All driving counts wether on/off road.
discoman:
Wheelnut,You say they did that route with 50 to 60 collectios a day.
Was you stopped at one place for over an hour or one box etc. that can make all a difference to road conditions.
Personally I would of called up and sai going to be out of time cant do the drops. Also you went over 15hrs you were breaking the law by filling up the motor for him you should of told him you know the tacho laws not trying to be picky but they took the mickey out of you being agency.
But illegal working is a no no and its your licence I hope you took the Digi card or tacho out when doing it as Vosa will spot it if they check.
Ignore Malcolm. He couldn’t hack more than a couple of weeks at DHL doing the easiest driving job in the world before quitting (according to my insiders there 
) so he’s certainly not one to judge 
. And @ Malc, it’s alright you banging on about how you did 3000 deliveries and 5000 collections in 8 hours on the same route, but back in the days when you were cutting your teeth a hold-up on a motorway consisted of a dozen vehicles, tops, plus there were no limiters in those days either so it’s not surprising. I’d like to see you do the same job today in the same amount of time. In fact I would wager a very large amount of money that you would fail dismally .
I think you should give the kid a break. I’ve done those sort of runs myself when I was cutting my teeth and remember what it was like. To Yambol, best advice I can give you is to ditch the agency and sign up with others. You WILL find ones with decent work, believe me. And when they ask how much experience you’ve got, always give them the total time since you passed your test regardless of whether you’ve only done a few days driving in a 6/12 month period etc.
ETA: signing up with other agencies NOW is the best time to do it as we’re in the run up to Christmas. Get as much work in as you can NOW as your phone will stop ringing for 3-4 months after Christmas unless it’s all the dog end work that they can’t get anyone else to do. 
Rob K:
Ignore Malcolm. He couldn’t hack more than a couple of weeks at DHL doing the easiest driving job in the world before quitting (according to my insiders there
Rob it was 6 months and the job was a piece of ■■■■, however loading the truck without a forklift and none of your insiders willing to help, some sat in the canteen, others would come and help, the problem was the timing of the trailers and the chance of getting on a bay then having to pester someone with a forklift licence.
However the lack of a forklift licence didn’t matter on a weekend when I was alone & had to load myself for Heathrow.
The depot manager was a spineless zb who had to bring HR up from Heathrow to finish me.
They did pay me for an extra 6 months though so it wasn’t all bad.
Sorry to kinda hi jack but I got offered 7.5 tonne DHL from an agency the other day, this is an agency who I have only worked for a few times as they are as Rob K said only offering me dog end stuff.
I couldn’t do it as I work on another agency contract that keeps me more or less fully occupied, but wondered what working for DHL would be like and I also have class 1 so it could have lead onto other work for DHL.
ah DHL I can Imagine is a bit like Nightfreight pmsl did a night for them drove from Crooklands in Milnthorpe to Rochdale 1 hr 15 mins then spent all bloody night unloading and sorting parcels in to area.s post codes ect (was promised help but it never came ) then loaded truck up to the roof again with the return load 
drove back to Crooklands job done and off home …i now have a little black book with agency work listed and stars at the side of the various Jobs ive done the Jobs rang from minus 5 up to plus 5 and JJB or Gmc is a minus – 5 star pmsl
Even the Tarac tipper truck job was only a minus --2 star job But no Doubt about it some new guy on the agents books will fall for the same job with unrealistic routes unless the agent gets on the Phone to them and tells them streight that he is finding it hard to get drivers to do their bad runs … (and i cant see that can you ) .
Regards Roy
Wheel Nut:
Rob K:
Ignore Malcolm. He couldn’t hack more than a couple of weeks at DHL doing the easiest driving job in the world before quitting (according to my insiders thereRob it was 6 months and the job was a piece of ■■■■, however loading the truck without a forklift and none of your insiders willing to help, some sat in the canteen, others would come and help, the problem was the timing of the trailers and the chance of getting on a bay then having to pester someone with a forklift licence.
However the lack of a forklift licence didn’t matter on a weekend when I was alone & had to load myself for Heathrow.
The depot manager was a spineless zb who had to bring HR up from Heathrow to finish me.
They did pay me for an extra 6 months though so it wasn’t all bad.
Sorry but I just couldn’t let facts get in the way of a good story. 
YAMBOL57:
ah DHL I can Imagine is a bit like Nightfreight pmsl did a night for them drove from Crooklands in Milnthorpe to Rochdale 1 hr 15 mins then spent all bloody night unloading and sorting parcels in to area.s post codes ect (was promised help but it never came ) then loaded truck up to the roof again with the return load
Even the Tarac tipper truck job was only a minus --2 star job But no Doubt about it some new guy on the agents books will fall for the same job with unrealistic routes unless the agent gets on the Phone to them and tells them streight that he is finding it hard to get drivers to do their bad runs … (and i cant see that can you ) .
Regards Roy
I’ve been quite lucky that I’ve been on the same thing getting 4/5 days per week, don’t get me wrong it’s not the best job in the world but I know where I stand. I’m double manned and work with about 8 different company drivers on various runs some longer distance than others the longest being 17 hrs the shortest and least likely 5hrs (paid 8hrs).
I have learned many things from working with these different drivers the different natures and they way they work, what they will and will not accept from management. I don’t get screwed over workwise I do the same as the guys except they get £9.75 PH, I get a crappy £7.00PH.
