Hi all,
I passed my class 1 4 weeks ago.
I have registered with an agency and they gave me my first shift for today!
So I went to the transport office to get my licence and tacho card registered. They then found out I had no experience but were keen to give me an assessment drive. So did the assessment drive and the guy said he was very happy with my driving and he was going to check the paperwork and get me started.
He came back 5 minutes later only to say that their insurance wouldn’t cover me due to my in-experience 
So abit of a kick in the teeth to be honest, but I was wondering weather there was an insurance company that I could insure with that would cover me as an agency driver!?
Hope you can help!
Regards,
Steven Williams
swillomnibus:
Hi all,
I passed my class 1 4 weeks ago.
I have registered with an agency and they gave me my first shift for today!
So I went to the transport office to get my licence and tacho card registered. They then found out I had no experience but were keen to give me an assessment drive. So did the assessment drive and the guy said he was very happy with my driving and he was going to check the paperwork and get me started.
He came back 5 minutes later only to say that their insurance wouldn’t cover me due to my in-experience
So abit of a kick in the teeth to be honest, but I was wondering weather there was an insurance company that I could insure with that would cover me as an agency driver!?
Hope you can help!
Regards,
Steven Williams
Unfortunately, this is a very common problem and there is no cure as such. What isn’t a common problem though is an agency finding you a shift before you fill in paperwork, ie; what experience you have and how long you’ve held your license etc.
Now, you’re just another driver amongst thousands of us that have no experience and can’t get any experience because you have no experience.
Join the club. 
Thing is, the agency knew this so I thought when they sent me to this partuclar firm, that they accepted people like myself! Agencies mistake on this occassion.
But are people meant to get experience when they don’t give us a chance! I’ll be chuffed to get van work at the moment, though after spending 1000’s on licencing it all feels abit unjust!
swillomnibus:
Thing is, the agency knew this so I thought when they sent me to this partuclar firm, that they accepted people like myself! Agencies mistake on this occassion.
But are people meant to get experience when they don’t give us a chance! I’ll be chuffed to get van work at the moment, though after spending 1000’s on licencing it all feels abit unjust!
I do sympathize with you, I’m on the same boat but I told a few fibs to land my first Class 2 start. Unfortunately you need to have held your license for at least a good 3-4 months before you can fib that you worked for x company before they went bust 
I’m looking for Class 1 work myself but have an interview coming up.
yea i am in the same boat passed my class 2 and can’t get any one to take me on because of no experience might try the fibbing thing i know a few people that have and its landed them a job so seem a good way to get ur foot in the door
lewis new trucker:
yea i am in the same boat passed my class 2 and can’t get any one to take me on because of no experience might try the fibbing thing i know a few people that have and its landed them a job so seem a good way to get ur foot in the door
Don’t forget that your test pass dates are on the back of your licence as the start date of the relevant categories. You will be caught out if you say you’ve been driving for a few months and you’ve only passed your test last week.
djw:
lewis new trucker:
yea i am in the same boat passed my class 2 and can’t get any one to take me on because of no experience might try the fibbing thing i know a few people that have and its landed them a job so seem a good way to get ur foot in the door
Don’t forget that your test pass dates are on the back of your licence as the start date of the relevant categories. You will be caught out if you say you’ve been driving for a few months and you’ve only passed your test last week.
That is why I said you can only really pull that one off if you have held your license a good few months.
I used a line this week which may well of helped swing the TM, “I’m new to class 1 but not new to truck driving,” I was offered the job today. I know your not going to swing any decision that’s set in stone at a company, and judging by some drivers we’ve had, the 2 yr thing, is not a bad thing. However as far as I’m aware no insurance company (ours included) will refuse insurance purely on the grounds of inexperience, but they do increase the compulsory excess in the event of a claim.
Well I am applying with the firms that are known to take on young drivers. My father is also a lorry driver so he has helped me with company names in this respect.
I think I will need to start telling little white lies just purely to get a foot in the door. I wouldn’t mind if I had to do a few weeks of 7.5T work just to prove myself!
Sending of CVs at the moment now to AlanRJones and Gerry Jones so fingers crossed!
Thank you all for the advice so far!