Like a few others who have posted on this forum, I am thinking of a career change and getting into truck driving. I have seen the comments about the employment situation, and pretty well every other story in the national press and news about the credit crunch and looming recession.
However, if I were to ignore all this good advice and common sense, and push ahead with C and C+E training anyway, can anyone suggest a region of the country where the work situation is a little less bad / likely to recover quickly ? I am thinking of regions central to the route network and distribution centres, so I assume the midlands, probably east rather than west ? The south east is the only region I cant manage, because of housing / living costs, etc.
I am currently based in the Manchester area, but I am able to move, on short notice, pretty well anywhere. Long term I’d like to do artic work, and wouldnt mind trunking for the supermarkets, but would consider a wide range of work to build up experience.
as you seem to be ignoring all the info that is available at the moment
if you can afford to do your licences then go for it. as soon as the economic situation improves the first thing that a lot of companies will need is drivers to shift all the stuff that everyone wants to buy. and if you already have your licence you might be one step ahead of the next bloke, you might not have the experience but you need to have a licence to start in the first place. do it and then see how the work pans out.
if you manage to get a job tramping it doesnt matter where you are based as you will be away most of the week and can return to sunny manchester on your days off.
**:D :smiley: :smiley: Welcome Fender :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:**
[__GENERAL DRIVING TIPS [u]*BEFORE*[/u] STARTING LGV C TRAINING (Link)__](http://trucknetuk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=31611&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=)
If you click the link in my signature or this (Forum sponser logo) it will lead you to an index where you can access a lot more info which may be of use to you
To book any LGV training I suggest the trainee-to-be, visits the training school, meets the head person(s) and has a quick look at the truck BEFORE parting with any money.
Using the site Search facility and putting the words TRAINING AND WHERE you wish to train may turn up some recommendations.
As Giblsa has said - you are not seeing the whole picture - the situation is the same all over the UK - Ok, some areas might be a little better than others but not by much.
There are now many experienced drivers out of work and newbies will find it extra, extra tough to find that first step on the ladder, let alone any ongoing work
Thanks guys. The latest view seems to be that this recession will hit worst in 2009, with a slow upward trend following, but no dramatic recovery. Maybe I’ll hold fire until the end of 2010, then see what the forecast is. Looks like I’ll be driving a desk until then.
If funds are available then do it now. It will only be more costly later - after September 2009 the Driver CPC comes in and you can search on here about that, but it will deffo make getting the licence more expensive.
Also if you get it now, by the time the economy is back on its feet you will have had the licence the magic ‘2 years experience’ - difficult to lie about that if your licence says just passed!
Thanks Smart Mart. I’ll bear the extra training costs in mind - at least thats one solid fact I can take into account .
Trying to decide on a career in trucking at the moment is like driving dead slow in a peasouper with the fog lamps on and no signs by the roadside (apart from the temporary looking ones that say ‘dead end’).
Theres no point in listening to the economists or the politicians - what I should do is monitor Trucknet.com on a daily basis and plot the ‘We’re all Doomed’ and the ‘It Aint So Bad’ posts on a graph. Right now, the bad news line probably looks like the north face of the Eiger, but once it starts to level off …
