Christmas Time Work/Gritters

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

just a quick one really.

do you find that you get a lot more work/or a lot more work is available near to Christmas, especially on agency?

I hope to be through all of my training by the end of Sept start of Oct and was hoping that it would be a bit easier to get work due to the season.

As the ink on my license will be barely dry i understand it can be hard to find work, so do you think i stand a better opportunity of work or do you have any advice for getting work at this time of year?

Also during winter times i see a lot of gritters out on the road, im sure this is just casual work but would there be anyway of registering for this or anything like that?

Advice appreciated.

cheers

Kev

2

Hi,

can’t really give any info regarding agency work, but being in the world of Motorway work, I can let you know the score with the gritters…

Highways Agency maintenance contractors who are the ones who operate the gritters will have a rota of their own people who get pulled off of their normal duties to go out on gritting runs when required. When it snows and things get really busy, other qualified people within the company will be assigned gritting duties to support the regular drivers, so chances of getting work in that area would be quite slim.

I believe I’ve heard of local council contractors using qualified agency drivers in extreme circumstances in the past, but I think they also try to keep things ‘in-house’ as much as possible.

If it’s something you want to try and get in to, you’ll need a City and Guilds unit 6159 qualification:

http://www.cityandguilds.com/Courses-and-Qualifications/construction/construction/6159-winter-service-operations

3

i used to do this along side my normal job for around 18 years , i worked for a subbie to the local council he used to supply drivers
and also drivers and gritters
i had the same run for around 6 years before i finished
money was good , but i packed in due to getting to old to burn the candle both ends especially when we have snow

you could try people like these gritit.com/

4

Cheers for the replys!

I didnt even think that they would pull drivers from other areas! DUH! lol

In regards to Temp Christmas work then do you find there is more work at that time of year, as in more jobs going not more hours available.

Just hoping i can catch the rush really, if there is on in the industry, more for experience in honesty.

5

drummerkev:
Cheers for the replys!

I didnt even think that they would pull drivers from other areas! DUH! lol

In regards to Temp Christmas work then do you find there is more work at that time of year, as in more jobs going not more hours available.

Just hoping i can catch the rush really, if there is on in the industry, more for experience in honesty.

Can’t talk about Highways Agency or gritters, but it looks like BravoGolfCharlie has supplied everything you’ll ever need.

as far as extra work’s involved before Christmas, the parcel companies always need extra drivers, so I’d be checking DPD, DHL, UPS et al, anytime now!

6

My first driving job was with 3663 that was a temp Xmas job. End of sept till start of jan.

It wasn’t a very nice job to be honest, some people enjoyed it but the vast minority of the drivers there just put up with it because it’s a job

Good luck

7

Cheers for that all seems pretty fair advice.

Will start checking the parcel company etc and seeing what the score is!

8

Our council you have to have your name put on the rota and they call you in, there’s also a set wage for signing on but not enough to live off.

9

Slightly off topic but about 3 weeks ago I was going along the A605 towards Peterboro and a gritter was coming in the opposite direction actually gritting the road :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

WTF!! it was a fine day albeit slightly cloudy,I’ve seen some crap going on in this country on the road networks but gritting the roads in the middle of August is a bit much!!

10

Thetaff:
Slightly off topic but about 3 weeks ago I was going along the A605 towards Peterboro and a gritter was coming in the opposite direction actually gritting the road :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

WTF!! it was a fine day albeit slightly cloudy,I’ve seen some crap going on in this country on the road networks but gritting the roads in the middle of August is a bit much!!

testing / training more than likely
we went out with the ploughs on too :laughing:

11

d4c24a:

Thetaff:
Slightly off topic but about 3 weeks ago I was going along the A605 towards Peterboro and a gritter was coming in the opposite direction actually gritting the road :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

WTF!! it was a fine day albeit slightly cloudy,I’ve seen some crap going on in this country on the road networks but gritting the roads in the middle of August is a bit much!!

testing / training more than likely
we went out with the ploughs on too :laughing:

Thanks for clearing that one up,I thought it was a bit weird. :wink: