There are plenty of firms that’ll give the right man with the right attitude a chance.
Read Bordall for one. And most small firms.
Don’t despair. And you’ll never forget the man who gave you your first chance. I know i won’t. He’s been retired now for some time, But if he asked me for some help with anything, Then i’d do everything i could to help him out.
Try Robert (muller)wisemans I know they used to take on newbies, worth a punt if near a depot
Another thread for bashing coach/bus drivers.At our place the gaffer wont even read your cv if your under 25 or dont have 5 yrs under your belt. Dont blame him though when you see the amount of nuggets driving both lorries and buses.
We got 3 brand new coaches coming at the end of the month. At 280k a pop would you let a newbie loose on the road with one ?
We have a very low turnover of drivers one of the few places where its a dead mans shoes you are filling
Hill Brothers (WIGAN) LIMITED
class 1 hgv driver
Job description
Hill bros wigan ltd require class 1 hgv driver.Very good pay and working conditions.long distance uk work with nights out.Flat experience preffered but not essensial.Call Alec on 07770 681991 to arrange interview.
Driver HGV Class 1
Job description
Montgomery Transport Ltd are looking to recruit a number of Class 1 HGV drivers to be based at the Preston depot. Various shift patterns are availble, some shifts including weekend. Duties include achieving customers deliveries and collections throughout the Uk & some trunk work. All applicants must have catergories C+E on their drivers license. ADR license is an advantage.
H&S Transport
HGV CLASS 1 DRIVER
Job description
CLASS 1 HGV DRIVER WANTED FOR FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT BASED IN HEYSHAM AREA DOING TAUTLINER WORK ACROSS THE UK POSSIBLE 2 TO 3 NIGHTS AWAY PER WEEK MONDAY TO FRIDAY WITH SOME SUNDAY STARTS CALL SARA FOR INTERVIEW 07884432986
billrob:
Another wee “anomally” I found is that cannabis users cant get a provisional unless off cannabis for a year,however,an alcoholic or heroin user can get a provisional straight away if they are on a treatment proggramme,ie methodone.Is this not encouraging alckies and junkies into the industry with an easier entry than a guy who smokes a few joints now and again.What could the governments reasoning be here!!
I dont smoke,or drink very much and I was shocked to discover this!
I don’t know where you got this from but it won’t be as black and white as this. Substance abuse is always viewed dimly by the DVLA so getting a provisional is not going to be easy.
Chas:
There are insurance Co’s out there that will happily cover a fleet that includes drivers without 2yrs experience.Your problem is, that the premium for such insurance is much more expensive.
A fleet operator has 2x choices, do we go with the cheap option or do we go with the expensive option.
Actually it’s not as simple as that. Both of the options could work out costing the fleet operator near enough the same.
I’ll attempt to explain :
Fleet ‘A’ insists all new drivers have at least 2yrs experience & a clean(ish) licence. They’ve made a conscious decision to go with a policy that insists upon it, their policy costs £50k per year.
Fleet ‘B’ chose a policy that allows anyone qualified to drive, it cost them £90k.
Imagine a scenario where fleet ‘A’ is a good Co’ to work for, it doesn’t need to screw its drivers. Fleet ‘B’ however, is £40k less competetive than fleet ‘A’, it needs to claw back that £40k from somewhere, & IME the driver is the easy option. It needs to screw its drivers to compete with fleet ‘A’.
2yrs experience & a max of 6 points (of a certain type) is no bad thing, it shows that the Co’ can retain it’s existing drivers & attract the best of the applicants for new positions.
Fleet ‘B’ will take any Tom, ■■■■ or Harry. They need to 'cos no [zb] will work for 'em !
Wots a “cleanish licence”? - Any bit of paper with 11 points or less on it that can therefore be driven on? (Binary Option: You are either licenced to drive, or not. Clean licence holder treated the same as 11 points bod)
Are we talking nobbys & stobbies here? 
How does a instructor who may have been working at a fleet operator for yonks manage to unbullcrap there way out of the the easy-to-palm-off question of “How much experience do you have at a haulage yard with your licence?” 
