How do I become a truck driver?

[Vespula]

I may be forced to retire in a five years time, the job I have has non-transferable skills, so I will need a new skill to take to the job market.

I was thinking of perhaps becoming a (non-articulated) lorry driver.

How would I acheive this?

Any links would be very welcome.

[anonymous-user]

You would need to get training to C licence level, this allows you to drive up to, but not including an articulated lorry.
http://trucktraininguk.com/ Try these people

[soda]

You need to look for a school nearby, most places teach you over a week long course and then the test.

Firstly you need a provisional on your license for cat.C. This will also require a medical, fitness and eye test which you need to do before you can learn.

[EDLT]

Have a read of this too:
http://www.hgvlgvtraining.co.uk/

I had a go, but I didn't enjoy it tbh. It could have been that the truck was designed by someone who hates trucks, though.

EDIT:

Part of the medical includes an eyetest where you are tested without glasses/contacts. I only just passed (R -6.50 L -6.00). If your vision is worse than mine then don't bother

Edited by EDLT on Friday 25th March 13:29

[Ganglandboss]

Three replies and no mention of murdering prostitutes and dumping them in a rolled up carpet in a lay-by? This is PH FFS!

[iva cosworth]

Good luck with this .

But ,a friend took and passed Class2 some years ago [5?] and NO ONE would offer

him a job without experience ,not even agencies .

Its not like he was not a good driver as he has also been a car driving instructor

Also i dont think there are many vacancies currently unless you have seen some locally

[UncleRic]

Ganglandboss said:

Three replies and no mention of murdering prostitutes and dumping them in a rolled up carpet in a lay-by? This is PH FFS!

You know what, I read the first three replies and I was going to post (as post 4)..

UncleRic said:

Pfft. Tests?
Sounds like hard work to me.
There must be easier ways to kill prostitutes.

..I got as far as typing it up but decided against it for fear of being ridiculed.

[Vespula]

EDLT said:

Part of the medical includes an eyetest where you are tested without glasses/contacts. I only just passed (R -6.50 L -6.00). If your vision is worse than mine then don't bother

I (badly) need reading glasses for er...reading, but my distance vision is very good. Would that be a fail then?

[Vespula]

iva cosworth said:

Good luck with this .

But ,a friend took and passed Class2 some years ago [5?] and NO ONE would offer

him a job without experience ,not even agencies .

Its not like he was not a good driver as he has also been a car driving instructor

Also i dont think there are many vacancies currently unless you have seen some locally

Oh right, so it would be a waste of time and money then?

bks, I will need to think of some other skill I can acquire in the next five years, any ideas?

Edited by Vespula on Friday 25th March 13:51

[EDLT]

Vespula said:

EDLT said:

Part of the medical includes an eyetest where you are tested without glasses/contacts. I only just passed (R -6.50 L -6.00). If your vision is worse than mine then don't bother

I (badly) need reading glasses for er...reading, but my distance vision is very good. Would that be a fail then?

It shouldn't be, the test I took was just reading letters off a chart that was about two metres away.

[GTIR]

Vespula said:

Oh right, so it would be a waste of time and money then?

bks, I will need to think of some other skill I can aquire in the next five years, any ideas?

Get a private hire licence and do chauffeuring or airport transfers. Even better if you have the money to get a nice Merc or Audi and do subbying for existing chauffeur companies.

Better money than truckung and you can smugly drive past them at 70mph!

[MadMullah]

Vespula said:

bks, I will need to think of some other skill I can acquire in the next five years, any ideas?

taxi/white van?

get your SIA and become a security guard?

[Petrolhead_Rich]

Vespula said:

I may be forced to retire in a five years time, the job I have has non-transferable skills, so I will need a new skill to take to the job market.

I was thinking of perhaps becoming a (non-articulated) lorry driver.

How would I acheive this?

Any links would be very welcome.

In any order:

Grow a large belly
Get some cheap tattoos
Burn your "drivers arm" until it is a dark brown
Murder a prostitute
get used to changing gear every 10 seconds
Get used to overtaking taking 20 minutes and 25 miles
learn to cook spagetti whilst driving on the limiter
murder a prostitute
Learn how to disable the limiter
fit a second fuel tank full of red diesel to run your truck on and keep it out of sight of customs
get a suitable driving license with a LGV/HGV driving tuition company
apply for job seekers because there are no jobs driving trucks because haulage companies are going bust

Edit - beaten to it on the prostitute front by Ganglandboss!

[Rugbyman]

Petrolhead_Rich said:

Edit - beaten to it on the prostitute front by Ganglandboss!

Happens a lot does it ?

[Vespula]

It doesn't necessarily need to be a driving job, and I'm not keen on security guard.

Maybe I should become Polish? (I actually like Poles, they seem to have a knack at getting jobs).

[anonymous-user]

Rugbyman said:

Happens a lot does it ?

A thread about truckers and nothing from our resident attenion we truck driver CW7?

[al1991]

I would start an escort agency

[jagracer]

Vespula said:

I (badly) need reading glasses for er...reading, but my distance vision is very good. Would that be a fail then?

You can can get the medical form D4 from the direct.gov website so don't give up before you start. It's a distance test so you should be OK as you can wear glasses but uncorrected must be better than 3/60, whatever that is)
That aside you will have to do the practical and theory test then once you have passed them you need a CPC which is another 35 hours training which you must do before you can work.
You will also need to be a mobile solicitor and mechanic to understand all the rules on hours and vehicle maintenance and safety. So if you can find something else that pays similar money without having to work 60+ hours a week then I wouldn't bother. BTW how old are you?

[leggly]

Don't do it! I work for one the best companies in the UK when it comes to terms and conditions and it's still a ste job!

[Vespula]

It's funny how ste jobs suddenly start looking very attractive when you are forced to retire but still have a mortgage.

I don't care about 'job satisfaction' if such a thing exists, I just don't want to live in a cardboard box.

I am 54, a very youthful 54 though.