Having monitored this category of the board, as a newbie I was somewhat disheartened by some of the negative experiences of many guys trying to get driving work.
However, I managed to find what I can only describe as a truly fantastic agency. They are focused mainly on HGV/LGV work, but do have a small core of van/mate/7.5t work too.
They have provided me with a steady stream of non LGV/HGV work over the last 6 weeks, while I got my class 2 theory/hazard perception out of the way. In this short time with them, I was lucky enough to build some relationships with a couple of their clients who started to ask for me back by name.
With my theory out of the way, and being so happy with the feedback from their clients and my reliability etc, the agency has offered to pay for my class 2 driver training & test in full in advance, and will claw back 50% from my wages over the coming weeks. The deal is that I will stay with the agency for 12 months, or pay back the remaining 50% if I leave within 12 months. I have to say that with money being tight, this has been an absolute godsend for me, and just goes to show that if you work hard and represent the agency in a good light, there are still some agencies out there who will value a good driver.
I’m not going to name the agency, as I would hate to put them in the position that they are swamped with hard luck stories and demands for paid courses, and they said they don’t do it for everyone, but I wanted to redress the balance and demonstrate that the good agencies DO exist, so do shop around guys!
As for me, I start my driver training next Thursday, with my test the following Wednesday. The agency are already lining up my first class 2 placement… not much pressure then!!!
Cheers
Rancid