Carryfast:
Someone drives a taxi until they are 25 then drives a truck to Manchester and then gets sent off on International having proved themselves with that one run.Meanwhile years of starting at the bottom working your way up driving numerous types of trucks just with different UK only operation employers doesn’t count.Go figure.
Can I just clarify one thing, did you have a Class 1 or a Class 2 licence at the time?
Harry Monk:
Carryfast:
Someone drives a taxi until they are 25 then drives a truck to Manchester and then gets sent off on International having proved themselves with that one run.Meanwhile years of starting at the bottom working your way up driving numerous types of trucks just with different UK only operation employers doesn’t count.Go figure.Can I just clarify one thing, did you have a Class 1 or a Class 2 licence at the time?
If you mean the job with European at Dover,among others I applied for,yes of course that was around almost 5 years after I’d started on class 1 night trunking and being a job involving driving artics obviously goes without saying.
However if you mean the rarer situation of applying for drawbar work like Inter City trucks among others after I’d left Chubb Fire and during my time on the council.Yes so what’s the problem in that case ?.
It doesn’t matter how much you have done to “prove yourself” if you don’t actually make contact with the bloke who is pulling his hair out because he has an urgent load to go to Italy and a truck sitting in the yard with no-one to drive it.
Making phone calls and filling in application forms has always been a waste of time. The way I got a start was to turn up at a haulage firm with my driving licence, passport and my night-out kit in the boot of my car and to be prepared to drive out of the yard in one of their trucks 20 minutes later.
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+1
that way is the winner with no messing.
if you wanted the work,the tie company dont matter to acertain degree.
do a trip or 2 for cowboys and at least you have an idea of the job for the next decent employer.
you could phone around northern ireland or eire today,and the answer to your question would be." can yu go out on tonights boat" ? followed by," how long can you stay out for" ?
the taliban have ruined the opperchancities of such work to a certain degree,but at the same time,theres penty of companies dont want them due to their work ethics,and general carnage that sometimes ensues.
DD, opperchancites - I like that one!
Harry give up, it’ll turn into 15 pages of Carryfast telling you why you are wrong…so yes, it’s a Federalist stitch up to keep you out of a job Carry and since I am one of the elite (admittedly self-professed), I can confirm the existence of a list that is titled, Drivers you must never employ. In fairness you are not number one, but you are on it. Really.
Harry Monk:
Carryfast:
Firstly Harry seems to have found a sort of parallel universe in which you could walk into a long haul international running firm’s office and say I’ve been driving a taxi up to now can you put me on a run to wherever far flung foreign place starting Monday.To be met by the answer no problem we can do that where would you like us to send you to.Not a parallel universe but that is how it was in east Kent in the mid-1980s. I personally know someone who passed his Class 1 in the morning and was on his way to Italy that afternoon. In fact, it was harder to find a UK-only job than continental work.
That’s how it was in SE London too Harry. I had a brand spanking new unit and trailer doing Italy when I was 21. I had mates doing the same and met lots of similarly aged lads from all over the UK while over the water.
You could literally walk out of one job in the morning and walj straight into another in the afternoon.
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As someone who has got every job I’ve applied for and also interviewed many drivers as both a TM and to drive my own lorries, I suggest that maybe you don’t come across very well in interviews Carryfast. For me attitude trumps experience and I know within a couple of minutes if I’m going to offer a bloke a job or not.
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newmercman:
As someone who has got every job I’ve applied for and also interviewed many drivers as both a TM and to drive my own lorries, I suggest that maybe you don’t come across very well in interviews Carryfast. For me attitude trumps experience and I know within a couple of minutes if I’m going to offer a bloke a job or not.
Seemed to work fine for me in the case of the Council,Agency and a fill in General Haulage job.Also being offered my night trunking job within around 45 minutes and not forgetting I was actually finally offered that international job I went for.It was only withdrawn after being told I’d got the job.
However as a sort of believer in Karma.Just maybe the real problem was that my Dad had probably helped to get me the engineering trainee job at Chubb Fire and I obviously probably did someone else out that job who would have been far better suited to it and much keener on an engineering career than me. 
Look on the bright side my guvnors obviously liked my attitude enough to pay for my HGV training there and test and like you say I was also out driving 38t trucks at 21 years old within a week of passing my test.Shame about all the elitist class 1 v class 2,let alone international job,bs though which together with a bit of karma probably stopped me driving a drawbar outfit off to Italy within a day or two of being made redundant from Chubb Fire.As they say that’s life. 
newmercman:
As someone who has got every job I’ve applied for and also interviewed many drivers as both a TM and to drive my own lorries, I suggest that maybe you don’t come across very well in interviews Carryfast. For me attitude trumps experience and I know within a couple of minutes if I’m going to offer a bloke a job or not.Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
I think that two minutes into the interview when you start telling the interviewer precisely why his business model is wrong could be a tad problematic.
newmercman:
As someone who has got every job I’ve applied for and also interviewed many drivers as both a TM and to drive my own lorries, I suggest that maybe you don’t come across very well in interviews Carryfast. For me attitude trumps experience and I know within a couple of minutes if I’m going to offer a bloke a job or not.
