Howdy helmet’s.
There are a lot of newbies who come on here at various stages of their career. Some are curious about the job, some starting the journey on C and some who are considering CE. I have been reading with great interest about differing experiences, and thought that I would give a quick ’ heads up ’ on my journey to date.
In November 2013, I came to the conclusion that FLT and 7.5 tonne driving was, guff. I already had my 7.5t because I passed my driving test in 1990. Both of these jobs I was doing were crap money, and after loading an artic one afternoon, I decided that I wanted to drive an artic too.
I approached a training company and cracked on with it. I struggled to pass class 2 with my initial training provider, and did consider whether I was doing the right thing. However, pussyism is the preserve of the weak, and these thought’s were quickly banished.
The cost and the worry of failing were mounting, but I changed training provider, and passed straight away with them. My next challenge was how to get in a class 2 vehicle to gain the vital experience.
Logic dictated that the crappiest work would give me the quickest opportunity and 48 hours after passing class 2, I got a start with P&H through an agency. 13 weeks later, they took me on. THIS ROUTE IS THE FASTEST WAY TO BUILD YOUR CV.
After 12 months of back breaking work, I concluded that now I had 1yrs exp, if I did my class 1 and struggled to find work, at least there were now a few companies who would give me class 2 work whilst I tried to get into class 1, and could keep decent money coming in. Passed class 1 at the first go, and packed in at P&H and went working on the agencies as that had proved a successful method previously.
Within 24 hours, good root through the job sites heralded an opportunity with Canute, who would consider ’ Less than 1 yr exp '.
Following day I was doing a class 2 job for the agency, and turned up at Canute in my wagon to speak to the Transport manager. He was impressed with my manner and effort made to see him, and gave me a start. After 6 months I decided to give Stobart’s a try and have now moved to another very large logistics company, driving refrigerated trailers. The experience I gained doing chilled/frozen cage work on class 2 has helped in this regard.
So to sum up folks, since Feb 2014 I have driven loads of different types of truck. Trailer wise, I have now experienced flat’s, boxes, curtainsider’s, and low loader’s. At first driving an 18 tonner seems daunting, but only 2 yrs later, I love getting in a fully laden 44 tonner. I wouldn’t ever go back to my old job’s and the camaraderie between drivers is really strong.
If you fancy driving truck’s, give it a go. You only ever truly regret the things that you do not try in life.
