Got my Class 2 licence in January, waited for it to come back then contacted 2 agencies in Feb - One of which has kept me in near constant work from day one.
Weeks 1 to 7
Driving an 3.5T flatbed with tail-lift for a plant hire company. Also involved towing a braked trailer (with a road roller or excavator sat on it). Got loads of practice reversing trailers which ain’t going to hurt when I go for my Class 1.
Everyone was friendly and the other drivers would help show me best way to do stuff - e.g. when loading and strapping down particular items.
Customers were generally builders - typically pretty laid back always helped you load / unload and rarely moaned if something was late (probably 'cause most days they’ll just be happy if it’s not raining.)
After 7 weeks felt at home and wondered about a permanent job there. Ok so I still hadn’t driven the Class of vehicle i’d just paid 2 grand to get a licence for, but they did also run Class 2 vehicles…
I suppose some would not have wanted the job, but I think it’s best to not look a gift horse in the mouth when starting out. Enjoyed myself, learned a fair amount (e.g. reversing / strapping stuff down / using a Tacho) and I got 7 weeks pay out of it.
Weeks 8 and 9
Drove four different Class 2 Dafs for Matthew Clarks (drinks delivery to pubs / hotels / cafes).
Staff are generally a good bunch, you will need a reasonable amount of strength and fitness. I enjoyed the physical aspect of the job - viewed it as a free gym.
You are not officially expected to lift barrels - circa 50kg - which should be rolled off the side of the truck onto a mat and then generally stood upright to accept a specialised sackcart, however - the guys would often lift another barrel onto the first one on the sack cart…they get paid the same whether they are out for 6 hours or 10 so naturally some like to speed up the job.
Moving the cases of wine and bottled lagers/ ciders etc - the sackcarts were typically loaded to circa 90/100kgs, ok if you are on the flat, but some cellars and first floor bars are stairs access only. Strength is one thing, but just trying to control all that weight when lifting or dropping a sackcart up/down stairs requires technique also, the main reason I always took a few cases less where stairs were concerned as I didn’t want to be responsible for 60 bottles of wine all over the floor.
Vehicles were curtainsiders and I always had a driver’s mate. Bottles / cans generally shrink wrapped on a pallet but otherwise unrestrained , barrels could be single or double stacked and no load restraints 
I think all the vehicles had air suspension (as I suspect that otherwise there would be alot more breakages - barrels flying into bottles etc.). 99% of the time nothing really moved (and some of the runs were on rural B roads) but I had one memorable moment entering / exiting a roundabout where a barrel dropped and then came to rest against the curtain (making a VOSA - baiting sized bulge) so we hastily pulled over while my driver’s mate climbed in and sorted it out.
Although all DAFs, the contrast between the different trucks was interesting.
Day one was in a LF 14.5t Auto (8.5m long) so a nice easy start.
Day two was a 7 year old manual LF 18 tonner and the first thing that struck me on the winding road out of the depot at 7am (when I’m not at my best) was that I had got used to an autobox choosing an appropriate gear, so there’s a fair bit more to think about and 6th probably aint the best choice if you are fully loaded and entering a sharp curve.
I’m used to manual cars, but when you’ve ten times the weight of car, then correct gear selection is probably about ten times as important 
By the end of the day (and now around 8 tonnes lighter) I’d grown to like having a manual box, at least as soon as you dump the clutch you’re off, I find Autos can take half a second or so from when you boot it to actually start moving which can be a problem when trying to join a busy roundabout.
Day 3 and I was in a 16 plate LF 18t Auto which handled better fully loaded than the manual 18 tonner did empty ! Barely any nose dive braking for a roundabout with a 9 tonne load, very different to the day before and also much more controlled through the bends.
Day 6■■? in a CF, didn’t like the mirrors as much but it sounded good - fair bit more powerful methinks!
