mike68:
Tesco are looking for drivers like you, when can you start.
No they’re not, they couldn’t afford to employ a monkey like me:mrgreen:
Best you start looking for a 7.5 or class 2 work, get a bit of experience on the road
Employers want people ideally to drop full time, and work for them on agency. That way, they will be fully experienced, and ideally - require no training or cost investment whatsoever.
So… You could put it down to a major extent on the latter part - Employers don’t actually want to be bothered with training people these days.
Not good once the current generation of “average age 53” drivers eventually hangs up their keys for whatever reason over the next decade. You can’t hold back the process of time, and eventually employers are going to fall foul of their attitude against being responisble pillars of the community instead of favouring being a bunch of corner-cutting crooks instead.
I look forward to the first transport firm who’s directors all go to jail because yet another person has died due to their short-sighted policies.
Whirlwind:
■■■■ it up buttercup, every new driver has the same , get pounding the pavement knocking on doors or sign on with agency and take whatever they throw at you . But to be honest if you’ve failed an assessment because you lack confidence then maybe you should consider a career change .
1st of all don’t take no notice of people like this fella who is obviously gods gift to driving 
I’ve been in a similar boat to you mate, I was getting knocked back here there and everywhere as I didn’t have any experience, I ended up taking some class 2 work and kept on harassing the transport manager to assess me on the artics, after 2 months of proving myself on class 2 he gave in and assessed me and the rest is history, don’t beat yourself up about it mate, just be persistent
Whoever is charging you over £350 for a refresher is taking liberties, you only need a half day refresher to practice coupling up and reversing. It should cost you £150- 200 for 3-4 hours. Try and leave doing any refresher until you have a assessment lined up as there’s no point in doing a refresher as you’ll probably end up forgetting what you’ve learned.
Goodluck
Pimpdaddy:
mike68:
Tesco are looking for drivers like you, when can you start.No they’re not, they couldn’t afford to employ a monkey like me:mrgreen:
Wilk:
Such a closed circle thanks to employers’ stupid rules. First of all, I did some driving Class 1 vehicle last year - a few weeks, actually. When searching for a job on the web I often see the following:
- To be at least 25 years old due to insurance purposes.
- To have at least 2 years experience in driving Class 1 vehicle.
99% job advertisements contain information on experience required by the employer. It is 6 months, 1 year or 2 years. My question is: where am I supposed to get experienced by driving regularly as no one wants to offer me the employment? I had the assessment yesterday. I got in the cab the first time in seven months. Of course, I failed because I did not feel confident enough to drive and the assessor was afraid to take me on the road. Yes, I agree it was like my first day driving a tractor unit ever due to several months break and even made a mistake when coupling the trailer. I was told to get some extra training. Here we go:
Are you aware of the cost of the refresher course? It is going to be over 350 pounds for just one day. Such amount exceeds my basic weekly wage. Will the one day training reflect a day as a professional driver? I believe not. There are so many different routes and one day training would only let me to know controlling the vehicle, coupling/uncoupling the trailer.
How should I start again in your opinion? Many of you might say to sign up with the agency, however, the agency also wants you to be experienced or assessed on the site of the potential employer. Where is the employer which would give me a chance or boost? A few months left to be 25.
I don’t really know what to suggest about being able to pass an assessment drive, only advice I can give is, learn the coupling procedures hooking up and dropping, learn how to split couple, you can do this by watching videos on YouTube or reading a walk through procedure on the web. Keep watching and reading these until it sinks into your head, all any employer will want to see is that you are safe at all times. If your reversing dodgy maybe borrowing a trailer and hooking it upto a car, drive round and learn how you move the steering wheel effects the trailer movements, again all an employer will be looking for is that you do it safe and calmly. There not looking for a blindside reverse down a tight side street avoiding obstacles on the way.
Above all keep calm and believe in your ability, you must have shown it during the tests to get your license after all! If your unsure GET OUT AND LOOK, any assessor will be happy to see someone who gets out and looks rather than someone who just hopes and hits the cones/bay guards.
As for signing on with agencies one word is required… AVAILABILITY! If the agency are desperate for a driver for a ■■■■■■ night run on a Saturday doing multi drop with hand ball make sure your name is top of the list, don’t refuse nights out and make yourself AVAILABLE, there not going to ring John if he might say no when they know Adam will definitely do it, they just want the job covered!
EDIT - One more thing, don’t be afraid to drive something smaller! Many employers will give you a shot in a van/7.5tonner to have a look at you before letting you loose in their £120,000 unit and trailer combination. Just because you have C+E doesn’t mean you can only drive C+E, we all had to earn our stripes!
