You need some decent vehicle control skills, a modern car transporter doesn’t drive like other lorries, on a typical outfit the prime mover is a low cabbed tractor unit with a body built for 4 vehicles on it, 1 on top 3 at angles behind the cab line, but the trailer hitch is behind the drive axle so its a wag n drag not an artic combination and the trailer is both bigger and heavier than the prime mover being designed to carry 7 and sometimes 8 vehicles and its three axle’s centre line only just past the centre line of the trailer, so depending on load configuration it can be quite a handful on the road, tail wagging the dog syndrome, so you need to have a feel for what’s happening down at the road surface, not a job for someone recently passed their test IMHO.
Anyway, you have the right attitude, you know it isn’t going to be a week’s training and hey presto skilled up here i come £50k salary.
Some take to it like a duck to water, and in 3 months its like they were doing it all of their lives, some take up to 2 years to feel confident, reckon on a year at least before you are up to speed, but its a job you never stop learning no matter how long you do it.
Don’t give up a good job to do it and there are jobs out there that pay just as well without the graft of transporters (never advertised), the drop out rate mere hours days or weeks after starting is horrendous, by the time a year has elapsed only a few new people will still be there, you will make ■■■■ ups and cause some damage, every new bod does it without fail but if you make a habit of it without showing improvement they will get rid of you.
Its a lot more complicated now than when i started, when the vehicles were relatively simple, thank the Lord, that isn’t the case now and you will more than likely be thrown in the deep end learning straight off on an 11 car carrier.
You don’t rely on a pratnav either, they don’t show low trees which is your worst enema, you will have to learn your way around, and whenever you pull up outside a main road dealership you immediately become public enemy number one.
If you like it the job is great, especially in the summer, its a filthy horrible winter job.
Yes the money is there, but you will earn every penny of it.
Those jobs you mention about bonuses after a while are sensible, they pay you a high basic for so many months, its designed so you can learn at your own pace and still earn a wage without having to run before you can walk properly, that sounds like BCA and you could do worse than start there, good training provided.
There are better companies (though there is more than one pay scheme on BCA) but not all will want to know inexperienced drivers.
I’ve been out of it a good few years now like Wagger (and agree with him, the union is proper on that job) so not up top date on the current pay deals etc and i have no idea how the present and looming downturn is going to affect recruitment, again don’t give up a good job to do this just now would be my advice.