First day Driving/Agency

[jaustin123]

Hi, I passed my class 1 license last week and thinking of considering driving for a agency whilst I still got my full time job (not driving related).

I am based in South Wales near Swansea.

Anyone remember their first day on agency and what to expect?

Also who are the best agencies to sign up with?

Many thanks

[driveress]

Hiya, congratulations on your pass. You need to search for the lovely and helpful Goff118. He’s basically doing what you want to and he lives in the same area as you. His experiences are well documented on the forum and you’ll be able to find out everything you need to know. Good luck!

[TruckDriverBen]

First day is alot of rock and roll! So exciting

Literally depending if its a big company they will make u do assessment etc if its a smaller firm literally hi my name is ... OK sign this download your digital card and his the key and manifest off you go!

Make sure you watch video about strapping etc

[ROG]

If full time job is mon to fri then you are limited to driving one day every other weekend

[jaustin123]

Hiya, congratulations on your pass. You need to search for the lovely and helpful Goff118. He’s basically doing what you want to and he lives in the same area as you. His experiences are well documented on the forum and you’ll be able to find out everything you need to know. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply.

Much appreciated

[chriswvtr]

If full time job is mon to fri then you are limited to driving one day every other weekend

Can I ask what directive that he would be breaking as I plan to do similar?

[Goff118]

If full time job is mon to fri then you are limited to driving one day every other weekend

Can I ask what directive that he would be breaking as I plan to do similar?

EU rules, see https://www.gov.uk/drivers-hours/eu-rules and the bit on breaks.

an unbroken rest period of 45 hours every week - you can reduce this to 24 hours every other week

Hope this helps.

[ROG]

If full time job is mon to fri then you are limited to driving one day every other weekend

Can I ask what directive that he would be breaking as I plan to do similar?

The law states that a weekly rest must be taken and as stated in last post that must be at least an unbroken rest of 45 one week and 24 the next
The other non driving work cannot be used as rest for tacho regs

[chriswvtr]

If full time job is mon to fri then you are limited to driving one day every other weekend

Can I ask what directive that he would be breaking as I plan to do similar?

The law states that a weekly rest must be taken and as stated in last post that must be at least an unbroken rest of 45 one week and 24 the next
The other non driving work cannot be used as rest for tacho regs

Ok, thanks for that, I’d assumed that those rules were only for if you’re driving for all that period.

[Noremac]

It is possible to work 6 days constant.

Say you work 9am to 5pm during the week. You could do a Saturday every week if you started at 4am and finished at 11am. Effectively you are getting the rest of Saturday off (13 hours), all of Sunday (24 hours) and then the 9 hours until 9am Monday morning. Grand total of 46 hours rest (only 45 required).

The problem may be that transport is unpredictable so a guaranteed finish time is rare. A fruit and veg run or a milk run are the types of jobs I can think of that may suit.

[chriswvtr]

The agency I’ve been using is trying to get me to work on Saturday even though I worked last Saturday and he knows I work Mon-Fri, he seems to think it’s ok as my full time job is not just driving?

[driveress]

The other non driving work cannot be used as rest for tacho regs

The agency should know this. What are you going to be driving? If you are driving a 3.5t van or smaller (which isn’t subject to tacho regs, only WTD) you might be alright.

[stu675]

The agency I’ve been using is trying to get me to work on Saturday even though I worked last Saturday and he knows I work Mon-Fri, he seems to think it’s ok as my full time job is not just driving?

I believe you could work 2 Saturdays in a row if you have a full weekend off either side (w/e 1 and 4 off, work 2 and 3). If that helps you, look into it, and ask @ROG to explain it better.

[ROG]

The other non driving work cannot be used as rest for tacho regs

The agency should know this. What are you going to be driving? If you are driving a 3.5t van or smaller (which isn’t subject to tacho regs, only WTD) you might be alright.

Even that would be illegal as it cannot count as rest for tacho regs

[driveress]

I knew you’d know ROG

Just an idea, but maybe this (the rules, regs and reasons) should go in the newbies thread as weekend driving while working other jobs seems to come up a fair bit.

[chriswvtr]

The other non driving work cannot be used as rest for tacho regs

The agency should know this. What are you going to be driving? If you are driving a 3.5t van or smaller (which isn’t subject to tacho regs, only WTD) you might be alright.

He didn’t say for this weekend however I was driving a 3.5 ton last weekend for Dunelm, gave me no experience and I was really annoyed about it as I was out 14 hours and missed the cup final (I’m a Liverpool fan)