HGV Training

dickydonkin

Jo_F wrote: »

You have to have a strong relationship, its hard being the one at home all week having to deal with kids, things that crop up in the house etc etc, and only being able to talk to each other on the phone (made even harder if he's doing night shifts!)

Good point as well Jo.

I missed my kids growing up - the trade off however was earning a decent wage for two good companies.

Fortunately my wife accepted that my job would involve being away from home most nights of the week however, many partners of my colleagues did find that aspect of the job difficult - my colleagues divorce rate compounds that view.

Unfortunately, many hauliers are now struggling and as they have no control over fuel and tax increases, it is sadly the drivers wages (that they can control to some degree) who have to bear the financial brunt in their pay packets.

Notmyrealname

Catherine12 wrote: »

- at the moment if he could just get a licence i think that is what he would like to do- still has Monday- Friday job whilst obtaining the licence if he can.

No idea how he'll do that without taking time off. Its not done like car lessons. You do a full day or half day between 8.30am and 4.30pm typically.

And he possibly would be happy starting off doing agency/weekdn work also to fit in if he could.

As mentioned, he can only do one day a fortnight if he is still doing his normal job. This is because of the EU Drivers regulations which require a 45hr weekly rest and all work, driving and non driving is taken into account with the EU drivers hours.

farmerboy

Notmyrealname wrote: »

No idea how he'll do that without taking time off. Its not done like car lessons. You do a full day or half day between 8.30am and 4.30pm typically.

Weekends?

I did mine on Saturday mornings, just booked a couple of days holiday for my test

Little_Ole_Me

bugslet wrote: »

Hi Catherine

Without going into details, it is a doddle of a job, but the hours are long and you can be away from home.

What a load of carp. A doddle of a job! When was the last time you ever tried to pull the curtain back on a trailer during high winds? It is very physical indeed. Drivers do need to be physically fit and very mentally alert. I certainly would not class navigating a 44T artic in bad weather across the country as a doddle! That is a typical 'Office worker' attitude to drivers. No clue at all as to what the real part of the job entails

Drivers who are planning on handing in their licences when the CPC comes in, are mainly the old boys who are close to retirement

bugslet

Not quite - got the t-shirt, wore it for about 20 years, done the roping sheeting in the pitch black, lashing down with rain. Admittedly I rarely pull curtains back and forth these days, but I don't spend all my time driving a desk either.

There are jobs where you run all the hours god sends, jobs where there is a load of handball, you park up in a layby and get no sleep. Or there are jobs like ours to which I was referring, virtually no handball, trailers generally running at 8 ton max, double manned for security, not to get mega hours in, put up in hotels and meals paid for, no miserable rdcs stuck in a filthy waiting room. That's what I meant by a doddle of a job - comapring to some of the other options out there.

Make no mistake, I have nothing but respect for my drivers and oddly it seems that they seem to like working here as generally they stay, mostly because as one of them said, 'I'd never get another job like this again'. I know it's a bit of a theme to bash bosses on this forum, but some of us actully care about our employees. I don't think that you would find someone less like an office worker than me.

dickydonkin

Drivers who are planning on handing in their licences when the CPC comes in,
are mainly the old boys who are close to retirement

That's a general assertion.

I would call myself a former experienced driver who is not close to retirement, but I'm choosing to let my licence go due to the fact I have no intentions of ever needing it again.

Having changed career a few years ago, I have to state that it was the best thing I ever did - although I didn't think that at the time as it was enforced due to the company I worked for contracting out their logistics arm.

It sounds like bugslet was driving the same time I was - and I just wonder how many drivers today can indeed rope and sheet a trailer properly and safely.

I just have no desire or need to return to driving and although I don't regret my 25+years 'on the road', the job is a different beast today and I just have no desire for it.

I only wished that I had started the career I am now involved with about 20 years ago, but sadly, hindsight is a wonderful thing and you can't go back.

