career in trucking???

[Edge]

I'm looking for a career change and am considering following my fathers footsteps into trucking.
Can anyone advise me on the pros and cons of truck driving as a living??
Also what sort of wage should i be looking at??
Are there any driving instructors I should be steering clear of and what is the cost of lessons??
Thanks Guys. :D

[bezzabsa]

Artics or rigids?
Plus points.. freedom (to a certain extent)
minus points.. crap hours, conditions, traffic, health problems (already had 1 heart scare and am off at the mo with sciatica)
if you WANT to do it its a great job, if you THINK you ant to do it... think long and hard, if its possible ask ya dad

[Edge]

My Dads not much help, he's been retired now for a long time and things have changed on the roads since his days on the "OPEN ROAD" (speed cams/more cars/even more cars etc etc.) I think it cost him £150 for all his lessons and the test. I'll be going for the rigid as I understand it you have to start off with "is it class 3 license???" back in the days my old man started he just went straight into artic.

[mark.yellow.series.3]

truckdrivers can earn good coin now, theres a bit of a shortage.
our driver left for a job driving a waste oil tanker for 22k.

[gtomo2]

you have to do a riged test first before you can do a class 1 (artic). money wise anything from £300 per week to £500 per week plus expensives. Just dont sell yourself to a firm that will get you to bend the law remeber its your licence not thiers. Most training firms are good  but it is expensive. If you can get a job on a 7.5ton truck and see whats its all about. then see if the company will sponser you to do a hgv course. good luck and at the end of the day it is a good job you get to see the country. downsides are tacho laws, police, vosa all out to get you. but keep it legal and you have no worries. and happy trucking

[Damonski]

I agree with the above, its your license, if your not happy about anything including vehicle condition dont drive what your given. And make sure you do your morning checks too! Lights, tyres, air leaks, general condition etc, if you do those then roadside checks arent a worry.

As for getting a license you have to do rigids first, then move onto artics.  Im just moving into this career from computer software development, and I love  the change!  Freedom, less stress, no stupid computer problems :) hehe

Cost for me was £600 to get category C, then £400 for artic that included theory test and both practical tests.

Once you get your license it then opens a whole new world. Ive also done Hiab training, have a forklift license and also many of JCBs product trainings. I certainly dont regret it.

[Andy the Landy]

http://www.careersinlogistics.co.uk/ Have a browse . Might sound expensive but it aint if you think of it as a 'life investment' - will pay for itself in no time at all :D

[TUFFTEE]

you have to do a riged test first before you can do a class 1 (artic). money wise anything from £300 per week to £500 per week plus expensives. Just dont sell yourself to a firm that will get you to bend the law remeber its your licence not thiers. Most training firms are good  but it is expensive. If you can get a job on a 7.5ton truck and see whats its all about. then see if the company will sponser you to do a hgv course. good luck and at the end of the day it is a good job you get to see the country. downsides are tacho laws, police, vosa all out to get you. but keep it legal and you have no worries. and happy trucking

That's Damn good Advise!  And i would take it onboard!

[steve prosser]

to answer some of your questions

medical
lgv theory test
then the practical test

the company i did my practicle training with was PDL tuition

http://www.pdltuition.co.uk/

I found them by accident really and i have been really impressed, they area small company with a base in swindon and stoke on trent. they area family run business. My instructor Frank is a top bloke, down to earth, straight speaking and very very helpfull. I really cant stress how good he is. I've had to juggle my course around working this week, so we started on sunday with about 3 - 3/12 hours driving then doing Monday , Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, meeting him at midday, nothin being to much trouble. He now is more a mate than just some instructor.

costs
the medical was £38
the theory test was £21
practical course including the test fee was £690

I pasted the test this afternoon collecting only 8 minor faults out of a max 15. In my debrief it seemed 4 of these were a little harsh, but its a pass!

He may not be the cheapest but i think you'd have to go a long way to beat the quality of the training.

good luck if you decide to go for it, ill be doing the C+E (artics) as soon as i can, with them again

shout if i can help any more

regards
steve

[hobbit]

It seems after getting your licence is the start.