I was given advice to go for international double-manning tramping, so that I could learn from another driver and be watched by him or her when driving. What do you think? Any companies around Bristol doing this?
Wilk:
Dipper_Dave:
Is there an Eddie Stobarts yard near you, they like to get them young so i’ve heardI live in Bristol and I can see Eddie Stobarts lorries here. According to their website they have car transporters in Portbury. Of course, no one will allow me to drive a car transporter at this stage.
Why not?.. Yes they will need to train you up on these and invest some time in you to bulid up your confidence behind the wheel, but with the way things are going they could view this as a good investment for years to come…give them a try see what happens.
The first thing you need IMHO is to have confidence in yourself then this will spread to others.
Wilk:
I was given advice to go for international double-manning tramping, so that I could learn from another driver and be watched by him or her when driving. What do you think? Any companies around Bristol doing this?
I don’t know what it’s like on general haulage, but my experience of double manning for motor racing teams is the need to trust the other driver and while it’s not to bad to work with an in-experienced driver doing normal hours in fact you can have time to show them the ropes, it’s different when you have to really push the double manning hours. Then you really need somebody you know can do the job, so you can relax and be fresh for your stint.
mike68:
Pimpdaddy:
I was in exactly the same position as you once upon a time, my 1st ever drive was through an agency & no idea how it happened (it was with a haulier that’s difficult to get a job with). I then made a call to a company that regularly advertised & they invited me for an assessment, apparently I drove better than the non British & was offered a job, did it for 6months & moved on as more doors opened. Now I’m back to square one looking for better jobs but can’t find any, no experience, no money & no connectionsMy advice is knock on doors, agencies don’t want to know because there are plenty of drivers out there hence the silly requirements you can’t meet, good luck.[/quot
Tesco are looking for drivers like you, when can you start.
Don’t you mean “TRG are looking for mugs like you to sign up to their “pay for your work with us” policy of pretending you’re a full timer employed by Tesco, but are actually not at all?” 
NewLad:
Wilk:
Such a closed circle thanks to employers’ stupid rules. First of all, I did some driving Class 1 vehicle last year - a few weeks, actually. When searching for a job on the web I often see the following:
- To be at least 25 years old due to insurance purposes.
- To have at least 2 years experience in driving Class 1 vehicle.
99% job advertisements contain information on experience required by the employer. It is 6 months, 1 year or 2 years. My question is: where am I supposed to get experienced by driving regularly as no one wants to offer me the employment? I had the assessment yesterday. I got in the cab the first time in seven months. Of course, I failed because I did not feel confident enough to drive and the assessor was afraid to take me on the road. Yes, I agree it was like my first day driving a tractor unit ever due to several months break and even made a mistake when coupling the trailer. I was told to get some extra training. Here we go:
Are you aware of the cost of the refresher course? It is going to be over 350 pounds for just one day. Such amount exceeds my basic weekly wage. Will the one day training reflect a day as a professional driver? I believe not. There are so many different routes and one day training would only let me to know controlling the vehicle, coupling/uncoupling the trailer.
How should I start again in your opinion? Many of you might say to sign up with the agency, however, the agency also wants you to be experienced or assessed on the site of the potential employer. Where is the employer which would give me a chance or boost? A few months left to be 25.
I don’t really know what to suggest about being able to pass an assessment drive, only advice I can give is, learn the coupling procedures hooking up and dropping, learn how to split couple, you can do this by watching videos on YouTube or reading a walk through procedure on the web. Keep watching and reading these until it sinks into your head, all any employer will want to see is that you are safe at all times. If your reversing dodgy maybe borrowing a trailer and hooking it upto a car, drive round and learn how you move the steering wheel effects the trailer movements, again all an employer will be looking for is that you do it safe and calmly. There not looking for a blindside reverse down a tight side street avoiding obstacles on the way.
Above all keep calm and believe in your ability, you must have shown it during the tests to get your license after all! If your unsure GET OUT AND LOOK, any assessor will be happy to see someone who gets out and looks rather than someone who just hopes and hits the cones/bay guards.
As for signing on with agencies one word is required… AVAILABILITY! If the agency are desperate for a driver for a [zb] night run on a Saturday doing multi drop with hand ball make sure your name is top of the list, don’t refuse nights out and make yourself AVAILABLE, there not going to ring John if he might say no when they know Adam will definitely do it, they just want the job covered!
EDIT - One more thing, don’t be afraid to drive something smaller! Many employers will give you a shot in a van/7.5tonner to have a look at you before letting you loose in their £120,000 unit and trailer combination. Just because you have C+E doesn’t mean you can only drive C+E, we all had to earn our stripes!
