Santa:
As has been said many times on here - Turn up in clean tidy clothes. Jeans are OK so long as they are clean. As you say, a suit is OTT.
The coveing letter is something you need to write for each employer. It doesn’t need to be a long letter; a couple of paragraphs at most. Something along the lines of:
Dear Mr Smith (phone the reception and ask for the TM’s name. Spell it right too)
As you can see from the attached CV, I am a Class C+E Driver with 14 years experience driving all kinds of vehicles. I have recently been made redundant and I am writing to you in the hope that you may have a vacancy, now or in the near future.
You can see that I do not live very far from your depot and I have a car so early starts and late finishes will not be a problem. I understand that you are part of a pallet network (Name it) and I am willing to do multi drop or trunking. I have a good knowledge of the area and my own sat nav if I need it.
If you have no current vacancies I would appreciate it if you could put my CV on file so that should anything come up in future you would be able to contact me.
Thats just to give you an idea. If you know anyone who works there then don’t hesitate to mention it. If you have any extra skills like an FLT or Hiab licence then say so.
Thanks santa , it gives me a much better idea of whats required in a covering letter, I’ ll write it out rough and copy it onto a better quality paper after , cheers santa much appreciated 
Your clothes should be defined by the job you are going for. Office job, smart but not a suit. Driving job, work clothes but clean and tidy ie a yellow hiviz vest is meant to be yellow. Of course the sensible person (me) chooses black clothes so the grease that never comes off doesn’t show. A bit of polish on the boots goes a long way too. They do get noticed! It is basic presentation so look around then raise your standards above the average truck driver 
scanny77:
Your clothes should be defined by the job you are going for. Office job, smart but not a suit. Driving job, work clothes but clean and tidy ie a yellow hiviz vest is meant to be yellow. Of course the sensible person (me) chooses black clothes so the grease that never comes off doesn’t show. A bit of polish on the boots goes a long way too. They do get noticed! It is basic presentation so look around then raise your standards above the average truck driver
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makes good sense, my kit is pretty presentable, I’ll need to throw hi vis back in the washer though they don’t stay clean for long. Thanks scanny
i have just had to look at my usual work pattern and amend it to maximise profits. saturday night is always a no-go so that is my night off but friday and sunday are always busy. i am now hoping to negotiate the middlesbrough run on those nights and hopefully get a couple of decent shifts on monday and thursday. that would reach my target of 50 hours over 4 shifts one week plus an extra day the following week for extra pocket money. backshifts are usually 10 hours+ anyway so i should easily get 100 hours over 9 shifts per fortnight. sometimes you have to look at what you are aiming for and adapt to get it. if its possible of course. other responsibilities can get in the way which is why i dont have any 
