Morning all, first-time poster here altho I have looked around the site previously.
Apologies as I’m sure this question has been asked many times before.
I’m looking to get a driving job ASAP and have recently passed my medical and have an assessment drive on 12th April with a view to doing the category c test which I may follow up with c+e. The problem I have is no experience in a truck. I work in sales around the North West (live in merseyside) and I’ve had enough, nearly walked out with no job to go to a few times which the missus wouldn’t be too happy about. I also recently passed the forklift counterbalance test and am doing the reach test soon as I hoped it may help me get out of sales and even be of use in a driving job??
I’ll do a temporary job if necessary altho I have to give 4wks notice to my employer. I’m also looking at courier work just to get some experience but so far no good. I know Stobarts run an apprenticeship but at 35 I’m not certain I’m what they’re looking for!
Any help & advice for a newbie who needs a break is appreciated!
Cheers
Bert77:
Morning all, first-time poster here altho I have looked around the site previously.
Apologies as I’m sure this question has been asked many times before.
Hi Bert77, 
Yes mate, it’s been asked before, but we’ll always do our best to give you a good answer. 
Bert77:
I’m looking to get a driving job ASAP and have recently passed my medical and have an assessment drive on 12th April with a view to doing the category c test which I may follow up with c+e. The problem I have is no experience in a truck. …
You and lots of others are in a similar position mate, but then again, so was everybody else because everybody has faced the “no experience” thing at some early point in their driving career.
Bert77:
I also recently passed the forklift counterbalance test and am doing the reach test soon as I hoped it may help me get out of sales and even be of use in a driving job??
Congratulations on passing your FLT test.
Yes, there are other types of work open to an LGV driver who has an FLT licence, so you’ve already made yourself more employable.
Bert77:
I’ll do a temporary job if necessary …
IMHO, it might prove wise that you have this mindset.
Bert77:
I’m also looking at courier work just to get some experience but so far no good. I know Stobarts run an apprenticeship but at 35 I’m not certain I’m what they’re looking for!
Keeping all options open for as long as possible and being prepared to start plugging away right from the bottom of the pile is probably the best way to go mate.
The word “apprentice” now has a wider meaning than in years gone by, so anybody can now be an apprentice regardless of their age.
I’d like to wish you good luck in your efforts.
ROG will be along after his nap. 
Cheers Dieseldave!
A lot of the temp jobs seem to be immediate starts so quitting my current job is a definite option so I’m in a position to accept anything!
If you/anyone knows of any companies that may take on a new starter that would be a great help.
Ps, good to see you’re a fellow Wirralian!
Keep your job, get your C and C+E like you said then keep applying for Stobarts. You won’t get on their apprentice scheme but they do take new pass drivers on. Appleton is only about 20-30 mile away depending on whereabouts in Merseyside you live. All M62 and M6 anyway so an easy commute. There always seems to be jobs going at Appleton on their site too.
When I passed my C+E I applied immediately to Stobarts but heard nothing initially though they did ring and offer me a position a few weeks ago and I only passed just before Christmas. Turned it down though as I have something better.
Keep your present job because unless you have funds for doing odd days a week on LGV for a while then you might get into difficulty financially
Generally, If you work mon to fri then you can do one day of LGV driving every other weekend so you might consider that as a way of making a few contacts before committing fully
Some newbies have been fortunate and got decent jobs within a couple of weeks but I think that is more of being right place right time as well as knocking on many doors
CVs and phone calls will not cut it as they can be binned and forogtten about - personal touch is needed
■■■■ it, was planning on handing in my notice tomorrow!
Thanks for the advice given.
I haven’t even got time to learn the theory due to my current work, working all evenings and weekends just to stay in a national average wage job at the moment.
C&E licence will be an option, only concern I had was getting all qualified but no experience but I know others have said the same so will probably give it a go.
Can’t believe even courier jobs need experience, been driving 30,000 miles a year (in a car) doesn’t seem to count for much.
I am in the same boat with regards the theory stuff, as I am looking to get my class 2 done asap, what I have done though is get the theory test app for my tablet (android) and when ever I have 5 minutes spare, or when I’m on the throne, I have a go at it.
I have my medical this Friday, as soon as that is done and my provisional arrives, I will be looking to get started with assessment drives and then booking for my theory test and actual test. In the mean time I have my full time job to keep money coming until I am done with class 2, then its onto class 1. At this point I shall be looking to get occasional agency work for a day or two a week to get the experience if at all possible.
Thing with experience is that driving an LGV or even a large van is totally different to that of a car. I drive a LWB mercedes sprinter in my current job averaging about 300 miles a day, I doubt even that will prepair me enough for a 44t truck 
hi Bert, welcome! and I wish you all the luck in the world! lots of people had to start somewhere, and at 35 its definately not too late in life
you said you’ve got a Mrs, do you have a family and a house? I ask because if that’s the case, you might want to be careful how you go about it and think things through before you make any drastic changes.
first you need the licence, and that don’t come cheap.
then you need a job. full time jobs are fast becoming a thing of the past. agencies have spread like cancer, sure there are some good ones, but as a newbie you will keep running into the 2 years experience wall. insurance companies think that as soon as you have been trained and passed the test you are not safe to drive a truck, its much better not to drive for 2 years till you’re out of practice and completly forgotten your training, then you will be much safer by yourself in a fully laden truck 
chances are the agency will chuck you the odd day now and again at the lowest rate they can get you to take. the flt tickets will help you to get work, but you may end up stuck in a warehouse.
