layover/mountain pay) as I did on my mileage pay, which meant I had a very tidy sum land in the bank, got home every weekend too 
I did work hard for almost every single mile of the 12,000, if it wasn’t snowing it was ice rain or freezing fog and I did strike lucky with waiting times, managed to get paid for almost every other night in my bed, so last month was an extreme case, but goes to show that it’s not all sitting around earning SFA, I can sit around and earn nearly as much as I can for driving down the road
The roads are crap though, and while the truckstops are half decent in the USA, if you like fast food and the company of pile ridden halfwits who talk ■■■■■■■■, in Canada they’re worse, not only do you have to sit with truck drivers, the facilities are minging or non existent, with a few exceptions of course.
You know I like Canada, but I’m not here just because of the job, if that’s all I came here for I would be back in the UK now as it’s the same poop, just a different continent 
Had to think about this before i joined in,yes it is a pain and an total insult to sit for days an no get paid a dime and for 99% of newcomers (drivers) its the way it will be.and dont get me started on the 2wks holiday per yr.
and unless you have Permanent residency before you arrive you have to work long haul…yeah i was lucky when i came over i found a good firm ( for a start) and after doing the usa for a while ended up doing SK.AB milk runs/peddle runs .
BUT here is the thing once ya get PR you can do anything you want job wise and yes i know theres no much well paid work on the east .
For Myself local work was the way to go and hourly pay makes the job a good one.
its not the land o milk and honey but for some its 100% better than where they were in the uk.
just my thoughts on things and not intending to start an argument.
jimmy