Hi all,
I’ve recently started driving for tesco’s in their 3.5 tonne delivery vans and have enjoyed the work for the most part and am thinking of getting my HGV licences, there are plenty of centres around london where I live so will search around a bit to find somewhere good (any suggestions are welcome from anyone in the london area.
I have a couple of questions about pay however, I have done a quick search for supposedly “entry level” and “new-pass friendly” and they are advertising salaries anywhere between 30k-36k a year although I’m quite weary of “advertised salaries” as they never seem to be a realistic reflection of what you’re going to be earning and sometimes downright lies.
What is a realistic entry level salary for a cat C and E driver in the london area? I am young, single and don’t have any dependants so would be open to tramping and Nights if it could maximise potential earnings
Also what sort of earning progression can I expect through my career? What is the upper ceiling of trucking? I definitely intend on doing any quals that could potentially move me up the pay ladder ie Hazardous materials, oil/petrol tanker quals.
In general do those of you working in the industry feel there is much career progression? Is it a “you get out what you put in” type deals or does it get quite stagnant the further you go in your career.
I know this was pretty money-centric and I know you should do something you enjoy but I would just like some insight into what career progression is out there before i fork out for my licence. I don’t want to be the richest man in the grave but would like to be able to live comfortably and pay a mortgage off in the future.
Supermarket delivery driver, driving the 3.5 tonne vans is a great place to start your HGV driving career.
There is only one hourly pay rate at clients for Class 1 drivers, so new drivers earn the same hourly rate as experienced drivers. Not only that, but new drivers might get the easier work, as clients don’t want their new drivers having accidents while accessing difficult delivery areas.
As soon as you can comfortably do the 3.5 tonne van work (perhaps after 6 weeks to 6 months) then go for your HGV licence.
Don’t bother with hazardous materials/tanker or other specialized training because you won’t be able to do that sort of work until you’ve had your licence for at least two years. Besides, that sort of work doesn’t pay more like it used to. The race to the bottom has taken care of that.
Not only that, but new drivers might get the easier work, as clients don’t want their new drivers having accidents while accessing difficult delivery areas.
I’m calling bs on this, does this guy actually do the job, you’re more likely to get the dog [zb] not less
My $0.02 worth, which is pretty much in direct opposition to Carlston’s advice:
I see no point in delaying doing your HGV training, six months experience on 3.5T is irrelevant to driving a bigger Class 2 vehicle. You may already know there’s a backlog on training and tests so even more reason not to delay.
If you’re ultimately aiming for Class 1 then you may as well do it as soon as you feel ready; your “two years experience” is two years regardless: having held a Class 2 for two years counts for squat once you pass your Class 1, it;s all about the insurers stipulations regarding how long you’ve held your licence.
As for ADR etc, you don’t need 2 years experience for that, a lot of ADR work is just packages so isn’t particularly technical.
Tankers? Well, that would require more on the job training from an employer and is probably more about presenting yourself as a safe pair of hands, even some experienced drivers wouldn’t get a chance of tanker work due to the way they put their selves across. Some places might conceivably want people who hadn’t acquired the usual industry bad habits, but don’t hold your breath.
If you have no ties then tramping on class 1 might work well for you.
And don’t limit yourself to “reputable” job advertisers either, plenty of companies advertise through locally oriented FB groups, problem is that as far as I can see a lot of them seem to expect all drivers to be maxxed-out cowboys who think DVSA can’t touch them
Just remember whoever you work for, it’s YOUR licence.
