hello guys and girls!! just wanted to see what others opinon was. ive been working as a plumber for 9 years next month and am 25yrs old. really fancy a change off career and am thinking off going into driving… the reason for change is the company i work for ive been with since i started still treat me as the boy and put alot off work on me and dont get any extra thanks or help, plus theres not alot out there just as im sure the same for driving. also the ache’s and pains are kicking in. would like to do my class 2 then class 1 after some experience.
thanks for your help 
si
Hi Si,
You’re right to come and ask the question’s as you MUST do your research into this industry before you spend all that dosh on the licenses. I’m sure you already know that a normal working day is roughly about 12 hours and anything up to 15 usually, while that might sound easy because all your doing is guiding a vehicle then that’s where most people are wrong. You have to think for everyone else, second guess everyone’s every move because the general public just don’t have a scooby when it comes to large vehicles.
Work is very hard to find after passing, I had to wait 4 months for my first start and more often than not your first job will be low wage (£7p/h roughly) up to you to take it but you’d be stupid to refuse it as like I say, you could be waiting months for even the hint of an offer to come through.
Not only that, most of the people on the job are all zombie like, put your trailer on a bay at a Regional Distribution Centre and then you need to hand your keys in to the desk (not allowed to sit in the lorry due to health and safety, moving off the bay while being loaded etc) and all you’ll find in there is drivers who don’t want to talk to you or when they do they spout utter ■■■■■■■■ like “when I was in the SAS…” etc.
Then there’s the rules and regulations governing the driving hours, working time directive, breaks etc and all of these if broken can be enforced by serious penalties.
Other’s will be a long to give their 50 cents soon, but despite all of that, I love it. 
All i can say is yes if its what you want to do DO IT!! Or you will always be wondering “what if”
Good luck.
Dan
Think sams pointed you in the right direction the other thing is it could very well be irregular hours ie 12 till 12 or night as he said take what comes for experiance but be prepared for long hours apart from that good job your still young so go for it make sure youreally want it as it is expensive.
Go for it mate, I just got out the military yesterday, doing my class 1 and adr next month, I’m lucky as I’m not having to pay for any of it but its still something I really want to do.
Go for it!!
I done C and C+E about may last year and only about 3 months ago I finally got a full time job. Its hard going getting a job and even harder getting a goo job.
I had a few temp jobs, they were horrible jobs. Early starts (4am), 12hr shifts, handballin’ everything into kitchens, struggling with massive pallets of bricks etc.
If you want to do it you should otherwise you may regret not trying it.
Hi and welcome, a slightly different angle you could consider…I am also none too happy with my job. I went to a driving agency 1st to enquire about what work would be likely to come my way as I went through qualifying. The agency chap told me to NOT give my job up but to get class C and see what driving work I could fit in around my rest days etc (bearing in mind the working time directive) then, if still interested, go on to obtain class C+E and see how things lie.
…I stayed with my job but did back to back training and testing because I wanted my licences. I registered with a couple of agencies in March and passed my C+E earlier this month. In all that time I got my 1st drive on Monday (23/7/12) followed by 2 other drives this week (story is under ‘A tad nervous’).
My plan now is to stay with my current job for a while and gain driving experience along the way until I’m happy I can move into full time trucking and continue to support my family…i’m 50 by the way. A lot of the time you will come up against a requirement for 2 years experience before firms will let you loose in their kit, but there are some out there who will give you a go, if you do a good job, and don’t appear scruffy, lazy or neanderthal, then the agency will be likely to offer you more work.
At the end of the day its your choice, if you have a spare £2-3K and have always had a pssion to drive trucks then this may well be right up your street. Have you looked at DCPC requirements as well? that will need to be considered as 2014 approaches.
Whatever you decide I wish you the best of luck and welcome aboard
Tazbug
as sam millar and others say thats some great advice but again like everyone says please please do your homework as a lot of people think getting a licence is easy and there will be plenty of work it isnt like that in the real world on paper it works great.
I always wanted to be a driver of articulated vehicles and went for it but again research is everything.
dont give up at the first hurdle if you go for it once ya pass get yourself out there show people your serious about wanting to do it and show people your dedicated and wont give up without a fight and you will find people will recognise it and someone will give you the break you need.
Better to do on the side plumbing work till you have enough customers to go self employed full time, have you got Corgi registration or whatever it is these days, boiler repairs is the thing, keeping good boilers going instead of replacing with new which is all the big firms want to do.
Maybe worth the investment of time and money for upgrading your present qualifications, then you can have the pleasure of quietly cherry picking your present bosses customers.
