Dumb idea or savvy? - either way I'm DOING it!

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
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Hello

I’ve been trawling through the boards now for several hours (instead of getting the housework done) reading up on training etc. I’d already acquired lots of prices, but most have turned out to be brokers so will be ditching their details in view of what I’ve read.

Here’s the deal;

My other half is a HGV driver, he’s had his class one now for about 8 yrs and had his class 2 for about 4 on top of that. He’s a fantastic driver - I was in the transport industry for well over a decade and have hired (and fired) drivers myself so know a good one when I see one! I actually registered on this site to help support him - if I’m home then I act as ops for him, finding him truck stops, services, correcting dodgy addresses, whatever might help him (when he was on tippers I would go out with him and make tea, hand over food etc throughout the day, do paperwork, etc - a perfect co-driver - or so he said!). So we’re chatting about container work out of Southampton and he says to go look at the DP world website and watch the training video so I can see what he’s talking about. So I do, I watch it more than once and click the driver assessment test underneath - no driver can enter Southampton container terminal without this certificate - and do the test and get the certificate just for fun.

However, watching the vid I’m thinking - I could do that. Back in the day I was involved in the removals/parcel/courier industry - I never wanted to do that - too much labour, multi-drop stuff is a killer and in the courier world the pressure can be immense, but running trailers up and down the country? Yea, I can do that. I’m not worried about the training - I have no doubt if I put my mind to it I’ll achieve it.

I work currently 3 days a week in an office environment and I earn more than most do in 5, but I’m getting itchy feet. I’m fed up of office politics, putting up with sharing space with the same annoying people every working day.

I am also very conscious of the current work climate - if I lost my job tomorrow I’d walk into the nearest pub/bar/restaurant and do waitress/bar work on min wage to ensure we can pay the mortgage and I’d do as many hours as I needed to until I found something new.

My thoughts are - I have the funds right now to get my Class 1 (I wouldn’t bother working as C2 as I wouldn’t do multi-drop and don’t want anything that requires much labour as although I am willing I have no wish to be a body builder). I am a ‘vehicle enthusiast’ I enjoy driving, I know the industry - OK most of my data is from the 90’s but I understand the processes - my geography is better than most from years of parcel inputting - I miss seeing other parts of the country. I look at where the OH is off to and think ‘I want to see that/bet the views are great round there/been there, want to go again’ etc etc.

Even if I don’t do the career move right now having a HGV licence is a card up my sleeve, it creates possibilities. I’ve always found decent work and worked my way up in several industries, but in reality I have no real qualifications, I’m just quick-thinking and savvy and generally pretty good at talking my way into stuff. If I had a HGV ticket it would be useful anywhere in the world.

I’m even thinking that long term we could even double man - do international stuff or even consider OD (Yes I know this road is never, ever paved with gold).

So… opinions welcome, especially from female drivers.

Also - does anyone do HGV driving part time and with any success? In an ideal world I would only work say Mon -Thurs (don’t mind nights out if truck is decent) and have 3 days off - is this completely unrealistic?

Thanks in advance!

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I’m definitely not female but I wish you all the best.

The more specific you are about desired working hours, the less realistic it’s bound to become. But nothing is impossible so you need to put yourself out there and see what happens.

There’s more than one female driver on here so I’m sure you’ll get some answers/support in a bit.

Pete :laughing: :laughing:

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Sorry not a female either but with your can do attitude you are half way to passing. Truthfully passing both tests is not going to be a problem if your trainer can control your enthusiasm.

You sound like you know your next move. I would definitely advise a few trial drives. You will need a very strong trainer.

Good luck with your plans.

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Welcome to Trucknet.
I read your comment on two drivers sharing driving on European runs.There would be a good chance that a firm would find that useful.
Continental Express Ltd,deliver to Gibraltar and reload in Spain.
They use two drivers and single drivers.
There is a Morrisons that they deliver to.Husband wife teams were popular due to the truck not stopping for much longer which makes more profit in getting there quicker.
Best of luck with what you do.
Any questions,just ask on here.
Wisemans Dairies take on new drivers and they have depots all over the UK.Long or short haul work.Farm collections in class 1&2 tankers.Night or day shifts.
Knights of Old Ltd at Kettering were after drivers who have just passed their test.

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Thanks guys, I was beginning to think after so many views and no comments the general feeling was ‘dumb’!

toby1234abc this is what I was hoping, my plan is not for us to both be away from home in separate trucks too much as then we’d spend less time together, however if we could pair up (even if not all the time) and have some adventures too it would satisfy his desire to travel and see things and mine to spend more time together.

