Passed Class 2 on 8th December & signed up to several of the local agencies (Swindon, Wilts) All saying same thing…“will have to start you on vans & maybe 7.5t as you have no experience” Then suddenly get a call. Council need a driver for one day.
So, I’m off to start the shift tomorrow at 7 with no idea what I’m gonna be driving (some sort of bin/kerbside recyler I’m sure)
First job will probably be my first time in an auto, in cramped streets with parked cars everywhere!!!
OMG!!!
Well done nezza 1st job eh!!, first rung of the ladder - now there’s only one way to go & thats up 
dont forget to take your kit with you (high vis, gloves, map,( just in case) etc, etc) 
& your charged mobile phone with your agency number (just in case), enquire at the end of the day if they need you again,(won’t hurt to remind them that you are available!!!) Good luck & enjoy 
Just take your time as a newbie. Rushing will create mistakes!
Thanks for the advise, good tips there!
I now this is such a newbie question, but I just thought… I’m expecting to be driving round town doing stop/start driving (either collecting weelie bins or recycling boxes) I assume the 45min after 4.5hr break applies the same as if I was drving on “the open road”?
Just want to be sure of where I stand in case they try to hoodwink me
Congrats on the job!!
Remember to enjoy it, its experience at the end of it 
You going to do a diary of your first day?? Or just going to leave us guessing 
Good luck for tomorrow
Good luck mate, pleased for you, enjoy it, thats going to get you some good experience 
If i remember rightly its exempt re breaks as no tacho required
Cool, just UK regs then. That’ll be easy enough, it’s only a 6hr shift anyway.
good luck
daleman:
If i remember rightly its exempt re breaks as no tacho required
You might want to confirm that. A refuse truck slid off our drive a few weeks back and became stuck against a dry stone wall for over an hour. I got chatting with the driver and he mentioned he put it on break while awaiting recovery. May be different in your case?
Congrats on your first job pal.
Remember this - IF IN DOUBT, GET OUT. Even if you are slightly unsure whats behind you, get out and check. Costs nothing but a little time.
Good luck and give us an update.
Looks like you won’t read the above til you get back. You start in 16 minutes!
Funnily enough i got a call from my agency last night , do i fancy being a drivers mate. /loader on a bin wagon . yea ill give it a go im said 
5am start 
till finish , so wake at 4am twenty min drive to the depot . Meet my driver for the day (seems a decent guy even at 5am )
Turns out were collecting card board with a bin wagon type thing ,(MAN auto box) around the town here i live , really enjoyed it and gave me a good insight ,to the driving , peoples attitude to trucks etc we did 160 collections and finished at 4.30 pm . so 11 1/2 hours in all
OH And to answer the question yea tacho is required , digital in this instance , !
Hope you had as a good day out as ive had
cheers mike
Well, I got back with crew & truck in one piece and not made the headlines on the local news so I’d say that was a success
Was a little nervous, but not as much as I thought I’d be. The truck was a 7yr old Dennis Eagle Elite 4x2 chassis with a Maclift kerbsider mounted and an Alisson auto box that was on hire to the council. Found it very easy to drive & wasn’t too daunted by the size (I trained in a 13.5t DAF LF with quite a short whealbase - minimum to qual for test I think)
Made a screaming newbie mistake at the start though. The motor had been running for at least 20 mins before I manouvered around emptying the various compartments when suddenly, it wouldn’t go! I thought something had happened to the gearbox, warning lights & alarms everywhere. Mechanic came over to have a look, revved the nuts off it for 2 minutes and said it was just the bloody air pressure! Oops 
Anyway, after my blushes faded, we were off. The crew took me around a couple of the new residential areas on the edge of Swindon, so it was all narrow winding roads & cul-de-sacs!!! Why can’t builders build new housing estates with straight roads anymore■■?
The agency told me they just needed a driver, but they lied…I had to help the crew load the truck too 
So I spent all day jumping in and out of the cab, manouvering around parked (mostly posh) cars, backing out of cul-de-sacs, and dodging tippers & JCB where they were still building
It was a real “Baptism of Fire” but I felt I did well considering it was my first “real” drive. Looking forward to the next job, wonder how long I’ll have to wait for that 
BTW, an analogue tacho was fitted, but not used. I just had to fill out a log book.
You got through your first day okay & all good experience You could always phone the agency & ask for more work rather than waiting for them to phone you 
Ash carts can be either analogue, digi or log book.
Nezza:
First job will probably be my first time in an auto, in cramped streets with parked cars everywhere!!!
OMG!!!
Haha, glad you’ve had a good day!
Nezza:
…The agency told me they just needed a driver, but they lied…I had to help the crew load the truck too
Did the TM or crew tell you to double up as a loader? Maybe it was company policy? I did the recycling bit (for a short while via agency) a couple of years ago and only if the crew were a man short or strapped would they ask for a hand. They usually got it though. Seeing as it was your first day, just take it on the chin and move on. If they ask you back and it happens all the time, just do what the RCT drivers did on the ambulance strike of the late 80s…lock the door, wind the window up and bury your face into that day’s copy of The Sun! 
The last day I was on the bins, was in fact my last…ever! Driving round one estate in the city waiting on 2 loaders emptying green boxes containing a cacophony of clear glass, coloured glass, tins and paper/cardboard. All had to be separated at the kerbside into 4 side compartments of the wagon. I drove 12km in 6 hours. 
There are less bone (personal opinion) jobs out there, these will come in time, just stick at it. At least you’ve been out, that’s the main thing.
Cheers bonnie lass, I will be ringing them & popping in as often as I can to keep reminding them I’m there…and keen!
nickb67, I’d do it again for the odd day here & there, but I’m not built to get in and out of a truck 150+ times in half a day!
TBF it was the crew (only 2 off them) that said I had to help load, & I felt it only right to help anyway as I knew I was going to be a lot slower getting through the round than normal, leaving them with a longer day than they should have had.
Next time though, I’ll check with the agency if I am expected to load or not. If not, then in the cab I stay!
Just hoping my next job will be delivery or haulage though as I’d like to a few more miles under my belt going forward (done enough reversing for this month!)
Cheers, Nez
Glad you enjoyed it - did a bit of this when first starting out - useful to ask depot manager if agency not clear - most crews said prefer to work on own as can be slowed down if you operate lifts etc - but did appreciate if hopped out once in a while at busy points on round - led to them putting a word in with boss and led to me having quite a few weeks of work when not a lot else available from agency. Didnt mind the work and as a new driver at the time really helped out my manovering and reversing. Did this for Onyx in manchester and their loaders were on fixed hours so job and jack and no overtime. My first experience of I-shift was with a 32 ton refuse lorry