Mick 6527:
Yeah were starting to go a little off topic here. I AM going back to the UK and it is mainly for family reasons. Because I have never driven truck in the UK as civvie I am looking for advice for euro fridge work and cpc ect
Theres every chance you could just go out and get a job tomorrow (or whenever you get back) and then the company will send you for cpc training, or some do it inhouse etc. As for Euro fridge work, that could be somewhat more difficult as the whole international freight scene over there has been absolutely carved up by the eastern Europeans and as a result UK companies doing it are pretty few and far between compared to years gone by. Imagine what would happen to the Canada/US market if Mexican trucks were given free reign to go where ever they wished, thats basically whats happened in Europe.
Mick 6527:
Yeah were starting to go a little off topic here. I AM going back to the UK and it is mainly for family reasons. Because I have never driven truck in the UK as civvie I am looking for advice for euro fridge work and cpc ect
Theres every chance you could just go out and get a job tomorrow (or whenever you get back) and then the company will send you for cpc training, or some do it inhouse etc. As for Euro fridge work, that could be somewhat more difficult as the whole international freight scene over there has been absolutely carved up by the eastern Europeans and as a result UK companies doing it are pretty few and far between compared to years gone by. Imagine what would happen to the Canada/US market if Mexican trucks were given free reign to go where ever they wished, thats basically whats happened in Europe.
Lol good example. Well all going well Ive already got a job squared away back home through family for a small business. I’m ok with the euro side of things. But i haven’t got a clue about drivers hours anymore or cpc
Do your dcpc in a one week block before you start driving. If you get pulled and aint got your card with you its a 30 quid fixed penalty. After September next year this fixed penalty will go up to 1k. Do this and one of the modules is all about drivers hours, its the only one I found to be any use tbh, We did one on drivers health, dont need a course to tell me im a fat git.
dowahdiddyman:
Do your dcpc in a one week block before you start driving. If you get pulled and aint got your card with you its a 30 quid fixed penalty. After September next year this fixed penalty will go up to 1k. Do this and one of the modules is all about drivers hours, its the only one I found to be any use tbh, We did one on drivers health, dont need a course to tell me im a fat git.
Are you saying that right this minute if I returned to the UK and drove, I’d be issued a fine for not having a cpc card? I thought we had until September 2014 to get it and until that time we were fine?
flat to the mat:
You could always change jobs . On days off at the moment but got an extra $250 in the bank for staying home today as it’s a long weekend in SK . Sure I do miles but you won’t see any unpaid work on my 14 hr shift , some of our guys get paid 24/7 by the hour , even on layovers FFS . If you fancy Edmonton send me a pm .
You have PR so what’s keeping you on the long haul ?
I’m seriously thinking about moving. I’ve set up shack with my Canadian girlfriend in NB but she’s up for moving elsewhere, although we have some pretty serious loose ends that need tieing up here first. The only real reason I’m pratting about on long haul still is that I’m trying to satisfy my personal ambition of getting all 48 lower states and I’m annoyingly close now with 46. If Edmonton beckons, I’ll let you know.
dowahdiddyman:
Do your dcpc in a one week block before you start driving. If you get pulled and aint got your card with you its a 30 quid fixed penalty. After September next year this fixed penalty will go up to 1k. Do this and one of the modules is all about drivers hours, its the only one I found to be any use tbh, We did one on drivers health, dont need a course to tell me im a fat git.
Are you saying that right this minute if I returned to the UK and drove, I’d be issued a fine for not having a cpc card? I thought we had until September 2014 to get it and until that time we were fine?
If you still have your valid UK licence then yes, you can drive with no DCPC card until Sept 2014.
Mick 6527:
I’m a permanent resident now and could go for citizenship this year if I wanted to. /quote]
You probably already know this, but other readers may not know.
A Permanent Resident can live and work in Canada permanently, you’d think? No, not really, there is a residency requirement to keep your PR status. If you leave Canada for a while and then want to return and pick up where you left off, you may find you have lost your PR. A Canadian Citizen can live anywhere in the world for as long as they like and will always be able to return to Canada to live and work. Citizenship lasts your lifetime and your offsprings lifetime for any kids born after you gain citizenship.
I’m UK born, as a child I emigrated to Canada in 1957, became a citizen in 1965 and returned to the UK in 1967. I have lived in the UK ever since. My children were all born in the UK to my English wife but because I hold dual UK and Canadian citizenship, so do my sons, and so do their kids etc.
