At 18 I went from nothing to HGV1 on 1 course, thank you your Majesty…(HM Forces) 
Don’t fret about it just get in and drive…
personally dont see why they didn’t advertise the young drivers scheme more, The one 18yr old on the radio report was excited cos his dad owns a waste haulage firm (bet his dad wont be when the insurance gives him the quote). i think it is too young i know i wouldn’t have done it.
Now the Poles are flooding home in droves to a country with better economic prospects, the Government are starting to panic. The whole Ponzi Scheme is falling apart.
In Germany they have been employing 17year olds as trainees for
the Berufskraftfahrer profession since the trade was official listed
as a skilled job and you had to take the equivalent of the UK
City &Guilds Exam, the course is Three years long and the youngsters
learn to drive from car to truck and also fork lift plus Hijab crane,
along with all the other courses that are in the training, from A -to- Z:
they do not have problems as the firms Insurance will cover them when
driving a truck,
im sorry but very few young lads will come into this game, the wages are ■■■■[ unless you do 80 hrs p.w], what young lad wants those hours, none i know.
hi guys im 19 and i delighted that the age limit has come down and i will be doin it as soon as funds are avaible, no 18 will be doin the class 2 just they can because of how much it costs, the onli way an 18 year old will being doin his class 2 is if he truly wants to be a lorry driver like me , there fore he isnt goin to miss use he lience and he proberly be more carfull than most ppl who have bein driving for 20 years
ady1:
im sorry but very few young lads will come into this game, the wages are [zb][ unless you do 80 hrs p.w], what young lad wants those hours, none i know.
I Do its all i’ve wanted to do for years and i am determined to do so
sam
I found this from some obscure website 
roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … wered.html
Talent pool widens as LGV licence age is lowered
11 September 2009
The legal age a person can acquire an LGV (large goods vehicle) licence has been lowered from 21 to 18, opening up the talent pool that operators can draw from.Introduced as part of the new Driver CPC legislation, which came into force on 10 September, the change is good news for the road haulage industry.
Dr Mick Jackson, CEO of Skills for Logistics, tells Roadtransport.com: "It enables us to get young people into the industry sooner, before they decide to take a different career path.
“The really good news for operators is that by starting them at 18, they will qualify for government apprenticeship funding, which is only available to people aged between 16 and 19. Previously, young people starting out at 21 didn’t qualify for apprenticeship funding.”
phantom309:
ady1:
im sorry but very few young lads will come into this game, the wages are [zb][ unless you do 80 hrs p.w], what young lad wants those hours, none i know.I Do its all i’ve wanted to do for years and i am determined to do so
sam
good on u mate im in the same boat but every nodys seems to think most young lads are lazy yobs. no faith
18 year old passes his class 1, has a bad boys exhaust fitted to unit, under chassis green/blue light, tinted windows, lowers suspension… 
18 year old passes his class 1, has a bad boys exhaust fitted to unit, under chassis green/blue light, tinted windows, lowers suspension…
I got my HGV at 18 in the Army, but this was in the ARMY… Yes, I was safe driving on the road (mainly in convoy) and messing around on battlefield training etc.
Putting insurance issues to one side, I do not think an average 18 year would do well driving in civi-street. The responsibility that comes with driving big lorries on our little, and very restrictive roads is probably too much for lads of that age. I certainly would not have done well in that situation.
I’m sure the government would’ve taken everything into consideration before lowering the age from 21 to 18. So I don’t see the need to panic like a bunch of old women? I can see this turning into world war 3. An 18 year old turns up to a service station… hops out of the truck and he gets all you lot giving him evils. Yet that 18 year old probably ends up proving you wrong about “an 18 year old can’t handle a HGV”. That 18 year old probably is able to handle the truck better than you can. Younger people pick things up far better than older people can. You speak about experience on the road. People need to experience to have experience. I’m sure you had to experience to have experience when you began. You have someone who’s passed their car test at 17 and doing their HGV at 18 + someone who’s passed their car test at 17 and doing their HGV at 21, their road experience with a truck has no relevance to car experience. Both people are in the same boat. Both skills will probably be the same. And I’m sure you guys were in the exact same boat when you started. I think you need to put aside all the pathetic dumb sounding quotes you lot say about an 18 year old getting into the business, neon lights, bigger exhaust, bling wheels. I mean it’s just pathetic you even saying that. What person who wants to add neon lights, larger exhaust, tinted windows, have the suspension lowered on a vehicle will want to drive a truck. A truck that’s, for a reminder, limited to 56mph. I don’t think that’s a case of excitement for an 18 year old who wants to add neon lights, larger exhaust, tinted windows, suspension lower. I think you’re just plainly judging a book by it’s cover. Get over yourselves.
