Hi all i have been a delivery driver all my driving days however i only passed my class 2 about 6 months ago my plan was get my hiab ticket and deliver sand and block ect how ever i am thinking about class 1 but tue thought of driving a artic in glasgow or edinburgh city center scares the life out of me. I want to know what the real deal is after you pass your test will i be stuck in the agency rut getting the jobs no other driver wants (like i am just now) or will there be light at the end of the tunnel if i go class 1
I would say definitely get your C+E. Even if you don’t use it right away, it’s always good to have as it offers you more employment opportunities. The agencies are a good opportunity to get experience. You could even find a job through them that you’d like to keep and have the perfect opportunity to show them how reliable, hard working and flexible you are. So get C+E, gain experience through agencies and then go for the job you want.
PS - Don’t let the size intimidate you, they’re not as hard to drive as you think they will be. Just make sure you don’t go down roads that are unsuited for large vehicles and you’ll be fine.
I would agree how ever i dont like the idea of get the big boy licence and then not use it for 6 months too a year. I feel then i would become that crap agency driver who cant drive to save his life. I have chosen tomake a living out of driving it ■■■■■ me off to become a agency rent a fudd driver but its how to get a foot in door
If you can lower yourself to work for an agency, you wont have to wait long to get C+E work. Try to see the positive side of it. They’re paying you AND giving you much needed experience that nobody else will.
I do get that part thats how i got the foot in the door on the class 2 but i had faith in my own driving for that however i dont have that in the ç&e. This is what i mean where do you get the balls to drive one into a city center in rush hour to find a department store cos right now if i am honest i am still carefull what burger van i stop at incase i cant turn and get out of.
The training should give you all you need to drive it. Then just go out and do it. The confidence is a by product of the training and subsequent test pass.
Training gets you up to the standard to pass your test but you know thats not how it works in the big bad world. I feel lucky i pased and got in with a not bad agency but i feel if i waited a few months after passing i may not have bothered and stayed a white van man. I think what the real question is is how and where do you get the balls to take a truck into a city center unsupervised while prending you know what you are doing
To be honest my ( personal ) opinion of artics is that they are ( relatively ) zb things to drive even outside let alone inside cities,compared to rigids or ( A Frame ) drawbars.However they are usually the only type in general use doing the ‘right’ type of work so you’ll be limiting your options if you don’t upgrade your licence to C+E and drive artics.As for agencies you already know what they are all about so an upgrade is all about finding the right job as an employed driver well away from agency type zb work.However the idea of being ‘scared’ of driving any type of wagon anywhere isn’t a good mindset to start out with.
Ok but where do you guys get the bottle to drive one in a city center you dont know? I am driving in my own fair city of glasgow and my stress level is unreal never mind driving the a82 loch side road to oban
I know i must sound defeatest but i just dont want to spend the cash make the leap then stick with the safe and easy option
Big Al the frying scotsman:
Ok but where do you guys get the bottle to drive one in a city center you dont know? I am driving in my own fair city of glasgow and my stress level is unreal never mind driving the a82 loch side road to oban
It might help to identify which part of driving an HGV is bothering you.IE is it the width or the length or both.Usually if/when you’ve got used to driving anything on it’s mirrors everything else then just looks after itself as second nature.
Big Al the frying scotsman:
but tue thought of driving a artic in glasgow or edinburgh city center scares the life out of me.
You’ll have to overcome that fear then. The nearest I got to the city centre of Glasgow when learning was down North Hanover Street, along Cathedral Street and back up towards the Royal Infirmary. It’s not that bad driving down the Cowgate in Kirkintilloch. The best bit is going back over the wee single lane railway bridge to the test centre at Bishopbriggs. 
To be honest, you’ll probably never go near the centre of anywhere unless you have a short trailer on and they are a lot less hassle than a rigid.
A good start is to not keep keeching ya pants over it. 
Mac it sounds like my test route (passed with riches) at the moment i am agency workin with a linnen company and my run is the city center with a trip to donoon once a week but i am at my wits end parkin a ridged 18 ton ridged never mind trying that in a artic and thats my prob. How do you make the leap and not kill someone or crush a car in the prosess
Maybe that should be included in the cpc… how to grow a pair
Have a look tomorrow m8. Most of the lorries in Glasgow city centre doing deliveries are rigids. You just wont get up most side streets with an artic without hitting something. The A82 is crap for anyone once you get north of Tarbet until the end of the loch, just take your time and look well ahead when possible. The rest of the A82 to Oban is fine. If the driving itself is causing you to get stressed, then maybe driving lorries isn’t the career for you m8.
Driving is what i do i do enjoy it. I just havent been this far out of ma comfart zone since passin my driving test
And as for the a82 you are right but i made it wing mirrors and all so i canny be that bad
You’ll get there m8.
Ha cheers man i think i might just about do it
Try and get a different agency gig? Variety. City centre driving would do my head in too, but it really depends how you approach it. Take it easy and don’t make stress for yourself.
Another way of looking at it is a C+E job will (possibly) keep you out of town.
Imagine doing a night trunk run heading down South, you’d be bored ■■■■■■■■■ (but then you can relax and listen to the radio)