MPD,
Patience is a virtue, Seldom found in women, never found in men!
You have to look at it from the operators point of view, would you let a low houred pilot who is chomping at the bit, loose in possibly £1 point something mil's worth of kit,
I wont even let a driver near any tractive units untill they have at least 2 FULL years of driving under their belt in that range of tractor, and they seldom leave the ground!!
Patience Man, your rewards will come but you will have to kiss many frog's in between time
Vfr