I’ve been looking on websites like Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s Waitrose etc and for all their delivery driver jobs (3.5ton vans) they want applicants to have held a car licence for at least 12 months. So if these companies want 12 months just to drive a 3.5ton van, I assume trucking companies will want 3+ years?!
Is there honestly any chance at all an employer will hire me if I’ve held my car licence for 6 months? I know lots of companies take on new class 1 and 2 passers but they probably assume these people have been driving cars for years. I’d hate to do my HGV licence in 6 months time and then I can’t find any work because even though I have passed, I only have 6 months of road experience in general.
The subject of getting a job is complex and many different factors will affect your own situation. Certainly, 12 months total driving experience isn’t likely to help. But it shouldn’t be a barrier, in itself to training. I’m old enough to have trained folks with NO car licence on artics from scratch. These folk clearly had zero experience but still succeeded. I believe that enthusiasm, personal presentation and attitude can overcome lack of experience - to a point.
Peter Smythe:
The subject of getting a job is complex and many different factors will affect your own situation. Certainly, 12 months total driving experience isn’t likely to help. But it shouldn’t be a barrier, in itself to training. I’m old enough to have trained folks with NO car licence on artics from scratch. These folk clearly had zero experience but still succeeded. I believe that enthusiasm, personal presentation and attitude can overcome lack of experience - to a point.
Hope this helps a bit, Pete
From your experience do employers tend to ask when you got your normal licence, or do they only really care about when you got your HGV licence? If they don’t ask how long I’ve had my car licence then it’s no problem…
No one has ever mentioned it when I got an HGV job as its mostly the class 2 or 1 experience their insurance will look at.
Its like driving vans experience really doesn’t count for much when you go for an HGV job. Very different beasts so doubt anyone would actually care that much.
trevHCS:
No one has ever mentioned it when I got an HGV job as its mostly the class 2 or 1 experience their insurance will look at.
Its like driving vans experience really doesn’t count for much when you go for an HGV job. Very different beasts so doubt anyone would actually care that much.
This is reassuring. I’m going to continue my current job, hopefully for 6 months (mostly for a good reference) and then I’m just going to take the plunge and do my Class 2 and depending on how confident I am, straight into Class 1. But most likely I’ll do Class 2 for a year then move into Class 1.
One thing worth remembering, the reason companies want 12+ months experience of car driving before allowing people out in a 3.5 tonner is because they can be driven on the same licence, no additional tests etc like you have to do to get your hgv.
Going from nothing to supermarket multidrop is a big step up, I can see why they want you to have a year’s driving experience first. Get the rules of the road ingrained, to have experienced complex traffic situations not dealt with in lessons etc. They are used to having young people e.g. shelf stackers wanting to switch to driver as soon as they pass their tests and they know of the prangs that happen when the switch is done too soon. They’re big companies with proper H&S departments who have considered all this.
There are only a few supermarkets, there are hundreds of Class 2 employers, some of whom won’t care so much about age and experience. If you’re legal and sensible you should be able to get on the ladder.
