Passed my Class one on the Wednesday November 1975 in a Bedford TK with a hi-lo rear axle, got a job doing potatoes to Cardiff and Swansea on the Friday. Atkinson Borderer day cab with a 38 foot flat trailer all handball loading, unloading and roping and sheeting.
Braveheart2009:
How long did it take to get your first HGV job after passing your tests?
Immediately. I signed up with an agency and work was thrown at me. I was asked to go to Asda, Brackmills, and was told to blag them that I’d had 2 years experience 
I said I wasn’t comfortable, so went to Corby Chilled and Homebase instead.
I worked for about 3 months on agency, and ended up being taken on by a company who I did a couple weeks work for. I stayed there for 10 years.
2 days after passing my class 2 and i had my class 1 test 2 weeks after that. Stayed at the same company. Started on pallet network( i know shush) in class 2 then they put me in an artic after about 4 months on pallets. Started tramping about 2 months after that doing general haulage and now i do events with the same company 2 and a half years after i started there.
Ive done flats, fridges, curtains, urban trailers, rear steer, and boxes theyve put me through counterbalance and moffet tickets and theyve sent me abroad. Been a good gig really
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I guess about a month. Passed October 19th 2017. Waited week and a half for licence to appear. Applied for a job. Working my notice period this week and start driving for a living next Monday 27th.
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1976, passed me class 1, called in at a general haulage outfit in the town i was buying me first house in, some 60 miles from where i was living at the time, they offered me a start soon as i was available, so put me weeks notice in at the van/7.5 ton transport place i was at, boss told me if i hadn’t quit he was going to sack me anyway for taking unpaid time off to take me HGV test, so good job i passed eh.
You could never be sure with Ted, was he pulling me ■■■■■■ or arsey, he could get arsey, or would he really have sacked me, i dunno.
Started the following week, couple of days out on a Leyland Super Comet 16 ton rigid, then did a 2 day trip with a Leyland Badger artic…steady lads i can feel the envy from here 
, presumably they were happy with me, then they issued me my first artic tractor, S39 Mickey Mouse Foden day cab, no power steering, no power anything come to think of it, 12 speed foden box with air shift range splitter lever top right of steering column, no training no bugger all, off you go 
, first couple of days missing a gear meant coming to a standstill and restarting, had to get used to the box or never get anywhere.
Hill starts etc you used the dead man, because the parking brake consisted of a drum brake behind the diff which was cable operated, so virtually useless, these were the days before spring brakes so the dead man (which operated the steer axle and trailer brakes) could not be used as a parking brake because once the air ran out the brakes would release, hence you took a lot of care how you parked if you wanted to find the lorry where you left it
Use the trailer brake? 
cable brake either seized solid or cable wrapped off the spool or both 
Found 2 short planks 
behind the passenger seat, these already cut to size so you would rest the ends on the door window ledges and the planks met in the middle on the bonnet which was your bed, obviously where possible you found digs for the night, but spent many nights in that, and the S40 and S80 Foden day cabs which followed it, S80 was the first artic i got with power steering and me first ■■■■■■■ engine, previous to that bloody Gardners.
All flat trailers, all work rope and sheet, carried goal posts and dunnage for steel and back scotch for reels plus corner boards for the lots of foodstuffs that we carried, not a ratchet strap to be seen, chains for the steel.
Service regime not good, soon learned to carry a 9/16th ring spanner and small hammer for regular brake adjusting.
Sounds horrendous yeah?, but i averaged £93 a week there in me first couple of years which whilst not the dead mans shoes jobs of the county was far better paid than the all flash no cash operators nearby, which were paid roughly the same as i earned on the 7.5 tonners, some £50 a week, which was good money then on the vans at the time.
That set a theme for me whole working life, never bothered about flash lorries or easy work, just followed the money, luckily i’ve managed finally to land me perfect job, excellent if not flash tackle with a short working week easy but interesting work and top money working for a company which respects its staff, and never go near an RDC hell hole, took me a lot of years to finally find the full monty though, along the way i’ve bust a gut and worked all hours God sent and have the scars both physical and mental to prove it.
Was already in the company, passed in the morning (class 2) and straight out in the ERF that afternoon. When I passed my class 1 it was a week or two before there were any jobs for the artic.
