I have a situation where I need an HGV driver for 2 x 1 hour stints 6 times a week. Funnily enough there aren’t that many drivers who are interested especially as it is in the evening and then again at midnight.

I was thinking of doing it myself. how hard can it be?

What does it cost and how hard is it for someone with a normal car licence and 20 years experience in cars?

You need to do a class 2 test first nowadays and a theory I think, allow about £1500 to £2000. I took mine in 1992 my parents gave my £1000 for my 21st, thought it may come in handy and it has now and again.

depends how big you need to go. you can drive unto 7.5tonne on your car license. Above that, you’ll need C, that’ll set you back about £1k, if you want articulated, that is more, not sure how much more though.

When you say HGV, what size vehicle is it? There are training companies that do intensive courses which shouldn’t be too difficult if you’re a competent driver. Possibly more of a problem should you do it yourself are all the other regulations around running the vehicle eg Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) although there are exemptions if you are using the vehicle for your own business and driving it is not your main role. Have you considered agancy drivers?

Where are you based? I have C and C+E and would do it for you if you’re local to Edinburgh.

As for doing it yourself. Could you? Yes. Probably. It’s just a question of spending the money to get the lessons and test etc.

He’s in/near Southampton I believe!

depends how big you need to go. you can drive unto 7.5tonne on your car license.

Only if you passed your driving test before 1997 before some people get excited. After that it’s 3.5 ton only.

It is an Articulated unit. Drop off and pick up. South coast based. About 1-2 hours between base and the site. Needs dropping off between 3-5pm and pick-up between 12 midnight and 2am

Agency drivers are a bit shitty about the short trip and split shift.

I am halfway through my HGV, done the C category, waiting to do the C+E cat.

To be safe I would budget around £1000 per category. You can’t combine them, you have to get C before C+E. And you would need to make sure its an articulated vehicle you will be taught in, as if you do C+E in a drawbar trailer you will have an exclusion for articulated trailers. (a bit like taking your test in an auto)

You will need a provisional license, a medical, theory test, hazard perception, lessons and test. CPC sounds like it won’t apply as I think its aimed at hauliers carrying goods for other businesses. You also need your O license to park the lorry I think.

Most driving schools will do an assessment drive and then tell you how many lessons they think you will need. Might be worth driving a lorry on a provisional to get a little confidence as this may reduce the number of lessons needed…if its a 7.5t or less the license holder must have a proper C or C1 license, car license holders using grandfather rights cannot teach you to drive it.

depends how big you need to go. you can drive unto 7.5tonne on your car license.

only if you passed you test before 1997.

Have you already got the lorry and regular driver then ?
Is it just that he doesn’t want to work these hours ?
If so, get a provisional licence and get him to accompany you as you drive the truck on its normal daytime trips to save on the cost of lessons.

only if you passed you test before 1997

but not if the driving is connected to work

theres an operators license involved with anything over 3.5t if the driving is in anyway connected with work.

The driver doesn’t just need to have a license to drive the vehicle either he or whoever is paying/managing him has to have an operators license too otherwise both the driver and the person paying them get into expensive bother. So it sounds like you need an operator, as a ‘driver’ can’t actually work for you.

Do you already have a truck and just need someone to drive it? Or do you need the truck too? I’ve found Ryder Truck Hire good for getting drivers on a flexible basis.

wow, you’ve scaled up the skunk farm a bit then WCA ?!

WCA. You got mail.

only if you passed you test before 1997

but not if the driving is connected to work

I’ve never seen anything to suggest this…I’m sure you can drive 7.5t vehicles on grandfather rights for both work and play.

no – not for work or anything connected to your work. You can hire a truck and use it to move house. If you’re mate pays you £50 to drive while he moves house both you and him are in the wrong. Some friends of mine copped a £2k fine each for that, and that was about 15 years ago, the fines are alot steeper now.

For me I can use one to move house, but if I want to to move my workshop or any materials or goods related to my work then I can’t, whether someone pays me or not.

However I could get a job driving 7.5tonners if the person employing me is an operator, but I can’t drive for someone who isn’t an operator.

The same applies for trailers – all these 4×4 with 3 ton towing capacity, you can only use that capacity for leisure and domestic use, if its business/employed use you need a taco and O license once the plated train weight is over 3.5 ton. I’ve got a 2.8ton van, I could use it to tow a 2 ton caravan or boat for pleasure (train weight of 4.8 ton), but for work I can only tow a 700kg trailer, any more and I need a taco

You need a O license.
What about subbing the work out?

slightly related question… If your vehicle has a taco do you HAVE to use it?

Only if it’s for business use, although if there is any suspicion that there may be any sort of hire or reward involved, you may have to prove otherwise to VOSA.

Only if it’s for business use

Its not my van, but it is ONLY for business. I work for a British Corporation that broadcasts stuff.. our Sat van is a sprinter weighing in at 4.3 tonne. It had a taco fitted from new but we’ve NEVER used it. My understanding was our company had some exception from using tacos, we use logbooks, but this might be worth chasing up.
Our transport manager (who holds the operating license) works out of his gite in France…..

Martyn, think this could be something to do with driving under domestic rules rather than EU.

We have 6.5 and 12t cabling lorries at work which also tow drawbar cable trailers and winches. Most of them don’t have tacho’s fitted, those that do are not used. Something to do with they are essentially mobile workshops and we work within a certain radius of base. I can also tow 2 ton trailers behind my 3.5 transit without a tacho, I just have to fill out said logbook. Although my employer makes me fill it out everyday even though I rarely tow anything.

P.S thanks for the reply maccruiskeen, not heard of that before but you seem to know your stuff about the trailer weights so I’ll assume its correct!

WCA – an ex gf did the HGV test to drive her horsebox – she did two lessons a week I think and passed pretty quick – can now drive anything ‘fixed body’ I believe.

Not sure how much it cost in total but I remember her saying the lessons were less than she expected.

Rachel

My understanding was our company had some exception from using tacos,

There are different Operators licences, depending on whether the driving is just an aspect of your business (carrying your own gear around – a mobile workshop for instance or moving your own goods and materials around) or is your business – (hire and reward – ie carrying other peoples stuff) and also whether you leave the UK with the vehicle.

If its the former then a Taco might not be required as the ‘work’ your vehicle does it does when its stationary, so a Taco isn’t an effective way of measuring your working day – but the work of the vehicle and the driver still has to be managed by the O-License holder

There are some vehicles fitted with tachos that are not obliged to use them.
Without knowing all the details I would guess that a satellite broadcast van may be exempt because it is not used for carrying goods.