Tazbug:
Hi and welcome, a slightly different angle you could consider…I am also none too happy with my job. I went to a driving agency 1st to enquire about what work would be likely to come my way as I went through qualifying. The agency chap told me to NOT give my job up but to get class C and see what driving work I could fit in around my rest days etc (bearing in mind the working time directive) then, if still interested, go on to obtain class C+E and see how things lie.…I stayed with my job but did back to back training and testing because I wanted my licences. I registered with a couple of agencies in March and passed my C+E earlier this month. In all that time I got my 1st drive on Monday (23/7/12) followed by 2 other drives this week (story is under ‘A tad nervous’).
My plan now is to stay with my current job for a while and gain driving experience along the way until I’m happy I can move into full time trucking and continue to support my family…i’m 50 by the way. A lot of the time you will come up against a requirement for 2 years experience before firms will let you loose in their kit, but there are some out there who will give you a go, if you do a good job, and don’t appear scruffy, lazy or neanderthal, then the agency will be likely to offer you more work.
At the end of the day its your choice, if you have a spare £2-3K and have always had a pssion to drive trucks then this may well be right up your street. Have you looked at DCPC requirements as well? that will need to be considered as 2014 approaches.
Whatever you decide I wish you the best of luck and welcome aboard
Tazbug
Excellent advice. I do two different jobs and cherry pick from both…you don’t have to take the poor wages then and, once you gain experience and have had your licence for two years you will be able to pick and choose what work you do.
Then, if you really want to go full time you can. Ultimately you can probably earn more doing a mixture of plumbing and driving but it depends if you want to go self employed or not.
Do not go for it though until you’ve done lots of research as getting a licence is expensive and doesn’t repay you very well at first.
Good luck…! 
Go for it, work hard and you’ll get what you want. Get yourself on the ladder and after that you can move about from job to job.
this job is what you make of it yourself id do as someone else advised stay working get your licences and have a hunt around for work only leave your job once you have full time driving remember not all firms want to golden 2 yrs some take on new drivers the green machine took me on after passing my test a month earlier
and if if dont work out you have a good trade to fall back on imo you would have best of both worlds
keep us updated on what you decide
I used to be a plumber. Then I did my licences and have been driving ever since. I earn almost the same money as I did when I was plumbing and I have no regrets about making the career change. Plus if I got bored of driving I could easily go back to plumbing. So give it a try if it’s what you fancy!
thanks people for your replies, good to hear that people take the chance and go for it. i think im probable gonna go for it, nice to hear aswell joe that someone else has done what ive been doing and wanted a change!! i know it will be hard work but im sure i can do it if i put my mind to it. nothings easy nowadays with all the regs and rules but as u guys say its what you put into it. think im gonna do a assment drive before i part with my money and see if i can jump in with my friend for the day. get a feel for it then go from there. its a big change but im not gonna know if i dont try. keep driving my van pretending for a while, with my rearview mirror up so im just using my side mirrors.
thanks again, i will let you know when i decied (get started)
cliffton 27:
this job is what you make of it yourself id do as someone else advised stay working get your licences and have a hunt around for work only leave your job once you have full time driving remember not all firms want to golden 2 yrs some take on new drivers the green machine took me on after passing my test a month earlier
and if if dont work out you have a good trade to fall back on imo you would have best of both worlds
keep us updated on what you decide
green machine?? whos that as im a newbie lol
most days i see a carlsberg truck…
silentsi1987:
cliffton 27:
this job is what you make of it yourself id do as someone else advised stay working get your licences and have a hunt around for work only leave your job once you have full time driving remember not all firms want to golden 2 yrs some take on new drivers the green machine took me on after passing my test a month earlier
and if if dont work out you have a good trade to fall back on imo you would have best of both worlds
keep us updated on what you decidegreen machine?? whos that as im a newbie lol
most days i see a carlsberg truck…
stobarts mate not there anymore though
You have a good career behind you if you find it’s not for you. I did a similar change at about the same age. I took the pain out of my change as I worked for a small haulage company driving 7.5 tonners. The boss then kindly paid for my licence, admittedly Class 1 in one go then.
You can get your head around all things transport without commiting serious money and get the feel for driving a wagon. Then it’s just a move up the weight scale.
I only stayed for 4 years and then did a mix of summer European work and Agency for a couple of years. As far as I am concerned it was a great life experience and time I look back on with pride to have worked with so many professional drivers.
Do it now while you have the fitness. I always knew that I wanted to come off the road before I was 40 as I had seen quite a few guys struggling with the life