… going through hell with 1st class trucking… booked my course in March… didn’t get to do my theory test by now… but that’s a story for a whole long different topic… wish I had found this forum before booking by course not soon after… just saying Hi for now… been driving forklifts for the last four years and got a little fed up watching lorry drivers sleep while I’m loading their stuff hehe… and better money of course, that’s the main reason… and the fact that rarely you got a ■■■■■■■ manager sitting next to you watching you work… 
It may look good the drivers having a kip whilst you load them but the truth is its never that easy on some jobs you have to muck in and help load and for me an Aldi driver we load and unload ourselves and its hard work, even when i run down to CML telford no sitting or sleeping there either in the back of the trailer with a pump truck shunting the pallets they load onto the trailer.
also once you have passed your tests C then C+E Its finding a job i was lucky as was a few others on here found my job within 1 week of passing C+E, and then its no 9-5 0r 7.30-5, you will get the crappiest shift going 2am start or 11pm, again im lucky i have 3pm and finish around 11.30 on a good day but if things go T*ts up its a 1am or 2am or at the very worst and ive had 2 of these a 5am finish.
At the end of the day its a job i do love and enjoy to the full as a day is never really the same.
when taking your test avoid booking with the brokers as they will just take your money go direct with a local guy ask around about there reputation or post it on here the folks here will help you and guide and give you loads of tips. and good luck
Like Steve said check the list of training schools on here and check the list of brokers to see if a school your looking at is on either of those lists.
I was almost caught out by the flashy website and the 60K p/a salaries the brokers were advertising. Its lucky for my I found this forum when I did otherwise I’d of been out a lot of money that could have gone towards better things.
The users on this forum are top quality and will always help. So if you’re in doubt about anything, no matter how silly you think I may be. Just put up a post 
Yeah that’s what I was thinking steveig… first job gonna be a crappy one… but hey gotta get some experience right? most of offers I’m looking at require at least 6 months experience… so get your experience and move on if you want… I had a few jobs that I thought can’t get better… ended up leaving them and finding something better…
as to working nights… that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 18 months… crappy hours… if you finish 9 in the morning you got a lot of time to go to the bank or etc… used to work 8am - 7 pm that was hell…
and do you guys work through agency or straight under company? I was hoping I’ll get some work reasonably quick through an agency…
and LR18-8 I’ll sure post a lot of questions by the time I pass my test… at the moment they got me waiting… supposed to contact me within 3 days to arrange my theory and cpc… what’s so hard about it… i could book it myslef in 15 mins…
Thanks guys
There are several posts about 1st class and none very complimentary, however, you are in a good position as a forkie, you will probably hear who is looking for a driver before the newspapers come out, it may help you if you keep your ears open.
Not every company wants 2 years or any experience, and a driver who is available at short notice may get a call for a rush job.
yeah that’s what I was thinking… but those short notice jobs don’t last… usually it’s just a day or two as a stop gap… but no doubt I’ll end up with something good sooner or later hauling containers would be perfect… not sure how often that comes along?
LousyHero:
yeah that’s what I was thinking… but those short notice jobs don’t last… usually it’s just a day or two as a stop gap… but no doubt I’ll end up with something good sooner or later
It seems you are aiming high, apart from driving tippers you cannot get much closer to the bottom of the food chain 
But you will get a sleep, unless you get some snotty forkie who begrudges the driver getting a paid rest 
really? I thought that’s good since you don’t have to mess with nothing… just park up, break the seal… go chill out in the cab… anything with no manual labour will do for me really hehe… so what’s on the top of the food chain then? and what has the pest pay?
Another question since I’m having and argue with a friend and he just doesn’t seem to understand…
You can’t do C+E stright away, you gotta get C first right? I keep telling him that… and he keeps telling me he’s doing C+E without doing C first… ■■
steveig:
It may look good the drivers having a kip whilst you load them but the truth is its never that easy on some jobs you have to muck in and help load and for me an Aldi driver we load and unload ourselves and its hard work, even when i run down to CML telford no sitting or sleeping there either in the back of the trailer with a pump truck shunting the pallets they load onto the trailer.
I used to work in store at an ALDI in Rugby, I hated it. I can well imagine what your job is like, I used to move the same pallets around the store, Im 6.4 and some were taller than me. They would give me ten minutes to do a job that would take two people twenty minutes. I remember once a gang of men and women coming in and doing a distraction then somebody else stole a TV. ALDI had a go at me for not going outside after them, don`t feel like getting punched or stabbed today thanks!
LousyHero:
You can’t do C+E stright away, you gotta get C first right? I keep telling him that… and he keeps telling me he’s doing C+E without doing C first… ■■
You are correct. You must have a C+E provisional license to take the C+E test and that can only be obtained by passing the C test first.
Many years ago (so I am told) you used to be able to go straight from a car to an articulated lorry without any tests in between. But not anymore.
Dean
You can’t do C+E stright away, you gotta get C first right? I keep telling him that… and he keeps telling me he’s doing C+E without doing C first… ■■
You’re right. You have to do C first then you can move onto CE once your licence has come back from Swansea.
There’s one little anomoly that crops up from time to time. Anyone who applied for a provisional HGV before 1997 and then for whatever reason hasn’t passed their test will still have CE provisional although they haven’t got a full C. These people can drive CE on L plates but can’t take a test on it. They still have to do C first. Then they still have to wait for the licence from Swansea as they cant take the CE test on the old provisional. This is because you have to have a full C as well as the CE provisional.
But that’s just being complicated. C first then CE.
No need to do C1 as some folk think.
Good luck all
Many years ago (so I am told) you used to be able to go straight from a car to an articulated lorry without any tests in between. But not anymore.
This was the case until the end of 1996. In fact we used to train people with NO licence on artics. This was known as “double L”. The reason for this was that we used to display a large HGV L plate and also the normal car type L plate. This denoted the fact that the person driving was going from nothing to Class 1.
It is also the same situation on the buses. Up until the seventies, buses used to have a conductor more often than not. These folk would have a free travel pass and so would often not be able to drive a car. When one man operation came in, the conductors were faced with a choice: redundancy or learn to drive a bus. A massive number went onto become bus drivers - - without ever taking a car test. They gained a car licence in the process which was limited to auto if that’s what was used for test. I trained more of these can I care to remember! Quite hard work as many were in their forties and fifties and had never been interested in driving.
I’m happy that this can no longer happen but I don’t agree with the C before CE. That’s just a money making exercise for the DSA. Trainers don’t gain from it as the rates haven’t increased in line with inflation since 1997. All it does is make life more difficult and expensive for the candidate. I could live with it if there was a requirement to prove, say, 200 hours of Cat C driving before going for CE but the current trend of doing them both in a month is a farce as far as experience goes. It’s just another hurdle.
I feel so much better now!
hehe thanks guys that should convince him… maybe he has some pre 97 provision on his licence… but still has to do C first… that puts a grin on my face since he was so confident he was right that it baffled me… 