Driving jobs - where to start?
Discussion
I'm looking for some advice on how to approach gaining employment as a professional driver. I've applied for a few driving jobs but a lack of experience is a big problem. I worked as a takeaway delivery driver as a student many years ago, which I liked at the time, but I'd like to drive larger vehicles for better pay and more work variety.
I don't currently own a car, so I'm thinking about buying a van instead. I know the likes of Yodel aren't great companies to work for, but I'm hoping it is an easy foot in the door to get experience (and give me a better idea on how I get on with driving for a living). And then go on to get an LGV licence.
Does that seem a reasonable way to go about it? Or would it be better to go for the licences first and take it from there?
I have a budget of around £9000, leaving some money set aside for a house deposit which could be used if necessary.
Thanks
I don't currently own a car, so I'm thinking about buying a van instead. I know the likes of Yodel aren't great companies to work for, but I'm hoping it is an easy foot in the door to get experience (and give me a better idea on how I get on with driving for a living). And then go on to get an LGV licence.
Does that seem a reasonable way to go about it? Or would it be better to go for the licences first and take it from there?
I have a budget of around £9000, leaving some money set aside for a house deposit which could be used if necessary.
Thanks
I personally wouldn't go down that route, Sign up with some reputable driving agencies and use their customers' vehicles to gain gain experience, always be friendly and reliable and you will be in demand.
Clients will be asking you back name when they get to know you- and more than likely approach the agency with a temp to perm placement offer for you, I know of several haulage companies promoting and paying for HGV training courses for their well liked van drivers.
Why pay for it yourself? Decent drivers are in demand at the moment.
Thanks for the replies.
I've always liked the idea of working as a postie, from my days of delivering the morning paper. I'll see what vacancies they have.
It would be better if someone else pays for the tests, so I will hold off making a financial commitment for the time being and get a car when I get a job.
I've always liked the idea of working as a postie, from my days of delivering the morning paper. I'll see what vacancies they have.
It would be better if someone else pays for the tests, so I will hold off making a financial commitment for the time being and get a car when I get a job.
If you're not afraid of hard work look at UPS, they'll put you through your C1 after a while and constantly promote from within so if you make it clear you want to move to feeders they'll likely train you for your LGV as well. Money is good to start and will go up to around £15 an hour once you have your C1
Nickyboy said:
If you're not afraid of hard work look at UPS, they'll put you through your C1 after a while and constantly promote from within so if you make it clear you want to move to feeders they'll likely train you for your LGV as well. Money is good to start and will go up to around £15 an hour once you have your C1
+1 on this, but as mentioned you will have to serve your time on the package vans first which is busy, busy, busy although its a great way to gain experience and get your foot in the door to move onto bigger things and more money in the future.Post office is a good shout also.
I think both UPS and the P.O are among the best payers in the country lorry wise, and Fords are probably still right up there as well although it used to be dead mans shoes at Fords.
I work for 1 of the above now and have no intentions of moving as it really suits me. I used to work on the music tours which was another well payed job, it also had lots of perks and if you wanted to travel all of Europe and beyond it was a great job but was a hell of a lot of time away from home.
I earn slightly more now than the rock n roll job, decent pension and 28 days holiday.
I don't do weekends and I'm home every day which suits me at my age.
Try a company called Igloo thermo logistics, they take new drivers and its all 3.5. ton driving , in sprinters. can be long hours but is day work , but can be early starts and late finishes depending on where you are sent that day. i worked for them for a while in leeds. one day could be down lincolnshire way , next up scotland ( glasgow / edinborough) was delivering frozen and chilled foods and a lot of breakfast stuff to schools. decent pay, vans loaded... just turn up at the specified time , grab your manifest, do van checks and away you went . sooner got done sooner got home and very little hassle ...well most of the time but thats driving . did include unloading at restraunts and the like but not too bad. got you fit . plus no need to worry bout insurance , fuel etc and vans were kept in great condition.
i had a few jobs just delivering to shows like the top gear show and others where i would park up in the grounds and sellers of products would just have me there so they could get things out of the van for stands while i wandered around being paid to enjoy the days events. they are always on the lookout for competant drivers and have a few locations in the country now. a great way of getting experience and a decent wage.
