EDTS New Brunswick

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS EX-PAT BRITISH TRUCKERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

OK in for my set of stupid questions, and if anyone knows anything about EDTS

I’ve been reading the Canada posts, seems to be a mixed bag…I have been class 1 for 10 years…fridges, curtainsiders, drop tanks, and containers…no flat work and no european work at all. There’s an outfit offering the lmo thing, accomodation to start with, getting a cdl licence, and then work (lmo again). I want to get out of the uk before we are taxed to death and every road is continually clogged. No bills no mortgage, bit of money in the bank. The plan would be to go and give it a go for 12 months or so and then make a family decision…

Now come the stupid questions…i assume there are times when the job involves going to places that are a pig to find, an arse to get into…just like the UK …how long is a bit of string…how quickly did peeps start getting confident of getting their way around, how easy/difficult is the cdl licence, satnav or maps…read the thing about satnavs in another post…do you get given one to use? do you get pukker info or they all so fed up with Brits now that you just get stiched…could go on and on but wont for now. Basically is the class 1 thing in the UK any advantage for starting in Canada or will I feel a complete arse for however long it takes etc etc etc…

2

buy your own gps,cheap,buy maps as well…
class1a quite easy if youve got experience. and yes you will make an arse of yourself just like the rest o us. :blush:

3

fair answer

4

Have you spoke to them? I’m not sure but i think they are a company that try and charge you for things you can do yourself for FREE.

5

Got there pack at home they charge 5k.

6

thanks for the replies…I got their pack too and talked to them, guy in Canada says he’s a truck driver with a trucking school and he puts you through cdl tests…all seems plausible to me I looked into a company several years ago, they wanted 6k and truck school was extra…this guy seems to be offering the same sort of package but with truck school thrown in…I don’t have a problem paying for peoples services…everyone got to make a living, which is why we all on here getting info after all…just wondered if anyone knew about the jobs at the end of training…and more of the day to day stuff like in my first post. Tempted to take him at face value and go when I got the lmo form through…after all I could bale out at any time but I would like to give this a go

7

cury:
thanks for the replies…I got their pack too and talked to them, guy in Canada says he’s a truck driver with a trucking school and he puts you through cdl tests…all seems plausible to me I looked into a company several years ago, they wanted 6k and truck school was extra…this guy seems to be offering the same sort of package but with truck school thrown in…I don’t have a problem paying for peoples services…everyone got to make a living, which is why we all on here getting info after all…just wondered if anyone knew about the jobs at the end of training…and more of the day to day stuff like in my first post. Tempted to take him at face value and go when I got the lmo form through…after all I could bale out at any time but I would like to give this a go

my advice would be,stay away from anybody wanting money to get you a job.
but get an immigration agency to sort out your PR by all means if you cannot do it yourself.

8

I do agree with vastly exp, checkout JOB BANK.CA and put in New Brunswick for job options and then ask where EDTS will placeafter you haved passed your test and also find out what $per mile you will earn.

9

32c per mile, which having read some of the posts seems low, but would that be because it’s Candian cents? Extras for manually loading/unloading and crossing US border

10

32c mile is not good at all,hell i thought i was bad starting at 35c…,yup its canadian cents because we live in canada…perhaps $15 for crossing border…loading/unloading some companys dont pay first drop/first pick
dont jump to the first offer!!! think it out ,can you live on the wage,
but… a firm in steinbach mb offered me 28c when i was looking.to come over … :unamused: :unamused:
jimmy.
.

11

well ive sent the forms back, so lets see what happens, planning to be on my own for a while anyway is 32c povert money the point where i couldnt afford a burger let alone send any money back, hes saying 2500ish miles per week out for 2 weeks, i have done the maths…just wondering with the cost of living etc if I would end up living under a tree when not in a wagon

12

cury:
well ive sent the forms back, so lets see what happens, planning to be on my own for a while anyway is 32c povert money the point where i couldnt afford a burger let alone send any money back, hes saying 2500ish miles per week out for 2 weeks, i have done the maths…just wondering with the cost of living etc if I would end up living under a tree when not in a wagon

you WILL be under a tree.

even on 40cpm you will not be sending much home it dont work that way.

just think on the basis that the cost of living is the same there as in the UK.

13

cury:
well ive sent the forms back, so lets see what happens, planning to be on my own for a while anyway is 32c povert money the point where i couldnt afford a burger let alone send any money back, hes saying 2500ish miles per week out for 2 weeks, i have done the maths…just wondering with the cost of living etc if I would end up living under a tree when not in a wagon

Not worth getting out of bed for. ■■■■ poor miles and even worse rate of pay. :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp:

14

cury:
well ive sent the forms back, so lets see what happens, planning to be on my own for a while anyway is 32c povert money the point where i couldnt afford a burger let alone send any money back, hes saying 2500ish miles per week out for 2 weeks, i have done the maths…just wondering with the cost of living etc if I would end up living under a tree when not in a wagon

If you’re on long haul you need a company that expects a minimum of 12000 miles a month, there are exceptions of course, but you need to be here a while to learn what’s what. My reasoning is that if they expect 12000 miles, they have plenty of work, if you’re only doing 10000 miles a month I can guarantee that you’ll be sitting around waiting for loads here, there and everwhere, that gets a bit expensive.

