Fresh Service have a depot there, trading under the name EWT.
i think we are talking about different places i cant see it on google
Sorry, I see from the overhead that Parsonage Lane runs into Darenth Hill - and the depot is there. My mistake.
yep completely different places i thought you meant parsanage lane at the top of frindsbury hill
New pass car to artic here. I understand iām going to start off at the lower end of the payscale and i agree that theres nothing wrong with starting in a 7.5t which i already had the right to drive on my grandad rights. Its all about the money and a personal goal. Im nearly 50 and Iāve just invested Ā£3k getting my class 1 as i thought that would allow me to leapfrog the areas of work im not interested in, hacking around in a skip lorry or dustcart etc. Thereās nothing wrong with that if you like it, but thatās not what i wanted. If you were to ask me if i thought someone would put me straight in an artic as a new pass my answer would be āYESā I would expect to work as a drivers mate or accompany a more experienced driver to learn the ropes of a specific role but only for a week or two. After that, I absolutely would expect to get out on my own. Thatās what i did the licence for in the first place! So your eye rolling emoji is unjustified IMO. If i told my wife im going to work for Ā£13ph she would say āyou absolutely are not, you can forget that right now!ā Kiss goodbye to nice holidays, restaurants, nice car, prepare to get used to your best clothes coming from Tescoās. I couldnt look her in the eye with any amount of self respect. Its a real shame. All you guys do a tough job and work hard, but its no tougher or more hard work than what i do (carpenter), just different thats all. I really want to do european tramping and i will get there in the end despite the industres best attempts to stop me!
So you did no personal research to support the practical aspects and realism of that plan before spending your money? Thatās entirely on you.
Thatās your opinion based on your limited experience in the industry, whereas Iām looking at it from the point of view of clients I work with.
If theyāve got a nice artic rig worth anything up to Ā£200,000 they are, unsurprisingly, not looking for someone who has not proven theirself, especially when we see new car-to-artic passes making the news like this.
to be fair when i did my class 2 before i spent any money i went round the local companies and spoke to the places i was working at they all told me yes we can use you were desperate for drivers. I even asked about the 2 year experience thing and was told dont worry about that we can get round it. One company even pulled me off the warehouse floor a few times to go out as a drivers mate.
Of course once i had my license it was a different story ended up with a 7.5t job for 18 months before i was given a chance on the rigids.
The problem lies with these b/s ādriver shortageā adverts promising unrealistic wagesā¦people actually believe them.
They then spend the thick end of 3 grand (f.that for a game of soldiers btw) then go looking for a 40k job to find only 12 quid an hour ones are available for crappy firms.
Iāve said before, I would not recommend this game to anyone these days, and it never ceases to amaze me that people still come into it.
They need (as said) to do some proper reserach into it, stop listening to crap, and get real.
Actually I did look into the state of the industry and everything i read and people i spoke to in the industry said Iād have no trouble getting work especially tramping work as most drivers prefer to go home after a shift. If i hadnt then you would be right, It would be on me but thats not the case.
I also stated quite clearly that i would have expected to work aiongside a more experienced driver for a short time (not tramping of course) learning all i could from them BEFORE being allowed to venture out in the Ā£200000 vehicle.
You cant just grab a catastrophic headline and say " you see, this is what happens if you put a new pass in a lorry!" Its neither accurate or fair. So im still waiting to hear your point?
It was true then it looks like your research was reading the wrong things and speaking to the wrong people. And that particular driver on the beach was merely one of many car-to-artic numpties, it is far from being an isolated incident.
My several points, which you can see are supported by other TN members, are:
- The world does not owe you a living,
- It is an employerās marketplace and inexperienced noobs are bottom of the pile
- We get bored with hearing complaints from people who have bought into the ādriver shortageā BS
Try Facebook, thereās thousands of people with exactly the same complaint as you, and countless numbers of people who will tell you the same as I have done.
Incidentally, your attitude doesnāt seem sufficiently genuine enough to interest me, so donāt tag me into any further responses.
zac_a clearly doesnt like it when ānoobsā dont grovel at his feet and treat him like the god of trucking! Your snivelling sentances aimed at winding up new drivers tell me all i need to know about you. So by your logic all car to artic drivers are idiots and the only people who are āgiftedā enough to be in control of a class 1 vehicle is people like you! Then the industry truely is screwed! No experienced drivers have ever made massive errors i guess? Dont like it when someone doesnt agree with you? Then leave the forum you utter back n front!
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Well that escalated quickly. As Harry Whatshisface would say āthereās only one way to sort this outā.
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Wish my first class 1 was Ā£13ph, it was Ā£11.75 in sept 2022. Yes I felt conned but they gave me a start with a buddy for the first 2 weeks. To my advantage I had 3 years of bus driving experience so got an immediate start as a new pass. Done it for 2 months and now on good money in my current full time job. Chase the experience and the coins will follow.
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Is it Chubb Norrisā¦or CHUCK Norris.?
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Most definitely Chubb!
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Happy to gain experience, just cant afford to give myself away for that kind of money. Im encouraged to hear that its worked for you and your now where you want to be financially. Its really good news. Good luck with it all.
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Donāt worry, zac_a has a fanny fit when someone questions his perceived authority. Oldest trick in the book ignoring someone, just another name added to his block list. How childish.
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Looks like someone didnāt read the forum rules and is in need of a cuddle. Iāll let the mods put him straight on whatās acceptable on TN while heās crying into his beer about how unfair the world is, but really, Facebook is the place for people like that. This group is popular with other unhappy noobs
āLooks like someone didnāt read the forum rulesā 
Chill out zaccybabes! I dont think everything you say is gospel, nor do i think that everything you say is nonsense. Theres just no need for you to act like your the policeman of truckland.
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For the avoidance of all doubt, I donāt care what you think, unhappy new-pass jobseeker, if that is indeed what you are. Personally, to me you look like a boring run-of-the-mill Troll, probably one that has trolled TN before. I would expect your IP address has been seen before, or youāre going through a VPN - as many trolls do these days - which is a real give-away
And TN has Admins and Mods, they do the policing of TN, especially when posts get flagged to them. Seriously, youāre better off on FB where people donāt really care and you can be as big a tool as you like with far less comeback.