I have had other odd agency jobs some of which if I was daft enough would lead to headless chicken syndrome. I have learned quickly from the guys I work with, if your doing the headless chicken act your doing it WRONG. However as a rookie and not knowing this would leave me to believe the “problem” lay with me.
It’s also easy to get paranoid and think you won’t get any work if you refuse these jobs, because it was so damned hard to get a start in the first place.
A list of who “clients” you won’t work with is a good idea, but you must always try a new offer once even if you have heard third hand about it being crap. Once you have done a job you are in a position to say why you will not do it again. The client will try to pin the problem on you but I think the agency know by the amount of refusals from drivers just who is to blame.
Even the worst jobs are good experience even for 1 day, at least you get to know good from bad and your own limitations. Thats why were with agencies EXPERIENCE thats why I accept £7.00 ph even though I used to average £12.00 to £15.00 in my last job. I see it like serving my apprenticeship even though I’m a youthful 44 years old.
@ redlorry, you should go direct to the client as a ltd co. and charge them min £10/hr. Agency will charging at least £12/hr looking at how much their own drivers are on.
Rob K:
@ redlorry, you should go direct to the client as a ltd co. and charge them min £10/hr. Agency will charging at least £12/hr looking at how much their own drivers are on.
Hi Rob, I was self employed for 10 years and the ressions kicked it into the long grass. I need the security of PAYE. The company I work for are national and have a contract going with D/Hire, they would not use me on that basis.
I enjoy working there, the guys I work with are sound and I get to learn about past jobs etc and their experiences. This is a class 2 job and some drivers have as they say “licences that bend in the middle” and some don’t. The guys who do, cover holidays etc for the day trunk guys, but the class 2 pays better if you do the odd “extra”.
Most of the drivers have said they find the trunks boring after a few weeks but it ok for a change now and then. Personally I got into this to get a long easy boring class I trunk. Drops on this job are mostly city to city although we cover a Glasgow and Edinburgh with closer drops although these are the shortest shifts maybe 5-8 drops.
What I would and do hate and knew it before I even started driving a truck, would be same city “chicken runs”.
Rob K:
Rob, if anyone tells you they drove for DHL at East Midlands hub, ignore them, they were HGV warehousemen.
One particular job meant you had to go in and empty the trucks for the airfreight, you then helped load all the other trucks or sort parcels before getting a trailer on the bay around 4.30am, then you drove to Sheffield, unloaded and parked up at the Stockyard. There were several of these type of runs, one went to Stoke iirc, another to Telford.
Paul & Gogzy probably had the hardest run as they had to swap a caravan drag at Northampton before going on to Ipswich to sleep.
The longest run was probably Exeter which was done without needing a break anyway, when you were empty, you went to bed and slept through the day, when you got back to the depot you went home
It was the easiest driving job in the world, but I doubt you would want it either. But ■■■■ will pull you further than dynamite will blow you
Redrorry:
Rob K:
@ redlorry, you should go direct to the client as a ltd co. and charge them min £10/hr. Agency will charging at least £12/hr looking at how much their own drivers are on.Hi Rob, I was self employed for 10 years and the ressions kicked it into the long grass. I need the security of PAYE. The company I work for are national and have a contract going with D/Hire, they would not use me on that basis.
I enjoy working there, the guys I work with are sound and I get to learn about past jobs etc and their experiences. This is a class 2 job and some drivers have as they say “licences that bend in the middle” and some don’t. The guys who do, cover holidays etc for the day trunk guys, but the class 2 pays better if you do the odd “extra”.
Most of the drivers have said they find the trunks boring after a few weeks but it ok for a change now and then. Personally I got into this to get a long easy boring class I trunk. Drops on this job are mostly city to city although we cover a Glasgow and Edinburgh with closer drops although these are the shortest shifts maybe 5-8 drops.
What I would and do hate and knew it before I even started driving a truck, would be same city “chicken runs”.
Please explain ‘the security of PAYE’, especially to those drivers that have been made redundant in the last twelve months!!! 
Truckulent:
Redrorry:
Rob K:
@ redlorry, you should go direct to the client as a ltd co. and charge them min £10/hr. Agency will charging at least £12/hr looking at how much their own drivers are on.Hi Rob, I was self employed for 10 years and the ressions kicked it into the long grass. I need the security of PAYE. The company I work for are national and have a contract going with D/Hire, they would not use me on that basis.
I enjoy working there, the guys I work with are sound and I get to learn about past jobs etc and their experiences. This is a class 2 job and some drivers have as they say “licences that bend in the middle” and some don’t. The guys who do, cover holidays etc for the day trunk guys, but the class 2 pays better if you do the odd “extra”.
Most of the drivers have said they find the trunks boring after a few weeks but it ok for a change now and then. Personally I got into this to get a long easy boring class I trunk. Drops on this job are mostly city to city although we cover a Glasgow and Edinburgh with closer drops although these are the shortest shifts maybe 5-8 drops.
What I would and do hate and knew it before I even started driving a truck, would be same city “chicken runs”.
Please explain ‘the security of PAYE’, especially to those drivers that have been made redundant in the last twelve months!!!
No sorry your right, I’ll rephrase that :- free spirit of the agency blown on the winds of life, being paid with fiat that big brother has already “BLESSED”.