Recovery Job Opinion/ Advice wanted

[bubble]

Thinking of applying for a job localy that falls within the EU working directive…
What I would like to know is if anyone on here has or had experience of this type of work and what the pay was like
I appreciate the downfall is the 24/7 nature of the work and working weekends and nights also being stuck out in the cold and rain. My present job pays very very little and I have done mulit drop work which is fine but I cant see myself doing it full time… As mentioned if anyone could shed light on this kind of work I would appreciate this.

[conor]

Talking to people I know who do it, forget getting decent sleep when you’re on callout. It’s regular for them to go 24hrs without a kip and because it’s tacho exempt, there’s nothing to stop them making you drive from one end of the country to the other.

The pay, from what I’ve seen, is no better than standard Class 1 HGV driving - at least in my area - and they all tend to prefer CGLI qualified.

[montana_man]

Conor:
because it’s tacho exempt, there’s nothing to stop them making you drive from one end of the country to the other.

It isn’t now is it ■■?

[discopete]

no you are only exempt from tachos if working with a 60 mile radius of your base,

anything more your on the tacho

This does mean they could have you running local all day then have to take something to the other side of the country after a days work!!!

Have spoken to one driver and he does not bother to go home when on call out he sleeps in his truck until the phone rings

Whilst not being a recovery driver myself I do the bit in the van before I need a tow truck, the odd hours can really mess your body clock up, Like now I have been off work on holiday for a couple of days but find it very hard to relax, keep thinking i hear the phone ringing in the middle of the night, and i dont even have the phone with me !!!

I think the job would be a good experience but you have to adjust to the call outs,

Your ok as long as you can get to know the technicians, because I tend to get the truck ready for the recovery driver like take the half shaft out or drop the prop off, the way i look at it is im already out and there so i might as well make the tow truck drivers life a bit easier, but thats only because i get on well with the drivers and get that extra half hour overtime, (but thats nothing to do with it, Honest)

[dave_1]

if its recovery job after accidents etc you may get to see a bit of blood and guts etc.
some people cant deal with that part of the job.

[bubble]

Thanks for the input so far … I am led to believe this company which is quite a well known one is only recruiting LGV 2 and 1 Drivers they are willing to train the right person and work strictly within the EU laws in relation to hours worked obv it is shift work and it covers weekends/ nights the whole 9 yards … As mentioned I think there are dissadvantages to this job (which is why I think many dont bother applying) but I have started at stupid times in the morning on normal mulit drop delivieries.
I dont really know too much about what the job entails but half of me wants to give a go just for the experience and to get me out of my full time job I have done for 13 Years. Obv I know what I am worth and what I can earn full time mulit droping … so I am not going to sell myself down the river especially when you are talking about weekends and nights. As for driving from one end of the country to another after doing nearly a full days work … you are still leagally entitled to a min of 9 hrs between the start end of one shift and start of another aren’t you ?

Posted on here to get views of people who do the job what they think and what the rate of pay is for this kind of work

[b1_ggk]

I had a break down the other week in a works van,
the RAC sent a subby firm out,
The guy had been on since 7am, out and about grafting etc
He dropped me in Rochdale from Leeds at 4.30pm, he had a Pontefract to Trafford then a Sheffield to Selby to follow,
You tell me what time he was gonna finish.

I would think the bigger national firms would look after you regarding hours wise, Where the smaller subby firms could proceed to start tugging at your pants.

[mad_monk]

hi , i guess it depends what sort of recovery work you will be doing , breakdown recovery or accident work , or both , on accident work every call out is different , you will find vehicles in every possible location and a few impossible , so its a challenge to recover them but you would be trained ■■ on bad ones you need to be prepared to see things that will haunt you and make you sick , could you handle that ( a lot cant ) you also got the safety issue , working on the hard shoulder etc ( not for the faint hearted ) i do internationa recovery work but i dont go to accident scenes so in a sense i got it easier , its an interesting and challenging job , pay is so so . some do 4 on 4 off system . good luck whatever you decide



theres a few examples of what you might come up against .

[wilde1]

Out of desperation I came very close to applying myself but I kept asking the question, why are they always recruiting in my area??

I don’t care how busy they are, the amount of recruiting is out of proportion to the number recovery vehicles there are. Conclusion - rubbish job where drivers can’t handle it for long!!!

CW

[jimb0_1]

Depends on the company - we operate ALL on tacho (none of the messing about with 100k from base lark). Rolling shift, 4 on, two off.

Gets knackering though, going from one end of the day finish, to start the same time a couple of days later!

Prepare to see some sights, and to dice with death! Wait 'till you’re on a dual carriageway/trunk road with no hard shoulder, and no Police cover, trying to recover a smashed up/broken down motor - see how fast and how close every bugger gets to you, no matter how many cones, keep right arrows, lights, beacons or what ever you have on - Recovery trucks often get hit while ‘in service’, so do recovery operators!

As for motorways - have you seen ‘woofers’ straying across into the hard shoulder??.. ever wonder what happens if a recovery truck happens to be there working at the time…

IVR training is a must, and you can’t get too much training or advice - every job is different, and most are a challenge.

Pay is not very good for what we do, no more than any other trucker, no shift allowance, no anti-social hours payment, and get this bit - NO night out payment if you do national re-deliveries!!!

Expect to ‘do’ everything from scooters/motor bikes to (if your licence allows) Artics/bus and coaches, and that means simple ‘lift and shifts’ to roll-overs, in ditches, on their roof in fields, fatals and serious injuries…

And yes, staff retention is low, we get through one heck of a lot of drivers, some so quick you never get to know their names.

Good luck!

[jimb0_1]

Discopete:
no you are only exempt from tachos if working with a 60 mile radius of your base,

anything more your on the tacho

This does mean they could have you running local all day then have to take something to the other side of the country after a days work!!!

This is very wrong! - someone needs to read the WTD and drivers hours regs! You CANNOT operate that way! Any driving done prior to using a tacho must be manually entered on the back of the chart, and count to your daily total, and you’re still required to have 11 hours daily rest (or 9 hours reduced) in every 24 hour period, the same as any other driver.

Also, I understood that if you used a tacho for one day, you stayed on tacho for a week, and after 3 weeks, stayed on tacho all year…

[tony1968]

It’s not just driving, you’ll need to enter ANY work you’ve done that week. Even if all you’ve done is catch up on paperwork in the day and not touched a steering wheel that still goes as “other work” on your chart for that day.
I’d imagine that if all your work is callout based your restriction is likely to be the spreadover time rather than actual hours work/drive.