HGV Training in Surrey

COURSE IN Surrey

If you know anything about Surrey, you know it is one of the wealthiest counties in England. Not only is it one of the Home Counties, but it is also home to some very impressive companies like Nikon, Toshiba, and Canon. Supporting all of the economic activity and the people who live and work in Surrey is an extensive network of roads that includes the M25, M3, and M23 motorways. Why do we mention all of this? To illustrate just how important HGVs and LGVs are to the region.

Economic activity is highly dependent on the willingness of consumers to purchase goods and services. Moreover, the prices consumers pay for those goods and services is directly affected by the logistics sector. That is because almost 70% of all the freight shipped across the country travels by lorry. Without the capacity and flexibility that the logistics industry offers, consumer prices in Surrey and elsewhere would be much higher. Simply put, we enjoy our current lifestyle, in part, because of the dedication and hard work of HGV and LGV drivers.

You can join the ranks of the hard-working men and women who make logistics what it is by registering for HGV training in Surrey. Professional driving is an excellent career choice with plenty to offer, including tens of thousands of jobs waiting to be filled all across the UK. Needless to say, we are in the midst of a severe driver shortage that is only expected to get worse before it gets better.

The Benefits of Professional Driving

With so much big business dominating the economic landscape in Surrey, careers in professional driving often get lost in the shuffle. That is to say that many people do not even consider professional driving unless some of their other prospects dry up. That is unfortunate. Professional driving offers a lot of great benefits that make it an excellent career choice for anyone who likes this sort of work and what it entails.

A short list of those benefits shows professional driving has a lot to offer:

• Competitive Pay – The average salary in the UK at the end of 2015 was approximately £25,800. Lorry drivers earned an average of £24,800, putting them right in line with most other jobs in the UK. But drivers can earn £35,000 or more with experience and additional certifications under their belts. It’s not unheard of for a hazardous goods driver to earn upwards of £40,000.
• Job Security – Job security in any industry is a direct result of supply and demand. The haulage and transport sectors are now short tens of thousands of drivers combined. Some estimates suggest it will need an additional 100,000 new drivers by the end of the decade just to keep up. This extremely high and unmet demand translates into job security for drivers who work hard and obey the law.
• Job Freedom – Professional driving is ideal for anyone who does not like the prospect of spending eight hours every day in an office, retail, or industrial environment. Drivers enjoy the freedom of the road and the flexibility to do their jobs without supervisors constantly looking over their shoulders.
• Daily Challenge – There is no ‘routine day’ in the life of a professional driver. Every day brings challenges to overcome and exciting adventures to enjoy. Indeed, we have never heard a professional driver say he or she is bored with the job.
• Travel Opportunities – One of the things veteran drivers enjoy most about their work is the opportunity to travel. Taking a job as a long-haul driver means you will get to see most of Europe and get paid while doing so. That’s hard to beat for someone who loves to travel.
• Advancement Opportunities – Despite what you may have heard, there is plenty of room for advancement within the logistics sector. You could start out as a driver, putting in a few years of work before advancing on to dispatching, driver training, fleet management, or even executive management.

It is apparent to anyone who approaches professional driving with an open mind that becoming a lorry or bus driver is not a dead-end career for people who cannot do anything else. Professional drivers are an integral and important part of the overall economy that we would be hard-pressed to live without. Our HGV training in Surrey opens the door for you to become part of this vital and robust industry.

We Prepare Drivers for Work

Any job you could apply for will require at least some training before you are proficient enough to work by yourself. Driving an HGV or LGV is no different. New drivers have to be trained in the specific skills and bodies of knowledge that pertain to the career. That’s what we do through our HGV training in Surrey. We prepare drivers for work by teaching them what they need to learn and then giving them plenty of practice.

For the record, our broad-based training programmes cover almost every category of commercial driver’s licence. We can train you to drive:

• articulated lorries, box trucks, and cargo vans
• bin lorries, tipper trucks, and construction vehicles
• coaches, buses, and minibuses
• other vehicles including ambulances, horseboxes, forklifts, etc.

We are the largest provider of commercial driver training in the UK, offering specialist training many of our competitors are not capable of providing. Most importantly, all of our training meets the high standards set by the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training (JAUPT). Simply by registering for our HGV training in Surrey, you will be registering for one of the finest training programmes in the UK.

Our reputation within the industry speaks for itself. Listing us as your training provider demonstrates to potential employers that you have undergone an intense and high-quality training programme that has prepared you to be the best driver you can be. And really, that is one of the reasons new drivers go through training to begin with.

Information for Getting Started

Hopefully, we have piqued your interest in professional driving as a career choice. If you are considering registering for HGV training in Surrey, there are some things you need to know before getting started. First are the qualifications necessary to train for a commercial driving licence. You must:

• be at least 18 years old;
• be in reasonably good health; and
• possess a valid Category B driving licence.

As long as you meet those three qualifications, you can register for training whenever you are ready. Our training process involves multiple steps that eventually get you from the point of having a provisional entitlement to actually possessing that commercial driving licence and your initial CPC qualification card.

The provisional entitlement and a required medical exam are the starting point. We can explain both when you call. Furthermore, we will provide you with the necessary paperwork as well as help in completing and submitting it when you register for HGV training in Surrey. You will also receive software that will allow you to study for the HGV theory exam and take practice tests at home.

From registration through to passing the theory exam should take about three weeks in most cases. It might take four if it takes the DVLA a little longer to send you your provisional entitlement in the post. After that, you will undergo an intensive five-day practical skills course followed by your initial CPC course. Training will conclude with three additional exams that we will have already booked on your behalf: the driving skills, practical demonstration, and case studies tests.

Learn Quickly and Get to Work

Our HGV training in Surrey does not take long to complete. If you learn quickly and can apply yourself, the actual training portion of the programme takes just a few weeks to complete. It should only be about six weeks from start to finish when you factor in the waiting time for your paperwork to arrive in the post.

Just think, getting started today could mean you are ready to begin applying for jobs just six weeks from now. That’s a far cry from spending 2 to 4 years pursuing a university degree, or 6 to 12 months in vocational school. Those other careers are fine for people who are truly interested in that kind of work. But if you’re not, professional driving might be for you.

To find out more about the career or our HGV training in Surrey, please contact us on our freephone number or through the contact page on this website. We are looking forward to helping you embark on your new career.