You also need to be earning 40cpm at least, most decent firms will pay around that figure, they may all use different ways to reach it, but that’s the money you want, any less and you’ll feel the pain when you get a balance from the cashpoint machine.

Now, having said that, decent firms don’t need to go transatlantic to recruit staff, so be prepared to have your dreams of North American Trucking shattered, but if you hang in there you can get what you came here for, it just takes time, so be careful what you sign up to, read every line of the job offer and contract, it’s even worth getting a Solicitor to look over it, you could do all this before you get to Canada, just make sure you use a Canadian Solicitor, one from the province you’re intending to go to.

And, don’t even bother coming over for at least 6 months, it’s a huge learning curve, hard enough when the weather’s good, but when it’s -40c and snowing like a [zb]stard, it’ll be even harder :wink:

15

vastly exp:
just think on the basis that the cost of living is the same there as in the UK.

That would be a whole different topic :smiley: :smiley: I disagree with that statement. I was lucky enough to have one of the best paid jobs for drivers in UK but there is no way I could ever afford what I have now. Grocery shopping may be on a par but that’s about it :laughing:
Also depends on which province you choose to live in of course but wages also tend to reflect that :wink:

16

The cost of living comparison also depends on where you lived in the UK, I come from London, so life here is much much cheaper, about the only place where the cost of living would be higher is Monte Carlo :laughing:

When I first arrived in Canada I was doing things the same way as the OP, at my first job, BFS, I was in dire straits, but when I found a decent job I managed ok. I was renting an appartment, had saved up for a decent car, sent money back to the UK and still had enough to live quite well, my situation was a temporary one, but I managed all the same, I worked harder than I do now, but as I was here on my own it didn’t matter, the end justified the means :wink:

17

If your not in a rush to get out here i would have a look around elseware because that is poor pay even if you stick it out you won’t afford to send much back home after tax your dentel and medical Ins it all adds up.
Also look at comming across in spring 2012 as the weather is better then it will be in the next month or so and its not ideal to start then as if you get stuck and your not earning if your wheels not turning :laughing: :laughing: .
When you cross the border each time you use the atm you get charged the exchange rates when you need to scale out use the fax for customs paperwork etc etc its all out of your pocket to you can get the bol’s back in.
And from the time you arrive to the first wageslip could be anything between 5-7 weeks.
But at the end of the day its upto you so best of luck.

18

theplough:
If your not in a rush to get out here i would have a look around elseware because that is poor pay even if you stick it out you won’t afford to send much back home after tax your dentel and medical Ins it all adds up.
Also look at comming across in spring 2012 as the weather is better then it will be in the next month or so and its not ideal to start then as if you get stuck and your not earning if your wheels not turning :laughing: :laughing: .
When you cross the border each time you use the atm you get charged the exchange rates when you need to scale out use the fax for customs paperwork etc etc its all out of your pocket to you can get the bol’s back in.
And from the time you arrive to the first wageslip could be anything between 5-7 weeks.
But at the end of the day its upto you so best of luck.

Why do you need to worry about medical and dental insurance? That’s just another myth and nearly everyone falls for it :unamused: You have coverage similar to NHS from your province as soon as you register for a medical card :exclamation: For travel to the USA, you only need a $150 (or less) travel insurance policy :exclamation:

Dental is different, but a dental insurance plan is a rip off, unless you are with a big company that has a bit of weight to throw around, just look after your teeth and pay when you need to, most dentists offer a payment plan, no different to the UK :exclamation:

Spring is the worst time to come over, the weather is still bad, more so in the Maritimes, lots and lots of wet snow and big 3 day storms :open_mouth: You say you don’t get paid when you get stuck in the snow, maybe that was open to misinterpretation, you are correct, sort of, you get paid by the mile, but even if you get stuck in the middle of a storm for a couple of days, you should get layover pay. You make it sound like an Everest Expedition :laughing: Unless this is a tactic you’re using to scare people off :laughing:

I agree that it would be easier to come over when the weather gets better, but not because you should be worried about getting stuck, more because it will be such a shock to the system, you have a lot to learn and when you add a 5 month winter to the mix, it will make it much harder. Imagine doing a week of pre trip and air brake training in the middle of winter :cry: You’d soon be wishing you’d chosen to go to Oz :laughing:

As for ATMs, scale tickets and faxes, WTF :question: The exchange rate is better than one for one at the moment, you can get a bank account that refunds ATM fees automatically, a scale ticket is $9-50 and the most expensive faxes are $2 a page, even if you don’t get a float, it’s hardly likely to send you skint :open_mouth:

19

Wow my 5 years North American Driving have counted for nothing then :laughing: :blush: :laughing:

20

theplough:
Wow my 5 years North American Driving have counted for nothing then :laughing: :blush: :laughing:

Obviously not, surely you’ve worked out by now that no matter what you put, someone will disagree with you, today it’s my turn :laughing: :laughing:

Everyone has different experiences, province to province things change, it’s a minefield. It would be far easier if it was a one size fits all deal, but then we’d have nothing to argue about on here :wink: :laughing: