discoman:
Sorry, but why on earth should he just accept 7.5t work? or back breaking crap the companies cannot get fully time employee’s for■■?
he has a Class 2 licence go in and ask for class 2 your not a new driver … yes shifting pallets are a bit different but dont go getting the crap just because you have not driven commerically.
Because sadly that is pretty much how it works within a driving agency - fact is there are more drivers than there is work most of the time. Ask yourself who you are going to offer that new class 2 job that has come in to - the guy who has done a few shifts for you doing crappy 7.5t furniture delivery and has been reliable and got good feedback from the customer, or the guy who you just signed up and refuses to do any work apart from class 2?
Reality check needed.
Sam Millar:
Stay away from easy as hgv at all costs.
correct! i did that. i did pass my c2 but would not reccomend it to anyone. it was only the thaught of 1300 quid going up in smoke that got me through my test.
coops2174:
Thanks for the reply! yh i basically wrote lgv/hgv and so on in the google bar and rang watever came up. now they ring me everyday!
And that’s your alarm bell right there! 
coops2174:
ncooper:
I wish you both luck in your search for work outside the forces.
I have to say that I would be very unwilling to employ an ex forces
driver until he had spent some time working for someone else.
I may have been unlucky, but I have met very few with any initiative
to solve problems on their own and rather a lot who were more or less fine if given
minute by minute instructions.
I have also met many ex forces who are very good but had several years civilian experience
since they left the forces.
No disrespect implied or intended to any ex forces drivers, just saying.
To answer the question, no, I don’t think you have and your career could be very short if
you follow the advice above and do not tell the truth about what you have driven and
what you did.
Regards,
Nick.
Hi thanks for your reply, do you employ drivers? if so, if i was to do the full 35 hours driver cpc, would this make a big difference? i have been offered 5 modules for 460 quid. Thanks
Do not think of paying £460 for that ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ Look for an ADR course where you can get dCPC hours added on for a relatively small additional fee. More bang for your buck and a more useful qualification.
coops2174:
dessyboy38:
hello,
just read your post about 4 ton daf/bedford.
did instruction on cat c and familiarisation on these vehicles a while back for a while back in the day of army land.
you actually have been driving a 10 tonner gross with a payload of 4 tons.
so you were driving a 10 ton truck.
hope this helps.
so basically i could write on my C.V that i had 7 years experience on and off driving a 10 tonner? and i wouldnt be lieing? thansk for your reply.
I would be honest and write that it was army experience.
you are heading for a steep learning curve when you start commercial driving and I wish you luck with it !
and, avoid brokers completely if you do your C+E , the best thing to do is visit a couple of local trainers , have a look at their vehicles and chat to the trainers before you make any decision.
so basically i could write on my C.V that i had 7 years experience on and off driving a 10 tonner? and i wouldnt be lieing? thansk for your reply.
[/quote]
I would be honest and write that it was army experience.
you are heading for a steep learning curve when you start commercial driving and I wish you luck with it !
and, avoid brokers completely if you do your C+E , the best thing to do is visit a couple of local trainers , have a look at their vehicles and chat to the trainers before you make any decision.
[/quote]
hey thanks, well i already have my C+E, but yh ive decided to leave these middlemen alone i have spoke with a local trainer and gunna do a refresher with them this week. The reason im doing the refresher is because i know that the driving in the army is relatively easy out camp down road in camp. someone is advertising for a class 2 driver locally so gunna give it a try, its to drive a skip.
Thanks for your message.
Hi I left the army in july last year spent 3months doing agency work with the place im at now impressed them got a job interveiw and was just honest with them about mainley having non commercial exsperance sat a little written test and got the job so just be your selfand good luck
Slackbladder:
Hello there, I got out in 99 and went straight into agency work, most companies at the time would not even look at you coming out of the forces with an HGV licence. I live and work in the north east. Agencies were not bothered about experience when a job came in that needed filling despite what they say when signing up, this has not changed. After a while I just applied for full time work as it came up putting in the cv the companies I had worked for. Ended up at ASDA which is the easiest job you will get.
If you are lucky you could get a start virtually anywhere depending on what companies want when you turn up, if you were up this end and had your adr you could walk into a class 2 multi drop job on Tuesday, the dispatcher was telling me last week they are gagging for someone.
Most places I’ve worked have had ex forces driving so it’s not anything new to tm,s. despite what some people seem to think they are looked upon as reliable and trustworthy. Apply to every place you can and go visit in person if possible, I find that works better than a cv. Good luck.
But that was 99 thing have changed a bit since then if you have not noticed 
If it was me I would not employ you I have written several times on here why
1 No comercial experience as it is different to driving in the forces
2 Can you reverse without a banksman ■■
3 Do you take your lunch at a certain time as this is not the case on civvi street
4 Do you know about trailer brakes etc
I could go on
well i am ex raf and ex agency 
the main thing we had problems with ex forces was they dont have a clue about drivers hours laws. so would revise this 1st off, the experience side yes an agency will probably try you out in the less desirable companies but that just life and to be honest its like that with most new drivers not just ex forces. the refresher is a good idea you could also ask to go with an experienced driver via an agency i have gone out with new drivers and let them drive gave them pointers and advice and help if needed, it just depends what relationship they have with the company in the 1st place.
good luck!
