At the moment I am earning about 21k, if I changed my career and got a class 1 licence how much will I be expecting to earn. I live in South Wales near Swansea so the main haulage company’s are NR Evans, Owens, TDW Williams. Also is the work out there for me to get work straight away and is there going to be a shortage in drivers in years to come and will that mean a increase in wages??
Thank you guys for any response and help
Work is out there, it always will be especially if you make the effort and earn yourself some skills and reputation and a good work record over the years, good jobs seldom come straight away it can take years to break into the better work and for some it never happens, but some drivers are as happy as a pig in crap doing what they enjoy doing year in year out without earning great money and good luck to 'em cos personal happiness is worth a lot more than a row of zeros on the bank balance for some gold digger to take from you, the job is what you make it.
However if you’re earning £21k for 40 hours and could earn proportionately more if you put in overtime or moved up the rungs of your present job then you might be just as well off doing that.
Most drivers started the job because they wanted to drive lorries or be out and about for a variety of reasons, very few for primarily financial reasons, so you really have to ask yourself why you want to do this, if its to earn big money then you’re going to have a disappointment and/or an eye opener, because most lorry drivers (unless on own account or some very specialised work) have to work seriously hard and long long or odd hours and possibly stay away several nights a week or longer to make decent money.
Arguably there’s always been a shortage of good drivers because the good drivers are always in demand, there’s no shortage of licence holders who haven’t a clue and care less.
What the future holds is anyone’s guess, but that applies to the country as a whole, in another 20 years the population could well be heading towards 100 million the way things are going, nobody has the faintest idea what the place will be like then and in subsequent generations.
Wage varies dramatically throughout the country if I am honest mate, best thing to do is go on a job site for your area you will see an average wage there. I have just secured a job as a newly qualified driver, driving class 2 starting wage 28k then after 12 weeks anything between 32 and 35k with overtime and bonus’s. So people are out there giving newly qualified drivers a chance just got to put yourself out there and make yourself look good. as for the wage I think I got extremely lucky if I am honest!
ash 001:
Wage varies dramatically throughout the country if I am honest mate, best thing to do is go on a job site for your area you will see an average wage there. I have just secured a job as a newly qualified driver, driving class 2 starting wage 28k then after 12 weeks anything between 32 and 35k with overtime and bonus’s. So people are out there giving newly qualified drivers a chance just got to put yourself out there and make yourself look good. as for the wage I think I got extremely lucky if I am honest!
28k then after 12 weeks 32-35k that doesn’t make sense! Do you earn the 28k in the first 12 weeks then earn 32-35k after? LOL
ash 001:
Wage varies dramatically throughout the country if I am honest mate, best thing to do is go on a job site for your area you will see an average wage there. I have just secured a job as a newly qualified driver, driving class 2 starting wage 28k then after 12 weeks anything between 32 and 35k with overtime and bonus’s. So people are out there giving newly qualified drivers a chance just got to put yourself out there and make yourself look good. as for the wage I think I got extremely lucky if I am honest!
good for you mate… Now get me a job there LOL 
lol I wish, basically your basic salary is 28k you have a 12 week probation period once this period is up this allows you to have bonus’s like I said 10% customer focus bonus and 9% driving bonus so by the end of the year you could be looking at a very healthy wage and that’s even without overtime!