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Change of Career to HGV driver
- Thread starter snakeeyes
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notadriver
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What is your current occupation ?
class ep-09
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First find out if that job suites your way of life .
Sleeping in a cab away from home for days is the first thing to consider .
gg1
Established Member
Driving jobs which require sleeping in the cab are the minority. The main issue is unsociable hours, for many employers shift working is the norm, with night time working common. I did consider a career change to HGV driving about 15 years but decided against it in the end, I found a lot of good info and advice on the TrucknetUK forum.
notadriver
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I think you should go for it. It’s something I am planning on doing eventually. The money alone is fantastic - at least for now.
gg1
Established Member
Fair point, I can well imagine there would be more in the way of long distance trips for Scottish based drivers.
Like any career change (I've had a couple) it's always good to have a pros and cons list and find out as much as you can about your new industry. I don't have any idea what it's like to be a lorry driver but I am informed enough to know it's not the great job others are banging on about. The fantastic salaries on offer are not the norm. These tend to be sensationalised by the media who fail to mention that for the fantastic salaries you have to work all kind of unsociable hours like weekends and nights. I passed a banner recently that advertised salaries as £12ph days and £18ph nights and weekends. I've also spoken to a couple of lorry drivers delivering to my work who tell me that the promise of mega wages is absolute BS.
If you fancy a life driving about with all the stress that can bring or feeling relatively calm while looking out your front window at the beautiful scenery, then definitely do your pros and cons list.
If you fancy a life driving about with all the stress that can bring or feeling relatively calm while looking out your front window at the beautiful scenery, then definitely do your pros and cons list.
Conditions are not great either.
I can have times when I travel a lot work-wise and have some of the same issues.
- Lack of parking facilities (especially if the employer doesn't want to pay £25 plus for anything over 2 hours which is the usual "commercials" rate)
- Lack of toilet facilities. There are trunk routes in the UK where you can literally go for hours without reliable facilities. Once you are off the M-way it's a lottery, just because a service station (one that can take a truck) has a toilet doesn't mean it's in working order. (There's a reason why I kitted out my work van with full welfare facilities including an emergency loo.....)
- Tight schedules on nightmare roads.
- Lots of night driving in some roles and remember "random roadworks roulette" commences at 20:00 on the dot..............
Plus training costs and CPS.
Good luck though if you think it works for you.
TPO.
I can have times when I travel a lot work-wise and have some of the same issues.
- Lack of parking facilities (especially if the employer doesn't want to pay £25 plus for anything over 2 hours which is the usual "commercials" rate)
- Lack of toilet facilities. There are trunk routes in the UK where you can literally go for hours without reliable facilities. Once you are off the M-way it's a lottery, just because a service station (one that can take a truck) has a toilet doesn't mean it's in working order. (There's a reason why I kitted out my work van with full welfare facilities including an emergency loo.....)
- Tight schedules on nightmare roads.
- Lots of night driving in some roles and remember "random roadworks roulette" commences at 20:00 on the dot..............
Plus training costs and CPS.
Good luck though if you think it works for you.
TPO.
90019
Established Member
Have a read of this twitter thread, it gives an excellent insight into the sort of things hgv driving actually involves.
birchesgreen
Established Member
Thats a very good thread. Those cages are very heavy, one of my wife's colleagues at the supermarket ended up in hospital when he was helping the lorry driver unload one night and the cage hit him on the head!
C J Snarzell
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- 11 Apr 2019
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My brother works as a HGV driver for a haulage firm and he has said it is one occupation that will always provide decent work. He generally enjoys what he does, but he has said the driving regulations are very strict. EU driving hours are probably the biggest obstacle he contends with. He had to stay in Kings Lynn for X number of hours recently to comply with his hours on the road.
I believe his salary is around £30k a year, but he chooses to do runs where he can sleep in his own bed each day. He has said, that some of his colleagues are earning a fortune, but they do the real unsociable work where they are away from home for X number of days.
I don't know the state of play with obtaining the Class 1 or 2. Alot of companies pay for new drivers to learn their HGV skills and pass their tests. This can cost a good couple of grand to do, so it is expensive if you pay to do it yourself.
I do recall my brother got his HGV licence about 15 years ago through another company he worked for. Part of his contract of employment was that if he left the firm within three years, he had to forfeit the cost of the licence to his employer. Therefore, this is something to be mindful of when being taken on as a 'trainee' driver.
CJ
I believe his salary is around £30k a year, but he chooses to do runs where he can sleep in his own bed each day. He has said, that some of his colleagues are earning a fortune, but they do the real unsociable work where they are away from home for X number of days.
I don't know the state of play with obtaining the Class 1 or 2. Alot of companies pay for new drivers to learn their HGV skills and pass their tests. This can cost a good couple of grand to do, so it is expensive if you pay to do it yourself.
I do recall my brother got his HGV licence about 15 years ago through another company he worked for. Part of his contract of employment was that if he left the firm within three years, he had to forfeit the cost of the licence to his employer. Therefore, this is something to be mindful of when being taken on as a 'trainee' driver.
CJ
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