Hi everyone! This may seem a stupid question, but before I stick 2grand into training, I though it best be asked
As a wannabe driver, I’m just wondering how often do you get home on C+E work?
I don’t mean just for nights, I mean do you get home each day, either through the day or night?
Is this a thing that many companies offer or is it more expected that you work nights out? Or is it all down to each individual company?
Reason I ask is, I have a daughter who is nearly 8 months old, I’m determined to get out of where I work at the moment and would love to drive. I don’t mind the long hours involved and I’m getting my head around all the rules and regs (I think!). Once I have my licences and actually get some work, I’d like to be able to get home to see her each day as she grows up.
I used to do long day shifts and by the time I got home my daughter was asleep and I left the following morning before she was awake.
I would have just enough time at home to wash, eat & sleep before returning to work
I don’t think doing nights away would be any better or worse.
MrMartyn1984:
Reason I ask is, I have a daughter who is nearly 8 months old, I’m determined to get out of where I work at the moment and would love to drive. I don’t mind the long hours involved and I’m getting my head around all the rules and regs (I think!). Once I have my licences and actually get some work, I’d like to be able to get home to see her each day as she grows up.
Cheers, Martyn.
Forget it. Even if you get home every day, you’re leaving before she gets up and are likely to be getting home after she’s gone to bed. With my eldest son, even though I was on days and home every night, he only got to see me at weekends. For the first year, he’d scream every time I’d pick him up at first because he didn’t know who I was.
Sorry but fulltime lorry driving and family life are not two compatible things. Lorry driving means no family or social life basically 5 days a week. And when you do get home, you’re so knackered you don’t want to do anything.
MrMartyn1984:
Reason I ask is, I have a daughter who is nearly 8 months old, I’m determined to get out of where I work at the moment and would love to drive. I don’t mind the long hours involved and I’m getting my head around all the rules and regs (I think!). Once I have my licences and actually get some work, I’d like to be able to get home to see her each day as she grows up.
Cheers, Martyn.
Forget it. Even if you get home every day, you’re leaving before she gets up and are likely to be getting home after she’s gone to bed. With my eldest son, even though I was on days and home every night, he only got to see me at weekends. For the first year, he’d scream every time I’d pick him up at first because he didn’t know who I was.
Sorry but fulltime lorry driving and family life are not two compatible things. Lorry driving means no family or social life basically 5 days a week. And when you do get home, you’re so knackered you don’t want to do anything.
Me and Conor disagree on many things but not this. You will be very lucky to get a class 1 (c+e) job that lets you see your nipper grow and blossom. And the way things are now you’ll also wonder why you paid 2 grand to earn less per hour than a shelf stacker in Aldi.
You can be away from home as much or as little as you want,
The jobs are as various as the colour of trucks on the road.
I now do 1 or 2 nights out per week…sometimes none…however in the past when i was single i was rarely home .longest away was about 5 months IIRC.
Just a quick reality check for you…please dont take this the wrong way but at the moment there is very little work available .
It is difficult (although not impossible) for experienced drivers to get work and therefore even more so for newly passed drivers.
Make sure its what you really want to do before you take the plunge and splash out a lot of money on training.
If you do decide its for you dont give up your present job just yet with a new baby in the family you’ll need all the money you can get for the next 20years or so.
Please dont take this as a negative because there is good work out there but its usually a case of right place at the right time and being as flexible as possible to fit in with working patterns.
Early mornings and late nights are the norm in todays transport industry. It is after all a 24/7 service industry.
Lastly …Good luck with whatever you decide to do and welcome to the world of transport.
We work daft o clock am starts and mid/late afternoon finishes (generally go home at the start of rush hour)
No nights out unless something daft happens and you get hotel’d up for that.
We work most saturdays, which is an ■■■ for me because I dont want to work wkends and will take a cut for that.
I actually got offered a job tramping yesterday but it was working wkends, shame as the money offered was very decent indeed.
I have to totally agree with 44 tonne and others this is a hard life and a lot of hours, I feel if I realised where this industry was going a few years ago I would not be here!! Think very VERY carefully before making this decision and if you have 2 G’s burning a hole in your pocket maybe look at doing some other sort of training ie plumbing?? this is a well paid job and plumbers are in demand HGV drivers however are not at this time but the industry still says there is a demand and then you spend all that money and cannot find a job after it all. I am sorry to be negative as I am sure others are but this is reality and this world is hard to cope with sometimes, best advice is carry on as you are OR find a better trade as this is no life to see your baby grow up and enjoy all the great moments you will miss out on if your out in a wagon!!
