Hi all
So… i come from a Software Development background and have always been intrigued with HGVs. I’ve always been wondering what its like to drive a HGV. I love driving plus i like a challenge.
I’m going to take a break from IT and drive a HGV for a year or 2.
Anyways, i’ve passed my Theory, Hazard and Case-Study test and got my driving lessons coming up and i absolutely cannot wait! Had a practice session and i loved it. Surprisingly comfortable a bit like a Rolls Royce Phantom 
Just wanted to pop in and say hello 
Hello [emoji106]
You’ve do e it the way I did and got all the theory out of the way before I concentrated on the driving. Good choice and good luck
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May god have mercy on your soul
I like how you haven´t come in for reassurance that you´re doing the right thing. 
and Hello
I think jbaz73 has summed it up neatly there, but dont worry you’ll learn the hard way like everyone else.
If you want to start at 4am, run around madly for 15 hours annoying every car driver out there, and then start again at 4, its not a bad life (plus travel to / from work). Sleep what’s sleep.
Oh and erm, most trucks are not new like a Rolls Royce when you start out - more clapped out Robin Reliant that sometimes have working brakes etc.
Plus because your an HGV driver amd everyone hates you, your car insurance will go up (nuts!).
Dont forget VOSA are desperately trying to fine you for everything. Ok maybe not entirely true, but you’re a professional now so everything is automatically your fault.
Came pretty much the same direction via a sligjtly roundabout route, but if someone offered me a nice office job again 9 to 5, I’d grab it with both hands…except for the crap wages in many.
Would i do it again, probably partly because I can kondof reverse now, but then i night trunk in a class 1 and still got no aircon. Couldnt cope with days anymore and that’s after 3 years.
Better go before Peter Smyth sues me for putting everyone off wanting to be a driver.
What I don’t get about the negativity is… Well why don’t people go and do something else?
Yesterday I had a crap day. The wagon had no AC. In-cab fan didn’t work (was shown at the end of the shift how to reset the fuse…). When I stopped for the toilet and a drink two locals blocked me in for half an hour. And on the way back some prat decided I should have let him in off the slip road and then slammed his brakes on, on the m40. I was promised a 2pm finish, but due to loads of reasons didn’t get home until 7.30. Oh and the wagon was a manual with a crap gearbox.
But that’s pretty rare - most days are alright. I’m looking forward to working tomorrow. It’s my first shift lorry loading in the real world. If I really hated driving I’d simply never do it again. All my training is paid off and I’m well in profit from my experiment. I’ll work tomorrow and Sunday and pocket around £400 for two easy days. Only on local runs with a builders merchant. I think it’s sound.
If he does his class 2 (and 1) it will take him about two weeks to pay off. That’s if he isn’t doing long hours and if he isn’t earning top money. And he has the licence for as long as he wants to sit a medical.
Speaking for myself, I’m purely lazy. Nowhere else will pay me 14 quid an hour for doing sweet fa.
steviespain:
I like how you haven´t come in for reassurance that you´re doing the right thing.
and Hello
Aaha nah i know what i’m doing. It’s not permanent. I’ll always be a Software Developer but got a passion for HGVs as well.
trevHCS:
I think jbaz73 has summed it up neatly there, but dont worry you’ll learn the hard way like everyone else.
If you want to start at 4am, run around madly for 15 hours annoying every car driver out there, and then start again at 4, its not a bad life (plus travel to / from work). Sleep what’s sleep.
Oh and erm, most trucks are not new like a Rolls Royce when you start out - more clapped out Robin Reliant that sometimes have working brakes etc.
Plus because your an HGV driver amd everyone hates you, your car insurance will go up (nuts!).
Dont forget VOSA are desperately trying to fine you for everything. Ok maybe not entirely true, but you’re a professional now so everything is automatically your fault.
Came pretty much the same direction via a sligjtly roundabout route, but if someone offered me a nice office job again 9 to 5, I’d grab it with both hands…except for the crap wages in many.
Would i do it again, probably partly because I can kondof reverse now, but then i night trunk in a class 1 and still got no aircon. Couldnt cope with days anymore and that’s after 3 years.
Better go before Peter Smyth sues me for putting everyone off wanting to be a driver.
LOL ■■■■ whats with the negativity?
Actually cant wait to find out what its really like. Who knows… i may love it… i am quite abnormal in some areas of life which could be a benefit for me being a HGV driver. We shall see.
sammym:
What I don’t get about the negativity is… Well why don’t people go and do something else?
Yesterday I had a crap day. The wagon had no AC. In-cab fan didn’t work (was shown at the end of the shift how to reset the fuse…). When I stopped for the toilet and a drink two locals blocked me in for half an hour. And on the way back some prat decided I should have let him in off the slip road and then slammed his brakes on, on the m40. I was promised a 2pm finish, but due to loads of reasons didn’t get home until 7.30. Oh and the wagon was a manual with a crap gearbox.
But that’s pretty rare - most days are alright. I’m looking forward to working tomorrow. It’s my first shift lorry loading in the real world. If I really hated driving I’d simply never do it again. All my training is paid off and I’m well in profit from my experiment. I’ll work tomorrow and Sunday and pocket around £400 for two easy days. Only on local runs with a builders merchant. I think it’s sound.
If he does his class 2 (and 1) it will take him about two weeks to pay off. That’s if he isn’t doing long hours and if he isn’t earning top money. And he has the licence for as long as he wants to sit a medical.
Cheers for the more positive response.
I will be doing my Class 1 and ADR as soon as i get my Class 2.
Just like in any job, even in my field no matter how comfy and well paid it is, there will always be [zb] days.
Don’t mean to ■■■■ on your parade matey. If it’s what you want, good for you, go for it. But you are at the good stage, getting the license. You are in for a short sharp shock. I work 6pm and not a minute sooner, finish at 3am, not a minute later. I shunt a few trailers and watch YouTube all night chatting to my mate, the other shunter. Jobs like mine are few and far between. I wouldn’t last 5 mins on class two multi drop. Though I may be staying with the same company but moving on to night trunking. When I say that I watched YouTube, I mean after a couple of years, I think I may have watched the entire YouTube!
Best of luck to you m8 try & get yourself on to supermarket work it is the easiest/cleanest work going. you will clear 2500 easily for a nice steady 47 hour week & the best thing is you will get to see your family every night lol
SouthEastCashew:
Best of luck to you m8 try & get yourself on to supermarket work it is the easiest/cleanest work going. you will clear 2500 easily for a nice steady 47 hour week & the best thing is you will get to see your family every night lol
cheers mate. When you say 2500, is that through limited? or paye
I am in the same boat kind off, but a bit further ahead. I already have my class 2 and am about to leave a 9-5 (I wish it really was) software job for working with a local company on Class 2 multi-drop work for a change of environment and the ability to leave my work at work. I wish you all the best of luck.
One thing I have seen people say about the job is that you will find it very stressful and long hours. From my own experience, I can’t speak for you job, I am currently working silly hours each day and at the weekends with people all around the world and working with 6 figure sales revenues each week which come back on me if they don’t get achieved, even if another department blocked me. I think it is all a case of perspective, being blocked in for half an hour and being late for a drop seams like nothing to me compared to that, however I will see and I hope you see it as a positive move as well.
2gates