I’m assuming given the nature of driving around a truck filled with a highly explosive substance probably requires you to have significant driving experience and an impeccable driving record but assuming one has 5 - 10 years driving experience with no points on their licence, no crashes of any kind and generally a very sound history driving trucks, how in demand are these fuel tanker jobs? I saw a Shell truck refilling a petrol station today and was going to chat to him but decided not to bother him.
I imagine with the higher than average salary there are lots of applications for probably not many positions? Anyone here have such a driving record described above and found themselves still unable to get a job driving fuel tankers?
When I decided to become an hgv driver, I was the same as you, wanting to get on to the fuel work.
I got my class 2 just over 5 years ago, ADR (qualification needed to carry hazardous materials) 4 years ago, class 1 3 years ago and PDP (petroleum drivers passport) in September last year. So all told, I did it in just over 4 years.
If it’s what you really want to do, focus on work that leads in that direction, eg ADR work, tankers etc.
Look at companies like World Fuels (Watson’s), North West Fuels or other local fuel distributors who will also do class 2 fuel work if, like me, you can’t get your class 1 straight after passing class 2.
If you can get your class 1, get some experience, get ADR qualified, and try and get some chemical tanker work.
As for money, the pay is generally better than other driving work, although not as good as it once was, roughly £40-50k a year, but the highest wages also come with the worst shift patterns.
All in all, it’s a great job, definitely worth doing if you can.
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CookieMonster:
When I decided to become an hgv driver, I was the same as you, wanting to get on to the fuel work.
I got my class 2 just over 5 years ago, ADR (qualification needed to carry hazardous materials) 4 years ago, class 1 3 years ago and PDP (petroleum drivers passport) in September last year. So all told, I did it in just over 4 years.
If it’s what you really want to do, focus on work that leads in that direction, eg ADR work, tankers etc.
Look at companies like World Fuels (Watson’s), North West Fuels or other local fuel distributors who will also do class 2 fuel work if, like me, you can’t get your class 1 straight after passing class 2.
If you can get your class 1, get some experience, get ADR qualified, and try and get some chemical tanker work.
As for money, the pay is generally better than other driving work, although not as good as it once was, roughly £40-50k a year, but the highest wages also come with the worst shift patterns.
All in all, it’s a great job, definitely worth doing if you can.
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Thanks for the insight. I’m jumping the gun a bit as I’ve not even begun my training for a class 2 but I think tanker work is the route I want to take. Only 5 years from stepping in your first hgv to driving a fuel tanker earning £40k - £50k a year seems pretty good to me.
Once you were fully qualified to drive a fuel tanker, was is particularly difficult getting your first job? I guess that’s always the problem for most people is getting that first job with your new qualification.
Nothing wrong with getting ahead of yourself. When I started, I didn’t have a clue. I didn’t know anyone who drove for a living, didn’t know about this forum, had no-one to ask for help or advice. So I made a plan of how to get where I wanted to be. The plan was to get my class 2, do that for a few years, then get my class 1 and do that for a few years. Then get my ADR, do a few years of that, move onto tanker work, do a few more years on that, then find one of the lower end fuel companies to take a chance on me, before finally moving to one of the ‘big boys’.
Thanks to some hard work, and a little bit of luck along the way, I managed to cut about half of the time off my original plan, and if I knew then all I do now, then I could possibly have done it quicker.
As daft as it sounds, you can’t actually get pdp qualified unless you have a fuel job. This is because the test for it comes in two parts, a theory and a practical, and obviously you can’t do a practical assessment without a vehicle. You can do the theory test off your own back, but it’s a bit pointless as it’s only valid for 4 months without the practical test to go along with it.
The theory test is a fairly straightforward multiple choice test after a few hours in a classroom, the practical test is going into a terminal and loading then going to a customer site and delivering. But whichever company you end up with will have given you a good amount of training in how to do this before your test by sending you out with another driver.
I know I’m probably going a bit too in depth and rambling a bit, but just trying to give as much information as possible.
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CookieMonster:
Nothing wrong with getting ahead of yourself. When I started, I didn’t have a clue. I didn’t know anyone who drove for a living, didn’t know about this forum, had no-one to ask for help or advice. So I made a plan of how to get where I wanted to be. The plan was to get my class 2, do that for a few years, then get my class 1 and do that for a few years. Then get my ADR, do a few years of that, move onto tanker work, do a few more years on that, then find one of the lower end fuel companies to take a chance on me, before finally moving to one of the ‘big boys’.
Thanks to some hard work, and a little bit of luck along the way, I managed to cut about half of the time off my original plan, and if I knew then all I do now, then I could possibly have done it quicker.