Still best of luck with whatever you decide, after all this is your life and you only have ONE shot at it please make the correct decision for yourself and once again think VERY CAREFULLY FINALLY Good Luck Chap…
use the money for plumbing training or summit similar, work is slow for trucking and competion for jobs is high, and the jobs we chase at moment are jobs we would otherwise of avoided, plus then u have to find an employer who wud choose u over a pool of experienced drivers , but there is that thing of ambition if its what what you see yourself doing then its upto you as long as your aware of the downsides,
This where I disagree with conor. It’s more likely you be out before she is up and in after she’s in bed
you could look at a 4in4 off shift
Conor I think you were unluck you little one screamed everytime you picked them up
I may just be lucky but my litle lad is attached to me like a limpit mine at weekend
yo the op don’t think it will be easy being away it isn’t as a new start driver you’ll have to take what ever work you can get and it will most likely be nights away
I’ll see if I can get one of the other lads on here to post into this thread his experience may be more benefit to you
I make no apologies for a negative reply! If you have 2 grand spare then train for something with a future, as sugested, plumber or a sparky. Even van driving! I see no future in trucking beyond more regs, more mergers, more disciplinary rules and no noticeable increase in wages.
Drivers put up with [zb] that nobody else will, are treated like 3rd class oiks and (can) do very little about it.
DRIVERS ARE THEIR OWN WORST ENEMY. Driving is a vocation, you want to do it and pay the price!
Wages are the easiest expense to control and reduce. Hauliers, consigners and the government know it.
Wages go up and food prices go up, go figure!
Domestically, my eldest child was out of nappies before I realised how long I spent away from home!
MrMartyn1984:
how often do you get home on C+E work?
Maybe progress by appreciating the varied ‘sectors’ within the industry. Some are clean whilst others are dirty. Some may require specialist knowledge others are start-and-go. Some are regionally specific, others are more generic. Some are high security, etc - and others are gash as chuff. You’ll perhaps learn from this that some sectors - and hence the employers within that sector, will only need you for eight hours a day whilst others will want the whole of your life for the maximum working period (of six days p/w). Beneath the surface of ‘being a driver’ one might see that the working variables are quite vast.
Also, appreciating the reasons why a C+E licence appeals to you could confirm the specialism that drivers can sometimes inadvertantly find themselves doing vs. the one that will best suit your needs. Whether that sector exists in your area will either help or hinder your conclusion, and may require a house/family move or a major commute to get things rolling.
Perhaps I’m suggesting that in an ideal world (huh!) the C+E icence is there to work for you rather than you having to fit around what it might initially chuck at you and that after getting the licence, your very next priority is finding your niche - which is arguably more than just being ‘a driver’.
dustylfc:
use the money for plumbing training or summit similar, work is slow for trucking and competion for jobs is high, and the jobs we chase at moment are jobs we would otherwise of avoided, plus then u have to find an employer who wud choose u over a pool of experienced drivers , but there is that thing of ambition if its what what you see yourself doing then its upto you as long as your aware of the downsides,
Plumbing is another trade which is bulled up something rotten, I had one of this breed round my house two week ago, to price up a job and give some advice on the central heating system, well, after two hours of him grilling me about HGV driving, we eventaully talked about the job I had in mind. He, at 54, thinks a career change is needed, as the jobs ■■■■■■ [in his words]. He seemed to think my lifestyle was to be admired I soon put him straight about the “dark"O"clock” start times, the night work, the general “not knowing” what the hell is going on, the spotty oiks running the show, the graduates who don`t know a fork lift from a double decker, the bitter and twisted EX drivers who have progressed up the greasy pole, and, now regret it . But, apart from this little list, I actually love my job, he thought I was completly barking mad The plumbers who are earning £100k, are very good at their job, have gained a reputation for doing the job right first time, and, normally are based in central London, working for the capitals elite. £100k is kosher, as I heard it on BBC Radio London on sunday morning, as I was coming round the M25, that “Tommy” geezer was on a programe about “D.I.Y” Driving is a bit like living in the UK, love it or leave it
I work 8PM - 6AM 5 days a week and get to see my family all the time. I’ve done all sorts of shifts and also tramped for a number of years, but find my current shift suets me fine at the moment.
My relationship with my boys hasn’t suffered at all because of my being away a lot, in fact if anything it is stronger because the time we spend together is always quality time.
It’s irrelevant what a plumber can or can’t earn, how interesting can it be soldering bits of copper together all week?
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