OK so I experienced this when I first passed my C 2 years ago.
Can’t get a job because I have no experience, can’t get experience because nobody will give me work (due to insurance requirements)
So I’ve just passed my C+E and find myself with the same problem. I’m currently in full time work and don’t fancy packing it in to go and work for an agency but it’s looking increasingly likely that I’ll have to.
Can anyone offer any advice?
I’m on The Wirral by the way.
Welcome to the madhouse
Dont give up your full time job for agency as they will promise you everything but wont necessarily deliver unless you are financially secure without work then ok
Depends on what work you do atm as you could register with a few agency to work on a weekend ( well 1 day every other IIRC )
I’m one of the lucky ones that has got a job from the first cv I sent out, but I have van driving experience which did seem to help when I went for the interview so maybe you could look into getting a job driving vans so you get experience of delivering and dealing with customers etc.
Hiyyaaa akacheesy, hold onto your full time job as thats the one to keep you financialy secure, & you wont have that sort of security with an agency 
with the driveing side of things just keep on trying companies & get your cv out there, dont give up. There have been past posts on this forum about similar job finding situations you might pick up some more tips there. Good luck & come & tell us how things are going 
This situation has been around since the day after the wheel was invented, there is no simple answer, just keep on trying, if you think about it every single one of us was inexperienced when we first started, after all none of us were born with a class 1, some were lucky, some worked their way up through the ranks, some had to work really hard to get there, but they all managed in the end, so don’t lose faith 
You may not have to wait too long, the xmas rush will start soon and you may find that someone will take you on, they may be offering only temporary positions, but if they are really short of drivers you may be able to blag your way into a full time job
Newmercman
Your not the only one out there, that is finding it difficult to get a job in the HGV world with little or no experiance.
Dam I passed my C&E some 2 years ago, applied for job after job with no luck… not really wanting agency work, as and when required with having a family of two young kids, maybe its cos im 35 old and fat … who knows 
But dont give up something will turn up…
Thanks for the replies guys, I’ll keep ya posted.
I am driving at the mo, class 2 with HIAB for a builders merchants. They reduce my hours from Dec til March which will cost me around £200 a month. They are seriously tight, wanna get out of it ASAP hence the class 1.
Cheers
Swampey:
NewmercmanYour not the only one out there, that is finding it difficult to get a job in the HGV world with little or no experiance.
Dam I passed my C&E some 2 years ago, applied for job after job with no luck… not really wanting agency work, as and when required with having a family of two young kids, maybe its cos im 35 old and fat … who knows
But dont give up something will turn up…
I’ve been driving artics for 25yrs, I was reassuring the OP, but thanks for the kind words anyway 
Just got my contract today from Stobarts, surprised me no end when they actually offered me a job. C+E Weekend Tramper so I can kiss goodbye to what little I have of a social life but then the money is good so happy days!!
Well done,glad to see some good news being posted.
Hi all,
Ive been on here a couple of times. Leaving the RN next month and fancied something different so i took my class c in plymouth last month and tried to register with some of the agencies in Plymouth…only 2 have actually got back to me and only one of them has shown any interest…had some multi drop experience this week with DHL…in a van, but still, its multidrop experience.
Ive applied for some jobs and sent my CV out to some of the companies down here…no reply. So im going to take my C+E next month as ive seen a hell of a lot of Royal Mail jobs advertised with various agencies. I appreciate im not going to be earning the 500 - 600 punds a month that is advertised on some training websites and to be honest it doesnt bother me, but is it worth my while to keep plugging away and pestering the agencies that say “we will phone you tomorrow or next week” or just leave them and hope something comes up. I also appreciate that om inexperienced, but like everyone on here am eager and willing to learn. Driver Hire in Saltash told me that the new drivers are always the ones that write the vehicles off or damage them all the time, somrthing that i disagree with, if anyhting i would hope that newbies are more careful.
Any advice would be most appreciated.
I would issue the cautionary word concerning the "Hell of a lot of agency jobs "There may be one or two jobs that a Hell of a lot of agencies are scrabbling over.The Royal Mail and everyone else post the vacancies on a central site and whichever agency fills the vacancy first pockets the commission.
Get yourself a digi tacho card if you haven’t already got one.
I basically waited a year then fabricated my experience to satisfy the agencies. You have to normally have 6mths exp. So I made it up and they bought it, they never bother checking because agencies are a bunch of cowboys / girls.
I’ve been driving for over a year now & not had any insurance claims, written of vehicles etc. If you ara safe driver then doesn’t matter what vehilce you drive IMO
alamcculloch,
sorry, should have worded that a bit better and i see what you mean, every website has a Royal Mail job agency advert on it.
akacheesy,
Ive got a Digicard and Gap phoned me up this morning asking if i fancied a drive to Birmingham with Warburtons…then phoned back and told me that it was covered, but theyve got a lot of Digicard work coming up. Fingers crossed.
Id like to think i was a safe enough driver.
Thanks for the help both of you.