You go down this road, and that’s all the work you’ll ever get. Any “Success” from taking up such a policy of “I’ll do anything guv” can only be measured by you being given FULL WEEKS of such work well in advance. What’ll actually happen though, is you’ll get a call saturday afternoon for said saturday night cover, when one of their other bods drops it to take his missus to bingo instead. This may be a cynical view on my part, but is anyone going to call me wrong here? 
Winseer:
NewLad:
As for signing on with agencies one word is required… AVAILABILITY! If the agency are desperate for a driver for a [zb] night run on a Saturday doing multi drop with hand ball make sure your name is top of the list, don’t refuse nights out and make yourself AVAILABLE, there not going to ring John if he might say no when they know Adam will definitely do it, they just want the job covered!EDIT - One more thing, don’t be afraid to drive something smaller! Many employers will give you a shot in a van/7.5tonner to have a look at you before letting you loose in their £120,000 unit and trailer combination. Just because you have C+E doesn’t mean you can only drive C+E, we all had to earn our stripes!
You go down this road, and that’s all the work you’ll ever get. Any “Success” from taking up such a policy of “I’ll do anything guv” can only be measured by you being given FULL WEEKS of such work well in advance. What’ll actually happen though, is you’ll get a call saturday afternoon for said saturday night cover, when one of their other bods drops it to take his missus to bingo instead. This may be a cynical view on my part, but is anyone going to call me wrong here?
It maybe true, but the guy needs to get time driving a truck and if that means taking any job that comes that’s what he’s got to do (within reason). Once he’s got a few miles under his belt and a bit more confidence then he might be able to pick and choose a bit more.
Personally I don’t think an agency is the right place for a new driver, but it seems to be what many have to do these days to get a start. I started by doing odd days for a local haulier, that was the Saturday or Sunday jobs or when a driver called in sick, the first job I did for them I spent more time handballing the load than actually driving, but once I’d got my foot in the door they kept calling.
If anyone is prepared to do Handball, then you might as well get regular work on the rigids which are going begging 40 hours a week at places like 3663, Bidvest, Brakes, & P&H who are always crying out for daytime multidrop drivers.
I drove rigids as a duty back in the 90’s, and when it came time for me to “state my experience” - it was always "how many years have you been driving HGV’s" rather than class 1, so all that experience all went in my favour.
My multidropping was bags of mail around various London stations btw. I loved the job too, because knowing my way around London as I did meant I could make time on it, without rushing. 
Winseer:
If anyone is prepared to do Handball, then you might as well get regular work on the rigids which are going begging 40 hours a week at places like 3663, Bidvest, Brakes, & P&H who are always crying out for daytime multidrop drivers.I drove rigids as a duty back in the 90’s, and when it came time for me to “state my experience” - it was always "how many years have you been driving HGV’s" rather than class 1, so all that experience all went in my favour.
My multidropping was bags of mail around various London stations btw. I loved the job too, because knowing my way around London as I did meant I could make time on it, without rushing.
If you’re looking for a start on artics and it’s a choice between no job or some handballing, which option is the best?
That was the only load I had to handball for that company, it got my foot in the door and they got me back many times to do other jobs for them, I got some experience and finally got a full time job for another company.
Winseer:
NewLad:
Wilk:
Such a closed circle thanks to employers’ stupid rules. First of all, I did some driving Class 1 vehicle last year - a few weeks, actually. When searching for a job on the web I often see the following:
- To be at least 25 years old due to insurance purposes.
- To have at least 2 years experience in driving Class 1 vehicle.
99% job advertisements contain information on experience required by the employer. It is 6 months, 1 year or 2 years. My question is: where am I supposed to get experienced by driving regularly as no one wants to offer me the employment? I had the assessment yesterday. I got in the cab the first time in seven months. Of course, I failed because I did not feel confident enough to drive and the assessor was afraid to take me on the road. Yes, I agree it was like my first day driving a tractor unit ever due to several months break and even made a mistake when coupling the trailer. I was told to get some extra training. Here we go:
Are you aware of the cost of the refresher course? It is going to be over 350 pounds for just one day. Such amount exceeds my basic weekly wage. Will the one day training reflect a day as a professional driver? I believe not. There are so many different routes and one day training would only let me to know controlling the vehicle, coupling/uncoupling the trailer.
How should I start again in your opinion? Many of you might say to sign up with the agency, however, the agency also wants you to be experienced or assessed on the site of the potential employer. Where is the employer which would give me a chance or boost? A few months left to be 25.
