Ive been recommended your site from another forum (Volkszone aka Vzi) and basically i have to ask the question. Im a new driver i passed my Class one roughly a fortnight ago aNd passed my class two last december. Ive managed to get a little rigid work since christmas but nothing to keep the wolves from the door. Ive lived around the trucking business all my life and im a third generation trucker but i just cannot get any work now at all class 2 and definatly not class 1.
Its cost me almost £2500 to get through my two tests (which i may add passed both first time with less than 7minors on the class 2 and 5minors on the class 1 - thats out of a maximum of 15 - and ive been told thats bloody exceptionable) anyway its seems that its becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to take you seriously. I mean ive been told anything from you wont get any work because of that lack of experience to not holding the license for long enough! Lets be honest here i took these courses and paid my hard earned cash to start a new career and new life but im just hitting a brick wall!!! If i left my license in the draw for the next year to two years i could easily get a job (something else ive been told) but where will that get me? No experience and less of an idea and more of a danger to the road and to myself!!!
Sorry for sounding so random and harsh but its becoming very frustrating and well finacially torturous. It’ll end up coming to the point where we’ll have to leave our home because we cannot meet the bills (rent excluded in that)
Any advise would be very helpfull and very much apprieciated
oh and i live down in Chelmsford in Essex
Sadly there are more drivers than trucks at the moment.With the down turn in the car and building industry a lot of experienced men are also looking for work. I suggest that you contact all of the agencies in your area and be available for any work that you are offered.Try your local council as wellI was in your position 10 years ago but got an opening on the buses .Sorry I cant be more positive.
The reason you’re struggling to get work is quite simple - the recession.
There are a lot of experienced drivers out there who have been laid off and are looking for work at the moment, and they will almost always have the advantage over someone who has just passed their test. You just need to stick at it and eventually you’ll get the break you need.
Lets be honest here i took these courses and paid my hard earned cash to start a new career
You’re another of many that have done similar. Were you told there would be jobs soon as you passed you’re test ? As you have found out, there is not. As said there are already many experienced drivers out of work, so you have now joined the long queue for jobs at the back. That’s how it is.
Ive lived around the trucking business all my life
Surprised you don’t already know the situation we are all in then.
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hgv001:
…i passed my Class one roughly a fortnight ago .
I’ll assume it was an ARTIC and not a W&D
Ive lived around the trucking business all my life and im a third generation trucker
With the access to information that you have available to you, why did you not research the job market before paying out all that money - or did someone tell you a few ‘porkies’
Hi everyone and thankyou all for your kind replies
To be honest with regards to researching the job front before i took my test, i knew it wasnt going to be easy but i was determind to get the licenses and on a plus point there was a pontential position where my father works and in the end just got fobbed off with the insurance wont touch you lark!!!
What didnt help was coments from people like my dad, to which he said," in 33years i’ve never been out of work and had never been affected by any finacial short comings or recessions…"
I am at the moment and tomorrow going to all the local conatainer trunking firms and see if they’ll give me a chance and if it comes to it i’ll have to look at other work until it starts to get better…
hgv001:
I am at the moment and tomorrow going to all the local conatainer trunking firms and see if they’ll give me a chance and if it comes to it i’ll have to look at other work until it starts to get better…
All the best with your driving job search but I think it will end as your second option.
yes its all very frustrating, i passed my class 1 in november and not driven an artic since! i tell you what these hgv schools are gonna make a killin on refresher courses!
who’d have thought truckin would be such a difficult profession to get into, its not exactly the world’s most popular job. I think us newbies are gonna have to wait a little while longer than when the economy starts to turn. First in the queue are the experienced drivers, its only when companies really start expanding and lookin to the future growth of the company are they gonna start bringing in newbies depressing
hgv001:
Hi everyone and thankyou all for your kind replies
To be honest with regards to researching the job front before i took my test, i knew it wasnt going to be easy but i was determind to get the licenses and on a plus point there was a pontential position where my father works and in the end just got fobbed off with the insurance wont touch you lark!!!