loved driving up to scotland . couple of deliveries in glasgow to sushi places... then up to edinborough, deliver to a couple more then home. some great scenery. full workwear provided too. just got to be prepared to accept sometimes you will do some bloody long hours , but youll be paid for em accordingly. once did a 15 hour day... but that was due to being in edinboro during the festivals so half the roads blocked and was a b
h to get where i needed to be . as a rule on a normal day about 10 15 drops but nothing too hard and you get to see some great scenery. worth checking igloo out if you realy want to be a driver and get experience.
i had a few jobs just delivering to shows like the top gear show and others where i would park up in the grounds and sellers of products would just have me there so they could get things out of the van for stands while i wandered around being paid to enjoy the days events. they are always on the lookout for competant drivers and have a few locations in the country now. a great way of getting experience and a decent wage.
loved driving up to scotland . couple of deliveries in glasgow to sushi places... then up to edinborough, deliver to a couple more then home. some great scenery. full workwear provided too. just got to be prepared to accept sometimes you will do some bloody long hours , but youll be paid for em accordingly. once did a 15 hour day... but that was due to being in edinboro during the festivals so half the roads blocked and was a b
h to get where i needed to be . as a rule on a normal day about 10 15 drops but nothing too hard and you get to see some great scenery. worth checking igloo out if you realy want to be a driver and get experience.chilistrucker said:
I used to work on the music tours which was another well payed job, it also had lots of perks and if you wanted to travel all of Europe and beyond it was a great job but was a hell of a lot of time away from home.
I earn slightly more now than the rock n roll job, decent pension and 28 days holiday.
I don't do weekends and I'm home every day which suits me at my age.
I know this is completely unrelated to the OP, but the music tour stuff is something I'd love to do. Being single with no ties means being away from home a lot is no problem, but only having held my license 6 months and living in Scotland means it's probably a no go!I earn slightly more now than the rock n roll job, decent pension and 28 days holiday.
I don't do weekends and I'm home every day which suits me at my age.
chilistrucker said:
I used to work on the music tours which was another well payed job, it also had lots of perks and if you wanted to travel all of Europe and beyond it was a great job but was a hell of a lot of time away from home.
Were you on for StageTruck and did you used to post diaries of your driving on a site called Trucknet and you have a lot of tattoos?Lemming Train said:
Were you on for StageTruck and did you used to post diaries of your driving on a site called Trucknet and you have a lot of tattoos?
No I never worked at Stagetruck and I think the guy you are referring to on Trucknet is Euromat who is indeed covered in tattoos and does the diary thing. Matt works for Transam which is the company I worked for, he is currently on route between the Ukraine and Moscow.DTW
The 6 months thing may be a bit of a stumbling block but sometimes in the touring game you just have to be in the right place at the right time and be ready to go at the drop of a hat
I'd sent a CV to Transam and about 6 months down the line the phone rang and after a 15 minute conversation I was told I'd be starting in 3 weeks, I did and off I went for 3 months with the Rolling Stones and off the back of that worked with Transam till I had my accident back in 2014. Now I have my licence back I could go back to Transam tomorrow but have become too acclimatised to life at home, but never say never.
Bear in mind I had already done 13 years of UK and European work on general haulage, but that isn't always a deal breaker these days. If you can be away, are willing to learn and your face fits you are in with a chance. If you can get a start Get a decent truck satnav, quickly work out who is who and always listen to the lead driver on the tour. Get on with all the crew and don't be a pisshead or a dick and you could well be on the way.
Hope that helps, if you're serious prepare a really good CV and send some off to the relevant companies in this field, conference trucking firms included as could be a good route in. In the meantime some of the Scottish and Irish firms doing general Euro work may be a way of getting some experience under your belt.
Being based in Scotland is no problem, I know drivers living in Sweden, Spain etc but all make it work as you may only commute once every 3-4 months.
Good luck
chilistrucker said:
No I never worked at Stagetruck and I think the guy you are referring to on Trucknet is Euromat who is indeed covered in tattoos and does the diary thing. Matt works for Transam which is the company I worked for, he is currently on route between the Ukraine and Moscow.