As daft as it sounds, you can’t actually get pdp qualified unless you have a fuel job. This is because the test for it comes in two parts, a theory and a practical, and obviously you can’t do a practical assessment without a vehicle. You can do the theory test off your own back, but it’s a bit pointless as it’s only valid for 4 months without the practical test to go along with it.
The theory test is a fairly straightforward multiple choice test after a few hours in a classroom, the practical test is going into a terminal and loading then going to a customer site and delivering. But whichever company you end up with will have given you a good amount of training in how to do this before your test by sending you out with another driver.
I know I’m probably going a bit too in depth and rambling a bit, but just trying to give as much information as possible.
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So you have to get a company to effectively hire you first and then they’ll be the ones to go through your pdp qualification? In some ways that might actually be better because at least you know you’re getting hired as soon as your pass rather than passing and then hunting around for jobs not knowing when you’re going to find someone to hire you.
But yeah the route you took is pretty much the idea I have in mind, class 2 for a few years then onto class 1 then onto fuel tankers. My ultimate long term goal (while probably very unlikely) is after 15 years in trucking in the UK, to try and get employed in Canada or the US. One step at a time though 
TruckerWannabe123:
So you have to get a company to effectively hire you first and then they’ll be the ones to go through your pdp qualification? In some ways that might actually be better because at least you know you’re getting hired as soon as your pass rather than passing and then hunting around for jobs not knowing when you’re going to find someone to hire you.
Absolutely correct. They will take you on, give as much training as necessary then put you through the test.
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Pedant alert.
Not being a fuel person, isn’t it highly flammable, not highly explosive?
I retired recently but I moved explosives, not piddly fireworks, for 28 years and besides them being highly explosive 
, there are similarities with fuel. Our work included some foreign, around 50/50 and the lads grossed 45-54k, as usual some people wanted to go abroad more than others. That figure excluded expenses which could be anything from 30.00 to over a 100.00 per week.
What I was interested in with a driver was attitude/personality more than anything. Partly because we ran a fair bit of double man, but mostly because with a dangerous and/or high value load you want the right person. Virtually no one has ADR1 and even if we had someone apply with ADR1, if they weren’t the right person I’d much rather take someone on with the right attitude and train them myself.
All employers are different, I took on a couple of young lads, youngest 23, no real experience, but he was a good driver. I think that smaller firms are more flexible in that direction.
Good luck.
albion:
Pedant alert.
Not being a fuel person, isn’t it highly flammable, not highly explosive?
Yes albion, you’re absolutely spot-on with that observation. 
Hi I was a fuel tanker driver for several years in western Canada and found it quite challenging. The qualifications between the two countries seem different but the job does require a lot of training. Each loading facility has its own loading criteria ….I ended up with about 5 loading badges from different facilities including aviation fuel . I also hauled some chemical and oil as back loads from Portland Oregon to Calgary alberta
It is dangerous a minor accident can escalate into something very serious . A few years ago a fire which originated in a burst tyre killed a driver if he d been hauling anything else he would have walked away. In my experience its not a very physical job and I did it into my 60 s . I understand that in Europe there are strict guide lines on how new petrol stations are built…unfortunately that is not the case here we still have to reverse out of some
I enjoyed hauling fuel but realise its not for everybody many qualified drivers were turned away because they could get the hang of the paperwork. I was well paid as I m sure you will be in the uk. I found it very challenging in the minus 30 degree c winters we have here ……hope this helps Wayne Robinson
robinswh:
Hi I was a fuel tanker driver for several years in western Canada and found it quite challenging. The qualifications between the two countries seem different but the job does require a lot of training. Each loading facility has its own loading criteria ….I ended up with about 5 loading badges from different facilities including aviation fuel . I also hauled some chemical and oil as back loads from Portland Oregon to Calgary alberta
It is dangerous a minor accident can escalate into something very serious . A few years ago a fire which originated in a burst tyre killed a driver if he d been hauling anything else he would have walked away. In my experience its not a very physical job and I did it into my 60 s . I understand that in Europe there are strict guide lines on how new petrol stations are built…unfortunately that is not the case here we still have to reverse out of some
I enjoyed hauling fuel but realise its not for everybody many qualified drivers were turned away because they could get the hang of the paperwork. I was well paid as I m sure you will be in the uk. I found it very challenging in the minus 30 degree c winters we have here ……hope this helps Wayne Robinson
Each terminal will require you to do an induction and to show that you can load safely, but it’s nothing too difficult.
Petrol stations might be more regulated in Europe, but not in the UK. There are still plenty that I have to reverse either in or out of. There are also a fair few that give you little room. Quite a lot still have underground offsets as well. Having said that, the supermarket fuel stations are almost always set up well, with plenty of room, not in the way of any of the pumps, no reversing in or out and above ground offsets.
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