Week 10
Back at Clarks, told I’m down to be a driver’s mate, I refuse, so sent home. If I’d had a bit more notice, might have reached a different decision, but I want to get driving experience not passenger experience (I accept you can probably learn a thing or two as a passenger) i’m also not that keen on being at the mercy of some unknown who for all I know is hungover, sleep deprived and has an attitude problem…
I phone the agency, they phone clarks and i’m back there for two more days - driving - then that’s it (probably for good now !)
Friday, do a day of multidrop palletwork with a MAN 26 tonne curtainsider (auto), which felt huge after the LFs / was low on fuel leaving the depot and 2 miles later (round about the time I came to the first long descent) informed me it had a brake fault .
Started at 8.00am finished at 18.30 and WOW felt a real achievement to not hit anything, get lost, run out of fuel and to get MOST of the drops done. Hardest days work I’ve done to date driving. Made me realise how easy Clarks was in comparison (where you always start with a full tank of fuel filled on site / you are doing established routes your driver’s mate knows inside out and within a minute of pulling up on a drop he’s already got the curtain back and the first barrel off !
With this gig, it’ s mostly all down to you, about half of the pallets were taken off the side with a forklift, the other half you are manhandling them onto the tail lift with a pallet truck. The depot had told me where to fill up (was relieved to find it) half of the drops were to private addresses in rural villages, amazing the narrow roads you can squeeze a truck that big down and still find room to turn around when needed 
Week 11
did a day in a 66 plate Iveco Eurocargo curtainsider, nice to have a shiny new truck but felt a bit basic compared to the DAFs and the MAN. Easy job though, just drive 50 miles get unloaded by forklift, drive 70 miles, reverse onto a bay, get loaded, drive 40 miles back to depot.
did a day delivering roof trusses in a MAN 7.5t (10 metres long) - 3 drops. No-one at the 2nd drop, unloaded them myself (25kg each) a bit awkward at 20 or so feet long and with a car to squeeze them past ! Last drop was a remote farm, trying to turn round on a single track road maybe 6 inches off a stone wall at the front, the (small compared to a Class 2 vehicle) front tyres sink into the grass verge, the vehicle lurches forward and I smack the front bumper on the wall
Had to give up on that manouevre in the end, reversed it half a mile back to a T junction instead.
Friday was more mutidrop pallet work - same company as before but this time in a 56 plate Renault 7.5 tonner with the worlds sloppiest manual gearchange and a chassis that felt a bit all - over the road, i’m thinking the wheel alignment must have been out. On the plus side, most of the drops were in my hometown /and well it aint a 26 tonner, so a much easier day than the previous friday. Last drop of the day I took bit too literally, erm, dropped a bulk bag of soil straight off the back of the tail-lift 
I think I had the pallet truck pumped up too high, best to have it JUST at the point of moving with anything heavy. The two gardeners I was delivering to were completely unconcerned - they were going to have to shovel it into their wheelbarrow anyway - LOL !
Week 12
A week of delivering steel in 4 year old Merc 18 tonners (one with a HIAB, one without) apart from the part when I stumbled on the bed of the truck and could have fallen off the side far and away my best week yet - loved every moment (well apart from the moment i’ve just described obviously).
Nice trucks to drive, loved the control afforded by the slick 6 speed manual box and loved the extra control you get with the engine brake (once I’d discovered where it was, which took untill the wednesday ). The one with the HIAB I found a bit nicer to drive, I think the extra two tonnes at the front made the front of the truck feel a bit more planted on the road.
What made it such a great week ?
Well the steel delivery aspect was interesting (and i think I’ve already decided I prefer flatbeds to curtainsiders As i like the feeling of being up on the back in the open air while adjusting your straps etc.) but there’s no guarantee that delivering steel around london in january would be as good. I was driving in a week of great weather through national park quality scenery on largely deserted rural roads delivering to farms and the like - discovering tucked away places in stunning locations and revelling in controlling an 18 tonne truck on roads that don’t seem quite built for it.
week 13
Took a break this week - that’s how I’ve found the time and energy to write this.
)
