noobilad:
SO my next question is where can I get the cheapest 35 hour online CPC which includes uploading the information to the DVLA? Any recommendations?
May as well start using the right terminology before you go any further: DVSA deal with DCPC and the driving exams/tests, not DVLA. DVLA deal with the licences. And in the same vein, proper terminology is C+E not Class 1, though only the training companies, and the bigger employers, really use that.
If you’ve got your C1 you should focus on your DCPC and getting some C1 work as you couldn’t have driven commercially anytime since 2009 otherwise you’d be acquainted with DCPC already.
There are waiting lists to get on training courses, mostly due to a shortage of test slots, which due to impending strike action by some examiners, is going to get worse. I don’t know anyone who has spare slots until well after the new year.
Don’t use a broker, find a “driving school”, people who have their own vehicles, who you can go and talk to before parting with any money.
They will want to give an assessment for a car-to-artic candidate, take you out in a C first and see how you get on, before stepping it up to a bigger rig.
As for employers, there’s no point sugar coating it, most employers want drivers with experience - obvious Catch 22 there, and they want people who are justifiably confident in a bigger vehicle.
Some years ago when I was working Class 2 (C) on agency, I passed my Class 1 (C+E). My agency said “Congratulations! But we can’t get you any Class 1 work until you’ve had your licence for 2 years”, so my more-than-a-decade of Class 2 experience was worth diddly squat to them.
If you’ve got the impetus to do it, then do it, don’t be overly put off by the harsh realities of making it a “career” (ie comments such as I’ve made here), but bear in mind that nearly all the TMs I speak to are very scathing about newbie car-to-artic drivers, many won’t even give a sniff of work, having had too many bad experiences.
Best of luck