Hi all. Forum noob seeks advice on living and working in France, all information and advice welcome.
Cheers!
Hi, To work for a French firm you will need a FIMO and a FCO, The FCO is the driver CPC, You will need the card, The UK will not issue a card on acquired rights so you need to either do the 35 hours in the UK and get the card (valid throughout europe) or if your French is up to it do the coarse in France, I decided to do the French coarse so as to prove myself to prospective employers, Also if you do the French version you will learn about the different French regs that you need to know. There are French regs that supersede the european regs, for driving hours and working time.
The FIMO is a month long coarse that has to be taken after passing your driving test and before starting work, The good news is that the French “D.R.E.A.L” (VOSA) will give you acquired rights if you passed your test before a certain date. (Can’t remember when off hand, I have acquired rights and passed my hgv 20 years ago, I think the cut off is about 15 years ago)
I live in Normandie and will be happy to help with questions from you or anyone else who reads this, please PM me.
Hope this helps
Martyn, thanks very much for the info. I passed my test 16 years ago and am in the process of doing my last 3 modules for my UK DCPC card. I’m trying to make myself as employable as possible in France, so I’ve booked ADR courses and various other bits to improve my CV.
I’m interested in the little things too, day to day things that you think are better or worse than in the UK, and generally how French employers are compared to ours and of course what the money is like!
I didn’t know about the French regulations superseding EU ones, is there a huge difference?
Hi there,
I would love to hear a little about being a trucker in France.
A little background. I’m from south-west France but currently studying at University in Cornwall, UK. However my ideas have changed and want to get into trucking. (please no doom-and gloom stories, I’ve had enough of them with the photography world!!) My plan is to finish Uni then undergo all the training required to become a trucker. The question is though, which country? Having family both in England and France I have the choice to start-out here in the UK or go back to France and start there. I don’t have a French car driving license, only a UK one.
So that’s a little about my situation. Any info on the road to becoming a trucker in France and the general day-to-day stuff would be really great and much appreciated!
Thanks,
Nico
hi nico,first off you must change driving and hgv licences to french ones which need you to show an adress and utility bills in your name either rented or owned.next step contact drear about courses for fimo and fco.you need courses for each of these and they are not cheap and they are time consuming.there is a cheap way if you go through the employment service but i left france 3 years ago and things change on a costant monthly basis there.on getting the paperwork sorted you then start the difficult bit of getting a start.most french firms only work in europe so a you will need to speak good french.you say you can operate from u.k. or france,well my choice would be to work for a u.k. based firm.most french only pay the smic, minimum wage of about 9/10 euro,s an hour.no sunday work for majority of drivers unless delivering what they term as essential goods.this is as i see things,but iknow about 4 drivers who live there and got a start through employment agencies so not all gloom and doom.anyhow i wish you every good luck and hope you get on in what you decide to do.regards,jack preston.
Nico Chapman:
Hi there,I would love to hear a little about being a trucker in France.
A little background. I’m from south-west France but currently studying at University in Cornwall, UK. However my ideas have changed and want to get into trucking. (please no doom-and gloom stories, I’ve had enough of them with the photography world!!) My plan is to finish Uni then undergo all the training required to become a trucker. The question is though, which country? Having family both in England and France I have the choice to start-out here in the UK or go back to France and start there. I don’t have a French car driving license, only a UK one.
So that’s a little about my situation. Any info on the road to becoming a trucker in France and the general day-to-day stuff would be really great and much appreciated!
Thanks,
Nico
Hi mate, looks like we’ll pass each other on the boat! 
Trucking in the UK can’t really be described as trucking. Everything you do is subject to what an accountant and a “Health and Safety professional” has made of it. This is more prevalent, the bigger the firm you work for, some smaller firms still employ common sense though.
Go to France, I am! 
Thanks for the advice guys.
I think the idea of trucking in France is appealing, but I also think it’s possibly not all so jolly. It seems like a long, complicated and expensive route to become a French trucker. And I can’t seem to find anywhere to do it in the south-west, near Bayonne. Also the actual fact of simply living in france isn’t what you call simple! Not sure if it’s just me thinking these things… (I know the “living in France is hard” part is very real)
After some contemplation I’ll probably look at passing everything I need to over here in the UK and try to work my way up to a position where I can do a lot of European work.