the stobies scheme sounds good in theory, but if they are paying for your training, I would expect there to be a trade off on the wages
there is not a driver shortage, that is all lies. some do earn 30,000 a year, but that generally involves a lot of 15 hour days after about 4 hours sleep, or lots of nights out. nights out sleeping in the cab while some prat revs his engine next to you all night and prozzies keep knocking you up to see if you want any company, then if the gods are really ■■■■■■ at you, you will wake up to find your diesel empty and your load gone
sorry to sound negative, I was pointing out the bad side because its a big decision to make when you have a family to support. if it truly is for you, then GO FOR IT!!! I love the job and could never be happy doing anything else but if you are expecting it to be like Eddie stobart trucks and trailers, get ready for a nasty surprise
Thanks jbaz. Have a mortgage but no kids so that helps a bit. More than anything I think I was after reassurance that I was going about things in the right way. Hopefully I am but sticking this current job out any longer will go down as one of my greatest ever achievements! If I don’t quit then I may end up going off with stress but I don’t want that blot on my sickness record as I usually go a couple of years without any time off sick.
Good luck madmossy, we’re at a similar position by the sounds of things so hope all goes well. I had my medical a week or so ago and have now had my licence back with the extra entitlements. Driving assessment booked for next Friday so things are moving forward now. Once I’ve started the course I’ll know if I want to progress to c+e which most people seem to recommend.
Cheers all.
Medical’s done for me today, as expected the doc said I was fit as a butchers dog! I was even surprised to find out I am a stone lighter than I thought I was. 15 stone and not 16 stone which means at my height i’m pretty much bang on the money
Soon as my licence gets returned I shall be on the dog n bone to get an assessment booked
good to hear you’re carrying on with it sounds like you’ve got a plan, I hope it all comes together for you
your background in sales will help come the interview stage.
driver hire are a good agency as a starting point and most of them will help with licence upgrades, might save you a few bob
see you out there real soon
Got my theory test on Monday - any words of advice from anyone?
Cheers
Passed the multi choice but only went and failed the hazard perception by 1 mark!
Got the retest on Thursday 6th and already booked in for the driving course (with test on Monday 17th) so can’t afford to mess up the hazard thing again.
The people who I’m training through advised me not to click the mouse too early which I thought I listened to but maybe not!
Any tips appreciated.
Cheers
HPT is not meant to be anything like real Hazard Negotiation. Don’t beat yourself up about it.
When you see the Hazard, click, then click again. One of the clicks should get you a result in the scoring zone.
Bert77:
Passed the multi choice but only went and failed the hazard perception by 1 mark!
Got the retest on Thursday 6th and already booked in for the driving course (with test on Monday 17th) so can’t afford to mess up the hazard thing again.
The people who I’m training through advised me not to click the mouse too early which I thought I listened to but maybe not!
Any tips appreciated.Cheers
You could try having a play with theaa.com/aattitude/games/hpt.jsp if you haven’t already. There are other sites, and usually the supermarkets sell a very cheap computer DVD with the test software on too. (2 or 3 pounds in my case)
As has already been said, its about beating the software, not showing you are any good at hazard perception. They want to know you can tell when an existing hazard gets worse, not when you see it initially. Click once when you see the hazard. Click a couple of times (but no more) when it develops or after a second or two if you can’t spot it developing. More than three or four clicks and they think you are cheating and disregard that clip. Of the entire thing from start to finish, the HPT was the bit I was most worried about because it has so little relation to real life skill! Best of luck for tomorrow. Let us know!
Bert77:
Morning all, first-time poster here altho I have looked around the site previously.
Apologies as I’m sure this question has been asked many times before.
I’m looking to get a driving job ASAP and have recently passed my medical and have an assessment drive on 12th April with a view to doing the category c test which I may follow up with c+e. The problem I have is no experience in a truck. I work in sales around the North West (live in merseyside) and I’ve had enough, nearly walked out with no job to go to a few times which the missus wouldn’t be too happy about. I also recently passed the forklift counterbalance test and am doing the reach test soon as I hoped it may help me get out of sales and even be of use in a driving job??
I’ll do a temporary job if necessary altho I have to give 4wks notice to my employer. I’m also looking at courier work just to get some experience but so far no good. I know Stobarts run an apprenticeship but at 35 I’m not certain I’m what they’re looking for!
Any help & advice for a newbie who needs a break is appreciated!
Cheers
try gbh services they are looking for drivers uk and euro work sprinters and 7 1/5 have bigger trucks worth ago
Cheers for the advice to the last three posters.
Passed the hazard perception retake on Thursday and got a week of driver training next week with the exam on the final day.
So hopefully getting there slowly but surely.
Anyone know the typical starting salary for a newly qualified driver (day shifts preferred)?
Good result. Best of luck with your training and test.
Bert77:
Cheers for the advice to the last three posters.
Passed the hazard perception retake on Thursday and got a week of driver training next week with the exam on the final day.
Well done Bert! 
All the best with the training and test.
Bert77:
Anyone know the typical starting salary for a newly qualified driver (day shifts preferred)?
Hmmm…have you heard that well known saying about a piece of string…? 
Nice one!
A training diary is always well received if you felt like it.