I’ve resigned myself to working class 2 for the foreseeable future as Im having no luck at all finding a class 1 role willing to take someone on with no experience. On the plus side at least I’m in work, and gaining some HGV experience, still plodding away applying for any class 1 role I might have a hope of getting.
But in the meantime are there any class 2 roles out there that arent awful multi-drop?I appreciate that pretty much the sole purpose of class 2 trucks is to do the final leg of delivery to customers homes/stores, but there must be roles out there that arent completely awful.
For the past 6 months or so I’ve doing refrigerated palletised/roll cage food delivery to corner shops & small catering venues, and its awful. I saw all the comments on this forum about how crap this kind of work is, but it was a foot in the door as the first place that offered me a job. Ive stuck it out long enough and want out. Stupid amount of drops being run ragged every day, trying to get a lorry far too big down ridiculous little streets to a corner shop in the middle of a housing estate, endless handballing, pallets falling over because the monkeys in the warehouse cant be bothered to stack and wrap them properly, forced to make deliveries that are outright dangerous and if you mention it just get told “everyone else does it”, expected to use your breaks to reload your vehicle, the list goes on.
Id prefer to do more driving than interacting with the load, less drops and more driving would be nice. Fork on/off would be nice too I think. Not that I’m afraid of putting in a days work, but I dont see the point in breaking my back trying to haul a 500kg cage up a pothole riddled slope and ending up crippled for a company who’d replace me in minutes if I dropped dead tomorrow.
At least now I figure I’ve got enough experience on my CV to look for a better class 2 job, but dont really know where to look or what roles to go for. Almost all the class 2 roles I see advertised are multidrop, HIAB, tipper, or cement mixer. No HIAB ticket or experience, though I do like the idea of having a crane to do all the work for me. Tipper and cement mixer I’ve heard nothing but horror stories about how awful they are too, plus they also all seem to want experience. Are there any other courses worth doing to open up more opportunities like HIAB or ADR? Any companies or roles worth applying for? Social hours that dont involve getting up at 3am every day would be nice too, but that does seem to be the nature of the beast with logistics and I appreciate that might be asking too much!
If you can find Class 2 work for a pallet network company that will mostly be forked off. The general rule is “If you can eat it or drink it, don’t deliver it”
If you’re near an Eddie Stobart depot (despite the mickey taking he gets), they often take on new class 1 drivers. Failing that, containers is a no messing job. If there’s a firm doing boxes local to you, try them. No harm in just rocking up with your licence unannounced and seeing what firms are offering.
If you’re near an Eddie Stobart depot (despite the mickey taking he gets), they often take on new class 1 drivers. Failing that, containers is a no messing job. If there’s a firm doing boxes local to you, try them. No harm in just rocking up with your licence unannounced and seeing what firms are offering.
Good luck.
Absolutely, I worked hard and paid a lot of money to get a class 1 entitlement, and Im not giving up on it, I just cant get a class 1 job Still applying for any and every class 1 role that doesnt specifically say “min 12 months experience” and some that do as well. If Im stuck in class 2 work til further notice, Id like the least aggro class 2 possible. Annoyingly I dont have a Stobart depot nearby, also signed up with every agency in the area and they all have no new pass roles available.
If you can find Class 2 work for a pallet network company that will mostly be forked off. The general rule is “If you can eat it or drink it, don’t deliver it”
Applied for TPN right before starting this topic, I’ve heard people moaning about them too but it cant be any worse than corner shops surely! Ideally something thats all industrial estates etc would be nice, I’ve had enough fannying around with a pallet truck bouncing it up and down kerbs and hoping it doesnt fall over. At least if the FLT drops it its not my problem (or so I’d like to hope!)
Go for tippers. Obviously you’ll have to learn how to powerslide out of every roundabout and how to drive it like you stole it, but with the exception of sometimes having to clean the back out it’s generally one drop with little or no load interaction.
Contact or look up your local jewsons. They tend to put people hrough there hiab course.
My mate did it few years back didn’t stay there long and as far as I’m aware they didn’t ask for any money back towards his training.
Plus side with hiab work is it’s set hours Mon to Fri not much handballing on and off.
Down side your expected to work every other Saturday morning. Plus be driving a huge truck around hosuing estates at times.
