Danneke:
My young nephew is very keen to join our industry , he has just turned 16 years old and wishes to be an apprentice for truck maintainance/ engineer . When he approached the school carrers officer he was told to go and get a proper job. This young man is desperate to get some work but in the mean-time he has gone back to college rather than hang about with other kids who can not find work.
Does this careers officer know anything about maintainence on trucks. HGV fitters are in short supply in some places and paid well because of it. Also there is reconised qualifications (all that schools really care about) and career path.
Danneke:
If anyone knows of anything in the Sunderland area that this young man (Tom) can try for please let me know, he is even prepared to work in a garage at weekends for pocket money but a full apprenticeship would be a lot better
Have you tried the main dealers, they normally have more mechanics than a haulage company and take on apprentices. I’m sure competition is tough, but if he went and knocked on doors he’d get a favourable response, especially if his college course ties in with the job.
SimonRS2K:
What i cant understand is why so many drivers on here keep saying the job has crap pay…Errrr have you looked in the job centre at “other” jobs within your area as im sure theres a hell of a lot worse paying jobs than hgv work. so to me that says hgv work pays quite well
simon
yeah i agree with that there int many jobs paying 400 a week takehome if you include nights out but to be fair im 33 and ive been in this industry 7 years and although i dont mind it and it was in my blood from the word go i now realise i dont want to be getting up at 3,4,5 in the morning and doing 13/15 a day and away 3/4/5 nights a week but when i do finally get a job doing something else which im currently retraining for i will really miss the job but i just want something that pays the same but im at home not starting at silly times.
Semtex:
Not sure what it is like in other areas but down here, there is a 3rd option
once you have been unemployed for 6 months, the jobcentre pushes you into a new deal training scheme, 1 local school is actually reluctant to take private individuals because that would take a place away from a well paid jobcentre student.
Schemes like that make me mad!
I would have gone on the dole for 6 months to get my training paid, but that would have meant losing my home & family.
Even when I was unemployed for about 2 months I didnt bother claiming JSA for the simple fact it would have taken nearly that long to get the forms filled in.
i sympathise with those who are faced with this one. if you want to get your HGV then you either pay for it yourselves or sacrifice your life for 6 months. neither option is particularly inviting especially since the normal scenario involves driving a 7.5 tonner at the time which makes saving up a lot harder. while people are facing this situation, the government are chucking training courses at no hopers who probably fancy the idea but give it up soon after because of the hours and conditions. what a screw up this is
530power:
i’m 24 years old… i have not bumped into any class 1 driver my age now i’m thinking is this a good thing
Well I’m the same age as you and I hold a class 1 too. There’s a few at work who are around the same age who have class 2s (funded by the company, I might add) but apart from these I have never seen another wagon driver - in either a rigid or artic - who looks that young. Maybe a good thing (or not) although I found that the ‘old hands’ were always happy to help/advise someone who’s obviously new to the game when I was struggling to back a trailer on to a bay - by ‘help’ I mean genuinely good-natured assistance and tips, rather than taking the ■■■■.
Unless the whole culture and image of the job changes you are never, ever in a million years going to attract anywhere near the numbers of young people into this job that it needs - and deserves. Sometimes I might happen to mention to my mates in the pub that I was at work yesterday a 4am, or that last week I worked more than 60 hours over six days - or that no I can’t go on the ■■■■ on Sunday because I’ve got to be out of bed at 3.30am Monday morning. Their reaction is usually along the lines of ‘you’re out of your ■■■■■■■ mind doing that job’, especially from one who is on flexi-time for 37.5 hours a week and earns only a bit less per annum than I do.
Danneke:
When he approached the school carrers officer he was told to go and get a proper job.
If this so-called ‘careers officer’ doesn’t consider a skilled and potentially well paid job a “proper job” it makes me wonder what advice they are giving these kids.
Deaks:
Sometimes I might happen to mention to my mates in the pub that I was at work yesterday a 4am, or that last week I worked more than 60 hours over six days - or that no I can’t go on the [zb] on Sunday because I’ve got to be out of bed at 3.30am Monday morning. Their reaction is usually along the lines of ‘you’re out of your [zb] mind doing that job’, especially from one who is on flexi-time for 37.5 hours a week and earns only a bit less per annum than I do.