Memory was fuzzy. Yes - Euromat was who i thought you were and yes it was Transam not Stagetruck.chilistrucker said:
DTW
The 6 months thing may be a bit of a stumbling block but sometimes in the touring game you just have to be in the right place at the right time and be ready to go at the drop of a hat
I'd sent a CV to Transam and about 6 months down the line the phone rang and after a 15 minute conversation I was told I'd be starting in 3 weeks, I did and off I went for 3 months with the Rolling Stones and off the back of that worked with Transam till I had my accident back in 2014. Now I have my licence back I could go back to Transam tomorrow but have become too acclimatised to life at home, but never say never.
Bear in mind I had already done 13 years of UK and European work on general haulage, but that isn't always a deal breaker these days. If you can be away, are willing to learn and your face fits you are in with a chance. If you can get a start Get a decent truck satnav, quickly work out who is who and always listen to the lead driver on the tour. Get on with all the crew and don't be a pisshead or a dick and you could well be on the way.
Hope that helps, if you're serious prepare a really good CV and send some off to the relevant companies in this field, conference trucking firms included as could be a good route in. In the meantime some of the Scottish and Irish firms doing general Euro work may be a way of getting some experience under your belt.
Being based in Scotland is no problem, I know drivers living in Sweden, Spain etc but all make it work as you may only commute once every 3-4 months.
Good luck
Thanks for the info, would it be too much to ask if I could PM you some questions?The 6 months thing may be a bit of a stumbling block but sometimes in the touring game you just have to be in the right place at the right time and be ready to go at the drop of a hat
I'd sent a CV to Transam and about 6 months down the line the phone rang and after a 15 minute conversation I was told I'd be starting in 3 weeks, I did and off I went for 3 months with the Rolling Stones and off the back of that worked with Transam till I had my accident back in 2014. Now I have my licence back I could go back to Transam tomorrow but have become too acclimatised to life at home, but never say never.
Bear in mind I had already done 13 years of UK and European work on general haulage, but that isn't always a deal breaker these days. If you can be away, are willing to learn and your face fits you are in with a chance. If you can get a start Get a decent truck satnav, quickly work out who is who and always listen to the lead driver on the tour. Get on with all the crew and don't be a pisshead or a dick and you could well be on the way.
Hope that helps, if you're serious prepare a really good CV and send some off to the relevant companies in this field, conference trucking firms included as could be a good route in. In the meantime some of the Scottish and Irish firms doing general Euro work may be a way of getting some experience under your belt.
Being based in Scotland is no problem, I know drivers living in Sweden, Spain etc but all make it work as you may only commute once every 3-4 months.
Good luck
chilistrucker said:
I think both UPS and the P.O are among the best payers in the country lorry wise, and Fords are probably still right up there as well although it used to be dead mans shoes at Fords.
Indeed, our feeders are around £35k basic plus overtime, that's on depot to hub trunking. They have plenty of others covering daily collections from big customers but a lot of those are agency and subbies on typical hourly wages. I have had a few different van driving jobs so I thought I’d pass on some hopefully helpful info!
First one was as a temp driver for Parcelforce during Christmas period. Yeah it involved driving but depending on what you’re looking for, if you want long drives and seeing different places then I wouldn’t recommend a yodel/amazon/postie type role. You will spend a lot more of your time running about outside of the van and unless you’re based in a very rural area, the area coverage of your run will be pretty small! Also if you was to run your own van it may need to be less than 3 years old so £££.
I did enjoy the job though but I wouldn’t class it as a “professional driver” job.
Second job was as a parts delivery driver for a Ford main dealer. Easiest job ever, had a new van at least every 6 months and usually top spec being demonstrators for the sales dept!, spent most of the day out on the roads and got to take van home. But poor pay, no real progression etc
Third job was for a medium size same day Courier firm. Now this sort of job I would highly recommend to get in to first off before committing to getting a hgv licence.
The company had contracts with a huge variety of companies so it always changed daily!
I preferred doing the more local (I live in Kent, delivering in London) jobs which could be just one or two drops in to London then repeat. Generally staying within the Southeast corner.
