Tomorrow I start the stupidly expensive road to HGV driving.

Good luck to you :) I thought about driving trucks for a number of years and then a few years ago took my C and then CE I was like many who start off agencies want experience and you cant get experience without a job etc etc the old catch 22. I managed to get a few jobs but mainly C and like many C its mulit drop and handball handball handball. To be honest after a while I thought what the f am I busting my b for when the pay is £8-10ph where I live and getting up for starts at 03.00 in the morning when I could be in my bed nice and toasty.

Plus all the f out there who think they own the road and the digital tachos with VOSA and bosses wanting to know where EXACTLY you are and how long it will take you to get to the next drop.. I just thought stuff this it's just not worth it.

One other thing the new regs now have kicked in unless you have 35 hrs supervised driving before 2014 you wont be able to renew your licence and I think I am right in saying you can now drive a rigid at 18 under the new rules!

I sincerly hope it turns out to be what you expected, for me its an option to fall back on but unless I am the only person around that can drive in an emergency I wont be going back to them.
 
firefilesuk said:
Medical £40
Theory tests and books approx £100 (recoup a few quid by selling on)
6 days plus test C course £1200
Retest if fail £290
Initial CPC if necessary approx £250

C+E course same price as C perhaps 10% more.
Click to expand...

i paid £850 for everything.

my lessons and test took 4 days with the test on the 4th day.
 
TripleT said:
I have no interest in drivin trucks but I went that game so badly! :p
Click to expand...

i got a "demo" and played for a bit.

totally unrealistic. Roads are clear, junctions are all euro style. Absolute pants. I dunno what i was expecting really, but at least SOME realism.

Dartford crossing for instance is a tunnel through some mountains.... :rolleyes:
 
Daff_Duck said:
Good luck to you :) I thought about driving trucks for a number of years and then a few years ago took my C and then CE I was like many who start off agencies want experience and you cant get experience without a job etc etc the old catch 22. I managed to get a few jobs but mainly C and like many C its mulit drop and handball handball handball. To be honest after a while I thought what the f am I busting my b for when the pay is £8-10ph where I live and getting up for starts at 03.00 in the morning when I could be in my bed nice and toasty.

Plus all the f out there who think they own the road and the digital tachos with VOSA and bosses wanting to know where EXACTLY you are and how long it will take you to get to the next drop.. I just thought stuff this it's just not worth it.

One other thing the new regs now have kicked in unless you have 35 hrs supervised driving before 2014 you wont be able to renew your licence and I think I am right in saying you can now drive a rigid at 18 under the new rules!

I sincerly hope it turns out to be what you expected, for me its an option to fall back on but unless I am the only person around that can drive in an emergency I wont be going back to them.
Click to expand...

I have been in the transport industry for........... 17 years :), just not as a HGV driver, I'm aware of what it all entails, the problem I have around here as unless I have a Class 2, I cant get back on the road, as van driving and even 7.5 tonne jobs are simply unavailable.

In the job centre on friday:

Tanker driving, Gas delivery, sewerage collection (yuck no thanks), removals driver, recovery driver, delivering stuff for a large department store, Multi drop driving, food delivery, bulk loads...........
All on on a C class, all paying around £10 per hour basic (which is good for round here).
So there is work, and a lo of it, its just getting through the the test to get there.
 
Well, I did my theory tests last friday (100% on the multiple choice and 80% on the Hazard perception).

Tomorrow I start my practical course, and the test is next tuesday.
If the DVLA hadnt taken 6 weeks to get my driving license to me, I could have had this wrapped up almost a month ago.
 
Is it me, or is £850 and a few weeks training not "stupidly expensive" at all, when it supposedly means you "won't be out of work"?

Try doing a 4 year degree at Imperial to the tune of £36,000 in fees!
 
PMKeates said:
Is it me, or is £850 and a few weeks training not "stupidly expensive" at all, when it supposedly means you "won't be out of work"?
Click to expand...

Agreed.

My Class 1 & 2 Training cost around £2k, I did not pay for my Class1, my old employers did.

I have been driving now professionally for around 15years.

Currently, I take home over £30k p/a

The training is a bargain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom