Hi all, I’m new to the forums. I’m 25 years old, and held my car license for 6 years without any endorsements, ridden motorbikes since I was 16.
I’m from the East Midlands and considering a career in HGV driving. I’m thinking about a job where it’s all local drops so I don’t have to venture too far from home, or be away for days on end.
I’ve been looking into the wages for driving tarmac / tipper trucks and it seems to be around £1400* (after tax) a month, but if I go for Class 1 I’ll be expecting around £1900-£2500, of course the latter fee would probably require years experience.
My friend currently works for a parcel company, it’s self-employment basis (so no sick pay, no holidays) he’s on £80-£100 a day, so he’d make the wage of me in a tipper for driving a van and delivering parcels, without a tachograph. It’ll cost me around £2-3,000 to acquire my HGV license, of course I’d probably be on a fixed contract, so I would have the perks of that at least.
Is it worth going forward with? Is it possible to have a good paying job whilst remaining local?
*I may be wrong on this figure, some job ads offer £130 a day for 10 hour shifts 5 days a week.
HGV Class 2 Asphalt Tipper.
There are plenty of jobs that don’t require being away for days at a time. Supermarkets, parcel delivery companies, most pallet companies will all have you home every night. Alternatively, find a job working night shifts, then you have to be back every morning for the day shift driver to take over. As for staying in the local area, this is more likely on class 2 than class 1, but unless you have a reason to stay close to home all day, then you could do most jobs as long as you will be back for the end of your shift
Terry Cooksey:
There are plenty of jobs that don’t require being away for days at a time. Supermarkets, parcel delivery companies, most pallet companies will all have you home every night. Alternatively, find a job working night shifts, then you have to be back every morning for the day shift driver to take over. As for staying in the local area, this is more likely on class 2 than class 1, but unless you have a reason to stay close to home all day, then you could do most jobs as long as you will be back for the end of your shift
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I just mean I want to be home at night. Night shifts aren’t for me sadly, too mentally exhausting and a lack of life outside of work when you’re doing nights. At least with most HGV job roles I have the weekend to myself.
Also, I want good pay for driving the class 2 tippers it’s around £130 a day, I’d want that kind of money, or there’s no incentive to join the career. I could make the same or more delivering parcels on my car license in a van, like my friend is. It wouldn’t be worth doing a £2K+ license plus a medical and a theory and hazard perception for.
I also have a dog to look after everyday, of course I can get relatives to nip to my house during the day to let my dog in the garden etc, but other than that I’m on my own. I don’t have any missus or kids and don’t really plan on getting either any time soon.
This thread is to just weigh up my options, I don’t mind driving long periods of time etc. And I’m a fairly competent driver, zero at fault crashes in nine years on the roads.
ARandomer:
It’ll cost me around £2-3,000 to acquire my HGV license
We estimate £3k to £4k on here so how have you estimated it lower
The fee was from a YouTuber, I don’t believe they did their Class 1 but rather their Class 2, they drove class 2 vehicles along with a tipper.
Of course all of this is foreign to me, and I haven’t done step one yet. I’m just weighing up the pros and cons and to whether it’s worth pursuing this career, or training for a different career choice.
If I was to do my class 1, will I automatically achieve the license to drive Class 2 etc? If so it’s worth paying the £3-4K and obtaining my Class 1, that I can fall back on if I want to begin tramping etc, surely?
ARandomer:
If I was to do my class 1, will I automatically achieve the license to drive Class 2 etc? If so it’s worth paying the £3-4K and obtaining my Class 1, that I can fall back on if I want to begin tramping etc, surely?
At this moment in time you have to do Class 2 first, then Class 1.
However, the government have recently announced that they’re going to change the system so that you can go straight to Class 1. They haven’t published what the actual process will be yet though.
ARandomer:
If I was to do my class 1, will I automatically achieve the license to drive Class 2 etc? If so it’s worth paying the £3-4K and obtaining my Class 1, that I can fall back on if I want to begin tramping etc, surely?
