I'm considering a career change and I'd like to hear from anyone who's already working (or has worked) in the industry.

Do you like your job?  Are there any companies that are particularly good or bad?

Something to keep in mind. A little known industry secret. Only 1 in 4 "Armored" cars actually have ballistic protection. 75% of the time your working you could be in an aluminum box. The cost of purchasing/maintaining an entire fleet of armored trucks would bankrupt any company.

Isn't the pay really dismal, too? Like generally under $10 an hour? Not nearly enough for having a huge target painted on your back.

To tell you the Truth, my job at the [b][i]BIG[/i][/b]  [img]www.ar15.com/members/albums/BusMaster007%2FBRINKS%2520brinkscorplogo%2Egif[/img]
was the most fun job I've ever had.
I met some great people there.  A couple of them became good friends.  I had a helluva lot of fun learning and doing what needed to be done.
One excellent thing was qualifying with the firearms.  It was an experience I'll never forget.
Passing numerous security phases was another personally satisfying accomplishment.
Discussing anything else then or now is not appropriate.  I swore to never reveal any pertinent information.  So be it.  
If you get a chance to do this job, I'd recommend it.
The uniforms may be different/better now, though:  [;D]
[img]www.ar15.com/members/albums/BusMaster007%2FBRINKS%2520armed%5Fguy%2Egif[/img]

I worked Security full-time while I was part-time in Transit.  
The driving style between the Trolley Bus and the Armored Truck was incredible.
The Trolley Bus required extreme finesse to keep the poles on the wire and to make the switches and dead-spots work in your favor, using landmarks as you drove, or you'd be dead/no power.  
The Armored Truck, on the other hand, required extreme "assertiveness" and ALWAYS leaving an out, or the ability to make one...

One of the best times I had was while on station waiting for my Partner to return.  He gave specific orders NOT to move the Truck.  Period.  I complied.
 Even when the nice Police Officer instructed me to move...I didn't.  
The Officer knew why, but, boy, was he pissed.
Of course, I wouldn't move or open the door.  I just waited.
My Partner returned shortly and commended me on doing a fine job of pissing off the Cop.  That was one of the highlights.
I was not attempting to create an adversarial position with the Officer; I was making damn sure I didn't let MY Partner down.  Ever.

You guys have a really shitty job I must say.

If I was your average scumbag, that's the first target I would hit. Easy as slicing pie if you think it through.

But I'm not a scumabg, so you guys are safe.. for now  [:D]

Watch "Heat" and you may change your mind about being a guard...[:D]

I was thining about doing this as a part time job while I am at college.  Any age requirements?  Have to have your own handgun?

Free uniforms?  sign me up

Keving67

Do they buy your lunch?

If they do, the companies are REAL cheap!

An armored vechical usally (nearly always) stops at Taco Bell here at around 11AMish, or a little before.

Only one guy, and he leaves the truck running too. I walked past it as I was leaving once (I like the chicken quasadeas, so shutup!), and the door was left partially open!

No kidding!!!!!

Like I said.

problem 1. Scheduled routes
problem 2. Heat ( the movie is not far off) - Shape charge under the chassis will deafen and stun the crew (like the flashbag, just much more maliscious) - If you can manage to place said charge in a non conspicuous spot, then you may gain hull entry as well.
Problem 3. Advertise help in the local papers. Any criminal w/ intent can pop in; get the job; and the rest is easy.

Like I said.

It's like seeing the roasted turkey in Looney Tunes.

Something says I just got this thread locked, Mods feel free to delete my posts.... just thinking aloud

My friend's brother had that gig for a year or two.  He liked it ok, got to pack a USP.  He was happy.  He applied for a police officer job but could never pass the written.  Tried to join the Marines but he only had one kidney (he donated it to a relative needing a transplant).

He doesn't do it anymore, he guards the oilfields now.  But aside from the crap pay, it seems like a decent gig.

Oops I thought you were talking about armored CAR handguards..

Thanks, BusMaster007; I understand that you can't say much.

It's not the most lucrative job around, but then again it's not as if my alternative is playing shortstop for the Yankees. [;)]

Why not sign up for airport security?

Easy gig.  Federal benefits.  $80k a year.

I work for a small one, so I don't know which national one to recommend.  I know with some of the larger ones, the benefits are ok, but there's advantages for working for a smaller company.  I do the hiring here, and it's next to impossible to find someone with a clean driving record and no criminal record.  You'd be surprised at how many applications I get from people that can't drive!  It's called an armored [i]car[/i] company for a reason.  With a small company, you might be able to negotiate a higher hourly rate if you have both a clean driving and criminal record.  If you're not overweight, don't have facial hair, don't smoke, and don't have long hair, you'd be a very desirable new hire.  I'm still looking for one of those.

The job probably won't be as interesting as you think.  When most people think of armored cars, they think of carrying millions of dollars.  In real life, my company is a glorified courier service.  Carrying heavy bags of change to an arcade, paperwork between banks (thankfully we don't do cash between banks), or a boxes of jewelry between a chain of stores isn't that interesting.  Also, change is heavy.  Did I mention bags full of change weigh a lot?

Ours don't.  Of course even we call a beat-up Cavalier stationwagon an armored car by convention.  If there's trouble, I guess we're supposed outrun it.  That might work if the criminals are on foot.

$10?  I wish we made $10.  I know of one national company that pays less than we do.  I don't see how the guys with a car, a mortgage, and kids put food on the table.

