Just a bit of a dream at the moment but I’ve got friends and family there and quite fancy a year or two down there to see how it goes.
Anyway, I intend to have a class 1 and about a year’s experience by the time I go (if I do), is there much work down that way? I’d be looking at; Cwmbran, crosyciliog (sp) llanyrafon, down as far as newport/cardiff up as far as ebbw vale ish to give a rough idea of where I’d be going. The main concern is I know the place isn’t exactly a hive of activity, is it any worse than the rest of the country (britain) for finding work?
Think it’s the same as anywhere else at the moment mate, but the benefits are if you go through the agency there are quite a few big rdcs, tesco avonmouth, asda chepstow, tesco magor, wilkinsons magor, although I came off the agency last year so I don’t know the current situation but when I was on there I wasn’t without work very often.
Pay rates tend to improve if your willing to travel accross the bridge into avonmouth/portbury/bristol too
Go onto the job centre online and put in a newport postcode (NP19) and see what’s available at the moment as a guide.
It’s not the worst place to live down here, I moved here from Birmingham 12 years ago…only downside is when the welsh beat the english at rugby…you don’t hear the last of it !!!
I lived in Cwmbran for 6yrs as a kid and hated it (the other kids weren’t very nice to the English kid) but things seem different as an adult.
I’d already looked on the jobcentre website before I asked and it looked to be about the same as it is here but I wanted the views of people in the real world ;o)
I’ll probably have plenty more questions if I go for it but thanks sofar.
im from pontypool and used to live i cwmbran,im a new driver and aint struugled to get a job really i passed my cpc 2 weeks ago today i have an asessment at argos in ebbw vale and also kingmill on sunday,the main i think you find is the wage,there are employers that are advertising the exact same job ,but over the bridge your getting an easy £2-3 per hour more
got alot of friends down southwales all drivers and they are struggling for work and the work they do find isnt the best of wages. some working out of corus port talbot, some on the agency for calor gas, and council so work must be tight.
Hi Darky, I’m at Newport too and as George said it’s probably about the same as everywhere else atm. We do hve quite a few DC’s around here but most of them ask for the 2 years experience. Some agencies will have other types of work though. Stay in touch and let us know when you’re moving down and I will try and pass you on to some of the agencies I know are pretty decent.
You can always get work for Owens but the wages are crap and you’ll be sweating your balls off for it too.
Thanks everybody and thankyou very much for the offer cargo-girl.
To be honest, it sounds very similar to here - some good work but mostly slightly under-paid. You guys do your test at llantrisant then? I did my class 2 there in feb 2008, I thought it’d be nice to visit my sister at the same time
I may well do it, I guess to a certain extent it depends where my life goes in the next 18 months or so but I’ll let you all know if I do take the plunge
Cargo-girl:
Hi Darky, I’m at Newport too and as George said it’s probably about the same as everywhere else atm. We do hve quite a few DC’s around here but most of them ask for the 2 years experience. Some agencies will have other types of work though. Stay in touch and let us know when you’re moving down and I will try and pass you on to some of the agencies I know are pretty decent.
You can always get work for Owens but the wages are crap and you’ll be sweating your balls off for it too.
What are Owens paying at present? My son lives in Llanelli and I might take the plunge.
waddy640:
What are Owens paying at present? My son lives in Llanelli and I might take the plunge.
I worked for them about 5 years ago and was on £60 per day, running in Saturday or out Sunday paid £40 and night out was £20 I think.
The sting comes when you take paid holiday which is at £40 per day.
According to one of their drivers I spoke to last week, it hasn’t gone up since, although in fairness much of the kit is better now than it was when I was there.
If you can live on crap money there are worse firms to work for. I was on Class 2 HIAB so didn’t get messed around too much, might be different on artics.
If you don’t mind delivering steel, give Dyfed Steel a call, their place is opposite Owens. Don’t expect a space cab if you go there, though!
gnasty gnome:
I worked for them about 5 years ago and was on £60 per day
We must have been there around the same time then, I was working for them for 2 years, 2004 - 2006. Was mostly on nights, both tramping or single shifts and the pay was £80 a shift. No over time or anything and more often than not you worked max legal hours on the tacho plus whatever hours you were waiting in the yard for your unit/load.
if your moving to cwmbran and only have a years exp then you may want to give Bridgetime Transport a ring as they will take newly qualified drivers on,the pay aint the best and the wagons are oldish,but they will give you a start,easy enough work and you aint doing max hours either!!
Pm me if you want any info on them as I worked there awhile back
Best move you could ever make moving up the valleys
gnasty gnome:
I worked for them about 5 years ago and was on £60 per day
We must have been there around the same time then, I was working for them for 2 years, 2004 - 2006. Was mostly on nights, both tramping or single shifts and the pay was £80 a shift. No over time or anything and more often than not you worked max legal hours on the tacho plus whatever hours you were waiting in the yard for your unit/load.
Think I know you; you might remember that I drove this;
Thanks everybody and thankyou very much for the offer cargo-girl.
