Why you should consider HGV driving as a career

Right now, HGV driving is regularly in the news. It’s probably common knowledge that there is a driver shortage. This has been somewhat reduced by an influx of new recruits but there are still plenty of jobs to be filled.

With that in mind, Walker Movements, international leaders in used tricks for sale, share their insight into key reasons why you should consider HGV driving as a career.

Straightforward entry route

Assuming you have a full UK driver’s licence and are over 18, you can undertake the necessary training to get your Driver CPC. The Driver CPC comes in different forms. Most people start with either Category C or Category C+E.

As a rule of thumb, if you are under 25 it is probably best to stick with Category C as this is generally the lowest insurance risk. Insurance is paid by your employer (unless you go freelance). Most employers will, however, take this reality into consideration when making hiring decisions.

If you’re over 25 you might want to consider going straight to Category C+E. This requires extra work to qualify but it also means that you would qualify for a wider range of jobs. Once you reach the age of 25, getting insurance (for driving) tends to be less of an issue.

It is possible to qualify as an HGV driver in about a month. Qualifying in such a short time frame does take a lot of commitment. You can choose to take the training more slowly if you wish. You will still qualify in a much shorter time frame than people entering many other trades or professions.

Your training is likely to be funded

Funding to train HGV drivers has been a sticking point between the logistics industry and the government for many years. Over the last few years, the government has been increasing the options for people getting government funding to train as HGV drivers. Recently, it has started being much more generous with its funding options so there literally has never been a better time to train as an HGV driver.

Even if you do have to pay for your training yourself, it’s still likely to be much more affordable than training for other trades or professions. Costs vary but £3K is currently a reasonable ballpark for Category C training. With the market as it is, you may well get a substantial part of that back as a sign-on bonus.

High demand

Although the shortage of HGV drivers has only recently become mainstream news, it’s actually been a growing issue for many years now. The crux of the matter is that, up until very recently, the government did not offer funding for HGV training the way it did for training in other trades.

As a result, people were faced with a choice between paying for their own HGV training or getting funding to enter another trade. Unsurprisingly, many people opted to go into other trades. This meant that retiring drivers were less and less likely to be replaced by new recruits. The industry sounded warning bells about this for years. Sadly, however, it has taken until now for them to be heeded.

Even though the government is now actively encouraging people to train as HGV drivers (and paying for them to do so), there is still a major shortage. This means that there has literally never been a better time to enter the trade.

Lots of opportunities for progression

Some people choose to stay HGV drivers their whole lives. This is often because the lifestyle suits them. You literally get (well) paid to travel plus you get a lot of freedom to organize your work as you wish. If, however, you want to move on then you will have plenty of options in logistics and elsewhere.