For Class 2 try skips and tipper firms ,you dont HAVE to drive like an eejit. I know that some drivers do. Have a go for Royal Mail and your local council.
Don’t think that there’s any rule that says artics are exempt from the type of crap work you describe.Or decent work being mutually exclusive with class 2.
One of the best jobs , or even the best job, I ever did was agency work driving a four wheeler curtain sider throughout Southern/South Western England all pallet work all forklifted and 3 drops per shift, more often 2, and maximum driving time.No surprise everyone wanted it and no one wanted the crap and found myself taken off it for ‘some’ reason after the client said they wanted me on it permanently.
Then back to the usual 7.5t and class 3 local work.
Bearing in mind there is a reason why agencies and clients are prepared to pay class 1 rates for crap work driving 7.5 tonners let alone 18 tonners.
Strange how SDU and co haven’t flamed you for daring to tell the weaponised ‘experience’ thing that infests the industry like it is.
Which can only get worse as the UK industry degenerates into the planned 1930’s style local distribution service contained in the plan for rail.
In which case there’s now as much if not more chance of finding the ‘right’ work in the non HGV sectors.
Always the ■■■■■■ victim ain’t ya? Perhaps it’s because people quickly realise that you’re a massive thundercrunt. I don’t for one second believe that anyone ever requested you back and I think that it’s more the passage of thirty odd years making you misremember this stuff.
After all after more than quarter of a century can easily turn “don’t ever send that ■■■■ back” into “yes, he’s the ultimate driver, can we please have him and only him?”
the maoster:
Always the [zb] victim ain’t ya? Perhaps it’s because people quickly realise that you’re a massive thundercrunt. I don’t for one second believe that anyone ever requested you back and I think that it’s more the passage of thirty odd years making you misremember this stuff.
After all after more than quarter of a century can easily turn “don’t ever send that [zb] back” into “yes, he’s the ultimate driver, can we please have him and only him?”
Can’t argue with that Moaster, but as a further explanation, he lacks the capacity to see what’s really happening around him.
With delusions of grandeur, he sees himself as the maven of all things.
In his world, “I suppose you’ll have to do, there’s no-one else here.” is interpreted as “How have we ever managed previously, without your expertise?”. Similarly, being angrily chased from a workplace, with an axe, is heard as “Sorry, your face doesn’t fit.”.
To the OP, it’s how we all started, gaining experience in crappy jobs. Like you we looked out for better employment and improved our lot, incrementally. Keep at it, don’t leave one job before you have another. Give each job your best and you’ll get a good reputation, easing the upward path. Remember, cream always floats to the top. Best wishes in in your quest.
Carryfast expected to start at the top, unproven and inexperienced and look at what a train wreck that was; a lifetime of poverty on benefits.
Take no heed of his bitter “advice”.
id lean into it ,at least you are busy . Cant think of anything worse than a job where you are cruising,sitting about on your tod . No soul to that is there
Try singing while you work,im mean real singing ,loud, not just humming ,Such as "we plough the fields and SCAAATTER " Essentially as you trundle the pallet truck.And keep it up not just 1 day . Iv found if i lean into work,overdoing the menial stuff its suprising the avenues that open up. Who wants a ■■■■ easy job anyhoo?
Try getting on Dust/Recycling. Class 2 odd bit of handball. mostly 6.00ish start. job and finish. Will see you through till something better comes along.
the maoster:
Always the [zb] victim ain’t ya? Perhaps it’s because people quickly realise that you’re a massive thundercrunt. I don’t for one second believe that anyone ever requested you back and I think that it’s more the passage of thirty odd years making you misremember this stuff.
After all after more than quarter of a century can easily turn “don’t ever send that [zb] back” into “yes, he’s the ultimate driver, can we please have him and only him?”
Unfortunately for your vicious bs no I haven’t misremembered it.
It was Manpower/Overdrive agency Kingston branch the job was working for Dr La Rue Parceline Croydon and it was driving a day cab Merc 16 tonner on bulk distance pallet work and it was me that walked away from them partly for that reason.But great for any naive fools who that taking no end of crap work is a sure fire way into something better ‘later’.