The best jobs I’ve ever had I’ve got by having enthusiasm rather than experience.
the maoster:
I think that two minutes into the interview when you start telling the interviewer precisely why his business model is wrong could be a tad problematic.
Back when I was in a position to employ people I had exactly that happen to me when looking for a driver to do high value loads, he reckoned he held a degree in some thing or other so could improve my outfit … I never offered him the job !!
Harry Monk:
The best jobs I’ve ever had I’ve got by having enthusiasm rather than experience.
Don’t get it.It obviously wasn’t my attitude or I’d have failed every attitude test with every employer I worked for.While employers don’t generally say to someone with a bad attitude we know you don’t like the job we employed you to do ( engineering ) so we’re happy to give you a job which you do like and actually wanted to do from the start ( driving ) oh and we’ll also pay for your driver training too.Nor would an employer say to someone with a bad attitude thanks for accepting a temporary layoff to help out a more senior driver from another part of the country.We’ll take you back as soon as possible and we’ll maintain your company service record/seniority position with the firm during the time you’re gone.
As for enthusiasm v experience that was exactly my situation from the time I first drove a car,van,7.5 tonner and first time I drove an HGV and first time I drove an artic.Don’t remember any lack of similar enthusiasm when I was looking for my first international job.If anything it was more.So there we have it enthusiastic driver.Honest about lack of international experience when asked on phone and at interview.Good enough attitude to actually still get the offer of the job having generally not even got that far with other enquiries elsewhere.Which was then subsequently withdrawn and replaced with a back to square one offer of UK work.
Sorry if that doesn’t fit the rose tinted script of either the opportunities for career progression within the industry in the day and/or it shows an arbitrary,eilitist,face fits,much easier path for some in that regard,than others.Which might explain how driving a taxi up to the age of 25 then a run to Manchester with a truck trumps driving a 7.5 t drop side flat on general haulage work at 18,up to 38t special types at 21 and numerous types of trucks up to 24 tonners and bulk tipper to plant haulage work before the age of 25.Followed by almost 5 years on artics.
the maoster:
I think that two minutes into the interview when you start telling the interviewer precisely why his business model is wrong could be a tad problematic.
That theory gets blown apart by the fact that I had told the same interviewer who then offered me the job,that the choice of EPS box was even worse than choosing a gutless Merc for the job when out on the driving assessment they gave me. 
Carryfast:
Sorry if that doesn’t fit the rose tinted script of either the opportunities for career progression within the industry in the day and/or it shows an arbitrary,eilitist,face fits,much easier path for some in that regard,than others.Which might explain how driving a taxi up to the age of 25 then a run to Manchester with a truck trumps driving a 7.5 t drop side flat on general haulage work at 18,up to 38t special types at 21 and numerous types of trucks up to 24 tonners and bulk tipper to plant haulage work before the age of 25.Followed by almost 5 years on artics.
Well, basically I turned up in their yard and you didn’t, which is how come I got the gig and you didn’t. I can’t really see where “face fits elitism” fits into that?
The bottom line is that you expected the haulage industry to beat a path to your door, begging you to do continental work. Well, it doesn’t work like that, it never has and it never will.
So instead of bleating how unfair life is, you’d be better off saying “Perhaps I should have tried harder”.
Harry Monk:
The bottom line is that you expected the haulage industry to beat a path to your door, begging you to do continental work. Well, it doesn’t work like that, it never has and it never will.So instead of bleating how unfair life is, you’d be better off saying “Perhaps I should have tried harder”.
FFS did you actually read everything I wrote and understand it.Even to the point where I actually said that’s life ( and life as we know often ain’t fair but that doesn’t make unfairness right ).To the point where it possibly explains,in large part,fewer people wanting to enter the industry and those that do leaving it disillusioned.Including immigrant drivers preferring to go home to earn less doing less boring work rather than earn more doing typical boring UK type dross. 
Carryfast:
FFS did you actually read everything I wrote and understand it.
Theres strong hilarity in you of all people using that phrase
Carryfast, try reading some of your own posts back sometime. Even you would find them hard to understand I reckon.
jakethesnake:
Carryfast, try reading some of your own posts back sometime. Even you would find them hard to understand I reckon. [emoji38]
That’s a bit harsh, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
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jakethesnake:
Carryfast, try reading some of your own posts back sometime. Even you would find them hard to understand I reckon.
To (badly) paraphrase the late great Eric Morecambe “I’m using all the right words. Just not necessarily in the right order”.
Carryfast:
FFS did you actually read everything I wrote
This guy used to