LGVTrainer very astute! Yes I will need a no nonsense, firm, but fair individual who can utilise that enthusiasm without squashing it. I think my car instructor was always a bit intimidated by me, he once told me I drove like a man. He didn’t mean it as a compliment even though I took it as one! :smiley: I have driven a 32t tipper forward and reverse (just pretty much straight lines) and tipped a damp load, and I have to say it was exciting although it was a little nerve wracking with so many buttons and controls that I didn’t know what did what.

Peter Smythe thank you for the support!

Back in the old days when I was in the transport industry I always had the opinion I shouldn’t ask my guys to do anything I wasn’t willing to do. It always irked me a bit that I couldn’t drive the trucks I was running (although to be fair until I finally did my car test I couldn’t drive a car or van either!)

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There should more lady drivers in the industry.I see a few a week.The days of no power steering are long gone as the old lorries you would have to built like Geoff Capes to steer it.
I worked with a lady on Gibraltar work.
Some may have known her as Carla who died of cancer.
She had a red Erf Olympic cab with a long toy snake in the windscreen.
She had a house on the beach at La Linea near the border.
For a long time she felt ill and the cab lockers were like a pharmacy.We had a blind side reverse in to small gated yard near the Raf camp in Gib.
Out of 20 drivers,she was the only one to get in on one attempt.
I think what puts lady drivers off is the loo facilities at night.In Europe,a lady will attract many drivers to appear by the cab with unwanted attention.Most pull the curtains over as soon as parking up.

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TheMissus:
Thanks guys, I was beginning to think after so many views and no comments the general feeling was ‘dumb’!

The lack of replies in this forum isn’t indicitve of anything as most threads here only generate a few reponses :slight_smile: Good luck with the training should you do it.

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Go for it, if you’ve got the cash now, its always going to be another step on the ladder. Only thing is the ‘Rip Off’ Driver CPC, I think that might put a lot of part time drivers off in the future.

I did about 8 years working nights & weekends/casual through the 90’s along side a full time career in Transport Management & put a few quid in the bank (& got divorced) but all you needed back then was a Class 1 licence & an ‘Analogue Tacho’ & the right company’s to employ you. :wink:

I’ve always made most money out of Transport/driving/loading, tried selling insurance & working in a supermarket when I was younger, but the regular income just wasn’t there.

There’s always going to be a need for Truck Drivers to deliver Goodies to the masses, until they get Robots to do it for us ! :unamused:

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Working 3 days in an office you could easily drive a LGV a couple of days a week so how about getting the C and CE licences and trying the agencies or local companies to do that and see how you like it :bulb:

Earn £3k net doing part time driving over time will easily pay back what you invested

If the company your OH works for will allow it you could get the provisional and drive as a learner in his lorry with OH as supervisor but it would need to be a C because you cannot be a learner in a C+E until you pass C

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This post from a newbie should be read by all others on here! Good example of doing a bit of research before parting with your cash.

You’ve had replies from two instructors who are regular posters on here.

Peter Smythe who always offers good advice and enjoys has a very good reputation and LGVTrainer AKA John Dawson who has a colourful past.

Caveat emptor!

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Hey there welcome to the forum

I work part time on hgv , have my own taxi so fit it around that doing agency work, have had no problems finding work when I want it , when you first have your licences you may have to take anything that comes up to get your foot on the ladder so to speak , although you could be lucky :wink:

Your right about always having it there to fall back on , ive not done any hgv for a few months due to other circumstances but know if I rang up agency today could pick up work straight away especially at this time of year , after christmas the work slows down for jan feb etc but picks up again especially if your attitude is the right one , willing to work , conscientious ,etc ,
Ive never had any problems with other drivers they are always willing to help if you need it , you dont have to be Geoff Capes either these days , a bit of brain power goes along way when presented with a problem lol, I found when I first passed your best tool was ya mouth !! ask for help , if you dont know how to do something ask someone who does ,someone elses experience is always valuable , you have your hubby to go out with to get any experience when passed thats the best way of learning the ropes , good luck with your training and you will be out on the road in no time have fun !!
jx

