Been thinking about taking my class 1 but should I get experience in driving class 2 trucks first?
Also I’ve signed up for an agency but haven’t drove for them yet… will clients expect me to be perfect at deliveries straight off or will they give training on the day I start with them?
Cheers 
There are 2 trains of thought here.
Firstly you have just done C and are still in learning mode and not picked up any bad habits.
Second is that real world experience would give you a good grounding for upgrading to CE.
Whichever route you choose, good luck.
dar1976:
There are 2 trains of thought here.Firstly you have just done C and are still in learning mode and not picked up any bad habits.
Second is that real world experience would give you a good grounding for upgrading to CE.
Whichever route you choose, good luck.
Thanks
If you do it now, the clock would start ticking on your “two years experience”. 
Contraflow:
If you do it now, the clock would start ticking on your “two years experience”.
Good point
Personally I’d have a long hard think about where you want to be. If your fine with the class 2 work then there’s no rush for the C+E.
But if C is a means to C+E (and money permitting) then I’d do it now. Two years of C experience don’t really count for much if you’ve just passed your C+E.
I’ve recently got my C licence and although I am browsing the job pages I’m in no rush to leave my current warehouse job. I have my C+E assessment on Thursday and should have the funds to pay for it by March/April. The sooner I get my class 1, the more job opportunities become available, the quicker I can get the “2 years experience”.
no matter how long you have had you category C for, once you pass the C+E, you will be back at zero experience again as far as insurance companies are concerned
that is the problem
there are lots of jobs advertised, but the majority are agency who simply want numbers in their phone books
you have to be careful counting your ‘2 years experience’ from the day you pass your test, a lot of companies want 2 years checkable actual driving experience
on the plus side, there are companies that will give newly passed drivers a chance, it makes it easier for the company to train the new driver in to their way of working
Ook thanks people… Ill do some C work first I think…
roger the dodger:
Ook thanks people… Ill do some C work first I think…
Just a thought, but you may find it a bit easier to actually get some C work if you have C+E on your licence too. It’ll make you more attractive to potential employers who run both vehicle classes and you’ll be taken more seriously by the parasitic agencies.
Everybody who applies for C work has a C licence, not everybody who applies for C work has a C+E licence. You need to stand out from the crowd if you want to be noticed. To me this is a no-brainer; I’d do the C+E without hesitation.
roger the dodger:
Ook thanks people… Ill do some C work first I think…
Besides couple of weeks of heavy handball C will help make your mind up about when you want to do your C+E.
Have you worked as a driver up to now?