Are there any good haulage companies in the UK that mostly do international/european work? Anywhere based in Cornwall/Devon or north Wales?
Cheers
Nico
Nico Chapman:
Thanks for the advice guys.I think the idea of trucking in France is appealing, but I also think it’s possibly not all so jolly. It seems like a long, complicated and expensive route to become a French trucker. And I can’t seem to find anywhere to do it in the south-west, near Bayonne. Also the actual fact of simply living in france isn’t what you call simple! Not sure if it’s just me thinking these things… (I know the “living in France is hard” part is very real)
After some contemplation I’ll probably look at passing everything I need to over here in the UK and try to work my way up to a position where I can do a lot of European work.
Are there any good haulage companies in the UK that mostly do international/european work? Anywhere based in Cornwall/Devon or north Wales?
Cheers
Nico
Yes, becoming a trucker in the UK does actually seem simpler than in France. I looked into what French drivers have to learn and it was pretty comprehensive!
There aren’t very many UK companies doing a lot of Euro work any more, even less “good” ones I’d say. In the areas you mention I can only think of Sparks, (somewhere in Gloucester) Armoric, (Plymouth) and S&K (but they’re in South Wales). I can’t tell you if they’re good or bad as I’ve never worked for them.
Thanks for that.
All-in-all I think tones of hard work and a bit of luck is what seems to be needed to get to where you want to be
You might like to read my post here.
If you have any other questions, let me know.
Héraultais:
You might like to read my post here.French HGV Training - THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE) - Trucknet UK
If you have any other questions, let me know.
Thanks for sharing a link to that post, it was really helpful. It doesn’t seem like a very straightforward road to getting everything done and is an example of the often ludicrous french bureaucracy towards everything. The other downside is that I’m originally from south-west France and don’t think there’s anywhere nearby that provides all the necessary training.
Looks like I’ll probably be getting my license over here in the UK.
Thanks again
Salut Nico,
I’m in Cornwall and about to go back to Agen (ou Agengggg!) to continue working for a very good French firm. I’ll PM you my phone number now if you want to have a chat about working in the sud-ouest over a pint of Tribute or a coffee.
Craig
Scanner.
Where are you moving from (Your avatar Is the flag of Friesland (Nederland)) ■■
Geoffo:
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Where are you moving from (Your avatar Is the flag of Friesland (Nederland)) ■■
Hi Geffo, moving from deepest London. My flag is where my family come from
Scanner:
Geoffo:
Scanner.
Where are you moving from (Your avatar Is the flag of Friesland (Nederland)) ■■Hi Geffo, moving from deepest London. My flag is where my family come from
Good luck with the move…
Geoffo:
Scanner:
Geoffo:
Scanner.
Where are you moving from (Your avatar Is the flag of Friesland (Nederland)) ■■Hi Geffo, moving from deepest London. My flag is where my family come from
Good luck with the move…
Cheers! Out of interest, is there much going on in Belgie? Are the wages better than France?
Spardo took the plunge and moved over to France. He worked for a respected French Haulier who treated him like one of their own. He may give you some pointers if you can find him. I think he has gone to the dogs now though… 
Scanner:
Geoffo:
Scanner:
Geoffo:
Scanner.
Where are you moving from (Your avatar Is the flag of Friesland (Nederland)) ■■Hi Geffo, moving from deepest London. My flag is where my family come from
Good luck with the move…
Cheers! Out of interest, is there much going on in Belgie? Are the wages better than France?
Oops, only spotted your reply today (29/07/13).
I know of a lot of companies that employ French Drivers In Belgium.
Apparently Belgian companies pay more, but they also expect their pound of flesh.
There are driving jobs advertised everyday In our local & national papers…
Geoffo:
Scanner:
Geoffo:
Scanner:
Geoffo:
Scanner.
Where are you moving from (Your avatar Is the flag of Friesland (Nederland)) ■■Hi Geffo, moving from deepest London. My flag is where my family come from
Good luck with the move…
Cheers! Out of interest, is there much going on in Belgie? Are the wages better than France?
Oops, only spotted your reply today (29/07/13).
I know of a lot of companies that employ French Drivers In Belgium.
Apparently Belgian companies pay more, but they also expect their pound of flesh.
There are driving jobs advertised everyday In our local & national papers…
Thank you sir, I’ll have a look in the online versions