2 days for interview , one week to start job
Two months ,Then ended up in a bullying crap place in Birmingham called RGF Logistics .I wondered why they always seemed to be advertising …
It’s a grim industry to get into .
i worked in a shop, but was having lessons in a car, i was offered a job with ferrari pistons a few doors along when i passed, that was my route into transport, a Ford Anglia van when i was 17 delivering to garages with engine parts, here i am still, and never took a test for my class 1, grandad rights.
Twoninety88:
Passed my Class one on the Wednesday November 1975 in a Bedford TK with a hi-lo rear axle, got a job doing potatoes to Cardiff and Swansea on the Friday. Atkinson Borderer day cab with a 38 foot flat trailer all handball loading, unloading and roping and sheeting.
Truck aside, can you imagine the takers if that was offered today? Handballing is where its at though, i must be a masochist, i like it, keeps you fit and strong… 
Done my test with Peter Lane Transport on the Friday and was promised a start on Monday but on the agency side of the their company so stuck it for a few months to gain some experience then moved on to Exel Logistics.
Passed my test in 1968.After that my life was a close parallel to Juddian’s.Looking back we didn’t realise at the time how tough it was but we learned on the job and gained experience in numerous aspects of driving.The difficulties we just coped with.Unlike a large part of the current crop I suspect.And yes,I am in old git mode!
i passed my class 1 in 1996 when I was working in the warehouse, I was sent out on a local run on own a few days later.
about a year before I passed my test…was classed as plant Magirus 6x6 snowplough
JIMBO47:
about a year before I passed my test…was classed as plant Magirus 6x6 snowplough
I thought I did well as I was yard shunter for a couple of years before getting my licence but obviously I never drove down the road.
AndrewG:
Twoninety88:
Atkinson Borderer day cab with a 38 foot flat trailer all handball loading, unloading and roping and sheeting.Truck aside, can you imagine the takers if that was offered today? Handballing is where its at though, i must be a masochist, i like it, keeps you fit and strong…
I dont mind doing it now and again. I was given a job out of central london last year, Lincolns Inn fields to be precise, twice a week for fifteen weeks handballing office furniture into a 45 foot Box trailer. A short drive to Stratford east london and empty the ■■■■ thing. Strange how the other two drivers, (both younger than me) managed to avoid it like the plague!
Twoninety88:
AndrewG:
Twoninety88:
Atkinson Borderer day cab with a 38 foot flat trailer all handball loading, unloading and roping and sheeting.Truck aside, can you imagine the takers if that was offered today? Handballing is where its at though, i must be a masochist, i like it, keeps you fit and strong…
I dont mind doing it now and again. I was given a job out of central london last year, Lincolns Inn fields to be precise, twice a week for fifteen weeks handballing office furniture into a 45 foot Box trailer. A short drive to Stratford east london and empty the ■■■■ thing. Strange how the other two drivers, (both younger than me) managed to avoid it like the plague!
I had similar on agency, but with white goods, the other lads who did it were too precious to jump in the back and give the lad with the sack barrow a hand, ‘not my job i’m a driver’ , so they used to ask for me.
Shah, the gaffer at the receiving point made sure one of the lads brought me a decent latte from the cafe next door and used to slip me £25 for me help, roughly 30 mins work 
If i was still there at 1600 the automatic street cameras would turn about face for loading restrictions, so the lads barrelling the machines away used to crowd round so the camera couldn’t clock the number plate.
Some blokes haven’t got a clue how to make the job work
mrginge:
JIMBO47:
about a year before I passed my test…was classed as plant Magirus 6x6 snowploughI thought I did well as I was yard shunter for a couple of years before getting my licence but obviously I never drove down the road.
aye up an down the A74 Lockerbie section winter 80/81 ,was driver and second man in the cab ,so once driver got tired I did a shift.with permission from management… then later in the year went for my licence
Passed in the Armed forces driving right away, Retired this year.
Forces. Passed bike test on a Friday, car test and class 3 the next week, class 1 the week after one morning and in the afternoon I was sent out in an Antar with a Chieftain on the back. I was 17 years old, steep learning curve.