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I've been in the building game all my life ( carpentry/kitchens/decorating etc ) and I'm pretty much sick of the aggro and uncertainty of it all. I was seriously thinking of finally making use of my Class 2 HGV, which I've had for 6 years and barely ever used, with the view to doing my class 1, and walking away from the tools for good. I was wondering if anyone here is in the haulage industry and has any opinions?

Cheers.

leevtr wrote:I've been in the building game all my life ( carpentry/kitchens/decorating etc ) and I'm pretty much sick of the aggro and uncertainty of it all. I was seriously thinking of finally making use of my Class 2 HGV, which I've had for 6 years and barely ever used, with the view to doing my class 1, and walking away from the tools for good. I was wondering if anyone here is in the haulage industry and has any opinions?

Cheers.

Sorry not in that game meself but your welcome to my two penneth worth to see if it's any help.

First off get a digi tacho card if you haven't already got one.

Think about getting your ADR as well it will help with giving you more scope for work (dangerous goods cert in case your wondering)

Training on moffet FLT will also help.

Go & see an employment agency who deals with drivers.

Change your name to Lee VTRpolskiavitch you'll get a job straight away.

Mac

there dropping like flies mate diesel is killing them off im self employed van driver and wont be much longer before i go under with it

chric wrote:there dropping like flies mate diesel is killing them off im self employed van driver and wont be much longer before i go under with it

Thats sad that is, Lee VTRpolskiavitchs are being killed off by diesel, no wonder its expensive.

Aye, been driving Artic's for 35 yrs . You won't make a fortune unless you're away all week and work every other Saturday. Only Agency work up North here @ £8.50/hour. I've just been made Redundant on Good Friday so will be down Job Centre tomorrow. Don't forget you'll need 8 hrs/ year CPC training@ £200, medical ,licence and Digi card every 5yrs . Think about something else M8.

I think I'm the exception to the rule, you'll hear tales of woe from every quarter but I went from no HGV licence to my class1 in 6 months AND landed a cracking class1 job 2 weeks after passing my test. 8 years down the line I don't regret doing it one bit

One key thing I'd say is try and get you're class1 (C+E) and get straight into that as rigid wagon work can destroy you - long hours and hard work for little reward....multidrop work can be soul destroying lol Far better to try and find a firm that makes and delivers it's own products to RDC etc.

You'll almost certainly have to start with an agency even to get in full time with any of the major players.....and don't be too honest about a lack of experience!! having had your class2 for a number of years no-one will know if you've been driving or not and going anywhere new is just a case of asking someone of anything you're not sure about.

I'm driving this now.....


Generally have 1, maybe 2 deliveries per shift, that might be 12hrs one day and 7hrs the next but on average doing about 50-55hrs a week taking home just under £2k a month

Try this forum
http://www.trucknetuk.com/phpBB/

One of my best friends is a class 1 driver. According to him (and he complains about it fairly often) the work has dropped off a lot in the last year or so. Theres still the odd shift about but a lot of it are what he calls "junk", such as awful retail drops and such.

Over Christmas he struggled to get anything which he said was unusual. He's an agency driver with clean record and over 10 years.

Not all roses I guess, much like any industry these days.

vtrsteve wrote:I think I'm the exception to the rule, you'll hear tales of woe from every quarter but I went from no HGV licence to my class1 in 6 months AND landed a cracking class1 job 2 weeks after passing my test. 8 years down the line I don't regret doing it one bit

One key thing I'd say is try and get you're class1 (C+E) and get straight into that as rigid wagon work can destroy you - long hours and hard work for little reward....multidrop work can be soul destroying lol Far better to try and find a firm that makes and delivers it's own products to RDC etc.

You'll almost certainly have to start with an agency even to get in full time with any of the major players.....and don't be too honest about a lack of experience!! having had your class2 for a number of years no-one will know if you've been driving or not and going anywhere new is just a case of asking someone of anything you're not sure about.

I'm driving this now.....


Generally have 1, maybe 2 deliveries per shift, that might be 12hrs one day and 7hrs the next but on average doing about 50-55hrs a week taking home just under £2k a month

you lazy cemex drivers you have more days off than you work lol
A mate of mine welsh dave is a cemex driver and he has more days off than the school kids

I've done both and now I am in the same game as you, property maintenance and this is going to be a cracking year

Just started sub-contracting for a commercial maintenance company, there is loads of work in that game

Maybe you could contact a few in your area as they are always looking for good quality reliable people

lloydiecbr wrote: you lazy cemex drivers you have more days off than you work lol
A mate of mine welsh dave is a cemex driver and he has more days off than the school kids

I can't deny it, I have landed on my feet with this job......and it takes 3 minutes to walk to work if I dawdle

I have been in haulage since passing my old class 3 thirty odd years ago. did my class 1 and landed a good job before getting made redundant 7 years back. Got a job with the big yellow machine that is DHL and am now in management. If I did find the need to go back on the road I would look at European work. Too much traffic in the UK and I can't stand it or the traffic..

Good luck with whatever you decide to do..

HGV drivers.. long hours

i,ve heard the hours are crap if you want to make good money driving. a mate of mine is in the wood spoiling game and had a small factory making furniture but it got too big then orders dropped, he had about 10 blokes wages to pay every week and he went bankrupt however he has started up again with another bloke doing really high end oak floors in mansions and posh offices and such like and is doing very nicely now . and he,s still using his woodworking skills.

I drive class 2, do multi drop, work an average 30-35 hrs a week and take home £365 a week.

For what I do and what I get paid it's not too bad.

I have my class 1 but the wages for the hours worked doing the class 2 multi is better than any class 1 work I can get, i'd rather be at home than driving all day!!