Also I would do day rate which would be a multidrop (10-20) ranging from electric cables on reels or huuuge 200kg drums to building sites all over London, (not sure where you are based, but London has a fair bit of building going on)or it could be delivering containers of cooking oil To All sorts of kitchens/restaurants/pubs etc!
Then some days it would be the most random of things being delivered, you’d have no idea until you got there. Often used to run a pack of 4 Apples from a cold storage warehouse up to the head office of Sainsbury’s in Holborn, guessing for QC!
I also got the occasional long distance delivery to have a break from London driving, we had a couple of contracts setting up events/conferences so you’d drive up to Birmingham, set up some banners etc for the client, hang about for the day and then pack up, drive home.
The company also did loads of work in Europe but I didn’t get involved with that side.
Got to see some amazing places and buildings it was always an interesting day whatever you was doing. Obviously some days were horrible though, traffic, weather, traffic, getting in to certain building sites can be a total ball ache too but I won’t go in to that here.
Vans were either xlwb and Luton sprinters and I had a lwb transit for most of my time, which was the newest and cleanest on the fleet I think they liked me! This job was a lot more of a “professional driver” job, well definitely a good start to then go on in to hgv. There is a fair few small/medium sized couriers all over the place That will be doing the same sort of thing and will give you a lot more driving time if that is what you are after.
My missus worked for a different courier firm for a bit and they did a lot more distance work, she was often doing single drop runs from London/Scotland!
The pay wasn’t great tbh, was just an hourly rate, based on when the van starts up first thing to when it was turned off at the end of the day, kept the van at home too.
So I f a driving job is what you want then a same day courier role is what you should look for, try go direct rather than agency.
I’ve noticed Firmins who are a big haulage company now run quite a few vans doing express delivery, they could be worth a look as they are bound to offer licence training.
Im in a different job now (involves a fair bit of driving too, I can’t work in one place!) but I still would love to get my hgv licence and drive class 1.
Good luck with whatever you do!
First one was as a temp driver for Parcelforce during Christmas period. Yeah it involved driving but depending on what you’re looking for, if you want long drives and seeing different places then I wouldn’t recommend a yodel/amazon/postie type role. You will spend a lot more of your time running about outside of the van and unless you’re based in a very rural area, the area coverage of your run will be pretty small! Also if you was to run your own van it may need to be less than 3 years old so £££.
I did enjoy the job though but I wouldn’t class it as a “professional driver” job.
Second job was as a parts delivery driver for a Ford main dealer. Easiest job ever, had a new van at least every 6 months and usually top spec being demonstrators for the sales dept!, spent most of the day out on the roads and got to take van home. But poor pay, no real progression etc
Third job was for a medium size same day Courier firm. Now this sort of job I would highly recommend to get in to first off before committing to getting a hgv licence.
The company had contracts with a huge variety of companies so it always changed daily!
I preferred doing the more local (I live in Kent, delivering in London) jobs which could be just one or two drops in to London then repeat. Generally staying within the Southeast corner.
Also I would do day rate which would be a multidrop (10-20) ranging from electric cables on reels or huuuge 200kg drums to building sites all over London, (not sure where you are based, but London has a fair bit of building going on)or it could be delivering containers of cooking oil To All sorts of kitchens/restaurants/pubs etc!
Then some days it would be the most random of things being delivered, you’d have no idea until you got there. Often used to run a pack of 4 Apples from a cold storage warehouse up to the head office of Sainsbury’s in Holborn, guessing for QC!
I also got the occasional long distance delivery to have a break from London driving, we had a couple of contracts setting up events/conferences so you’d drive up to Birmingham, set up some banners etc for the client, hang about for the day and then pack up, drive home.
The company also did loads of work in Europe but I didn’t get involved with that side.
Got to see some amazing places and buildings it was always an interesting day whatever you was doing. Obviously some days were horrible though, traffic, weather, traffic, getting in to certain building sites can be a total ball ache too but I won’t go in to that here.
Vans were either xlwb and Luton sprinters and I had a lwb transit for most of my time, which was the newest and cleanest on the fleet I think they liked me! This job was a lot more of a “professional driver” job, well definitely a good start to then go on in to hgv. There is a fair few small/medium sized couriers all over the place That will be doing the same sort of thing and will give you a lot more driving time if that is what you are after.