I’m sure that geography must play the biggest part in job hunting. I’ve held my Cat C since 2005, did a few months work driving, then went back to being a decorator. I live in Mansfield.
In July last year I took my C + E (aged 37) with Peter Smythe (excellent training BTW), and registered with two agencies. I ended up in constant work even before i got my licence back, and I’ve turned down four permanent jobs (sent my CV everywhere when j first passed C + E). Just passed my probation period in a £35k a year job with a large chilled distributor (no nights out in that) with pension etc.
Really can’t understand this work shortage business. It’s either a case of where people live, or how they present themselves at companies/attitude.
Good luck with the job hunting.
Winseer:
Wots a “cleanish licence”? - Any bit of paper with 11 points or less on it that can therefore be driven on? (Binary Option: You are either licenced to drive, or not. Clean licence holder treated the same as 11 points bod)Are we talking nobbys & stobbies here?
How does a instructor who may have been working at a fleet operator for yonks manage to unbullcrap there way out of the the easy-to-palm-off question of “How much experience do you have at a haulage yard with your licence?”
A cleanish licence would be one that carries less than 6 points, have you not noticed how the popular insurance policies carry that condition?
Does the simple fact that you have a licence qualify you to get the job?
An old Boss of mine would ummm & arghh at a candidate with 3 points because it meant that 1 more offence like 35 in a 30 & they could no longer drive for him !
Forgot to add, I have a clean licence. Maybe that’s a major factor as said above.
Judehamish:
Forgot to add, I have a clean licence. Maybe that’s a major factor as said above.
It can be a massive factor. When I was on the agencies it was often commented that my clean as a whistle licence was becoming quite a rarity these days.
Judehamish:
I’m sure that geography must play the biggest part in job hunting. I’ve held my Cat C since 2005, did a few months work driving, then went back to being a decorator. I live in Mansfield.In July last year I took my C + E (aged 37) with Peter Smythe (excellent training BTW), and registered with two agencies. I ended up in constant work even before i got my licence back, and I’ve turned down four permanent jobs (sent my CV everywhere when j first passed C + E). Just passed my probation period in a £35k a year job with a large chilled distributor (no nights out in that) with pension etc.
Really can’t understand this work shortage business. It’s either a case of where people live, or how they present themselves at companies/attitude.
Good luck with the job hunting.
Geography probably doesn’t help.IE try looking for a class 1 job paying £35 k in somewhere like Guildford,Leatherhead or Redhill even with experience let alone without any/much even though housing costs here warrant that type of money unlike Mansfield.
But the fact is we’ve got examples on here of immigrant east european drivers being given jobs while there’s at least one documented case in the news of an unemployed driver having had to take the government to court for being made to carry out unrelated unpaid workfare obviously having been turned down for work plenty of times for whatever reason. 
I read that in the news regarding the government scheme.
Too many variables to use that example really. Does he have 9 points? Does he have a bad attitude? Does he weigh 20 stone? Maybe he won’t help unload any lorry and tells them that at every interview.
Chas:
Judehamish:
Forgot to add, I have a clean licence. Maybe that’s a major factor as said above.It can be a massive factor. When I was on the agencies it was often commented that my clean as a whistle licence was becoming quite a rarity these days.
So have I, but there are plenty of firms in the south who prefer the “6 points I’ll do any old crap for pittance” bod over the fussy Mr Cleans alas…
I get calls from some agencies asking for my availability, which then never seems to materialise into work. Last minute jobs when the 6 pointer guy didn’t turn up, and that’s all I get offered it seems. Tell me there isn’t too much nepotism in this business, as I’ve always suspected the social contacts of the staff always pick up the “pre booked leave cover” work at such establishments.
It would be healthy, especially down here in the South, for a lot of agencies to actually go out of business, thus concentrating the work in the hands of the few that remain.- This would then guarantee work for all who want it, and the firms would be able to stick the insurance liabilities on the back burner, rather than the fussy ones like now. 