Hi everyone, i’m after some feedback as i’m in a dilemma, i’ve been a class 2 driver for 5 years and 3 of them i’ve had a permanent job at holland and barrett which i chose because of the wages, just over over 30k salary pa, but i’ve always wanted to drive the arctics so i took my test and passed last week so i’m currently on the lookout for a new job (which i know will be tough due to experience), but i think signing on the agency is the best way to get the experience as i did with my class 2.
My dilemma is, "should i leave a well paid job which isn’t showing any signs of job losses and where drivers have been there for over 10 years+ and i get bupa for me and family and pension or should i bite the bullet and quit to sign on with an agency■■?
I just need external opinions as my g/f’s aint included cus she’ll stick with where i’am at the mo, cheers
m1cks:
Stick to what you’ve got. It’ll be hard to match that salary and benefits anywhere else.
Do H&B have wagon and drags? If so do you have any chance there?
Nah, just class 2 and 7.5 chillers apart from a shunter quite alot of the drivers have class 1 but choose to stay here, but no matter how much i convince myself to do the same i get a yearning everytime a kitted out scania/volvo/man etc passes me plus the scania’s we drive are the 2nd slowest on the road apart from tesco lol
Don’t be blinded by the bling - once behind the wheel a shiny Volvo or Scania is still a truck. Would you be happy to drop 10k per year just to have chrome light bars?
Ask most drivers with shiny bits if they’d remove them for 10k a year extra and most trucks on the road would be plain as anything.
Terry T:
Can you tell this artic driver whereabouts you work so I can have your job when you leave
holland barrett, burton on trent, agency 1st though, it took me 2 years to get on here, it’s all caged deliveries covering anywhere south of carlisle for the burton depot then night trunks up to carlisle for the drivers in scotland, it’s ok as long as u ain’t in central london which is where the most stores are!!
There’s nothing worse than being a wage slave, in recent weeks I’ve quit a generously paid warehouse job and took a pay cut to follow my dream. Fair enough I can make up the difference in the extra hours I can put it which is a bit easier as I’m on nights now. So far I’m loving it.
Take a look at your current financial situation, if you can afford the drop in pay then go for it, money isn’t the be all and end all. You arn’t getting any younger. I would say though, don’t quit a permanent position to join an agency. You need to go from permanent to permanent (even if you do have to do 12 weeks probation). Just make sure you leave your current employer on good terms with a view to returning if it goes belly up.
quite alot of the drivers have class 1 but choose to stay here, but no matter how much i convince myself to do the same i get a yearning everytime a kitted out scania/volvo/man etc passes me 
plus the scania’s we drive are the 2nd slowest on the road apart from tesco lol
i think the nail has just sunk in, i’ll probably just use my class one as a back up in case it ever goes pete tong!! cheers 