I’m thinking of doing my class c HGV driver license but have a couple of questions before I spend all my money its taken me so long to save… I’m just coming to the end of a uni degree and feel like I wont be able to get a job in the industry I trained in and am not particularly interested in it anyway tbh. I have a motorbike licence and am a avid driver I feel I would really enjoy this industry with its sense of freedom lol . I just have a few niggling questions in the back of my head that I hoped you guys could help me with.
I’m 22 if I pass my cat c will i be able to find a job due to insurance issues?.
how much is the average pay for a cat c driver?
I live in south Wales is this a good spot in the country for jobs?.
I’m thinking of doing my class c HGV driver license but have a couple of questions before I spend all my money its taken me so long to save… I’m just coming to the end of a uni degree and feel like I wont be able to get a job in the industry I trained in and am not particularly interested in it anyway tbh. I have a motorbike licence and am a avid driver I feel I would really enjoy this industry with its sense of freedom lol . I just have a few niggling questions in the back of my head that I hoped you guys could help me with.
I’m 22 if I pass my cat c will i be able to find a job due to insurance issues?.
how much is the average pay for a cat c driver?
I live in south Wales is this a good spot in the country for jobs?.
is it worth me doing a ADR ?
I’m 22 if I pass my cat c will i be able to find a job due to insurance issues?. I’m 18, I have a job in Class 2, have my C+E. Only took me 3 and a half months to find something though…
how much is the average pay for a cat c driver? Depends really, it can range from NMW to about £9.00 which is what i’m on.
I live in south Wales is this a good spot in the country for jobs?. Couldn’t say really, not experienced enough to know.
is it worth me doing a ADR ?
[/quote] It would certainly make you more employable, but it’s an extra £500 down the pan until you do eventually get something.
jacktrucky22: 1. I’m 22 if I pass my cat c will i be able to find a job due to insurance issues?.
Why not call into a few agencies and ask them? Warning: Agency staff lie a lot. Easily spotted - you can see their lips move, though they probably won’t lie about that.
2. how much is the average pay for a cat c driver?
Dunno. £8.00?
3. I live in south Wales is this a good spot in the country for jobs?.
I’m thinking of doing my class c HGV driver license but have a couple of questions before I spend all my money its taken me so long to save… I’m just coming to the end of a uni degree and feel like I wont be able to get a job in the industry I trained in and am not particularly interested in it anyway tbh. I have a motorbike licence and am a avid driver I feel I would really enjoy this industry with its sense of freedom lol . I just have a few niggling questions in the back of my head that I hoped you guys could help me with.
I’m 22 if I pass my cat c will i be able to find a job due to insurance issues?.
how much is the average pay for a cat c driver?
I live in south Wales is this a good spot in the country for jobs?.
is it worth me doing a ADR ?
Hi i assume you have read about avoiding brokers, going and visiting trainers and so on? Theres a list on here of places people have used and been happy with somewhere under one of the threads stuck at the top, may be handy.
As for your questions, insurance / company policy is a big pain in the arse but seems people get something in the end but can take some time. As previously mentioned pay ranges from crap to decent maybe have a look at job ads for your area and see what there paying. Sorry no idea about south wales again have a look at the adverts maybe ring / visit companys and talk to them. As for ADR money maybe best saved and put towards C+E as that will probably be more helpful for finding a job, but it depends whats in your area.
Out of interest what degree are you doing? Currently at uni myself.
I was put through it by a firm who didn’t pay me any extra for driving haz, but then I got laid off and the agency sent me to BOC Gases, and they took me on after six months. I earned £30k the last year I was with BOC. For an average 44 hour week. Ten years ago. I left 'cos I had to move house - long story - but
I wish I hadn’t.
Anyway, the moral of this story is that an ADR can come in very useful, but do your two years and CE first, m’kay?
The BOC depot in south Wales is at Margam. I don’t know if they still run tankers out of there, but if you leave near and they do it’s a no brainer. Get your C+E, do your two years, get an ADR, find out which agency they use, sign up and hope.
A quick search show that Margam still churn out liquid oxygen, argon, nitrogen and compressed hydrogen. You’d probably have to carry bottles (cylinders) before they let you loose on those, but they do train you. (About a week for each gas)
Anyway, good luck, and if you do end up working there, you owe me several gallons of beer.
One final thing. The pay was good and safety was taken seriously because we had a powerful union.
Always try to get a job with a unionised company, unless, of course, you like being treated like something that someone has found on their shoe. Many people don’t seem to mind being treated like that these days, they think that it’s somehow necessary for the functioning of the market economy. But that’s your call.
Cheers for all the responses and information guys very helpful!!
I’m living in Swansea at the moment and have done so for the last five years,but I am originally from pontypool so don’t really mind where I work as long its in wales lol
iv done a industrial design degree in Swansea if I do have to move back to ponty I will definitely miss the welsh cakes from Swansea market though.
And the cockles, MMMMMMMMM!!! I did my class 2 with Red Dragon in Cardiff, they were on a list of recommended trainers that I found on here and passed first time but even so I wouldn’t use them for my class 1. I didn’t like the Jim Davidson style humour of the trainer, actually found it offensive but you ain’t going to say something and possibly alienate him when you have to sit together for a full week in the cab and have already paid a big wedge for the privilege, even more disturbing though were the regular “catnaps” he took 2 or three times a day. on my first day driving an 18 tonner through Cardiff you cannot imagine how scary it is to look around and see your trainer sleeping, even if it was for only 3 or four minutes at a time.
All I can say on this subject is really I hope you have a thick hide !! read some of Sams posts it will be hard to get a start unless you have a bit of luck on your side but on the plus if you do it now whilst you have the money is an investment for the future and the sooner you have those licences the sooner the two year thingy as well so by the time things pick up you have already had your licences two years so no probs on that front , a few years from now you could have a family and mortgage etc and no available cash to shell out on licences so really depends on your situation at the moment and what you eventually would really like to do , I now know that doing a job you love to do is worth more than money in the bank as I can get up in the morning and not dread going into work but it has taken me the last 40 years to get to this point so all I say to you is good luck and all the best in whatever you do you only get one chance at life , do it to the full