The hours might be long and the money wanting, but there must be something about the job that keeps you doing it? I started in farming and had to work 100hr weeks during the harvest and low hourly rates, but I really enjoyed the work, the people and the environment. I thought I could get better positions and pay elsewhere and eventually ended up in an industry related job in an office. I didn’t enjoy the office politics and shirt & tie culture.
I’m retraining in my late thirties in the knowledge that I could get more money for less hours back in an office, but that wouldn’t suit me. I like to think that I can eventually be my own boss.
Danneke:
When he approached the school carrers officer he was told to go and get a proper job.
If this so-called ‘careers officer’ doesn’t consider a skilled and potentially well paid job a “proper job” it makes me wonder what advice they are giving these kids.
No a proper job doesn’t involve getting your hands dirty or doing anything that looks like manual work, or working outside in the rain, dirt and cold. Unless of course it’s as an acheologist, which for most pays less than an HGV Mechanic. But it’s an “ology”
Maybe if the job was HGVologist that would be okay with the careers officer
Outside these forums, driving must be nearly as much discussed as the weather. Most people think they are a better driver than there neighbour, or the bloke in front etc. Most youngsters feel pretty chuffed with there car control (squealing tires at midnight etc). Most untrained people will admit they couldn’t just jump into an artic and drive it, not alone reverse it!
But there is also the being held up by a lorry thing, whether on the open road, taking up space at junctions, loading or reversing.
Perhaps one of the problems is that there isn’t much of a career path for youngsters to aspire to and get enthusiastic about? Get past the 30 mark and people tend to settle and accept their lot.
The thought of driving 45hrs a week in the UK, hours waiting to be tipped, sleeping in a pee scented truck park with unappealing food, being treated like an oik etc — is that appealing? Even the driver training is misleading — driving around town is far more challenging than sitting on a motorway for endless hrs at 56!
Yup, we know there other challenges, and the job can be rewarding. And you get a better view out of the office window! But are these plus points sold? Listen to the J Vine show — you get blokes on their saying they are an “owner driver” or “long distance lorry driver”, which sounds grander than “lorry driver”?
I think it will go the same way as migrant labour for cleaning, fruit picking etc. On the positive side, they’ll probably provide a mini bus to take drivers to the o’centre!
has anyone else heard the tale of mothers scaring their kids into going to school by saying “if you dont go to school you’ll end up as a lorry driver”! well, if its a fact, it was in the fifties, thats 50+ years ago folks and i might say the job was even less appealing then but still there were drivers in sufficient number to do the job. there were sheets, cold, vibrations, high noise levels, more hours than a clock factory, and the wheels are still turning, what am i missing here? has the job ever been appealing to anyone bar us nutters that actually end upo in it and the jobs softer now than its ever been!
even during this so-called driver shortage, which has done us some good i might add, there has been enough to keep things going. i say might there be a driver shortage forever, it makes the gaffers look after us lot a bit better and thats a fact! the market sorts itself out, and if things got real tough and no bugger was entering the job, the industry would have to change if change were needed to sort it out. lets be serious here, transport ain=t ever going to be phased out, it will change as it always does, but it is 100% needed!
Danneke:
My young nephew is very keen to join our industry , he has just turned 16 years old and wishes to be an apprentice for truck maintainance/ engineer . When he approached the school carrers officer he was told to go and get a proper job. This young man is desperate to get some work but in the mean-time he has gone back to college rather than hang about with other kids who can not find work.
If anyone knows of anything in the Sunderland area that this young man (Tom) can try for please let me know, he is even prepared to work in a garage at weekends for pocket money but a full apprenticeship would be a lot better
is there a decent bus/train service to billingham?
several main truck dealers with workshops there, from most major brands.
also some on the team valley near t’angel.
if he writes in and shows the initiative and desire, there’s every chance they’ll take a punt.
Poor planning
Poor manager’s
People in the office trying to argue you can do more driving and they have only ever looked at a lorry or glanced at the reg’s .
The expectation that driver’s can be flogged as much as you like for hour’s .
