ADR vs HIAB vs Class 1

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi guys,

I see a lot of folk doing their training and following the curve of getting C+E licences, rather than just getting C with for example HIAB or ADR instead.

The reason I ask is I’m really considering doing my HGV C tests and seen one guy on Facebook interestingly enough who done his class 2 and ADR and got a decent paying job that way rather than diving straight into the artics.

Was just wanting to know peoples thoughts were who have perhaps done class 2 and HIAB/ADR or C+E tests and how they found it afterwards?

In respect, the thought of manoeuvring an artic is a bit daunting to me - closest I’ve driven to an artic (if you could even call it close) is a LWB van ha! So would want to get started and experience on the rigids first anyway.

Cheers

2

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Forgive me if am wrong, but you appear to be interested / talking only about wages, the most you can earn in a shorter time after passing your / their test ( facebook friend ).

For me and a lot of other people it’s about a lot more than that.

Definitely for me it’s about having to do less drops, less manual work while enjoying your day at work.

I can tell you that it’s no fun been given the keys to your class 2 lorry and been expected to do 34 drops per day in 3 different regions, the word stress doesn’t even come close.

Now lest compare that to been given the keys to your C+E lorry and been sent on your trunk run with 1 drop then straight back to the depot and finish, i know whitch one I’d choose.

I currently only have class 2 by the way but am DESPERATE to get my C+E as soon as humanly possible.

Good luck with what ever you end up doing.
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3

Well-Jell:
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Forgive me if am wrong, but you appear to be interested / talking only about wages, the most you can earn in a shorter time after passing your / their test ( facebook friend ).

For me and a lot of other people it’s about a lot more than that.

Definitely for me it’s about having to do less drops, less manual work while enjoying your day at work.

I can tell you that it’s no fun been given the keys to your class 2 lorry and been expected to do 34 drops per day in 3 different regions, the word stress doesn’t even come close.

Now lest compare that to been given the keys to your C+E lorry and been sent on your trunk run with 1 drop then straight back to the depot and finish, i know whitch one I’d choose.

I currently only have class 2 by the way but am DESPERATE to get my C+E as soon as humanly possible.

Good luck with what ever you end up doing.
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I wouldn’t say it’s only about that but I suppose you can say at the end of the day wages are a large factor in any career decision. I would say at the moment I’m basing decisions on about 50-60% of that criteria here.

Of course, I do enjoy driving. One of the other deciding factors for me personally is the various shift patterns. Multi-drop, or more manual labour doesn’t bother me too much, I suppose you could put that down to my past experience of being a courier with Amazon where we arrived at 8am and I didn’t get home some nights til 9.30pm, had to pack and organize the van with 180-200 parcels regularly, and then expected to deliver them all the same day - double parking with the hazards on in city centre because you couldn’t get a space and bolting up a close to the very top landing.

During the Christmas period you had the luxury of your toilet break consisting of ■■■■■■■ in a bottle. To top that off any hope of finishing early was swiftly swiped away by being continually asked to go and help someone else and take parcels from them.

My mate gave it a whirl and lasted one week, parked his van up near his house and told them to come and get it. Looking back I don’t know why I put up with it.

Have you even looked at other class 2 work which is maybe less drops or less hand ball? And are you agency just now?

4

There are advantages and disadvantages to all of these options.
Going for your class 1 will make you able to do a lot more work, as you will be able to drive both artics and rigids. If you are just starting your driving career this will make it a lot easier to gain confidence and more importantly, the all important 2 years experience that lots of employers look for.

I did little bits of HIAB work despite never having a HIAB licence. There is plenty of work out there, which is pretty easy and the wages are comparable to most class 1 work. The downside is that a lot of your deliveries will be to building sites that may not appear on your Satnav or to residential areas that can get pretty tight to manoeuvre around.

I ended up doing my ADR about a year after getting my class 2. If you do this, make sure you do the course that qualifies you in packages and tanks, it costs a little bit more but opens more doors in the longer term. There is not as much ADR work at class 2 as there is at class 1, but it is out there, and it’s pretty easy work, especially if you can get on tanks. Doing your ADR could also open up the possibility of doing your PDP further down the line if you wanted to do fuels work.

The best thing to do is look at jobs in your area and see what jobs are available. Theres no point getting any qualification if there’s no demand for it in your area.

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5

CookieMonster:
There are advantages and disadvantages to all of these options.
Going for your class 1 will make you able to do a lot more work, as you will be able to drive both artics and rigids. If you are just starting your driving career this will make it a lot easier to gain confidence and more importantly, the all important 2 years experience that lots of employers look for.

I did little bits of HIAB work despite never having a HIAB licence. There is plenty of work out there, which is pretty easy and the wages are comparable to most class 1 work. The downside is that a lot of your deliveries will be to building sites that may not appear on your Satnav or to residential areas that can get pretty tight to manoeuvre around.

I ended up doing my ADR about a year after getting my class 2. If you do this, make sure you do the course that qualifies you in packages and tanks, it costs a little bit more but opens more doors in the longer term. There is not as much ADR work at class 2 as there is at class 1, but it is out there, and it’s pretty easy work, especially if you can get on tanks. Doing your ADR could also open up the possibility of doing your PDP further down the line if you wanted to do fuels work.

The best thing to do is look at jobs in your area and see what jobs are available. Theres no point getting any qualification if there’s no demand for it in your area.

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Thanks cookie, some really sound advice in there I appreciate it.

I’ve been doing just that in terms of looking for jobs recently to see what’s in demand.

6

Done all mine last year C+E hiab and ADR, I couldn’t find a single person/company to touch me on artic work nor adr/tanker work, ended up driving class two for a small firm keeping a factory funning with stock for lines having to load and Ioad wagon ext was none stop hated it 12 hour nights. Am now on for a firm contracted to a local council on the hiab and love it. Don’t ask just do them all then youll hopefully find what works for you. I’m still looking to move onto artic/tanker work in the future.

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