Work, agencies, problems, help

[robin_a]

hi,

well the subject about covers it. since passing my test in july, i have had no luck at all with any of the agencies that cover Grantham and surrounds. They either take my details saying they will look for me, and i dont hear back, or i see jobs like 20 class c drivers wanted, so i email, and they say, oh nothing about at the min, well why have the advert.

Or, the job i really wanted was brakes at grantham, spoke to brakes direct and they said so long as i have a class c, experience does not matter, but they are only using agencies at this time, so i contact the 2 they use, and they said, no we cant use you, as you need 2 years driving experience.

So never giving up , one of them said, you could do 7.5t to get a foot in the door, so when i saw them wanting a 7.5t driver i said, how about me, just to be told, well you have not driven commercial work. i said i drove for royla mail on collection once, but they still never got back.

so im really fed up now, and feel like walking away from the driver thing, and doing something else.

i was more than happy to do just the odd day, or weekend work only, was not thinking id walk into full time, i would have done a non driving job in week, then worked driving weekends, but no offers for that.

maybe its the credit crunch and im in it at the wrong time looking for work.

i have even tryed the local firms to see if they want drivers, most dont answer, the ones that do say no thanks, or they would prefer experience if they did want someone.

its been said on here before, but driver shortage, theres not one, its agencies and some of the big lgv schools making it up.

so on with anouther day of looking.

any advice for jobs in grantham, newark, sleaford, sort of way let me know.

thanks

rob

[rog]

NEWBIE EXPERIENCES ON GETTING WORK

[dinosteveus1]

I know how you feel Rob
I’m in Felixstowe, a right dump with one of the biggest Ports in the UK, loads of Driving Companies and Driving Agencies but none of them will touch a driver with no experience…
I’m with Driver Hire working at the National Grid as a ‘gofer(sp.?)’ , I drove a 7.5t today for a couple of hours.
I spent about five grand on getting my C&E and this is all I’m good for.

[robin_a]

i know steve, its really bad, i think loads must end up the same as us, pass the test, you go home high, thinking, great be in one of those soon, then slowly one by one, all the places you try go belly up, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

good luck anyhow steve

[chippy]

Give it a bit of time Dino. Keep at it gain experience. Have you done any 17 tonne stuff on rigids?

When I started way back it was easier to get class 1 work after passing but these days with stringent H&S policies and high priced risk insurance, companies are somewhat reluctant to take a risk on the newly qualified.

Keep at it something will pop up maybe not now but in a month or so. Have you driven an artic since you passed?

[tachograph]

The work should be picking up shortly, when it does you’ll find most agencies will use any drivers they can get regardless of experience, I suppose that does depend on what companies are in your area though.

Good luck anyway

[bigcheese]

i know what you mean. i tried even contacting companies direct too still no joy either. seems as if some get c+e full time work pretty much straight away while others struggle just to get anthing at all. surely companies are desperate for driver thats why i thought they used agencie to start with. its just all ■■■■ up seems you just have to drop lucky

[dinosteveus1]

chippy:
Give it a bit of time Dino. Keep at it gain experience. Have you done any 17 tonne stuff on rigids?

When I started way back it was easier to get class 1 work after passing but these days with stringent H&S policies and high priced risk insurance, companies are somewhat reluctant to take a risk on the newly qualified.

Keep at it something will pop up maybe not now but in a month or so. Have you driven an artic since you passed?

You ain’t gonna believe this, I could not get a job as a Rigid Driver, being a container port all they do around here is move containers with an Artic, so I saved up and got my Artic License.
The job I’m doing now is driving a 7.5t when things need dropping off, but one requirement was a C&E license.

Anyway, I’ll get there in the end.

[madbaz]

Robina,

NO OFFENSE IS INTENDED and I may well be way way off the mark, but I feel you may have to try twice as hard as any bloke on here to get a foot in the door, in this day an age gender shouldn’t be an issue but it is, as it was when my old lady passed her PSV many years ago, (she was lucky her and the old fella owned a coach co) she had customers refusing to get on the coach/minibus till a male driver was summoned, it was funny when customer complained to my old man only to see em squirm when he simply said “thats my wife your talking about”! Some prospective drivers were non too happy either when they were asked to diesel up a coach whilst the cleaner was on board only to find later the cleaner was one of the interviewers

Keep yer chin up and keep trying you’ll get there.

[robin_a]

lol how do i change my user name, im male lol robin, a is my sir names first letter lol so i put robina, only just thought thats robina, not what i thought, haha, name change plzzzzzzzzzz

[rog]

robina:
lol how do i change my user name, im male lol robin, a is my sir names first letter lol so i put robina, only just thought thats robina, not what i thought, haha, name change plzzzzzzzzzz

I kept thinking that you were a reddish coloured cordial drink…

… Ribena

[robin_a]

lol good job i never had a number plate made up for a window hey haha

[krankee]

Robin_A:
lol how do i change my user name, im male lol robin, a is my sir names first letter lol so i put robina, only just thought thats robina, not what i thought, haha, name change plzzzzzzzzzz

We have the technology.

The hard part was remembering my password.

[robin_a]

awwwwwww much better thanks mate

[hairygorilla]

it could have been worse robin
you might have had the surname sole and used your first letter of your name

runs for cover … good luck with the job hunting though you will get there

[robin_a]

yeh very true

[gogzy]

you will get there eventually, its just getting your foot in the door, im with driver hire and another agency the now, i used to work for driver hire years ago hwen i was like 18 so when i came back from uni they already knew what i was like etc so it was kinda easier.

i have applied for jobs and been turned down due to lack of experience yet ive ended up working for those companies through driver hire. seems daft.

ive got my c+e, not used it once yet, im only 22 though so it probably explains it. though today and 2moro im driving a 7.5t which im not too happy aout but its work. i keep asking driver hire if they have any class 2 work when they offer 7.5t to me.

it just takes time, just accept anything they will give you and once they get to klnow your name you will get more work etc.

[bigcheese]

its just all stupid to me many lads on here have a c+e licence that in most cases are hardly used due to lack of experience. i mean i know you can work your way up the ladder as such but in my case i already have a decent well paid job and aint giving it up for a few promises that wont be kept or to drive a 7.5tonne for low wages. am i the only person on here that thinks its all been a waste of money so far with no signs of it getting better. i wish i had seen the posts on this site before i took up my truck training

[madbaz]

I think Gogzy is right, you need accept anything to get on that first rung, and get your name up there, it’s maybe a little harder than a few months ago, agy work seems to have dried up

[krankee]

HAIRYGORILLA:
it could have been worse robin
you might have had the surname sole and used your first letter of your name

Tempting. Very tempting.