Want to become a Digger Driver...any advice?

leftfooter

Hi,

My little brother (18) told me last night that he would like to become a digger driver & eventually setup on his own as an independent contractor. He has grown up on a busy farm and has been driving large machinery from a young age. He already has quite a bit of experience working on diggers.

Are there any Certifications or Qualifications that he should look into?
What steps would you suggest he follow in order to fulfill his ambitions.

TVM.

Berty

He should get a machine pass from FAS for a start, safe pass as well.

Martron

i think there is various machine "tickets" its been a while since i had to look at them but i think they are divided into

180 (jcb)

Mindiigger (up to 3 tonnes)

360 (3 tonnes +)

if he is going down that route of traingin get him to get a teleporter ticket and possibly a cherry picker ticket. this will make him invaluable. also if he is going to have his own company the more he knows the better.

i would not rush into anything at the minute. your best bet is to try and get a job on site. muckin around with a digger on a farm could be a lot different than on a site. or just loading trucks all day.

leftfooter

Thanks for the replies guys. I wonder would there be any grants available to get those FAS certs?

bbam

If you look round the country there are machines lying idle everywhere.. I know a few contractors shrude ones at that, they are selling machines as there is no work and the work there is is being faught for real hard, prices slashed to keep machines busy and make payments, rather than make profit..
There is also a serious probelm getting money in of the country...

Maybe since you are in the farming circles already this might help to get farm work but this tends to be seasonal and weather dependant (not a great combination).

My advice is to do plenty of research and to go into it with eyes wide open.. I know our local papers have zero positions available, irishjobs.ie has zero jobs and personally I could list ten highly experienced drivers (some owner drivers) who are out of work..

I know there was a shortage of machine drivers on Oz some time back, might be an option

leftfooter

Thanks BBAM, your post is quite sobering. It's hard to know what to advise someone so young in this current climate. My brother is going to be @ home for the next 12 months, and was hoping that by getting a few certs under his belt in that time, that he would be planning for the future. Immigration is not an option @ this time, maybe in a few years.

Jonty

For his own sake, try and convince him to stay away from plant business, It'll break his heart. I know this from first experience.

The market is saturated with owner drivers. Consider the cost of fuel, and insurance, and finance repayments.

If he wants to be a driver get him to think about driving for somebody else

Martron

there is no way h could be sucessful unless gaingin experience under someone else. so if anything. get the tickets but work for someone else first. no point forkin out for a mcahine and realising its an impossible task