Driver 's have no home responsibilities from time to time so ignore there early finish request’s and stitch them up for the day , night , week .
At the moment i think the industry is crap complete and utter purile crap .
Every year i ask my self the same question . Do i want to stay in it ?
Every year i look at sparky course’s to see if the college is doing any part time course’s . Alway’s the same every year i can only do a fulltime course , ican’t afford to drop out of employment now to re-train full time .
I,ve looked at intensive course’s over 3 month’s that pay for your tuition exam’s and initial tool’s , they cost about 3k though .Also consider 3 -4 months of no income i would need somewhere in the region of 8-9 k to pay for the course and sustain my bill’s etc …And then after that i would need a works vehicle as i would be self employed . So before embarking on a new career i would have to put myself into what i would consider big debt …and star fresh with no customer base and guarantee’s and probably end up filling day’s working for a frigging driving agency until i could get sustainable work week in week out …
Make’s the hgv fee’s look somewhat cheap …
paul@midway:
Every year i ask my self the same question . Do i want to stay in it ?
Every year i look at sparky course’s to see if the college is doing any part time course’s . Alway’s the same every year i can only do a fulltime course , ican’t afford to drop out of employment now to re-train full time .
I,ve looked at intensive course’s over 3 month’s that pay for your tuition exam’s and initial tool’s , they cost about 3k though .Also consider 3 -4 months of no income i would need somewhere in the region of 8-9 k to pay for the course and sustain my bill’s etc …And then after that i would need a works vehicle as i would be self employed . …
…
im doing a sparkys course in leeds at the moment and its a 2 year course c&g 2330 2 days a week intensive and i work on the agency for sun to wed it is hard going cos im only avalible for the quite time of the week but im getting by and havent dipped into the savings yet.
as ive said on this thread before im going to miss driving but i cant wait to get off the road and start using my brain again.
paul@midway:
Every year i ask my self the same question . Do i want to stay in it ?
Every year i look at sparky course’s to see if the college is doing any part time course’s . Alway’s the same every year i can only do a fulltime course , ican’t afford to drop out of employment now to re-train full time .
I,ve looked at intensive course’s over 3 month’s that pay for your tuition exam’s and initial tool’s , they cost about 3k though .Also consider 3 -4 months of no income i would need somewhere in the region of 8-9 k to pay for the course and sustain my bill’s etc …And then after that i would need a works vehicle as i would be self employed . …
…
im doing a sparkys course in leeds at the moment and its a 2 year course c&g 2330 2 days a week intensive and i work on the agency for sun to wed it is hard going cos im only avalible for the quite time of the week but im getting by and havent dipped into the savings yet.
as ive said on this thread before im going to miss driving but i cant wait to get off the road and start using my brain again.
Danneke:
My young nephew is very keen to join our industry , he has just turned 16 years old and wishes to be an apprentice for truck maintainance/ engineer . When he approached the school carrers officer he was told to go and get a proper job. This young man is desperate to get some work but in the mean-time he has gone back to college rather than hang about with other kids who can not find work.
I started my apprentship in september doing HGV Mechanics (doing this untill i get my HGV ).
My advice would be put a CV together and go to all local dealers, also any hauliers that do there own work. Go to your local college aswell that do mechanics and they will be able to give you names of companies.
I sent my CV to all local dealers of mine and thats how i started, I know how he feels.
Try this website, dont know much about it really but there are a few at my college who got there aprentiship through these, register and see what they say.
530power:
i’m 24 years old… i have not bumped into any class 1 driver my age now i’m thinking is this a good thing
Well I’m the same age as you and I hold a class 1 too. There’s a few at work who are around the same age who have class 2s (funded by the company, I might add) but apart from these I have never seen another wagon driver - in either a rigid or artic - who looks that young
I started doing continental work at 24, fridges to france every week. Very rarely I saw a young lad like me at the fridges, they were all in their fortys and fifties, doing it for donkeys years, or at least thats how they looked, maybe the long hours puts ten years on ye every two. This is just 5 years ago now, wonder if any young lads at continental works now
or working outside in the rain, dirt and cold. Unless of course it’s as an acheologist, which for most pays less than an HGV Mechanic. But it’s an “ology” 
