Afternoon all
I have been in the lift game for nearly thirty years and am now totally fed up with it. I have started on the long path to class 1 as it was something I wanted to do when I was younger. My question is, what do you think the opportunities will be like for a forty seven year old newly qualified driver? Do you think I stand a better chance of employment or do you think most companies drill still want two years experience etc?
Great forum by the way and I’m looking forward to learning frombthe font of knowledge on here.
Regards
Neil
Hi, and welcome to the forum. I take a positive view on each person’s situation. For you, you’re old enough to have matured without being old enough to be knackered. The “2 year experience” is softening as there are few folks who fulfil the requirement.
Any more questions, fire away. Pete 
you’ve got 20 plus years yet to retirement Neil…go for it!
Finally someone older than me going for a career change into HGV! 
I would go for it as older drivers like us (40 here) should hopefully have enough life skills to impress employers and we likely know how to find our way from A to B without the woman in the sat nav…apparently they do still print, maps. I’m hoping common sense is becoming more important than specific work experience. It is a long road, but hey, some things are worth waiting for.
Been in the lift game for 30 years Neil?
Has it had its ups and downs?
I have plenty of anecdotal evidence regarding the success of drivers, some of whom in their sixties, who have confounded the “experience” requirement.
The employer wants a competent and sensible driver. It’s up to the applicant to create the right impression.
Pete
Do it bud, I got made redundant back in 2012 after 24 years in management. Was 41 at the time, and after about 3 weeks of applying for jobs I didn’t really want, I decided to take the plunge and become a hgv driver.
Booked my class 2 training, and the day before my assessment drive, I got a call about a job driving vans and 7.5s, money wasn’t great, but it was a foot on the ladder.
Did my first couple of weeks doing “cushy” runs on 7.5s then got given a van.
Hated the ■■■■ things, Renault Masters, looked largish, but they ■■■■■■■ someone 6’4" tall. After about a month I was given a 7.5 and never drove a van again, unless it was a really small load on a bank holiday and tacho breaks would have buggered up my day.
A month later, passed my class 2 first time, and despite having been told at my interview that I needn’t bother doing it, as he’d already got loads of Class 2 drivers on the books, and I’d never get chance to keep my hand in.
4 weeks later I was doing holiday cover (into London to hotels etc, during the Olympics) on brand new Daf rigids.
Carried on doing that until one of the Class 2 drivers was getting peed off with his runs, and asked for a 2 dayer, because his runs needed to be covered on a rigid, it was agreed (not by me) that we’d go onto a wagon share, he’d go off and do his 2 dayer in my 7.5, and I’d do his runs in the rigid. Then swap back for me to do my 2 dayer. Only good thing about this was that I got a brand spanking new 7.5.
Hated sharing. Never any fuel left in either of them, and I seemed to be the only one that knew how to use the jetwash.
Anyway, I’m rambling, I took my Class 1 four months after my Class 2, passed first time again.
I eventually became the only full time Class 2 driver there, but then goalposts got moved and the workload became excessive, 2 dayers of about 6-10 tonne (all handball, and about 25-35 drops) so I applied to a local company, who it turned out had just had a new transport manager, who didn’t like the size of the agency bill, therefore I got given a chance, the company would never have touched me beforehand.
I got set on as a tramper, got given access to the driver trainer, for my purposes, so he could help me where I felt I was lacking. REVERSING!!!
I now drive my “own” MAN TGX I won’t mention the model (biggest one) as I’ve done that to death on other threads.
Anyway, it’s the best job I’ve ever had.
Just a shame it took me until I was almost 44 to grow a pair big enough to take the plunge!
eagerbeaver:
Been in the lift game for 30 years Neil?Has it had its ups and downs?
Boom Boom. Never heard that one before! 
Peter Smythe:
I have plenty of anecdotal evidence regarding the success of drivers, some of whom in their sixties, who have confounded the “experience” requirement.The employer wants a competent and sensible driver. It’s up to the applicant to create the right impression.
Pete
Competent and sensible! That rules me out then.
Thanks for your comments all. Can’t wait to get sorted now. Medical, theory test and assessment drive all done. Hazard perception tomorrow afternoon. Then just need to sell my body parts to pay for the practical! Lol
It’s something I have always wanted to do since I used to drive 7.5t Ford Cargos for a builders merchants back in the eighties. Used to go out with my mate in his artic on my days off and he used to let me manoeuvre it around on the odd occasion. I live near Thamesport on the isle of grain in kent, and there is a few transport compaies around there. One of which is Maritime who’s units all look pretty new and clean. Going to just send letters to as many as possible and just keep my fingers crossed.
