Looking at the jobs around their is not a lot of difference in the the money offered for van drivers to class 1, 7.5ton drivers 6-8 per hr 
and class 1, 6-12 per hr 
as well as making me bloody furious 
that a class1 ticket cost a bloody fortune to obtain these days, are these employers on drugs or what there should be a minimum wage for each class, thats like a bank manager being asked to be payed the same as a clerk behind the glass screens, more responsability requires more pay 
lets try getting Gordon (the moron) brown to be payed the same as a local mp I wonder if he’ll go for that
It’s all to do with market forces mate. There are lots of available drivers now so wages remain low.
This could change in the future, for these reasons:
Most HGV drivers are middles aged. When you consider that a lot of these drivers will jack it in for reasons such as health, poor wages / conditions, & being forced to cough up £500+ just to retain their right to earn driving (ie the CPC).
The cost of obtaining an HGV license is stupid money for new drivers, this could reduce the availability of new replacement drivers.
Lastly less & less drivers will be able to drive 7.5tonners, because this entitlement is no longer granted when you pass your car test. It’s my guess this will bring 7.5 tonne work pay closer to HGV C rates, because you will need an take a C1 test for 7.5t. If your going to take that you might as well take a C for the same price.
So in the future with less HGV available you might see wages start to sneak back up. That’s assuming we are not flooded out by cheap foreign drivers.
sankev13:
Looking at the jobs around their is not a lot of difference in the the money offered for van drivers to class 1, 7.5ton drivers 6-8 per hr
i work as a self employed driver for a firm in a specialised industry i,d say the youngest driver is about early forties and there are a lot over fifty five, young drivers dont seem to be coming into the industry. this will defitnatly increase wages