What didnt help was coments from people like my dad, to which he said," in 33years i’ve never been out of work and had never been affected by any finacial short comings or recessions…"
I am at the moment and tomorrow going to all the local conatainer trunking firms and see if they’ll give me a chance and if it comes to it i’ll have to look at other work until it starts to get better…
I have a TIP
and this is coming from a NON LGV driver but soon will take tests
1st tip:: Get a job that will pay the bills and bring some money in and when you are on your days off go and apply for the LGV jobs.
2nd tip:: Go to a Company and tell them that you are new but ask for a chance to prove to them that you are ok, reliable,trusting person etc and say “give me 2 weeks to prove to you that i can work” and see what happens from there.
alamcculloch:
How many of us would bother with transport if your step1was a viable option.
I think lots would.
Most go into this game because they WANT to and not because they HAVE to.
Those that want to drive LGVs may, especially these days, have to wait a bit in order for their dream to come true so doing the 1st option makes perfect sense.
I wonder what is there out there that could be step1.When I left school in 1967 there was a ship yard ,foundries and factories as well as mills inthe city now all of that has gone There are some poorly paid jobs at super markets but I dont see where the real jobs are.
sorry to hear you are finding it difficult ive allways found it best to get my licences through the company iam working for at the time. i got my class 2 when i was drving a van for a tile company and the class 2 driver walked out !. then the company went bust so i drove for and agency (class 2) got taken on by a haulage firm and they put me through my class 1.(my first day driving an artic was multi drop around nottingham)i had to sign to say id stay for two years on a lower wage ive now done that. and ive just got a new job on alot better money i went through an agency and they want you to have 180 days recent driving of the class of vehicle your going to be driving it might be worth going to an agency on class 2 work some good look
I don’t think I’ll get a job till around 2011 with the recession as it is. I’m battening down the hatches for the long haul. Cutting back so I can survive on jobseekers allowance £60.50 a week
hgv001:
Its cost me almost £2500 to get through my two tests (which i may add passed both first time with less than 7minors on the class 2 and 5minors on the class 1 - thats out of a maximum of 15 - and ive been told thats bloody exceptionable) anyway its seems that its becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to take you seriously.
Scott, I hope you dont go to and conduct yourself at any interviews with the “I passed both my tests with less than 7 minors on class 2 and 5 minors on class 1 and that’s bloody exceptionable” attitude/strategy, because they definitely wont take that seriously!
Congratulations on your passes, but coming from trucking people you’ll know that your LGV theory, practical training and susequent passes will bare very little resemblance to your professional truck career ahead.
You only start really learning when you do the actual job.
Times are really tough just now for most of us (in 20 years of driving I’ve been made redundant seven times - including three times in the last year!), so it’s even tougher for young or old alike with little experience.
Driving around in an empty lorry trying to impress someone who has already reached his quota has very little to do with commercial driving in the real world. I hope that you me and the rest of you get a break sometime soon.A boss is going to ask himself ,is this guy going to make a profit for the firm?
ANDY1961:
Congratulations on your passes, but coming from trucking people you’ll know that your LGV theory, practical training and susequent passes will bare very little resemblance to your professional truck career ahead.
You only start really learning when you do the actual job.
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Hello to all,
I agree that experience/ learning and confidence in all trades comes only when you are doing the job day in day out. The problem with the haulage industry in this country is the attitude of managers, that newly qualified drivers are expected to magically get experience from always someone elses company first. I`m sorry but this is a ridiculous catch 22 and dosnt seem to matter if you have had the license for days or years. I, (Class 2 & HI-AB) like many others in the UK spent alot of time and money getting our licenses + certificates because:
A. we actually wanted to drive trucks for a living.
B. we were told there was an ageing population of drivers in the UK which would lead to a dramatic shortfall of drivers.
C. Trucking paid a generally descent wage unlike unlike working in a retail shop or warehouse floor.
I for one would not have gone down this route if had known it was almost impossible to get work once qualified. Over the years sent countless CVs locally at first then UK wide eventually (unfortunateley i`m not related to or best buds with anyone who owns or manages HGVs) . I am now retraining for a completely different trade.
Good luck though to all who are still looking for that lucky break in this industry (refresher courses needed, i think by now!!!) and sorry to have a bit of a moan!
Surprised you don’t already know the situation we are all in then.
- or did someone tell you a few ‘porkies’ 
depressing 