I don’t really know what to suggest about being able to pass an assessment drive, only advice I can give is, learn the coupling procedures hooking up and dropping, learn how to split couple, you can do this by watching videos on YouTube or reading a walk through procedure on the web. Keep watching and reading these until it sinks into your head, all any employer will want to see is that you are safe at all times. If your reversing dodgy maybe borrowing a trailer and hooking it upto a car, drive round and learn how you move the steering wheel effects the trailer movements, again all an employer will be looking for is that you do it safe and calmly. There not looking for a blindside reverse down a tight side street avoiding obstacles on the way.
Above all keep calm and believe in your ability, you must have shown it during the tests to get your license after all! If your unsure GET OUT AND LOOK, any assessor will be happy to see someone who gets out and looks rather than someone who just hopes and hits the cones/bay guards.
As for signing on with agencies one word is required… AVAILABILITY! If the agency are desperate for a driver for a [zb] night run on a Saturday doing multi drop with hand ball make sure your name is top of the list, don’t refuse nights out and make yourself AVAILABLE, there not going to ring John if he might say no when they know Adam will definitely do it, they just want the job covered!
EDIT - One more thing, don’t be afraid to drive something smaller! Many employers will give you a shot in a van/7.5tonner to have a look at you before letting you loose in their £120,000 unit and trailer combination. Just because you have C+E doesn’t mean you can only drive C+E, we all had to earn our stripes!
You go down this road, and that’s all the work you’ll ever get. Any “Success” from taking up such a policy of “I’ll do anything guv” can only be measured by you being given FULL WEEKS of such work well in advance. What’ll actually happen though, is you’ll get a call saturday afternoon for said saturday night cover, when one of their other bods drops it to take his missus to bingo instead. This may be a cynical view on my part, but is anyone going to call me wrong here?
People will only take the ■■■■ if you let them, he hasn’t got people chucking shifts at him, he needs to get the experience and the only sure way of doing that is making yourself available.
Agency’s HATE ringing round for drivers, they want to do one call and cover the job.
Agency normally offers me 4 shifts with start times varying from 3am to 6am.
But they know if I’m left with the 6am I won’t do it as its crappy local stuff.
selby newcomer:
Whirlwind:
■■■■ it up buttercup, every new driver has the same , get pounding the pavement knocking on doors or sign on with agency and take whatever they throw at you . But to be honest if you’ve failed an assessment because you lack confidence then maybe you should consider a career change .1st of all don’t take no notice of people like this fella who is obviously gods gift to driving
I’ve been in a similar boat to you mate, I was getting knocked back here there and everywhere as I didn’t have any experience, I ended up taking some class 2 work and kept on harassing the transport manager to assess me on the artics, after 2 months of proving myself on class 2 he gave in and assessed me and the rest is history, don’t beat yourself up about it mate, just be persistent
Whoever is charging you over £350 for a refresher is taking liberties, you only need a half day refresher to practice coupling up and reversing. It should cost you £150- 200 for 3-4 hours. Try and leave doing any refresher until you have a assessment lined up as there’s no point in doing a refresher as you’ll probably end up forgetting what you’ve learned.
Goodluck
Not God’s gift to driving or ever claimed to be…But one thing for certain even when I was a new driver I never had an assessor scared to take me out
Any good ideas what to do with this case in Bristol and whereabouts to knock on doors and not to be told “sorry but we are looking for experienced drivers”?
Wilk:
Any good ideas what to do with this case in Bristol and whereabouts to knock on doors and not to be told “sorry but we are looking for experienced drivers”?
Wisemans take on new drivers and they have a depot at Avonmouth, I don’t know how many artics they have there but it may be worth checking them out.
“Agency’s HATE ringing round for drivers, they want to do one call and cover the job.2”
It’s a shame that more care isn’t taken then to recruit drivers that are close to each respective client, rather than expect the same old pool to cover 40+ mile away work on a regular basis.
Even when applying for agencies in the south east of London (just about do-able for myself, motivated by the much higher hourly rates inside London)
bugger me - they’ll set me up with stuff in Hayes, Middx, Iceland Enfield, & Watford Publishers. FFS - Why isn’t there any of the actual work I signed up for in the first place? Eltham Cars, Orpington Allied Bakeries, K&N Thamesmead etc etc… The work is being done by contractors (Ltd Company drivers) there, and all they talk about is “how much they are getting £18+ an hour” and all that jazz… The quality of driver isn’t much cop either… One guy showing me around a DHL contract yard pulled his susies attempting to “induct” me into “split coupling”. F–k me. Talk about the blind man trying to be king over the one-eyed pirate masses! 
The only Assignment I can say I found “fair and forthright” inside the M25 was Hovis out of Dagenham - which is still the wrong side of the bloody river for me FFS. 