A colleague of mine was talking about working for the AA as flatbed relay recovery truck driver,and his license is pre-1997,so he can drive max 7.5t. Another colleague mentioned that,to drive such truck,a HIAB entitlement should be on the licence,how true is this?
thanks
Paul
I think the aa want class 1 license, something about if they tow a caravan as well and I know for a fact the as don’t use hiabs, if it isn’t a straight winch they get a contractor
All their drivers have to have class1 because of trailers and caravan they might have to tow. I dont think they even run any 7.5 tonners any more
AA trucks 12t plus 1.5t on spec lift on rear the train weight is 15t class one.
K27:
A colleague of mine was talking about working for the AA as flatbed relay recovery truck driver,and his license is pre-1997,so he can drive max 7.5t. Another colleague mentioned that,to drive such truck,a HIAB entitlement should be on the licence,how true is this?thanks
Paul
If he’s operating a Hiab with recovery then yes but a spec lift doesn’t come under Hiab.
Wen using the spec he might be limited to 8250kg gtw!
I’ve never seen a driving licence with Hiab entitlement on it.
Unless you’re talking cranes?
The AA don’t have any Hiab trucks, nor do they have any 7.5 tonners, and they won’t give your mate a job without a class 1.
Hope this helps.
cieranc:
AA don’t …have any 7.5 tonners.
Not wanting to sound like I’m questioning you or saying you are wrong BUT I think they do.
Down here they have a few Renault Mascots and the summer drivers use Fuso Canters. When I applied for a summer contract they did only want Class 1 drivers tho.
nearly there:
I think the aa want class 1 license, something about if they tow a caravan as well and I know for a fact the as don’t use hiabs, if it isn’t a straight winch they get a contractor
this is true! I work (for one more week anyway!) for one of the contractors, they won’t even load one if one of the wheels don’t roll, or anything that involves using at least one brain cell to get it loaded!
Interesting.
When i used to work for the AA on the recovery fleet out of South Mimms, back in the late 90’s, i am sure we had guys driving for us with only a Class 2.
The trucks were all 12T’s with spec lifts underneath the slide bed. Rare that we towed caravans then, normally those jobs went to contractors.
Was a fantastic job, 4 on 4 off, regularly worked 2 extra as OT, earning over £20k easy, not hard work. Then Centrica got involved, ruined the job.
Wanted us to move to either 6 on 3 off, or Mon - Fri. Meant losing shed loads in OT.
Last i heard they were using a lot of agencies to drive the trucks, but then the fleet has been slashed since i worked there. Used to see AA trucks all over the place, now hardly see them at all.
I always think it’s a boring job for a class 1 holder - not that there aren’t plenty of boring other class 1 jobs. Although, I think since the AA started running on an o-licence they can get sent much further from base than a lot of recovery jobs.
I got relayed home by them,(Oxford to Edinburgh) in a 3500kg Iveco and the drivers told me they had moved to 13 tonners and were also having to work to the tacho.
Quite good the way they worked it to suit what hours each driver had left of his time.
DonutUK:
Interesting.When i used to work for the AA on the recovery fleet out of South Mimms, back in the late 90’s, i am sure we had guys driving for us with only a Class 2.
The trucks were all 12T’s with spec lifts underneath the slide bed. Rare that we towed caravans then, normally those jobs went to contractors.
Was a fantastic job, 4 on 4 off, regularly worked 2 extra as OT, earning over £20k easy, not hard work. Then Centrica got involved, ruined the job.
Wanted us to move to either 6 on 3 off, or Mon - Fri. Meant losing shed loads in OT.Last i heard they were using a lot of agencies to drive the trucks, but then the fleet has been slashed since i worked there. Used to see AA trucks all over the place, now hardly see them at all.
We still have some lads on class 2 they just cant tow anything thats all. As for the 7.5t they just stay in london inside the m25 ring.
i thought they had replaced all the renaults with canters inside the m25 ring then they were costing too much in fuel so got rid of them all again.
they prefer class 1 but will accept class 2 and the london trucks dont have spec lifts or motorbike carriers as far as i know.
used to know a few that drove for them and it was 4 on 4 off but now 6 on 2 off i think with no time for overtime which has ruined the job for them.
as with not taking a car thats not rolling i think that depends on the operator as they have these rubber wedges called slippery jims which basically u put under the non rolling wheel and the wheel slides along on it
aggree with used to see loads of the trucks around now very rare to see them and hardly ever see a RAC truck but i know in london a lot of the work is contracted out now to various operators like kavanghs in croydon specially as they have storage facilities of which the aa have none of there own.
the aa have a few depots in london been wimbledon heathrow catford and one other i cant think of
correct me if i wrong in all that 
they are looking for drivers
There are some Mascotts & Canters left - All the crew-cab Renaults & Eurocargos have spec- lifts. They bought a fleet of global cab Renault Midlums which are basically day cabs with an extra bit of storage behind the seats.These were for inside the M25 but have since been dispersed throughout the country.Almost all A.A trucks are based at B.T depots as B.T Fleet look after them.
The crew cabs and global cabs are 12 tonners
Steve
+1 neversweat