HGV Training (C+E License)

Jo_F

And in most cases, once you have your shiny new licences, admire them, then stick them in a drawer for 2 years.

So many companies want drivers that have held their licence for 2 years or more, they don't tend to take on newly passed drivers.

27col

If you do not know what a rigid and an artic are, then you are really starting from a position of absolutely no knowledge. Most youngsters could tell you the difference.

AdrianC

27col wrote: »

If you do not know what a rigid and an artic are, then you are really starting from a position of absolutely no knowledge. Most youngsters could tell you the difference.

Well, quite...

Without wanting to be funny, OP, if you don't know something this basic, why do you want to be an HGV driver? What do you actually know about it...? It's not exactly a life of glamour and sophistication and untold wealth and supermodels fawning at your feet...

I suggest a bit more research might be wise before committing several thousand pounds.

jaymidlands

advice to the OP dont bother if you havent ever been in a lorry then i would say look elsewhere its not that great a job any more as well as sleeping in dirty tuck stops or the laybys with possible load theft and diesel theft as well as constant knocking at the door from prositutes in some places as well as police and vosa.....oh and age counts so if over 25 a employer will look more at you plus if you have done the job before otherwise its agency for 2 or more years to get experiance..
I am now a planner after spending a few years behind the whel but I wouldnt bother any more doing nights away and just help out every now and then doing local jobs

Iceweasel

I'm not for one minute suggesting that the OP has been 'hypnotized' by the Eddie Stobart TV series - but it has promoted an over glamorized image of the British road haulage industry.

Eddie Stobart is almost a one-off. There are very few like that.

Sadly it's a cut-throat industry these days (perhaps it always was) with everyone working on the smallest of profit margins.

I would not encourage any of my family to enter the profession at all.

Paradigm

Iceweasel wrote: »

I'm not for one minute suggesting that the OP has been 'hypnotized' by the Eddie Stobart TV series - but it has promoted an over glamorized image of the British road haulage industry.

I think you're possibly right there.

I can't watch it, it's all so false. My experience of gatehouse/security/stores staff isn't the one shown on the TV, maybe because the cameras aren't there?

In the real world as soon as you climb into the cab everyone hates you

arcon5

colino wrote: »

Get on one of the many truck drivers forums and find out how many skilled, experienced, truck drivers are having it tough finding decent work. It's an industry hugely oversubscribed in terms of labour.

Like most industrys nowadays then.

colino

What a glib, throwaway statement. The OP is considering chancing his arm, investing his own money and potentially wasting it because they don't have a great deal of knowledge about the sector. Very different from people being thrown out of work due to the economy or people going through the education system and discovering themselves unready for work. The OP is potentially wasting a large sum of money and hence is asking for information. Why not tell them not to bother doing anything, you seem to think we are all doomed.

iolanthe07

Actually I think the OP may be female. It's hard to think that any bloke wouldn't know what an artic is. (and if that remark is sexist - tough.)

Truck driving always appealed to me, much better than being stuck in an office or on a factory floor. I'm sorry I never did it. Good luck, OP, and I hope you make a success of it if you go ahead. Three grand or so for the training isn't all that much in the scheme of things.

farmerboy

Iceweasel wrote: »

I'm not for one minute suggesting that the OP has been 'hypnotized' by the Eddie Stobart TV series - but it has promoted an over glamorized image of the British road haulage industry.

Eddie Stobart is almost a one-off. There are very few like that.

Sadly it's a cut-throat industry these days (perhaps it always was) with everyone working on the smallest of profit margins.

I would not encourage any of my family to enter the profession at all.

Having worked for Stobbrats, the TV series over glamorizes what actually happens day to day for them, never mind the industry as a whole.

To the OP, don't bother, you'll just be wasting your money, especially if the above comment about not knowing the difference between the types of licence.

I'm lucky as I've found a better way to earn money with my HGV licence, but the driving of HGV's is only about 2% of what I actually do.