Thank you all for your replies, so im right in thinking the best way forward is to try n sign up to an agency and gain experience, or find a company willing to take me and train me a little.
I dont have commercial experience, and i find reversing in a truck alot easier than in a car lol. and no i dont no about trailer brakes but was 7 years ago i did my C+E.
im gunna ring 2 agencies tomorrow driver hire and backline logistics has anyone ever worked with backline logistics?? i was looking at there site today.
Also gunna do a refresher day in an Arctic hopefully and that should give me confidence when driving a class 2.
I might offer my services to a company for free, for just a week maybe, any thoughts on doing this?
theres not alot down in cornwall which is a bit frustrating i see hundreds of jobs online even if i was just 60 miles up the road.
hope you all had a great easter weekend!
oh and i can eat my lunch anytime of the day!
coops2174:
hey thanks, well i already have my C+E, but yh ive decided to leave these middlemen alone i have spoke with a local trainer and gunna do a refresher with them this week. The reason im doing the refresher is because i know that the driving in the army is relatively easy out camp down road in camp. someone is advertising for a class 2 driver locally so gunna give it a try, its to drive a skip.
Thanks for your message.
Sorry read your post wrong about the C+E 
Thanks everyone for your messages and advice! i got an interview and had a few driving asessments in different trucks! i passed and now start on monday!! thanks all for your help!!
Good to hear you have got sorted. I find it enlightening reading some of the comments on the thread regarding what some people think of the forces driving.
" can you reverse without a banksman" ? I reversed in the army every day and didn’t know what a banksman was until I got out.
And yes, the whole of the armed forces stop work at meal times at the same time every day so that makes it hard to find a job now as I have no flexibility whatsoever.
Good grief! Some people on here must think armed forces people are just mindless machines that cannot function without orders from above,It may surprise some to find out you are encouraged to think for yourself.
Trailer brakes? I just press the pedal and my truck stops, is that correct? Good job the army driving course put me through a weeks training on vehicles after I had passed my HGV test.
Granted no commercial experience, is that when someone in the office tells you to take that truck somewhere to pick up a load, like ammunition for instance, and take it somewhere to drop off? Oh hang on!.
The only thing we didn’t do was tachograph rules, probably because johnny foreigner wanted to fight 7 days a week at all hours, that’s one thing I don’t miss mind.
Slackbladder:
Good to hear you have got sorted. I find it enlightening reading some of the comments on the thread regarding what some people think of the forces driving.
" can you reverse without a banksman" ? I reversed in the army every day and didn’t know what a banksman was until I got out.
And yes, the whole of the armed forces stop work at meal times at the same time every day so that makes it hard to find a job now as I have no flexibility whatsoever.
Good grief! Some people on here must think armed forces people are just mindless machines that cannot function without orders from above,It may surprise some to find out you are encouraged to think for yourself.
Trailer brakes? I just press the pedal and my truck stops, is that correct? Good job the army driving course put me through a weeks training on vehicles after I had passed my HGV test.
Granted no commercial experience, is that when someone in the office tells you to take that truck somewhere to pick up a load, like ammunition for instance, and take it somewhere to drop off? Oh hang on!.
The only thing we didn’t do was tachograph rules, probably because johnny foreigner wanted to fight 7 days a week at all hours, that’s one thing I don’t miss mind.
Sorry but what I said was only my limited experience of army drivers
If I offended you then Iam sorry but like most things all tarnished with same brush so I would be very dubious to offer an ex forces driver a job
I can understand why you dont do tachograph but like white van man as transport runs 24/7
Its fine, I don’t get offended about stuff like that. My point is that there are plenty of good drivers coming out of the forces that will not be given a chance because they are ex forces. The thing I was told when I got out was the fact that army drivers were not responsible for the damage they caused so that made them poor! Not true, if you have a bump and it’s your fault you can expect to have 10% of the repair cost taken out of you pay, try that at your place and see how it goes down.
Soldiers are trained to turn up on time, 5 mins before time really, smartly dressed and ready to work. They ask questions if they are not sure and will do the job they are told to do. They are used to working unsocial hours every day of the week. You should give them a chance, they might just surprise you.
Slackbladder:
Its fine, I don’t get offended about stuff like that. My point is that there are plenty of good drivers coming out of the forces that will not be given a chance because they are ex forces. The thing I was told when I got out was the fact that army drivers were not responsible for the damage they caused so that made them poor! Not true, if you have a bump and it’s your fault you can expect to have 10% of the repair cost taken out of you pay, try that at your place and see how it goes down.
Soldiers are trained to turn up on time, 5 mins before time really, smartly dressed and ready to work. They ask questions if they are not sure and will do the job they are told to do. They are used to working unsocial hours every day of the week. You should give them a chance, they might just surprise you.
Yep can understand that that is why they were given a chance but turned out to 1 of the poor ones so that put an end to it unfortunately
Only 10% how about all of it 
as like 1 place I worked at
I wouldnt think of turning up late or not smartly dressed but that may be something to do with the way I was brought up
I was never in the forces btw as due to medical grounds couldnt but did spend 25 years working in catering before going on to be a driver so again long unsociable hr