New member saying hi and after some advice?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
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Hi great forum i’ve had a good read back through all the past posts and it seems there are people here from all types of jobs which is always good. :smiley:

I’ve had my C and C+E since late 2000 back when i was 21 and was lucky to get straight into a little class 1 work with the company i was working for at the time.

I started with them in an ■■■■■■ van when i was 18 and then moved through the ranks untill i had served my time in 7.5t, class 2 and then was just starting to get a little class 1 low loader/plant and recovery work from them but unfortunately family circumstances meant i had to leave.

I then done agency work for a few local agency’s covering most types of work going and ended up working for bookers, securicor, mastercare and allied bakeries doing general deliveries on days and done a stint doing night trunks for citylink and ANC.

I found most of the work boring and fairly sole distroying as i like to apply my brain a little while at work so managed to get myself a full time position at ontime doing class one breakdown and recovery.

I ended up working at ontime for a few years before i left to persue other avenues and ended up running an electronics company of my own, unfortunately things didn’t work out and after 3 years i was loosing money and had to call it a day :frowning: which brought me up until the end of 2006.

I needed a job and fast and somehow ended up falling into a job of driving a taxi locally which i’m still doing now but i’m fed up of driving round the same town in circles all day and looking to start using my licence to good effect again.

The trouble is now i’m classed as unexperienced as even though i’ve had my licence just over 7 years i havn’t got the 6 months in the past 2 years that most people are looking for, in fact i havn’t been in a truck for about 4 years :blush: :open_mouth:

i’ve signed on with a few agencies but i know it’s the quiet time of year so havn’t really expected anything. I’m think i’m going to start looking for companies that do some form of abnormal or ‘different’ work to your general haulage or i know i’ll just get bored in short order.

I’m no stranger to driving stuff out of the ordinary all though i expect i’ll be a little rusty. :blush:

I’m just as happy working in a team as i am on my own, some times you can’t do stuff on your own :smiley:

Must admit i remember staying well awake :open_mouth: towing the double decker back :open_mouth:

I don’t want to get back into recovery as it does get a bit routine after a while and theres cirtainly no great distance involved.

So, any suggestions on some abstract/abnormal jobs within the industry or any companies in/around the east herts/west essex/north london area, i could relocate if need be as i have no ties but have to be home every sunday to see my daughter so i wouldn’t want to go to far as i’d have to come back every week.

Wow, i’ve just realised my quick hello has become a life story :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

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Sounds like you’ve got plenty of experience!

Why not pay £30 or so quid to do an hour with a local instructor, then you can put down that you’ve got recent artic experience on your CV?

I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding a job mate, but I can’t help with what there is in your area!

Alex

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Paul,
Welcome to the BB.
I packed up truck driving in 1986 after doing 12 years Middle East,I thought I’d had enough driving to last me a lifetime,so I went into engineering that I stuck at until I retired almost 5 years ago,aged 60.
However, everytime my HGV licence reminder came through I renewed it as I thought.you never know,it may come in handy again.
When I retired,after a week at home,I got itchy feet so off to the agency,filled in all the forms,telling them that most of the firms I’d worked for were now probably out of business,but they were impressed with my driving experience,even though it was a good while ago.
Gave me a class 1 job a couple of days later and considering it was 18 years since I’d driven an artic,it was like I’d never been away,straight back in there!
After a couple of months,I got onto ANC,or FEDEX as it is now,and I’ve been on there over4 years,doing two night trunks a week,which suits me fine.
So,don’t worry too much about time off class 1,just stress the experience you have got and I don’t see much of a problem.

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Hi mate, …sell them all your good points !! you ve obviously done quite a lot more than Mr Bloggs say…

Just get info of local to you companies e t c then scrub yourself up and do the pitch mate sell your experience to em,

Good Luck !! :sunglasses:

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Welcome :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:
you need a 2 hour artic refresher including a couple of real life reversing situations - job sorted.
I did one the other month - guy wanted a whole day but got bored after we covered everything in 2 hours - never been in so mant cafes in one day :unamused:

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Thanks for the kind words. :blush:

I’m sure i’ll fall straight back into the driving without any problems once i get a chance, i thinks it’s the hunting for the sort of work i’d like to get into thats going to take the real work :frowning: