I currently hold a Class 2 licence, and have done for about 5 months now. I have found work, albeit in dribs and drabs, doing general haulage and a bit of night trunking. I do encounter the usual set backs regarding my age and lack of experiance and also because i havent held my licence for long.
The question i want to ask is would it be worth doing my class 1 licence now?? As stated, im only 23, but i think that if i do it now, at least in a year or 2 id have held the class 1 licence for a while. (if that makes sense)
Im fully aware that i would struggle to find class 1 work, if at all for a while, just wondering if it would be handy to have whislst doing class 2 work, although id still apply for class 1 jobs (woth a try)
If you can afford it - go for it; sooner you get the licence the sooner you can move up - you will find Class 1 work (Manpower use to take new Class 1 drivers on their Royal Mail contract, dont know if they still do).
Plus it shows initiative to potential employers, that you are keen to get on etc
Go for it! I got my CE at 22, less than 5 months later I got on the books as a casual with a bluechip company and had 5/6 days work a week every week, 4 months after that I was offered a permanent job. A lot of companies will knock you back because of your lack of experience but there are companies out there that will give you a chance.
I would say “yes”, any qualification is worth having and although you may struggle to find work for the magical two years, this period or purgatory will end when you are 25, which is also an age when driving jobs become far more accessible.
The ‘2 years’ and the ‘magical 25’ are just convenient excuses for employers to use. They can be a problem, but are not insurmountable, and you only need to find one person to say ‘yes’.
I passed my C+E at 22. I have never spent much time driving C. It has been difficult to get the jobs I wanted at times, but I don’t think the concept of having time served on class C actually counts for much, apart from perhaps your own confidence in your driving ability.
It is, after all, only going to get more difficult and expensive to do it.
If you are using your class C occasionally, just keep mentioning to Transport managers that you have a class one and they will use you eventually, obviously I mean when you get it, but make it your new years resolution, a class one or C+E in the back of a drawer is still a qualification.
Wheel Nut:
If you are using your class C occasionally, just keep mentioning to Transport managers that you have a class one and they will use you eventually
Yes, that’s right, a transport manager who is panicking because he has an irate customer on the phone, threatening to end a lucrative contract because his goods have not arrived would put Michael Jackson’s chimp behind the wheel of an artic if it had a Class 1 licence.
Wel I’m 23 and I have just passed about a month ago work is hard to come by but I’m comfortable that I will have a class one job soon I definitely don’t think it’s impossible got a permanent class 2 job ATM so don’t want to rush
