I am hoping to pass my class 2 very soon and then go on to do my class 1.
Before i take up driving full time i am hoping to do it part time at the weekend.
Does any one know whether or not it is easy to find weekend work and what sort of pay i could expect for both class 1 and class 2 at the week ends (i expect work would be through agencies)
Any replies would be very much appreciated
It is possible to get work in this way, but from my experience and that of others on here not particuarly easy for a new starter. Persistance with the agencies is the key, go and see a load of them, call them up if you don’t hear anything and basically remind them of who you are.
If you do get work, turn up a bit early, be presentable and don’t flap. Take your time, think about what you are doing and try to get the work done without incident. Don’t spin the client a load of bull. Hopefully you will get a good report, or at least not bad one and the agency will have confidence in you.
It might take a while to get the first opportunity but sooner or later someone will need a driver, and may be prepared to accept a newbie to get them out of trouble.
Best of luck
Thanks very much for the reply 8wheels i appreciate it. if i had read a bit further down the page i would have seen there is a few topics on this subject.
Me and my inpatience eh?!?!
I will persavere though, i love lorries too much not to. A few months from now i wll be trucking away in A Topline Scania!!!
Thanks again 8wheels.
Woody
I pretty much agree with what has been said. It’s difficult to get that first job, but eventually if you keep asking you’ll be in the right place at the right time. I also think it’s worth going direct to haulage companies, loads of smaller one never use agencies, but do have a few drivers they can call to cover for absence or the odd w/e load.
I’d be honest about lack of experience, then hopefully you’ll get loads of advice before you take the truck up the road and you look better when you’ve done a good job. 
Woody, if you’re not sure about anything don’t be afraid to ask mate. Just collar another driver and tell him you need some help as you’re newly passed. I promise you 99.9% of drivers are glad to help. The other 0.01% is a ■■■■!
For me, I went into a local, non-franchise/chain agency which specialises in drivers (among other things). I told them that I’d just passed, and that it’d be nice if they gave me some nice easy work to start with. Also, I said that I had an office job that I wasn’t going to give up, and that I might not always be available on weekends either (since I wanted to maintain some kind of social life…)
So, basically, I was honest with them, told them the exact situation, and said that if they were interested, I’d like to join up, but if they wanted someone who would be available all the time, then I wasn’t it.
Well, they took me on. About 3 months later I got my first job which was in a 7.5t with 16 drops around “Birmingham” (according to the TM, “Birmingham” also includes Worcester, Telford, Kidderminster, etc…) and it was a nightmare. It also took a long time because I never bothered hassling them to ask for work; eventually I phoned them up and asked what was available that weekend.
Eventually I got into some vaguely regular rigid work (the pre-Christmas rush), and then got together enough money to go for my C+E. Now I’m probably turning away work more frequently than not having work available.
Basically, if you get your head down, do the job to the best of your ability, and (most importantly) actually turn up reliably, on time, then you’ll build up a good reputation with the agency and they’ll know that if they put you on a job, you’ll get it done, and they won’t get grief from the client calling at stupid o’clock asking why their driver hasn’t turned up. Pretty much every time I go into a client’s transport office, someone is busy on the phone calling up an agency to ask why the driver isn’t there, when they should have turned up half an hour ago.
Oh, and be prepared to get some nasty stuff to start with. Frozen food catering deliveries are an absolute [zb], and I still get them sometimes, but just get on with the job, and eventually things will start to pick up.
Things should become a lot easier 2 years after you pass your test, as suddenly you’ll be able to drive for a lot more of the larger transport operators.
Something I forgot:
Once you’ve got registered with an agency, then if you’re looking for weekend work, call them up on Friday, sometime around 10-11am, and ask them if they’ve got any work for that weekend, as you’re available. That’s when they start sorting out the weekend bookings (or at least mine do), so if you “gently remind” them of your existence and availability, then you tend to be a lot further up the list when they start allocating the jobs to drivers. 
I’d second that - the call on Friday is Important because if you don’t do it a lot of other drivers who are chasing will get the work. Also sign up with a few agencies - and weed out the ones that never offer you anything !!
G
And early mondays…
Surprising the number of drivers who don’t turn up at the beginning of the week
Thaks to all that have replied (sorry about the delay, i haven’t had chance to come on for a while)
I will especially bare in mind the idea of phoning agencies on a Friday morning, sounds like a good idea that i should have thoought of my self.
Cheers again