My missus worked for a different courier firm for a bit and they did a lot more distance work, she was often doing single drop runs from London/Scotland!
The pay wasn’t great tbh, was just an hourly rate, based on when the van starts up first thing to when it was turned off at the end of the day, kept the van at home too.
So I f a driving job is what you want then a same day courier role is what you should look for, try go direct rather than agency.
I’ve noticed Firmins who are a big haulage company now run quite a few vans doing express delivery, they could be worth a look as they are bound to offer licence training.
Im in a different job now (involves a fair bit of driving too, I can’t work in one place!) but I still would love to get my hgv licence and drive class 1.
Good luck with whatever you do!
You need to decide if you want to do the regular routes where you do the same run on a regular basis or you want the variety of different destinations every run out .
The last lot that I worked for specialised in urgent dedicated transport all over Europe and the UK. They did Vans and trucks up to 18t .
I did vans and 7.5t .
Uk ,Ireland and Europe from Denmark to Spain and across to Athens,Greece.
The company covered all of Europe including all the islands of the med as well as most of the countries ending in ia .
We have moved all sorts from latest published books , aircraft parts to factories or urgent parts to grounded aircraft ,motor parts , high value art or wine , pop music merchandise for touring artists or equipment, F1 parts all over Europe during the season .
Servicing F1 teams during tests , exhibition work , film props and equipment, media transport for film and TV companies.
The wages weren't brilliant but the work was for the most part was easy and I got to see parts of the world that I would never normally see . One day at a port full of oil rigs and a couple of days later in the pits at Le Mans , on a high security MOD site one day followed by an exhibition hall in Copenhagen a couple of days later . In a cellar of a house on Millionaire row Hampstead then the MIRA test facility.
A quick 3 hr trip to deliver some air con parts turned into a 10 day trip that involved 6 ferry journeys and playing with all of Fenders finest instruments and I didn't cross the channel .
Be warned you could end up hating the sight of the road or hooked for life .
There is a lot of boring and mundane driving work out there , but also some work that is more like an adventure every day .
If you go for HGV work it us governed by lots of rules and regulations, more and more vehicles are tracked for everything and most companies micro manage the drivers .
Lots of large companies do not hold drivers in very high regard and many of the general public are openly hostile towards drivers of commercial vehicles.
The facilities for drivers in the UK are pretty dire , Europe tends to be of a much better standard .
The last lot that I worked for specialised in urgent dedicated transport all over Europe and the UK. They did Vans and trucks up to 18t .
I did vans and 7.5t .
Uk ,Ireland and Europe from Denmark to Spain and across to Athens,Greece.
The company covered all of Europe including all the islands of the med as well as most of the countries ending in ia .
We have moved all sorts from latest published books , aircraft parts to factories or urgent parts to grounded aircraft ,motor parts , high value art or wine , pop music merchandise for touring artists or equipment, F1 parts all over Europe during the season .
Servicing F1 teams during tests , exhibition work , film props and equipment, media transport for film and TV companies.
The wages weren't brilliant but the work was for the most part was easy and I got to see parts of the world that I would never normally see . One day at a port full of oil rigs and a couple of days later in the pits at Le Mans , on a high security MOD site one day followed by an exhibition hall in Copenhagen a couple of days later . In a cellar of a house on Millionaire row Hampstead then the MIRA test facility.
A quick 3 hr trip to deliver some air con parts turned into a 10 day trip that involved 6 ferry journeys and playing with all of Fenders finest instruments and I didn't cross the channel .
Be warned you could end up hating the sight of the road or hooked for life .
There is a lot of boring and mundane driving work out there , but also some work that is more like an adventure every day .
If you go for HGV work it us governed by lots of rules and regulations, more and more vehicles are tracked for everything and most companies micro manage the drivers .
Lots of large companies do not hold drivers in very high regard and many of the general public are openly hostile towards drivers of commercial vehicles.
The facilities for drivers in the UK are pretty dire , Europe tends to be of a much better standard .
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