Following a 4 month delay on getting provisional back from DVLA, I passed my theory this morning. I was most concerned with the case studies but managed 48/50 in Trev end so that was a good blag. 97/100 on multiple choice and scraped by on hazard perception - should be the easiest! Perhaps I was pressing too early.
Hope to start practical training in 4 weeks time. I’ve paid for class 2 and 1 as a combined lot. I fully understand I need to get some class 2 under my belt first.
Covid chaos aside, what is the most lucrative class 2 area of work? I’m keen to learn but also do (as we all do) require £££. I understand that HIAB is another string to the bow but I was more looking for which sectors pay better?
I look after my disabled son on the weekends (separated from face ache) so could only do Mon-Fri.
Any input appreciated.
ETA: I’m on the southern Surrey/Hampshire border - 25 minutes from Portsmouth.
I mean no disrespect, but the better payers out there like Hoyer fuel tankers, Royal Mail, UPS etc Will all require you to have held your licence a while before they’ll give you a shot. (Those policies quickly change come Christmas rush time)
As I understand it, HIAB on builders merchants isn’t great money. Around £12 ish an hour but you’ll be home every night and wont do nights on Class 2…
As you’re just getting your licence, you are going to be competing with more experienced drivers that have lost their jobs - I don’t envy your position.
I would take anything you can get for the first 6-12 months and move up the ladder in experience that way. Lots of doors open when you have 6-12 months experience - But with this Covid business and supposed impending recession. I would try and get into something that will always be needed , like supermarkets, parcel companies and fuel movements or if you can stomach it - waste or water deliveries for the utility companies
At the risk of raining on your parade, the most lucrative sectors of the industry will, as you’ve already been told, be looking for drivers with tons of experience.
HGV driving is not well paid, despite what the adverts from training companies try to tell people
The alleged shortage of drivers? A shortage of drivers with experience who will work for a pittance perhaps.
Some agencies want you to have two years experience or they won’t touch you, others are more open. I’m going back about 15 years but in my early days Driver Hire paid less but had more work for raw newbies - they’re a national franchise outfit so they might not all be the same
When you do get some work it’ll probably be the stuff no one else wants.
I wouldn’t recommend doing Hiab unless you’ve got a job ready to get the experience, the ticket by itself counts for very little and isn’t that cheap.
ADR might be a better string to your bow, easier to make it “pay for itself” over the long run, and you can bank some DCPC hours for the next five years beyond your initial CPC
Once you’ve got your licence you need to find agencies & companies who are ok giving a newbie a start: I’m no where near your location so can’t recommend anyone.
It’s worth pointing out that even very experienced Class 1 drivers might still find their self working for minimum wage.
But… don’t let any of that get you down, I heard all the same stuff years ago when I was just getting into it so it’s nothing new. If you get the chance to do bin wagon work, jump at it, it’s a very steep learning curve but it’s a great way to develop your confidence quickly and you’ll always have at least one banksman on hand helping you out.
An excellent point Rog, I hadn’t intended to make that distinction, that was just a fortunate choice of words.
But seeing as OP has already booked their both C and C+E it’s too late now to warn them about the dangers of brokers - I was one of those who got ripped off by a broker years ago (whatever happened to Sterling Training? No doubt operating under some other monicker by now)
As a newbie driver you were always going to struggle. Covid has made it much harder but not impossible.
My normal mantra of printing off 100 cvs and start knocking on doors may backfire with social distancing. Pick up the phone and ring everyone instead. If that doesn’t work. Grab yourself a face mask and start kicking doors down.
The job boards round here seem to be picking up again with drivers wanted for all sorts of jobs. Get your C+E and get applying for everything and anything.
Stick it out for 6 months to get some experience under your belt and then hopefully Covid may be a distant memory, even if it isn’t. It’s much easier to get a job if you have one (even a crappy one) and have some experience than if you don’t.
Jeeeez there are so many negative people in this industry judging by the previous comments, if you can afford it and want to do it, get the hiab get the adr get the moffat get everything you want, in these crazy times it cant do you any harm to have as many strings to your bow as possible. You WILL find a job, if its not the right one for you, stay in it gaining experience until the right one turns up. There is a company close to me who does hiab for just over £200, it hardly breaks the bank does it.
Sure you can get a cheap Hiab ticket, but whether or not it is worth anything is a different matter. Most places insist on an Allmi ticket, I doubt you’d get that for £200, plus the cheap trainers require you to have your own vehicle to do the training on. There’s only one place near me (100 mile radius) that does an Allmi ticket and supplies the vehicle, costs over £400, and without experience, which company is going to give you a shot at using their crane? Not many I’ll bet.
If they dont have a steering wheel attendant, and they need a steering wheel attendent then chances are a job is available, lots of these companies have shot themselves in the foot by accepting clauses from their insurance companies so they can reduce their premiums, to only employ drivers with 6 months/12 months even 2 years experience, once they have these clauses they are hard to remove, this is the reason new passes find it hard to get a start, but there are jobs out there, before covid some where so desperate they would pay for you to do your hiab…these times will come again.
You can get some great rates on class 2 pallet multi drop because it’s crappy work, delivering from inner city to remote farms with planners over loading your lorry. But you’ll learn your new trade fast as well as the cash, of course there are low payers even in that sector.
I can name two places where you’ll top £30000 in the Midlands on class 2 off the top of my head (Palletways and Brakes), neither particularly difficult to get on with when they are recruiting.
