Why become a professional HGV driver?
- Good Pay – The starting salary for HGV drivers is between £18,000 and £22,000, according to the National Career Service. Experienced drivers can earn up to £35,000 on average. Overtime and additional entitlements can push earnings even higher.
- Job Stability – The driver shortage in the UK is so profound that hard-working drivers who comply with government regulations and the policies of their employers do not have to worry about losing their jobs. Professional drivers enjoy some of the best job stability around.
- Advancement Opportunities – Experienced drivers do not have to remain behind the wheel for their entire careers if they don't want to. They can go on to become driving trainers, fleet managers, dispatchers, or logistics executives.
- Great Working Environment – HGV drivers who stick with it for their entire careers often remark about the great working environment they enjoy. Professional driving enables them to be out and about every single day. It also offers new challenges with every load. No two days are the same in this career.
What Our Training Entails
We offer HGV training in Bristol that is comprehensive and effective. All of the students who pass through our doors learn all of the knowledge they need to be safe and successful drivers. They also learn the driving skills required for the professional driving career. The training we provide can be broken down into three basic categories:
- Driving Theory – The body of book knowledge required among professional drivers can best be described as driving theory. This body of knowledge includes an extensive range of topics that include government regulations, fundamentals of safe driving, hazard recognition and avoidance, assessing emergency situations, and so forth.
- Driving Skills – Driving an HGV is not as easy as operating a passenger vehicle. There are particular skills required of all professional drivers including safe cornering, controlled stops, and reversing manoeuvres. We teach the skills and give our students plenty of time to practice using the late-model equipment that they are likely to encounter once they begin working.
- Driver CPC – In order to obtain a commercial driving licence, every student must pass two tests directly related to the Driver CPC requirements. The first is a case studies test that proposes a number of different scenarios likely to be experienced during one's professional driving career. The second is a practical demonstration test covering many of the topics contained in the Driver CPC syllabus.
As you can see, our HGV training in Bristol is very heavily weighted toward preparing students to take and pass the necessary tests. This is not without reason. The government uses the testing procedures to verify that potential drivers have the skills and knowledge to be safe and proficient. If test scores are a measure of whether or not the driver should get a licence, does it not make sense to provide training that guarantees passing scores? Of course it does.
Having said that, our training goes above and beyond just test preparation. What our students learn during their training programmes also prepares them for lifelong careers. They will continually refer back to the training they received at our facility for as long as they keep working.
Here at HGVT we believe that your journey shouldn’t end upon completing your licence. This is why we have partnered up with some of the most prestigious recruitment agencies in the industry to give you the best possible chance of being employed, once you pass your tests. Upon completion of your training course, we will provide you with a pass pack that has been carefully created and designed to make the recruitment process as easy as possible. Approximately 90% of our customers are employed within 3 months of passing their test! – Call us now to find our about the latest job vacancies and how to get the ball rolling.
