So would you say the above are a good way of getting new blood into the industry working with an established haulage company learning from the bottom up and eventually getting your licence or is it haulage company’s exploiting youngsters my own opinion is i think its a great idea and larger company’s should be rolling these schemes out to encourage younger people into this industry .I no its not a perfect job and we all moan about it but its kept me and my family for for the last 38 years or so
On balance probably a good idea which I’d like to have been an option when I left school.
But with the caveats that the enthusiasm of new prospective drivers can be exploited using the carrot of the job they want to do to fill unrelated/menial positions.In a similar way that the army at least had/has form in doing that in suggesting if not promising a career in transport,knowing that the possible positions were always going to be over subscribed based on the recruitment numbers.Resulting,at least in my day,in probably more than a few of the ‘boots on the ground’ in Ireland for example having joined up with the intention of being ‘drivers’ by trade. 
On that note I’d at least want any such job offer to guarantee a suitable job position after a reasonable period of training and for the training itself not to involve any unreasonably unrelated job requirements/placement. 
Downton’s do apprenticeships for any youngsters who are interested.
18-24 I think, and a clean driving licence is required.
When I started out in 1986, truck driving was a well-paid job where you were left alone for the vast majority of your working week, nowadays it’s a poorly-paid job where you are constantly spied on by internal facing cameras lest you have a personal habit which is prohibited by the suits in the office.
I wouldn’t dream of recommending this job to a youngster nowadays, and that’s a shame given that I loved it for so long.
Harry Monk:
When I started out in 1986, truck driving was a well-paid job where you were left alone for the vast majority of your working week, nowadays it’s a poorly-paid job where you are constantly spied on by internal facing cameras lest you have a personal habit which is prohibited by the suits in the office.I wouldn’t dream of recommending this job to a youngster nowadays, and that’s a shame given that I loved it for so long.
My job is not poorly paid. I don’t get spied on with an internal facing camera. And before you start, I don’t get chased or pushed.
But I don’t work for a large ‘solutions provider’ . And I won’t ‘deliver winners’ either. (Wouldn’t ■■■■ on them if they were on fire, but that is a different story 
)
the nodding donkey:
My job is not poorly paid.
If you were paid relative to truck drivers’ pay 20-25 years ago, you’d be taking home £4-5,000 a month nowadays. Any of the older boys here will tell you that.
Harry Monk:
the nodding donkey:
My job is not poorly paid.If you were paid relative to truck drivers’ pay 20-25 years ago, you’d be taking home £4-5,000 a month nowadays. Any of the older boys here will tell you that.
Haven’t you heard Harry? Some on here are already earning that
I doubt some sort of apprenticeship is going to make a great deal of difference, even if your training is paid for and you’ve got job at the end.
The job just isn’t attractive to many youngsters, I doubt you’d get much parental encouragement or the job will have much kudos with your peer group, then there is the long unsociable hours playing total havoc with your social life.
In Harry’s time and before the potential adventure of long distance trips across Europe and maybe beyond, would attract a certain type into the industry, especially with a decent pay packet, In a roundabout way it’s what attracted me into truck driving.
Personally I don’t regret getting into driving trucks, but I probably would if I was on some sort of trunking, RDC work for a major haulier.
Harry Monk:
the nodding donkey:
My job is not poorly paid.If you were paid relative to truck drivers’ pay 20-25 years ago, you’d be taking home £4-5,000 a month nowadays. Any of the older boys here will tell you that.
My first job 23 years ago saw me taking home about £180 a week. Tramping 5 days. Bottle of Newcastle brown about £1.80. . I drove a day cab Ford Cargo with a roof pod. Do I want to go back? Do I ■■■■.
Harry Monk:
the nodding donkey:
My job is not poorly paid.If you were paid relative to truck drivers’ pay 20-25 years ago, you’d be taking home £4-5,000 a month nowadays. Any of the older boys here will tell you that.
28000.- to 32000.- Schilling every 2 week 
Harry , If i Got paid the equivilent wage now to what I was earning in 1973 doing euro work I would have to take home £ 1800 per week. This was for running regular uk-italy-uk and uk- malta-uk. in them days a wonderful job with very little hassle, left alone to get on and do the job.
all companies need to do is get rid of the H&S ■■■■■■■■ and allow drivers to take their kid during the school holidays etc. even if only for a few days - I got my licence after these sort of experiences and got bitten by the bug as they say.
muckles:
I doubt some sort of apprenticeship is going to make a great deal of difference, even if your training is paid for and you’ve got job at the end.
The job just isn’t attractive to many youngsters, I doubt you’d get much parental encouragement or the job will have much kudos with your peer group, then there is the long unsociable hours playing total havoc with your social life.In Harry’s time and before the potential adventure of long distance trips across Europe and maybe beyond, would attract a certain type into the industry, especially with a decent pay packet, In a roundabout way it’s what attracted me into truck driving.
Personally I don’t regret getting into driving trucks, but I probably would if I was on some sort of trunking, RDC work for a major haulier.
As a young driver I agree with this. Lorry driving lacks the allure that most trades have, and there are lots of stereotypes and misconceptions that people pick-up on, so being a tradesman, or even a loader or packer in a RDC, where you’re in your bed every night, and free to go out with your mates when you want are more attractive options for a young person.
As for the last statement, I must say that if the only opportunity for driving work was RDC or trunking work, I would have probably never used my licence again. Monotonous RDCs, ridiculous bureaucracy, massive waiting times, and jobsworths galore. RDC trunking was my first job, and I hated every minute of it, but that’s just me. I’m on supermarket deliveries now, and loving it!
I could see problems with LGV driver apprenticeships down the line. What if a young kid passes his Class 1 after months of shadowing another driver, gets in his own truck, and hates the job. Or passes his test FOC, and buggers-off to a better, higher-paid job. The firm could be throwing thousands of pounds down the drain, and I doubt small haulage firms would risk it. Firms could also exploit their new young “apprentice drivers”, by paying them an apprentice wage, even when they’re out on their own, doing a proper job. They could shadow a driver for a week, and the company put them on a 6-month “training period”, where they go out on their own, and do the job properly, getting paid £3.30 per hour for the privilege. Too much could go wrong in my opinion.
Most firms mate will expect you to sign some sort of agreement, so if you leave employment within 24 months for example, you pay the company £2000 back.
eagerbeaver:
Most firms mate will expect you to sign some sort of agreement, so if you leave employment within 24 months for example, you pay the company £2000 back.
Does that work with “apprenticeships” though? I’ve heard of this through big companies, like Costains, who used to do that, but I haven’t heard of apprentices having to pay their training costs back, although this could be just in my experience, and or have something to do with the very low wage that apprentices can be paid. They pay them a low wage to off-set their training costs.
A firm I used to work for took-on apprentice mechanics, and if they left, they didn’t have to pay-back their training costs, and it was just an associated risk with having an apprentice. Bloody frustrating it was! 
Not sure TBH Rotty, I know with the likes of mechanics etc, the ’ direct ’ costs of training a young person are negligible.
The thing with LGV’s is that one youngster might pass class 2 and then class 1 straight away, costing maybe £1500 ish. But another may well fail a few tests, and then you are looking upwards of £3000 with CPC.
Depends on the employer I suppose, but the employer cant get that much back in the way of paying low wages, because there are many examples on here of drivers driving for £8 per hour. Considering that the NMW is £7.20, (although I suspect it may be a bit lower for younger people), there wouldn’t be much meat left on the bone.
If employers DONT expect any monies back, I think the youngsters would be mad not to get a LGV category on their licence. It could always come in handy as a back up if nothing else.