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toby1234abc Yes, I think I would be wary, certainly initially of euro work on my own for this reason and also because of the illegal immigrants looking for free rides. The loo thing isn’t a huge deal for me - I’ve spent enough days out as a passenger and used some pretty dodgy facilities in quarries and bushes in laybys to be too fussy (even though a nice facility is always a welcome sight!) I’m really hoping the maneuvering isn’t going to be a big issue - I’ve already started looking at junctions and turnings differently! :smiley:

mrpj Thanks, and yep I’m gonna do it - booked for my medical today - committed to the C for now as that reduces the initial price (I find it hard o spend substantial amounts of money - weird for a female I know)

martinviking This is what I’m thinking, plus I have family in Aus and Canada so if we ever wanted to go for a long break somewhere we’d both have skills required all around the world - it might open up a world of adventure to us. We don’t have or want kids so we may as well make the most of what we’ve got. I’m not too bothered by the CPC stuff as I have to do two mods because I don’t have the pre 1997 7.5tn entitlement (missed it by a month) so I’ll come out with my shiny new CPC card which will see me through till 2019. I actually like continuous learning so I don’t mind doing 35hrs over 5 years. In my current industry (dentistry) it’s par for the course; dentists do 150 verified hrs over 5 yrs and even nurses do 75 verified hrs over that period.

ROG I’ve been thinking of that in the short term, and also maybe rather than leaving my current boss in the lurch just renegotiate and drop to one day a week supervisory/consulting role and keep a foot in both camps - the office would help keep me civilised too! :slight_smile: Not sure OH’s co would allow that but am thinking of going to them as soon as fully qualified to get some part time stuff or even offering a couple days free driving in return for a Hiab ticket too. Actually if I do start there OH will get a referrer’s bonus as well!

DrivingMissDaisy Thanks, yep, researched on here, found a trainer on here and avoided the brokers, and I know if I get stuck with ought the answers will be here too! :slight_smile:

Jennie Hey, thanks. I’m never shy about asking, especially if I don’t know stuff. Glad to hear it’s worked for you :slight_smile:

Getting excited now - it’s really happening :grimacing: off to my medical, just a well there’s no minimum height requirement! :laughing:

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Update - licence has come back with provisional entitlement, hope it’s not an omen but postie rammed it into letter box resulting in torn counterpart which will now look like I can’t even look after a legal document - thanks Royal Mail! (Will they have to change name now as now private and therefore nothing ‘royal’ about it… apart from the pain in the arse!)

Waiting for confirmation of theory date in Jan for theory, Haz perception and the case study thing. Will have to do on a day off as I don’t want work to know yet.

Getting really bored waiting for next step. I want to be out there practicing NOW!

EP Taining provide the ‘driving test success’ LGV/PCV cd-rom with Theory, HPT and Highway Code book built in. Have been practicing with this every day and not failed a mock test yet. Theory am infinitely better at than HPT however am still in the pass zone there. Case study thing am not too worried about, EP provide another disc with examples and with training info across all main subjects. Good info and seems pretty straightforward.

Listening to OH each night and paying attention to his diagrams of manual gear sticks, watching youtube vids of reversing, trailer swapping and doing lots of daydreaming. Still driving my wee Picanto as if it were an imaginary truck, looking at road widths, junctions, access etc. Finding am sticking to speed limits more as a result too. Am not really looking forward to curbing my speed quite so much on single carriageway NSL roads however am hoping that I’ll be too occupied paying attention to the truck/load/driving to be that bothered about only doing 40 to any great extent.

Listening to the voices in my head; one of which is convinced I’ve gone mad whilst the other reckons it’s the right route. Have always wanted to drive a tank on the road and I reckon this is the closest I can get really.

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Sounds as though it’s going the right direction. Ref your theory; I don’t know how this is being arranged - whether you’re doing it or through a trainer. But it’s possible to get tests on Saturdays at some centres. Just a matter of looking around till you find one. Or ask your trainer to do it. Also possible to get tests up to 6pm weekdays if that helps. You may have to travel a little of course.

We spend a lot of time sourcing the right test for people to fit in around work, child care and whatever else comes up.

If you need any help, let me know.

Pete :laughing: :laughing:

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Thanks Peter, Yep, I’ve got Tues/Weds or Sat free, hard to do after work as I often run late on my working days. I’d also find it very hard to keep quiet about a test if I was working that day first. My trainers are arranging it all for me so just have to wait until they tell me when ‘T’ day is!

Just did another mock set, got 94/100T & 76/100HPT - I find the HPT vids so boring I have to work hard not to let my attention wander at times, plus I keep leaning forward trying to increase my view! :unamused: :laughing:

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Glad it’s all in hand. All the best with it.

Pete :laughing: :laughing: