Hi all, now this is my 1st post so please go easy, especially considering it is an immediate request for help
So I currently have a well paid career in retail management, but am looking to do something different, constant leadership of a team of 20 for the past 5 years or so has just killed me. One of the routes I have considered is class 1 or 2 driving, I understand the streets are not paved with the gold that the training brokers like to suggest to entice you in, but the idea of one day driving artics does excite me. In addition to this, if at some point in the future I move back to the retail or management sectors again I can always rely on my licenses should anything go wrong there.
So to the questionâŚand I know it has been asked before, but not too recently and I plan on including more information in the hope of getting more specific adviceâŚThanks in advance
So I have the cash to pay for both C and C+E licenses, all the training, medicals, resits etc etc. I am 27 years old and have been driving a normal car for 6 years, although not commerically. I would be based from Liverpool with the facility to work any day/night/shift etc at least during the time where experience is an issue. Also I dont know anyone in the industry so donât have an âinâ.
I hear 2nd hand its relatively easy to get work, but everything I see online and have read on here might suggest otherwise!?! Considering the things I have listed above how is the market looking at the moment, I may well have the cash to do all this but it would wipe me out and I would immediately need to earn (mortgage and child commitments). Keeping it simple I wont have 2 years experience and I know thats a challenge.
Many thanks guys n gals and I know you have to answer variations on this all the time.
Hi Matt if I can offer any advice it would be take holiday or unpaid time off work to do your training as I like you had enough money to pay for both classes and to pay mortgage and so on but itâs now run dry as I didnât think it would take as long as it has Iâve been waiting since early June and everything just takes so long ie getting a slot at docs for medical waiting to get licence back waiting time for theory and haz tests then getting training and so on I belive you would also have to do all you dcpc before you could drive for a living.
So read up on here and really think it through matey,hope this has helped and not put you off as when all done I will be a happy bunny good luck Ed
Matt.Henry:
So I have the cash to pay for both C and C+E licenses, all the training, medicals, resits etc etc. I am 27 years old and have been driving a normal car for 6 yearsâŚ
I hear 2nd hand its relatively easy to get work, but everything I see online and have read on here might suggest otherwise!?! Considering the things I have listed above how is the market looking at the moment, I may well have the cash to do all this but it would wipe me out and I would immediately need to earn (mortgage and child commitments). Keeping it simple I wont have 2 years experience and I know thats a challenge.
WELCOME - check out the LGV TRAINING TIPS sticky
I suggest having ÂŁ3k available to go from B licence to CE licence and that will involve - Medical, theory material, 3 theory tests, 3 practical tests plus any possible retests
VISIT ANY LGV SCHOOL BEFORE PARTING WITH ANY MONEY
As for being a newbie in this game - there are opportunities out there but they are few if looking for a full time permanent job
the agencies may be able to offer adhoc work but many of them and other employers want you to have âexperienceâ which in same cases means âholdingâ the licence for X amount of time - unless they get desperate!!
you will also be competing with other experienced drivers looking for work
My advice would be to saty in your current full time job and if that is mon to fri then you can legally drive under eu regs for one day every other weekend (EU weekly rest rules)
I donât plan on leaving my current employer until I have the licenses in place. I imagine reading through the other threads that if I wanted to âgo for itâ once the licenses are in place I would really have to make myself available for more or less anything to get my foot in the doorâŚ
So on the assumption that I retain my current job and get my licenses during this time, then leave (hopefully with some savings left ) to sell my soul to agencies on the basis that I will do anything, anytime, anywhere to get started, how are we looking?
Is there a massive advantage to having additional bits above just C, ie straight into C+E + HIAB + FLT, I assume that would make me more employable but to what extent?
Finally, congratulations on building such a supportive community. Considering the 100 different variations on the same question throughout the forums your patience and help is really appreciated.
