Is it a bad time of year to be looking for work? I keep hearing that the country is crying out for HGV drivers yet see very few advertised anywhere near me (Cambridgeshire), and the few that are out there all want you to have held your licence for 2 years and have 6-18 months of experience. Have I missed the boat on the frantic “we’ll take anyone” pre-Christmas desperation for drivers I heard about? Is January just a bad time to be looking for work as everywhere is full up from Christmas hires/temp seasonal work? Are there other months/times of year that are particularly good for hiring?
Ive been trawling the job sites, looking on every large supermarket/courier website I can think of, local haulage firms, its the same on every one, either no current vacancies or minimum 6+ months experience.
I dont really want to give up my secure full time work to take a gamble on agency work, as I dread being thrown in the deep end with no idea what Im doing and put in a totally unsuitable job by the agency, given the keys to the first artic I see and told to take it to Timbuktu or something, then ending up getting no hours because Im rubbish at it and they dont want me back
I know training costs money so companies dont want to do it, but I figured some of the bigger companies would be willing to take on new passes and train them up. Heard it was hard to get your foot in the door but didnt think it would be THIS hard! Im equally concerned that by the time I manage to get any offers, it’ll have been so long since I drove one I’ll be grossly out of practice at any potential driving assessments.
Unfortunately this country is over run with foreign drivers.
They do what they’re told when told. Less moaning than Brit drivers. And happy with less money than Brit drivers.
The haulage company favourite type driver.
Hi
Not tha bedst time of year, but from next month try to apply for work in agencies who are providing driver’s to super market’s. Thats is tha bedst way to come in and do some shifts in starting and gain experience.
I started like that. In January truck industry normally don’t have work for new starters.
Asif:
Hi
Not tha bedst time of year, but from next month try to apply for work in agencies who are providing driver’s to super market’s. Thats is tha bedst way to come in and do some shifts in starting and gain experience.
I started like that. In January truck industry normally don’t have work for new starters.
Yup, Jan’ has never been a good month for job seeking.
Most companies, their drivers have just had some holiday, so aren’t looking over the fence to see how green that grass is.
These companies therefore have bums on all seats, so aren’t looking for drivers.
Agency work is also a bit thin on the ground for these same reasons. Supermarket RDCs were rushed off their feet in the run up to Christmas/New Year, now everything is back to normal. So not the huge demand for agency drivers. And so on.
By the end of Feb/March, drivers are thinking of holidays again, so holiday cover is needed. (Agencies)
Drivers are looking over the fence, looking for greener pastures. So drivers are required to replace them.(Agency)
Keep trying, keep applying, but don’t expect your big break until March at the earliest tbf.
Don’t even expect it then, a new driver getting a foot in the door, it’s hard work.
Almost every single one of us has had to get through this period. I need 2 years experience to get a job, but how do I get 2 years experience without a job?
The few who didn’t were either very lucky, being in the right place, at the right time. Or they knew someone who could give them a start as soon as they got the licence.
The rest of us got through the initial period by the skin of our teeth, untruths, outright lies, whatever it took.
A few months of experience is all you need in reality, but even getting that few months is hard.
Getting that first shift is hard. Agencies are the answer.
I’m in the same situation , can’t get a job as I’ve no experience , a recovery company offered me s job but it works out about £6 an hour until you get the bonuses but it’s full on to get bonus
i’ve said it before, and just to get some expeirence, im doing multidrop, demountable body, 7.5T (its a 33ft wagon (10m, max length is 12m) so nearly as big as some rigids), and at least im getting experience of tachos, breaks, WTD, and fitting trucks down very tight double car parked roads. Loads of reversing to do. etc, so its actually doing me a favour in my eyes
It is understandable not to want to leave a job without secure guaranteed work. It kind of adds an extra dilemma to the whole situation, whereas if you didn’t have a job, you would just dive straight in and either sink or swim.
January is notoriously quiet with reduced agency work available.
TruckingTechnician:
i’ve said it before, and just to get some expeirence, im doing multidrop, demountable body, 7.5T (its a 33ft wagon (10m, max length is 12m) so nearly as big as some rigids), and at least im getting experience of tachos, breaks, WTD, and fitting trucks down very tight double car parked roads. Loads of reversing to do. etc, so its actually doing me a favour in my eyes
This is what Im doing at the moment, Im not sure if 7.5t counts as HGV experience when they ask about it in applications, but youre right about tacho/WTD experience etc, its got to count for something. Some say HGV experience which I put down time as a 7.5t driver, but most specify CE/Class 1 experience which I cant be so economical with the truth about.
Doing multidrop in a 7.5t around inner city areas, dont particularly like the job due to the ridiculous workload they pile on you and the awful hours (typical day Im up and out the door at 0400hrs, home around 2000hrs), but the pay is good and as you say its experience on paper so Im happy to stick with it until something better comes alonh.
English driver 1970:
Unfortunately this country is over run with foreign drivers.
They do what they’re told when told. Less moaning than Brit drivers. And happy with less money than Brit drivers.
The haulage company favourite type driver.
talking ■■■■■■■■, most of the european countries pay equal or even better than here in the UK. if you think that polish, latvian or slovak driver will drive for 11.50 an hour, youre wrong. In my company where I work, we asked together with office staff for pay increase, union did a vote and 70% of drivers, most of them english voted that we dont need a pay increase higher than 5% because the pay is good enough for them. Blame yourself first, then look for the others, its easy to blame “foreign” drivers but not looking on your arse.
tierbirdy:
Is it a bad time of year to be looking for work? I keep hearing that the country is crying out for HGV drivers yet see very few advertised anywhere near me (Cambridgeshire), and the few that are out there all want you to have held your licence for 2 years and have 6-18 months of experience. Have I missed the boat on the frantic “we’ll take anyone” pre-Christmas desperation for drivers I heard about? Is January just a bad time to be looking for work as everywhere is full up from Christmas hires/temp seasonal work? Are there other months/times of year that are particularly good for hiring?
Ive been trawling the job sites, looking on every large supermarket/courier website I can think of, local haulage firms, its the same on every one, either no current vacancies or minimum 6+ months experience.
I dont really want to give up my secure full time work to take a gamble on agency work, as I dread being thrown in the deep end with no idea what Im doing and put in a totally unsuitable job by the agency, given the keys to the first artic I see and told to take it to Timbuktu or something, then ending up getting no hours because Im rubbish at it and they dont want me back
I know training costs money so companies dont want to do it, but I figured some of the bigger companies would be willing to take on new passes and train them up. Heard it was hard to get your foot in the door but didnt think it would be THIS hard! Im equally concerned that by the time I manage to get any offers, it’ll have been so long since I drove one I’ll be grossly out of practice at any potential driving assessments.
I guess your just another one of the many conned by the media hype of ‘‘driver shortage’’ and ‘‘£80k per year wages’’.
I read on here and other sites that lot’s of recruiters/agencies are owned by people like Michael Hestletine and other top tories, they have been lobbying parliament for decades, looking for help in getting cheaper workers into the country. They called it a driver shortage when in reality it is a driver replacement on low hourly rates, lot’s of haulage firms now have their own agencies.
The body that is supposed to look after us in in bed with them all,they call themselves the RHA ! There is always a lull at this time of year when those same runts simply drop drivers,no contracts no work etc…
