So I’ve applied to register for a few agencies and had a few calls back, all a waste of time. Even though everyone seems to say agencies will take you on with no experience, this isn’t the case, I’m learning that it seems to be harder to get on an agency than it probably will be to get a full time job. The reason there giving me is that because agencies have a high turn over of drivers, insurance will not cover me without experience, at the minute I’m thinking a letter from god won’t even get me out driving. Not gonna lose the faith though, just gonna have to stick with my existing employer until the assess me and give me some experience. I’ve been shunting for two years so I’m lucky that I’ve gained that experience and lucky that my employer are going to help me out, but it makes me wonder what chance someone who’s just got there licence with absolutely no experience in the field has?..
Just persevere honest a chance will come and at first you may have to accept a 71/2 tonne job to prove yourself and then when the class 2 or 1 comes up and they dont have anyone to ask but you suddenly the insurance issue isnt there , and once you have proved yourself the work will come in , dont give up hope christmas is here and things hopefully should be picking up
hang in there 
Jennie:
Just persevere honest a chance will come and at first you may have to accept a 71/2 tonne job to prove yourself and then when the class 2 or 1 comes up and they dont have anyone to ask but you suddenly the insurance issue isnt there , and once you have proved yourself the work will come in , dont give up hope christmas is here and things hopefully should be picking up
hang in there
^^^^ This 
It isn’t easy getting that first start. But one day one of those ‘we need drivers with a gazillion years experience’ agencies will be desperate for a driver and hopefully you will be available to step in to the breach.
Don’t know Lancaster area but…
Try Driver Hire (Renowned for giving newbies a start)
Take Van or 7.5t work and work your way up.
Ask all your local companies with a lorry or fleet of them.
Your chance will come. Don’t give up.
Cheers lads, i won’t be giving up driver hire are the only ones who seem interested to be honest, register with them last Sunday first thing Monday morning someone rang me from there just telling me to file a few more details in and then he would call me back, will give them a ring tomorrow and see what the script is,I won’t be giving in I’ve wanted to do the job for a while now, I know it’s something I’d enjoy!
2 things. Jennie is not a lad as far as I know
and
Driver Hire give you quite a thorough Driving aptitude written test. It just checks whether you know your driver’s hours / regs, loading methods, Highway Code etc
dar1976:
Jennie is not a lad as far as I know
no im a lass got all the bits to prove it 
but I dont mind being one of the lads
dar1976:
2 things. Jennie is not a lad as far as I knowand
Driver Hire give you quite a thorough Driving aptitude written test. It just checks whether you know your driver’s hours / regs, loading methods, Highway Code etc
I registered with Driver Hire so far yet to get any work from them 
Even though I have phoned them several times could also provide experience with vans & 7.5 t ( C1 as some people prefer )
Jennie:
dar1976:
Jennie is not a lad as far as I knowno im a lass got all the bits to prove it
Are you admitting to cross dressing during the weekend ?
dar1976:
Jennie:
dar1976:
Jennie is not a lad as far as I knowno im a lass got all the bits to prove it
Are you admitting to cross dressing during the weekend ?
Jennie dont admit to anything
dar1976:
Are you admitting to cross dressing during the weekend ?
now dean ive not forgot a prev post of yours i could bring it up 
Hahaha my bad I didn’t realise a female had replied !!!
Kevwall:
Hahaha my bad I didn’t realise a female had replied !!!
More than 1 to be correct young man
Haha digging myself a deep hole here aren’t i
Work will come your way eventually so don’t give up hope.
I am in the same position as yourself with no experience. The following happened just last weekend.
Have signed up with two agencies and the most recent one that I signed up with 3 weeks ago, phoned me at the weekend to offer me C+E work with a large distribution company for the month of December with a chance of full-time employment afterwards. Unfortunately due to childcare issues I had to decline it but thanked them for the offer.
They then offered me a late shift that day or the next day with the same company but was unable to do it. I felt terrible turning this work down but I didn’t have enough notice to sort out domestic stuff.
The next day they sent me a text asking if I could do a day shift with the same company as they were short of drivers and were desperate…I jumped at the chance. This was my first day out on my own.
Started at 0530 and drove a c category box lorry for the morning doing deliveries and then the company asked if I had a class one licence at lunchtime on my return. That afternoon I was driving an artic dropping a load off getting experience with not only that but tail-lifts and electric pallet trucks as well.
Two days later the agency phoned me to ask if I could do a night shift starting at 2300 hrs driving an artic for the company as they were short of a driver. It didn’t suit me because I had to be back to do the school run and the finish time of the shift would mean I would be getting it tight as it was a 200 mile return drop-off. However I wanted to let the agency know that I could work at short notice and was prepared to help them out of a hole so I did it and finished well within my time parameters this morning…loved every minute of it but was tired.
The whole point being, a chance will come when you least expect it and when it does grab it with both hands!
Once you get your foot in the door and an agency sees you are reliable, it doesn’t matter if you have 30 years driving experience…be prepared to do that shift/job because more work will come your way.
Perseverance, & how you put yourself forward, be prepared to get anywhere at short notice,don’t turn jobs down, good luck 
Well you hear from no one then everyone rings you, had 3 agencies today heading to them all tomorrow to get registered then get induction dates so all is looking good!!
You could always try local companies for work & drop your cv in , anything is worth a try
dar1976:
2 things. Jennie is not a lad as far as I knowand
Driver Hire give you quite a thorough Driving aptitude written test. It just checks whether you know your driver’s hours / regs, loading methods, Highway Code etc
Actually that driver aptitude test is a total joke, see if anyone can spot the mistake.
Fill out a manual tachograph for the following.
“You are taking a class one tractor unit from Lancaster, registration LD08FGH. The date is 12.12.08. You start at 1000, 66,500 km and finish at 67,002 km at 2000. You finish at Lancaster.”
Major mistake in this statement. I cant remember the specifics, but they are pretty close.
I answered the question, I wouldn’t take this vehicle out on the road.
Can anyone else work out why?!?
Agencies are all horrible horrible nasty pieces of work, but to get a start at driving you have few other options.
bigstoop:
dar1976:
2 things. Jennie is not a lad as far as I knowand
Driver Hire give you quite a thorough Driving aptitude written test. It just checks whether you know your driver’s hours / regs, loading methods, Highway Code etc
Actually that driver aptitude test is a total joke, see if anyone can spot the mistake.
Fill out a manual tachograph for the following.
“You are taking a class one tractor unit from Lancaster, registration LD08FGH. The date is 12.12.08. You start at 1000, 66,500 km and finish at 67,002 km at 2000. You finish at Lancaster.”
Major mistake in this statement. I cant remember the specifics, but they are pretty close.
I answered the question, I wouldn’t take this vehicle out on the road.
Can anyone else work out why?!?
Agencies are all horrible horrible nasty pieces of work, but to get a start at driving you have few other options.
08 wouldnt have an analog tach in for a start
Kevwall, the main thing is to hang in their as things will change. This has happened to me over the last week as I’ve been inundated with agency calls to drive C+E jobs. I had two days last week at it and have taken the plunge and jacked my full time job in as we have been on short time for a while and now I can be more flexible with all this agency work coming my way. Tonight I’m doing a C+E run for Laura Ashley and tomorrow I’ve got a Sainsbury’s driving assessment hopefully leading to a full time job…
Keep the faith as things will change.