AT 18 WE SEND THESE MEN TO WAR SO I DON’T SEE WHY THEY CAN’T DRIVE A TRUCK AT 18.I THINK IT’S A GOOD MOVE FOR THE INDUSTRY TO HAVE YOUNG BLOOD AND IF YOU OWN TRUCKS IT DOESN’T TAKE A LOT TO TRAIN THESE GUYS THE SAME WAY WE DID AT 21.THEY HAVE MADE 1 LITTLE FELLA VERY HAPPY HE ALREADY WANTS ME TO ORDER HIS TRUCK.
MR JOBE.
I think that 18 is ok as a lorry is completely different to driving a car but i would be in favour of a theory test for everyone with any kind of driving licence every 5 years or so to check on new road signs etc and big fines for mobiles, middle lane hogging etc. We take a test at 17 then were expected to remember the highway code signs and markings untill we die with new ones coming in all the time its ridiculous. Good luck to anyone that wants to get into this industry at the moment.
i cant wait to drive lol
I don’t think its a problem someone driving under 21 a HGV, but think it should be you need to have had your car licence a minimum of 2 years before getting a HGV licence. Yeah it aint the same as a car, but there is basic fundamentals that are the same, the layout of roads and other experience like hazard perception.
I think its a waste of money the government paying into apprenticeships to 18 year olds to get HGV licences. Mainly because of insurance purposes most places won’t allow anyone to drive until they are 25 years old.
The government would be better placed looking into adult apprenticeships for people over 21 who are unemployed or are unskilled. They are complaining about needing a bigger pool to get drivers from, i am sure there is lots of 25 year olds working in factories and the likes who would love to get out of the job they are doing and get on the road. At least they would stand a better chance of getting a job.
i am coming up to 18 and a fully qualified mechanic and i was stunned at the fact that they dropped the age to 18 and happy at the same time because i do some repair work on trucks for friends and the way the car industry has turned out has been a really big weight on my sholders because i can not get a job in mechanics even with 5 years experience under my belt and i was speaking to my dad a few days ago about my career and he said why not become a trucker and i said cause i need to be 21 to do the test and the problem i had there was i am only interested in 1 of 2 things and have been since i was a small lad mechanics or truck driving and if i am going to choose a career i want it to be something i take pride in but this dropping the age to 18 has liftedsome of the weight off my sholders because i can now plan to get my truck license sooner then i thought and i feel like i have enough experience driving a 4x4 with a 3.5T trailer on the back around the whole country in different weather but i agree with what some people are saying about yobs driving trucks and that is what scares me because some of my friends are 18-22 years old and i would not trust 1 of them with my strimmer let alone a truck one of them is only 21 and i kid you not this is true he has written off 21 cars and these are the type who should not be aloud to even take the test. the difference between people like me is the fact that like some other lads on here have said i have been devoted to the manual stuff if i can’t drive it i’ll fix it and now they have dropped the age to 18 i can now live my life long dream earlier then i thought which is to open my own vehicle garage and a heavy haulage business. i am determined to do this as i love working with and driving large vehicles and as long as i have a radio i will happily drive where ever i am asked to go because i just get on with it.
some of you will and are saying that this is just gona cause more problems then it will solve but in mine and the other 17-18-19-20 year olds on this forum is has opened up an all new career path earlier then we could have ever expected.
The whole english rule is a load of ■■■■■■ If your confident to drive a truck at 18 then you should be able to drive a truck at 18. Iv personally veen driivng trucks since i was 19 and didnt go tru any of that yds crap… I dont see any differance between a 40yr old jst gettin his hgv compare too a 18yr old… they both have experiance in a car yet they both dont have any experiance in driving a truck so they are both equal… Alot of people and insurance companys will say that the younger guy wont have enough experiance of control over the rig yet when you challange them niether will no1 over the age of 25 have it as driving a truck is totally different then driving a car… i think the driving age should be lowered too 18yrs and thus will then also manage too change the image of truck drivers… no offence too our older drivers here as i think you lot are heros but thats my opnion… hope this dont get deleted like my last post…
phantom309:
ady1:
im sorry but very few young lads will come into this game, the wages are [zb][ unless you do 80 hrs p.w], what young lad wants those hours, none i know.I Do its all i’ve wanted to do for years and i am determined to do so
sam
Same