When quoted an hourly rate, make sure you ask what you're expected to pay out of pocket.  We pay all uniform (including cleaning) and equipment costs.  I know with some other companies, you can end-up spending several hundred dollars out of pocket before the first paycheck.

Or worse, you get a lot of LEO's that were fired for breaking the law.  Instead of some two-bit criminal, you get a trained, arrogant bully that misses his badge.  Most of my coworkers have records.  It is actually hard to find people that will work for this price that don't.  If I didn't get to play on the Internet for hours and read (I'm here because we have to have someone in the office to answer the phone when we have a crew out), I know I wouldn't be here.

Finally, you might want to ask this question at [url]assaultweb.net[/url].  I've seen employees from several national armored car services post there.z

I fit the bill, Zoom, but I'm not about to commute to South Carolina. [:)]

Are your guards allowed to smoke in the vehicle?  It would be a very long workday for me if I had to spend it inhaling smoke. [:X*]

Well I am with you as far as criminal records and driving stuff.

I only worked 2 days this month. I only stopped one person that actually had a valid license, 82/55. 21 yo guy 3 serious arrests, all involving weapons, and some other fairly signifigant charges.

Stopped one car revoked driver, no license passenger. Summary criminal histories for those 2 went 8-10 pages.

Stop another guy, horrendous driving record, revoked dl, no criminal history, his girlfriend, suspended dl, the owner of the car, that has suspended plates is the passenger.

Also checked a car by a business that frequently gets broken into. The registered owner had 10-12 pages of criminal history, and an active warrant, which said use caution history of ressisting the police. Pretty siginifgant felony past, I almost stopped scanning the crim. hist. it was so long. Then I got back to 1986-First Degree Homicide-convicted. I notice that there was only a small time period, 5-7 years, between that entry and the resumption of his criminal career......... Wish I knew where he was.............

[red]If you're not overweight, don't have facial hair, don't smoke, and don't have long hair, you'd be a very desirable new hire.[/red]

What does any of that have to do with someone's ability to do the job?

Renamed wrote:

The rules (and our insurance) state no smoking in the cars, in the office, or in a customers location, but it often gets ignored.  Since we pay for uniforms, smokers cost us a lot more money in cleaning and in replacements.  I've also noticed, as a general rule, you get about five more minutes per hour of work from a nonsmoker.  Renamed, in the job interview, mention that you're a nonsmoker.  Even if the interviewer is a smoker, he'll still appreciate having someone that won't take smoke breaks or smoke in the cars.



Good to hear someone else has the same experience, and it's not just me.  I still find it unbelievable how rarely I come across someone that hasn't had their drivers license suspended at one point or another.  Also, we used to also run credit checks, but we've since stopped since every single one of them was horrible.  It was a waste of time and money.  I'd have, for example, 24 year-olds with three pages of unpaid debts.  You have to work hard to steal that much money by that age.  

OLY-M4gery asked:

It doesn't.  It has to do with what the customers want.  I've got several good employees that certain customers don't want in their business for some reason or another.  It makes my job scheduling much harder.  For example, we have a stock broker that can't stand smokers, so I have to send someone I know won't smell like an ashtray to his office.  For a couple of local banks, I have to send guys without long hair since both banks have complained in the past.  I've got a great guy, that just retired from 25 years as a police officer, that a couple of customers have asked not to pick-up or deliver to their stores because of his weight.  We pickup and store backup tapes for one local CPA, and he asked that I not pickup the tapes because I'm "so old."  He claimed that I looked too feeble, and that might encourage someone to try and steal the tapes from me.  Again, I don't care, but some of the customers do.z

My credit history's clean, too. [:D]

Renamed -- DONT get a job in this field, you are better off becoming a cop.

i know 4 people who work for Brinks and 1 who works for armored transport. these are the ONLY 2 companies to work for, anything else SUCKS WORSE.
the pay SUCKS, start off around 10 bux (mebbe less), Armored pays the highest of all the Co.'s.
Armored (last i heard) is allowed to carry any gun they want and as many as they want, brinks carries SW 38spl and SW 40cal, brinks also has a 18 wheel trailer that is actually a portable shooting range inside. no im not BSing, ive seen it and know the guy that runs it, i could post pics.
SOP for working -- you are the messenger and there is a driver, the driver NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LEAVES THE TRUCK, he is there to defend the truck. there is NO back up, if you are attacked you are on your own unless the driver can shoot from the truck door porthole.

the guys i know, know of many co-workers who have been killed in the line of duty for a measly $10hour, defending someone elses money(if they are lucky to get a shot off), and with no backup.

the up side to this job is that there is a LOT of overtime, ive NEVER heard or seen an armored vehicle that did not have ballistic windows, (i got a pic recently of a 00 buck fired into a trucks window at point blank range).
the trucks are hot and your lucky if the AC works, coin is HEAVY and can bounce around in the truck, i know one story of coin that bounced on top of a guard that was sleeping on the floor and killed him.
one gaurd i know, the most money he has ever delievered was 14 million.

then there are the stories of the truck door being knocked open from bouncing coin, and the bags of coin be splattered all over the highway, which every piece must be found.

Don't want to give anyone ideas, but how long would that driver stay in the truck "defending" OPM if some bad guy shot a 50 cal through the windshield and told the guard to get out?  

They don't pay people enough to do this job, it amazes me why there is not more theft? 10/hr? and all that OPM?

So... what does the driver do when he needs to excrete waste products? [:X*]