Personally I can’t fault the job I’m on (well, I can, but their’s not enough points to bother with). However, I’m board. It’s delivering to RDC and Tesco stores. This is not challenging for me at all and although I like the job, it’s on agency so the take home’s a tad variable. I was thinking of moving on to heavy haulage as, having thought about it, this really floats my boat. Their’s a few firms down my way that do this and I think I could stand the nights out for the job interest. If not I can allways go back to what I have been doing through agency. Have any of you done this sort of work? Personally I’d want to start as a drivers mate I think, really and learn the job, rather than getting the keys and being told - off you go. Can anyone give me the ins and out, as it’d save both me and the prospective employer an awful lot of time and hassle if I knew it was something I really wanted to do, rather than have my fussy out with it - so to speak.
Go for it Ian and if it don’t work out go back to doing
the agency work. I am sure you could do it but if
I can remember rightly don’t they do about 30 mph
on motorways but does look interesting.
Liberace:
Their’s a few firms down my way that do this and I think I could stand the nights out for the job interest.
Ian.
Heanor Haulage just down the road from where I live specialise in heavy haul. Having seen some of the kit they cart about (Diesel loco’s, etc) you do need to be awake, and there is no substitute for ‘Hands On’.
As others suggest, Driver’s Mate would be a good start. Does the day job leave you with any hours to try it out on a casual basis, that way may’be you could get the feel without having to swap jobs about.
If your looking for something different then HH is worth a go. There is always a variety of work which makes it interesting.
BUT
I find that you have to be interested in the job if your going to succeed since it’s not all glory driving high horsepower units up and down the road.
You have to be prepared to graft when loading machines and equipment, in all types of weather. You usually need a bit of mechanical knowledge as sometimes things don’t start or move etc. You need to be able to operate different types of machines and be able to drive them on to the loader without ■■■■■■■■ yourself. You need to be able to stand up to the muppets that think they know better. You need to be able to drive using the cats whiskers …when your wide. You need to to be very patient when you get parked up by one plod and wait for the next area plod…sometimes hours…sometimes days. You need to be prepared to be away from home all week and more or simply just be at work for most of the week if it’s local. In return you will get as many paid hours as you like. As much variety as you can handle, And a lot of good fun and laughs. But don’t expect super hero wages, their just as crap as the next thing even with all the responsibility involved.
BUT
If your after something stretch the mind and give you variety then heavy haulage is a good start.
I was following a GCS Johnson unit pulling a rear steering (all three axles) low loader the other day, was mighty impressive, especially as I’ve got a Corgi model of a GCS Johnson wagon loaded with a concrete beam.
If you want ‘different’ I reckon it’s the way to go mate.
If you have nothing to lose just give it a go, it depends what you want out of your job. If it’s just getting money then RDC work on agency is probally the answer, but it does my head in aswell. If you want a bit more of a challenge and feel like you’ve done some work give it a go. I not done HH but it looks like there are plenty of times when what looks like a simple 10 minute loading or unloading will take hours and you can bet it will be raining, snowing, blowing a gail or so hot that you end up soaked in sweat.
As you can control you work why not ask if you can have go on a trip. I read an article about one of these HH companies and the boss said he liked to train drivers striaght off general Haulage as then they did it thier way.
.
. I think Leicester Heavy’s going to get a call Monday morning.
