Slight change of plan here and wondered if it made sense. Due to the money issue I’ve decided not to rush into changing career, especially as jobs for newbies appear to be so thin on the ground. However, thinking about this has made me realise how vulnerable I am because if I lost my job in teaching, what could I realistically do to earn money? As an experienced teacher I’m far enough up the pay scale that I’m quite expensive to employ so unlike driving jobs, schools prefer newly qualified teachers because they’re cheaper. To give me a little ‘insurance’ against this I thought about investing in either my PCV or HGV licence so that if I lost my teaching job, I had another skill I could step into then I could always try doing a little agency work in some of the holidays to keep my hand in and build a little experience up in case I do ever need to do it full time. This raises two questions:
Is this realistic?
In terms of getting work (agency and more importantly, full time should the need arise), would I be best spending my money on PCV or HGV?
Very topical but I’m not that desperate yet. It’s bad enough being with teenagers during school hours so I can’t imagine why anyone would want to run away with one!
I’m still unsure if I’d be better off with an HGV or PCV licence. It’s a pity they don’t do one licence to cover both but obviously that wouldn’t generate as much money. There seems to be a lot more trucks on the road than coaches, which would suggest there’s more work available in trucks but everyone seems to be complaining about a lack of work and in trucks especially, two years experience seems to be a real sticking point. However, Scania Start Plus in Worksop were really helpful so they’ve arranged for the application forms for my licence to be sent to me and gave me a number for a local place to do the medical. They advised me to tick the boxes for both a C and a D provisional licence and once I’d received it they’d arrange a free appraisal drive on both types of vehicle for me so I can come to a more informed decision and it would allow me to talk to the instructor about my options. That seems like a good idea so I’m going to do that. In the meantime, I wondered if anyone had any information on these questions:
What is involved in the medical?
Is the theory and hazard perception test the same as it is for new car drivers?
Are there any online materials available to practice for these?
My wife’s father was a chartered accountant up until he was 50ish. He switched careers to steering wheel attendant (trunking) and never looked back!
My dad says he wants to take up driving as a hobby when he retires, but he reckons he will be too old - 68 today but claims he is in good health, early stages of Alzheimer’s if you ask me!! He drove trucks during his mandatory year(s) in the Swedish army.