Hazard perception passed.
neil2402:
Going to just send letters to as many as possible and just keep my fingers crossed.
Good luck Neil and you go for it.
One thing I would say is go in person to the companies your interested in. Feedback I got from TM’s I spoke to was how impressed they were that I took the time to do this. In their own words, it showed more enthusiasm than just sending a CV off in the post. They also (the ones I spoke to) stated that they would always take a driver who came in and asked as they can see straight away what your like, check your paperwork straight away and generally see how you present yourself. They would not take someone on who just fires in a bunch of CV’s and then just sits back and waits for any replies over someone who has put themselves out by going that extra mile and turning up in person.
Both companies I walked into offered me a job on the spot because of this (I’m not saying it always works out this way but it did for me).
I’m 47 and have not driven Class 1’s since 93. Fed up with my currant job and will do some spare days for them until I jump in full time in a few months time.
I changed careers to become a HGV driver at the age of 48, I have been driving for a couple of months now and I am really enjoying it and also earning a few quid - so I say go for it!
Good Luck.
MickyB666:
I changed careers to become a HGV driver at the age of 48, I have been driving for a couple of months now and I am really enjoying it and also earning a few quid - so I say go for it!Good Luck.
So I’m not the oldest then? How difficult did you find it to get a job?
neil2402:
… So I’m not the oldest then?
No not the oldest but neither am I
I am driving through an agency which seems to be quite a common path to take for a new HGV driver, it is working out OK for me at the moment, they are finding my plenty of interesting and varied work so I am happy to stay with the agencies for the foreseeable future.
Before I joined the agency I applied for a few jobs that where being advertised, Brakes, Shred-It, Sports Direct, the first two said “no thanks” and I never heard anything from Sports Direct - I applied before I had completed CPC and before I was made redundant from my previous employment so I don’t know if that was the reason that I was turned down. There were plenty of other jobs being advertised by the local haulage firms but I didn’t apply for those as by that time I had decided to go through the agencies.
There is a lot of information to take in when you are just starting out, the forum is a great place for information and advise and if I can help in anyway I would be more than happy to do so.
MickyB666:
There is a lot of information to take in when you are just starting out, the forum is a great place for information and advise and if I can help in anyway I would be more than happy to do so.
Even us Bellends are helpful from time to time!
I’m 44, passed in July and never been out of work via agency since.
So lots of work out there if you can handle being thrown in the deep end via agency.
The first week is the hardest, as you’re worried about everything…
But that soon passes, and the N/S mirror is still attached to my truck, which is surprising!
Best of luck pal, you’ve probably 20+ years potential in the industry dependent on your health, maybe longer…
Cheers guys
I’m getting quite excited about this new stage in my life now. My wife is fully behind me even though it may mean that I’m away from home sometimes. I think she will use the opportunity to get her toyboy in! It’s sad I know, but I’ve even been watching some old Stobart episodes on YouTube tonight! Lol
neil2402:
Cheers guys
I’m getting quite excited about this new stage in my life now. My wife is fully behind me even though it may mean that I’m away from home sometimes. I think she will use the opportunity to get her toyboy in! It’s sad I know, but I’ve even been watching some old Stobart episodes on YouTube tonight! Lol
Don’t watch Stobarts vids bud, you’ll start to believe the hype.
The reality is, as far as I’m concerned, better.
You’ll think a 39 mile trip, is an EPIC run. And that Mark Dixon is a hunky babe magnet, and that people call Moffetts “pigs” and that finishing bang on your hours is a “Hollywood finish” and other such ■■■■■■■■.
And for the life of me I will never work out why their driver trainer struggled to do a “blindside” reverse into a bay in Piccadilly Circus. If anybody can direct me to the blindside of a 7.5t Merc (that isn’t the back door) I’ll stand corrected.
Definitely the best thing not on tv anymore [emoji3]
You can look forward to earning a low wage and working long hour’s. If I were you and had any sense, whatsoever, I’d stay well clear.
Regards
STAVRO
Don’t worry guys, I’m only watching it for a laugh. Even my wife was saying “is that for real?”