At this moment in time you have to do Class 2 first, then Class 1.
However, the government have recently announced that they’re going to change the system so that you can go straight to Class 1. They haven’t published what the actual process will be yet though.
Thanks for the information. If I was to hypothetically do my Class 2 in the next week, will I require a new theory test to do the Class 1 in the future? Of course only speaking hypothetically I know it’s unrealistic.
ARandomer:
Thanks for the information. If I was to hypothetically do my Class 2 in the next week, will I require a new theory test to do the Class 1 in the future? Of course only speaking hypothetically I know it’s unrealistic.
Nope, once you’ve done your theory test you don’t need to do it again
bugger.lugs:
Nope, once you’ve done your theory test you don’t need to do it again
Thanks for the information. I was just curious because if I did my A2 bike license, in order to get my A category and remove my restrictions, I’d have had to complete another theory. At least that isn’t the case with HGV licenses.
Definitely thinking about doing my Class 2 and getting a job with the local tarmac company.
bugger.lugs:
Nope, once you’ve done your theory test you don’t need to do it again
Thanks for the information. I was just curious because if I did my A2 bike license, in order to get my A category and remove my restrictions, I’d have had to complete another theory. At least that isn’t the case with HGV licenses.
Definitely thinking about doing my Class 2 and getting a job with the local tarmac company.
Have you actually looked at the job market with Tarmac, Breedon etc. as many of the lorries are owner drivers?
bugger.lugs:
Nope, once you’ve done your theory test you don’t need to do it again
Thanks for the information. I was just curious because if I did my A2 bike license, in order to get my A category and remove my restrictions, I’d have had to complete another theory. At least that isn’t the case with HGV licenses.
Definitely thinking about doing my Class 2 and getting a job with the local tarmac company.
Have you actually looked at the job market with Tarmac, Breedon etc. as many of the lorries are owner drivers?
Class 2 in general seems to be in demand in my area, and the surrounding areas. I have a car so can travel to Coventry, Derby or Nottingham for work. They’re all a 20 minute drive down the M1 either direction.
Also the local recovery business is requiring Class 2 recovery drivers all the time as well, but they say things like “rate of pay & shift system will be discussed at interview level.” In their adverts, that usually tells you it’s minimum pay. I ain’t spending £2-£3K of my own money to receive £1,400 a month minimum wage.
Also it was a large tarmac company down in Burton on Trent that wanted Class 2 Tippers for £29K a year. Which is also around a 15-30min drive from my house. Of course, it’ll probably take me 6-12 months (this is a guesstimate) to acquire my license so current job offerings are irrelevant.
I also have a friend that is a manager at a local major parcel company which is all the time seeking Class 2 drivers and losing them. So I could also get him to land me a job for experience, he has given a few mutual friends jobs. However, their trucks involve also delivering the items to the customer, often to the door large items. The company actually delivered my replacement engine to my car off eBay a couple years back.
ARandomer:
It’ll cost me around £2-3,000 to acquire my HGV license
We estimate £3k to £4k on here so how have you estimated it lower
You can get class 2 for £2k.
I’ve literally just done my Class 2 with Peter Smythe using the Xmas discount last year -total cost £1260. Granted I did already have my medical and theory done but still, nowhere near £2k.
OP - how about breakdown recovery? I’ve got an interview next week with a class 2 recovery job which is advertised at 25-34k so I’m expecting if I get it to be very much at the lower end of that but it’s a start and is something I really fancy doing.
ARandomer:
It’ll cost me around £2-3,000 to acquire my HGV license
We estimate £3k to £4k on here so how have you estimated it lower
You can get class 2 for £2k.
I’ve literally just done my Class 2 with Peter Smythe using the Xmas discount last year -total cost £1260. Granted I did already have my medical and theory done but still, nowhere near £2k.
OP - how about breakdown recovery? I’ve got an interview next week with a class 2 recovery job which is advertised at 25-34k so I’m expecting if I get it to be very much at the lower end of that but it’s a start and is something I really fancy doing.