But no surprise that the winners in the face fits experience scam protest laughably too much.
I’ve been a class 2 driver for years, doing plant movements and hiab work.
Not easy work and plenty of graft but I’ve carried just about every type of construction plant, agricultural items, building materials, random things like bits of aircraft, phone boxes, Christmas trees.
Sometimes I get involved with installations using the crane, other times I’m working as a flatbed and get unloaded.
It’s a varied mix, that has paid me well.
I have had class 1 for 15 years and have used it occasionally to cover holiday and sickness doing Lowloader work. Offered it full time but rather stay with the rigid work.
Last couple of years I’ve added a drag to the rigid so technically a class 1 job, but in my eyes the job is the same.
the maoster:
Always the [zb] victim ain’t ya? Perhaps it’s because people quickly realise that you’re a massive thundercrunt. I don’t for one second believe that anyone ever requested you back and I think that it’s more the passage of thirty odd years making you misremember this stuff.
After all after more than quarter of a century can easily turn “don’t ever send that [zb] back” into “yes, he’s the ultimate driver, can we please have him and only him?”
Unfortunately for your vicious bs no I haven’t misremembered it.
It was Manpower/Overdrive agency Kingston branch the job was working for Dr La Rue Parceline Croydon and it was driving a day cab Merc 16 tonner on bulk distance pallet work and it was me that walked away from them partly for that reason.But great for any naive fools who that taking no end of crap work is a sure fire way into something better ‘later’.
But no surprise that the winners in the face fits experience scam protest laughably too much.
You’ve recently latched onto the phrase “protest laughably too much”, like a cracked record. Who do you feel is protesting?
Carryfast:
One of the best jobs , or even the best job, I ever did was agency work driving a four wheeler curtain sider throughout Southern/South Western England all pallet work all forklifted and 3 drops per shift, more often 2, and maximum driving time.No surprise everyone wanted it and no one wanted the crap and found myself taken off it for ‘some’ reason after the client said they wanted me on it permanently.
Translates as no-one else available so they had to use you, as soon as someone without an appalling attitude turned up they got the gig.
Carryfast:
Strange how SDU and co haven’t flamed you for daring to tell the weaponised ‘experience’ thing that infests the industry like it is.
Ah yes the old “face fits” conundrum, that only ever affected … well, you!
Carryfast:
Which can only get worse as the UK industry degenerates into the planned 1930’s style local distribution service contained in the plan for rail.
In which case there’s now as much if not more chance of finding the ‘right’ work in the non HGV sectors.
Still banging this drum because you could not land a job doing such work, while “everyone” else did. I work with guys now who drove trucks abroad back in the day and did not even want to! So how you failed so badly still baffles me.
Star down under.:
You’ve recently latched onto the phrase “protest laughably too much”, like a cracked record. Who do you feel is protesting?
It’s what people who fail at things do SDU, always look to pass the blame rather than accept that you yourself might be at fault. Virtually anyone who is successful or achieves anything in life no matter how big or small will have some degree of failure along the way. Those who fail to realise this (no pun intended) will probably never achieve their goal.
Star down under.:
You’ve recently latched onto the phrase “protest laughably too much”, like a cracked record. Who do you feel is protesting?
It’s what people who fail at things do SDU, always look to pass the blame rather than accept that you yourself might be at fault. Virtually anyone who is successful or achieves anything in life no matter how big or small will have some degree of failure along the way. Those who fail to realise this (no pun intended) will probably never achieve their goal.
Carryfast’s greatest achievement, so he wasn’t a complete failure.
tmcassett:
It’s what people who fail at things do SDU, always look to pass the blame rather than accept that you yourself might be at fault. Virtually anyone who is successful or achieves anything in life no matter how big or small will have some degree of failure along the way. Those who fail to realise this (no pun intended) will probably never achieve their goal.
Carryfast’s greatest achievement, so he wasn’t a complete failure.
Maybe we should all lay off him now as he has achieved.
Still applying for any and every class 1 role that doesnt specifically say “min 12 months experience” and some that do as well. If Im stuck in class 2 work til further notice, Id like the least aggro class 2 possible. Annoyingly I dont have a Stobart depot nearby, also signed up with every agency in the area and they all have no new pass roles available.