Hiyyaaa matt henry, if you have an already well paid job in management, & family/mortgage comitmentsâŚwell may i ask why would you want to change career to start at the bottom again â â ? . In the current financial climate , if you went for a change of career, it is possable that you may burn a large hole in your savings. In the first instance comes your medâ & theory & C, &C&E ect, to which you say you already have the funds for , which is great . But have you done your market research on the likleyhood of getting a job after, let alone on a decent wage . Many sign up to a few agencies just to get by , ask yourself realistically how long you & your family can survive on a shoe string income. Some agencies are advertizing the same job as each other, so when you look at the job lists in the first instance it appears each one has a seperate supply of work available, which may not be the case at all !!. There are some drivers who are lucky enough to get a good start somewhere, though again this may not be the case at all. You are in a good job now, & at your age, with the experience you already have, & if you build on what you have already , you would stand every chance of becoming an extremely well paid young man, & in a financialy secure possition. Whatever job you take on there will always be times you feel you need a break , the answere to that is dont give up a good job , have a holiday instead .
Well this is sort of part of my market research, I am attempting by asking the lovely people on here, emailing a few haulage firms and studying the available positions to work out what the opportunities are like in reality.
Without over complicating things I currently live somewhere, at that somewhere I pay a mortgage and all the rest that comes with that, I earn a very good wage, but its under extreme stress and very long hours (meetings, shop work and at home work) totalling approx 80hrs, not to mention the âhave i done this?â as you try and sleep. I do however own another property with no mortgage elsewhere and my total outgoings would be significantly less should I relocate.
So the plan in theory would be to get my license, quit my job, relocate and find work doing something I would much prefer (youâll just have to take my word for that I guess). I wouldnât have a great need to earn anything like the money I do currently because my outgoings would be significantly reduced.
I know there is no definative answer to my question, I am really just trying to gauge if that is possible or if it is simply too difficult to find work.
Since youâll wonder why I would do this, moving takes me back to where I grew up, family, old friends and for me a happier life, where I am now has mentally become nothing but a symbol for work.
Long and rambling I know, but I wanted to attempt to explain I wasnât just some random gungho nutter
I would be relocating to Liverpool, I imagine it would be one of the âbetterâ areas for overall opportunity numbers because of the docks etc, but thatâs pure speculation based on nothing more than my lack of knowledge
In terms of pay Iâd probably still need to clear ÂŁ1k a month at some point towards the end of 6 months of moving, but I can survive during the initial 6 months on less due to savings. I would be willing to work practically anything that came up during this period tooâŚ
Well dont quit your job & go into this if you wish to have less hr less stress more family time as that is not going to happen
Liverpool well there is your 1st prob
TBh not sure what the work is like round there but it is not good anywhere atm dont think it really matters if there are dock or not if hte work is there it is if not well
But no reason why you cant do the licence & sit with if for a bit until it has all balanced out which it will in time always does
Remember that driving becomes a way of life not a job
ROG:
âŚ
I suggest having ÂŁ3k available to go from B licence to CE licence and that will involve - Medical, theory material, 3 theory tests, 3 practical tests plus any possible retests
âŚ
From the 10th September 2009 LGV drivers will also have to do the Driver CPC theory test, which consists of 19 LGV case studies and the Driver CPC practical test which consists of a half hour practical test module. Therefore, in order to gain both an LGV licence and the initial Driver CPC the following modules will have to be passed:
~ Module 1a - 100 multiple choice questions
~ Module 1b - 19 hazard perception clips
~ Module 2 - 19 LGV case studies
So the three are:
1 - The Multiple Choice
2 - The Hazard Perception
(These two remain current for ONLY two years - adter that you need to re-sit the tests)
3 - The Case studies.
The three practical tests are.
C1 then C then C+E
or is it the C then C+E then The Module 4â â ?
Back to the original points.
I took some holiday time to do training and test for the C+E - and enjoyed the holiday - recommended.
DougR:
So the three are:
1 - The Multiple Choice
2 - The Hazard Perception
(These two remain current for ONLY two years - adter that you need to re-sit the tests)
3 - The Case studies.
The three practical tests are.
C1 then C then C+E
or is it the C then C+E then The Module 4â â ?.
the blue ones
The CE must come after the C but apart from that those can be done in any order
The theory tests can also be done in any order but as mod 2 uses a lot of the info gained in 1a and by reading the drivers guide to driving large goods vehicles plus common sense then it makes sense to do mod 2 after 1a
) to sell my soul to agencies on the basis that I will do anything, anytime, anywhere to get started, how are we looking?