As for anyone embarking on a career in driving, I certainly wouldn't dissuade them, but I wouldn't encourage them either.

farmerboy

dickydonkin wrote: »

That's a general assertion.

I would call myself a former experienced driver who is not close to retirement, but I'm choosing to let my licence go due to the fact I have no intentions of ever needing it again.

Having changed career a few years ago, I have to state that it was the best thing I ever did - although I didn't think that at the time as it was enforced due to the company I worked for contracting out their logistics arm.

It sounds like bugslet was driving the same time I was - and I just wonder how many drivers today can indeed rope and sheet a trailer properly and safely.

I just have no desire or need to return to driving and although I don't regret my 25+years 'on the road', the job is a different beast today and I just have no desire for it.

I only wished that I had started the career I am now involved with about 20 years ago, but sadly, hindsight is a wonderful thing and you can't go back.

As for anyone embarking on a career in driving, I certainly wouldn't dissuade them, but I wouldn't encourage them either.

Just because you haven't done the DCPC doesn't mean you lose your entitlement to drive. It just means you can't use it commercially.

Glass_Half_Empty??

He would be better off going back to college and getting a higher education or learning a trade. At least if he starts now then by the time the country does pick up he will have skills to get a better wage. I would not have even started driving a HGV if it wasn't for my Dad and I wish I hadn't bothered. I am halfway to getting out for good and can't wait until I have.
There is no comfort in being charged by VOSA's finest for breaking tacho rules even if you couldn't help it due to the pressure of the job or the rdc that took you over your hours. Then there is the vehicle's safety, only so much we can see as a driver yet VOSA will have a wheel tapper give the whole vehicle a going over and if found in possession of bad faults then the driver will have to pay for it. Getting stuck out of a noisy layby trying to sleep while the cab is rocked and you fear for your life is also not a great way to earn money. Poor facilities in service stations and most truckstops, dirty sods pee'ing and poo'ing in the layby's, being told to wait in the poxy waiting rooms for hours on end while being tipped and listening to some muppet go on about how VOSA fined him for having to wind his legs up 2 turns on inspection, companies thinking they own you and your life putting demands on to drivers to get jobs done never mind the fact you'd booked time off etc etc. There is more to go along but I can't be bothered to type anymore.
Get him down to college and find a new career with a future, this trade is already just about dead and burried and is only going one way.....

dickydonkin

farmerboy wrote: »

Just because you haven't done the DCPC doesn't mean you lose your entitlement to drive. It just means you can't use it commercially.

Funny you should mention that FB - I was just thinking about that yesterday and I was going to look this up.

I know that I have 'Grandfather rights' until around 2014 (?) so if I have not taken the CPC by then, would I not immediately lose my entitlement to drive? (I have a C+E license).

I accept that 'commercially' I wouldn't be able to drive after that date, but supposing I wanted to take up driving again some years down the line - would I only have to complete a CPC and not another HGV test?? I know I would need to have a medical, but I also wonder what entitlement will show on my drivers licence. Are they creating a 'new category' for someone who would be in my position?

I have lost touch with all legislation on driving LGV's but I would be grateful if anyone could clarify this.

farmerboy

dickydonkin wrote: »

Funny you should mention that FB - I was just thinking about that yesterday and I was going to look this up.

I know that I have 'Grandfather rights' until around 2014 (?) so if I have not taken the CPC by then, would I not immediately lose my entitlement to drive? (I have a C+E license).

I accept that 'commercially' I wouldn't be able to drive after that date, but supposing I wanted to take up driving again some years down the line - would I only have to complete a CPC and not another HGV test?? I know I would need to have a medical, but I also wonder what entitlement will show on my drivers licence. Are they creating a 'new category' for someone who would be in my position?

I have lost touch with all legislation on driving LGV's but I would be grateful if anyone could clarify this.

Thats correct, all you would need to do is do the CPC and pass a medical if required. No new catagory as far as I know, just an extra card to carry saying you have done the cpc.