All 3 of my sons now live and work in Canada. None of them needed a visa, work permit or any immigration consent because they are all Canadian Citizens even though they had never been to Canada prior to moving there as adults to live and work. No 3 son went in 2008 aged 25, no 1 son went in 2009 aged 30 and no 2 son went in 2010 aged 28. 2 of them have sponsored their wives who now have PR and open work permits and will be eligible for citizenship soon. 3 of my grandchildren went as well, but they also were Canadian, although born in the UK. 2 further grandchildren have been born in Canada since they moved over. They all say they intend on living in Canada for the rest of their lives. Of course, none of them does long distance work. 1 drives on city work for Fedex (Big Jon), 1 works as a class 1 driver on local work for a hardware and equipment distributor, and 1 is training to be a HD mechanic on very large cranes. A Canadian citizen can take any job, and in Alberta at least, there are plenty of decent jobs. FedEx suits Big Jon because even though the pay rate isn’t brilliant, the benefits are and the work is easy (he tells me). He thinks about moving jobs to increase his pay now and then but so far has decided the job he has is fine, as any other job would mean working harder.
kr79:
So if he has to reaply for one how does he stand?
If the OP re-applied for his UK licence they’d just re-issue an already existing licence so it would make no difference. I made sure from the beginning that I had both licences and surrendered neither just incase it would later be a problem when this cpc nonsense came out.
Very good information about the differences between PR and Citizenship there and exactly why I’m counting down the days until I’m eligable for citizenship. I cant say that I’ll stay in Canada forever, but I wont be leaving without citizenship at this point as I’ve invested so much time and effort in to getting this far to just lose my PR status if I were ever absent long enough to not qualify for the two years out of five to maintain PR.
Robinhood. Why are you doing it for free?
Sometimes layovers are going to be part of longhaul over here in the same way that you always see Willi Betz and the likes hanging around in Britain waiting for backloads.
My average trip is from around 12 days to 3 weeks so I nearly always have a reset somewhere and sometimes a couple even but I at least get $70 a day. I thought $70 was a bit of an insult until I read your post. The only reason I do it is because I work for a really small family company and they are spot on in every other respect.
Also I can book into a motel if I want and put it on my expenses no quibble so I mostly do that especially in summer or the southern heat.
You say your company doesn’t make any effort to find a reload because it doesn’t cost them anything so you have to sit in your truck at your own expense? I’m not wanting to sound funny but why are you doing it and then turning it into a rant against Canada?
Going by what Taffy is saying even the likes of H&R pay layover ffs…
I’m merely pointing out to those on here that have never been to Canada, but think its lots better than the UK that once you remove the novely of bonneted trucks, wide open landscapes and wearing a cowboy hat to work, the actual reality of trucking here can also be quite negative too. My current company dont pay layovers which is a ■■■■■■■■■ but at the same time I do far more miles here than I did for the companies who do pay them, so I’m better off over all. But that doesn’t mean I dont get annoyed when I lose out on earning potential.
My “rant” was about the north American trucking industry in general, not my company in particular. Its no secret that it costs a company nothing (or a poxy $70) to sit a driver for a day if that means they can take a load paying $3000 rather than one available immidiately that pays $2600. The company pocket an extra $400 and the driver loses out on a days earning potential and is away from home and loved ones for the privilege. That is something that hourly paid or saleried drivers in the UK dont comprehend when they’re moaning about Britain in RDC waiting rooms on full pay.
I do very much like living in Canada in general, but I think the way we get paid to do the job here is a big downside and I’m making people aware of that when they’re moaning about their really quite good, comfortable and well paid jobs in the UK that they usually do Monday to Friday with weekends off.
Not slagging Canada off in general here, just showering that theres two sides to the story.
Oh it’s definitely a case of having to work a lot harder for your living on this side of the pond. I have got to give you that for sure. If anyone in Britain thinks the 48hr WTD is a good idea they wouldn’t like how things work over here. Lol.
wire:
Oh it’s definitely a case of having to work a lot harder for your living on this side of the pond. I have got to give you that for sure. If anyone in Britain thinks the 48hr WTD is a good idea they wouldn’t like how things work over here. Lol.
48 hr WTD whats that lol yea i get my layovers just got another one for Texas last week
No layover pay in western Canada?!?! I thought you chaps over there got better everything than those of us who’ve entered the peasants life in New Brunswick.
robinhood_1984:
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.
Beware this is not the case, I had My UK licence under threat untill I returned My out of date Canadian one, I had been back in The UK 3 years & had done as suggested above, it came to light when I moved house & sent My class one to Swansea for change of address & got a letter back saying send us your Manitoba one or your not having one from us & I was told its an offence to hold a CDL/HGV call it what You will in two countries.
robinhood_1984:
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.
Beware this is not the case, I had My UK licence under threat untill I returned My out of date Canadian one, I had been back in The UK 3 years & had done as suggested above, it came to light when I moved house & sent My class one to Swansea for change of address & got a letter back saying send us your Manitoba one or your not having one from us & I was told its an offence to hold a CDL/HGV call it what You will in two countries.
I think that makes sense because it is possible for a foreign licence to be recognised here in the case of temporary entry using a foreign registered wagon.Whereas if you’re a British resident you’ll need a British licence while still holding a foreign one in that case could lead to misuse of a foreign licence by a British resident.In the case of Canada/Oz/New Zealand it should be a case that either countries’ licences are all interchangeable with no need to take more than one test.In which case there only needs to be one record held concerning one test pass in whichever of those the test was passed in to get the licences sorted out.