If you want to specialise, you need certification for most types of specialist work, this can be quite lucrative, depending on what work you can get

Anything from tankers, to battery handling (industrial), some companies will cover the training, but expect a commitment from you so you dont leave after completing the training

Mechanical handling is a handy one (Hiab type).

Also load securing, not all vehicles have solid sides

As already mentioned, you are responsible for your load and vehicle, anything out on the road goes wong you are the one in the firing line.

Even if you dont load it yourself

If in doubt about the vehicle or repairs, be prepared to make a stand, its your neck on the line (and any one in the way), the press love coming down on truckers when things go wrong, but like out mud hobby there are good and bad people out there.

I've been out the loop for a few years now, so just by driving round generally, things have changed a lot

If you are going out of your knowledge area, satnav is a very good aid and can save a lot of hassle, I wish I had it when I was weaving though the back roads looking for a street tucked away with an a-z in one hand and the wheel in the other

[murph]

Good advise given here, if you want to do it go for it, as everyone else has said it's your license, you as the driver are responsible for the load condition and security.

If the vehicle's not right don't take it out.

Also depends on what your looking for,, multi drop or bulk drop.

Examples of drivers not doing morning checks or checking their load, real examples,

Driver not doing morning checks, pulled by the ministry on the road, 1 near side wheel nut sheared off, he had been driving it like this for at least 6 , (since last PMI),  :oops:

Artic shed his load of full cages on a motorway round about, didn't check his load before pulling out of depot, wasn't strapped!!! they smashed through the back doors!! :oops:  :oops:

[Edge]

Wow....wasn't expecting so many replies :D  :D . Thanks for all the advice guys, I've taken it all on board and am now going to check the links posted by steve and andy.
I'll give you all plenty of warning of "if and when" my lessons start :D

[hobbit]

As long as you do local drops, I should be safe then :lol:  

[Daz800]

Any one who works in hgv or psv will tell you this.

You dont gets days off.  Only hours off.

So if you think you got 2 days off, think again as you may have 36 hours off and if you work for a company that is short of drivers then you may be reduced to 8 hours rest between duties.(twice a week)

Darryl

[abinitio]

Any one who works in hgv or psv will tell you this.

You dont gets days off.  Only hours off.

So if you think you got 2 days off, think again as you may have 36 hours off and if you work for a company that is short of drivers then you may be reduced to 8 hours rest between duties.(twice a week)

Darryl

9 actually.(unless total during work period is four)  Besides it is at YOUR descretion.  We have great fun with this at work as most of the office staff have no idea of the regulations and I have been both sides of the fence (driver and transport manager now driver again) so can really annoy people with regulations etc.

If you do the course you will NEVER be out of work. Any HGV driver who says he can't get work just isn't trying (or lives in the outer hebredes).

Good luck to you, most of the advice already given is good so take heed.

If you don't mind the cold/wet/mud(and on this forum I doubt you do) then once you have done you C licence, do a LMC (hiab type) licence as that will give you guaranteed work that is a shed load better that multi drop until you take(if you are planning to) your C+E. I used to love doing plant access and accomodation great fun.

Lee

[gtomo2]

and go for a demountable forklift test aswell as well use them instaed of hi-ab. A lot less messing about just leave the truck out of the mud and use the forklift to take the stuff on site

[gtomo2]

oh and dont work for a firm called "murdocks" they are based in gretna and castle dougles. We use them for covering scotland and lets just say they are the only firm i know of that can do scotland to london and back in a day :-#  [-X  :^o

[dew1911]

806 Miles in a day (According to Autoroute)? Damn that's going for a Lorry.

[colintandy]

:D was a truck driver for 16 years on artics .....done europe 12 years continental experience owned my own for 5 years european fridge traffic ..worked many companys for agency made a mint but spent 16 years tryin to change.....now im a fully qualified landrover driving instructor working self employed for protrax and landrover experience east of england is a great job trucking but i would not go back now! get yourself on a good agency work for blue chip companys ie tesco/asda ect ..you can earn well ...just watch your hours and enjoy ..

[gtomo2]

and thats not taking in to account they call in are yard in measham, lestershire to pick up the load for scotland