Got a break at last

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Ive been coming and viewing the posts for a while now and thought I would share my experience for the benefit of those discouraged by a lack of response in their efforts to find work…

I passed my Class 2 Last October and my Class one in November, for good measure I took the ADR test too. Expecting to sail straight into the arms of eager employers ready to part with serious bucks for such tremendous and hard to find skill I started to apply for positions. After several applications met with stoney silence or the 2 year experience reply, it started to dawn on me that breaking into the field of lorry driving wasnt going to be as straightforward as I had anticipated. Several months on and nothing to show other than a bit of pre christmas multidrop in a small van I realised that the task was nigh on impossible. I put hundreds of applications in and nada…

Then one night I got a break, I was watching news at ten and the phone rang. It was some agency guy who I had left my details on an answermachine several days before and subsequently forgotten. Could I do some class 2 work in the morning at 6am? I accepted happily and before I knew it had several days under my belt. The pay was £7.30 hour, not much but can’t complain at this stage, start at 6, finish by 2, not a bad job really, happy days!

After a few days he asked me if I would be interested in doing a simple class 1 run, just a short run, couple of hours he said. Well I would be a fool to turn that down so of course I agreed. I turned up as agreed and tried not to show that I was a rookie . My lorry was a 2011 automatic MAN with a refrigerated trailer. My manifest was to run it up to a place called Magna Park which I had never heard of. I tried to stay calm but could feel the twinges of panic starting to rise slowly, I hadnt driven anything like this since my test and that seemed a long time ago.

To cut a long story short I did the run, the couple of hours turned out to be a 15 hour shift and I was seriously tired toward the end of it. I managed to get through the nightmare of trying to understand the procedures of paperwork, delivery protocols, changing trailers and my biggest fear - reversing, easy stuff I can handle, but 90 degree alley parking freaks me out. And one particularly nasty Morrisons store had this tiny courtyard about 70ft square which took me about 20 minutes to turn aound in whilst the impatient unloading guy tutted and drummed.

Since that I have had 3 days out with the same company and am slowly picking up the ropes. the wage is appalling at £7.30 an hour regardless of whether its night or day or bank holiday. but I console myself with the thought that 6 months back I was paying someone £1000 a week to let me use his lorry, now someone is paying me for the same privelege. Can I assume that with more experience will come better wages or is this par for the course?

I have some concerns though and was hoping for some advice. One is that the agency guy has never asked me to see my licence or how long I have had it. I have never had any kind of contract or paperwork of any nature. Neither has any of the companies he sends me to. Could there be any repurcusions on me if I had an accident or something went wrong? I don’t want to advertise my inexperience, but conversely don’t want to find out that im not insured or something horrible like that!

The other thing is that the company always makes the shift last 15 hours, whilst I am in no way lazy, I am not accustomed to these long hours especially as they always end up around 5am. I have a wife and 5 children and it is important to me that my life doesnt become non stop work as in the past I have always clearly differentiated between the two. Is it normal in this industry to work such long hours? I certainly have a new found respect for just how hard people work in this proffession.

If you got this far then thanks for listening. If you can give me any advice on how to progress but not become a slave to the job then I would love to hear from you.

Cheers

2

As for the licence issues and length of time youve had it, i would say that is down to the company, if its in thier insurance that you have to have 2 years exp or a 3 legged dog with 5 testicles and they dont check its on thier head.

As for the long hours and wanting to see your family im afraid thats how it is if you want to earn semi decent money, the rates your getting is a tad poor but at least its better than the dole.

Keep trying and you will get something better eventually but good on you for doing it. You should get roughly £1-£2 an hour extra for nights, worth asking the agency blokey. Plus if he is paying you £7.30 for class 2 you should get more for class 1, i would ask him about that as well. Dont be bolshy about it, just say something like “is there a problem with my wages? Youve only paid me £7.30 for class 1 work and i was getting that for class 2?”

Good luck mate

3

Hi mate I in a similar position ! I passed my class 2 in January and my class 1 on may 25th ! A big local haulage company offered me a job on class 2 for 6months too a year then I will b upped too class 1 ! I started last Monday and it’s the same as you 13-15 hour shift every day !! I have a little boy and a baby due in 4 weeks ! I’ am happy too work 12 hours a day but 15 hours is just too much ! You have no life by the time I get home eat and shower its bed time too do it all over again !! I don’t no what too do I want the job as it very hard too get a permanent position due too lack of experience but can’t carry on like this ! Any ideas ?

4

Dominus and Samhollis1987, did you bother to do any research into this industry before wasting thousands of pounds on upgrading your licences or did you just assume you’d be working Monday to Friday 9am-5pm for £15 an hour? Surely you must have had some idea of what you were letting yourselves in for before spending such a large amount of money?

5

Not every driving job is 15 hours a day ! My dad works for asda and does 12 n half hours every night ! That is what I am looking for ! 15 hours is too much for anyone unless they got no life ! I think 60 hours a week is more than enough !

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Samhollis1987:
Not every driving job is 15 hours a day ! My dad works for asda and does 12 n half hours every night ! That is what I am looking for ! 15 hours is too much for anyone unless they got no life ! I think 60 hours a week is more than enough !

then you are certainly in the wrong business my friend. go work for asda stacking shelves, you can be home in time for tea every day then! instead of being sat in a layby working out what time at dark oclock you need to start

7

My dad works on class 1 for asda ! He does 12 hours everynight ! I bin s bricklayer for 8 years so I can go back too that If I need too ! But self employed no good !

8

unfortunatly thats the nature of this job im afraid u can arrive at a hub in a couple of hours and then spend hours q`ing to be unloaded then park up for the guy to come and find u for reloading then q up to be scanned out then oh crap time for a break if u dont manage to get one whilst waiting :wink: then before u know it u have clocked up 11-12 hrs mabe more before u pull into yard to finish there are some jobs out there that u can get that have u home for tea etc but u have to find them , if u keep at it a full time job may come up that is what u require but until then u need to get urself noticed by doing the agency work and getting the experience that u need ,

all the best

jen x

9

Hi Dominus and welcome to the forum.

Yes, been there, done that, and all quite recently.
We newbies do tend to fall into the agency trap. I started agancy work on £7.00 per hour and never got above £8.00 (once offered £6.20 FFS). They know we are desperate for experience and take advantage of the fact. They rang you after ten one evening and needed you for 6am the next day? That tells you something straight away. Same with me. I took the attitude ‘no-pain, no gain’.

With regards to agency paperwork - you NEED IT immediately. How else can you know you are not being shafted. You NEED to know your responsibilities to the agency and theirs to you. You are quite right to be concerned about insurance and any liability you may have relating to it.

Don’t worry about people saying ‘did you do no industry research’ and the like. This is your life, you do as you see fit. I have to admit, I got married without getting either financial or psychiatric reports of my wife-to-be, and that was a greater investment than getting a LGV licence :slight_smile: .

Again, the long hours thing is a personal choice, it suits some but not all. Remember, you work to live, not live to work.

You WILL do OK in this business because you have an attitude that 95% of the population doesn’t have, you are prepared to invest and work for your own success - that will always set you apart, so just keep at it. Remember that many of the ‘experts’ on here would not be here if they had been required to shell-out £X,000 to get into driving.

On the matter of finding a permament job; you have already learned that sending out CVs rarely works. Get out there and knock doors, meet potential employers, make a good impression and then keep in touch with them. Talk to other drivers, tell them you are job hunting and ask their advice. Make yourself busy - do what most people (especially LGV drivers) wouldn’t do - be proactive and keep a positive mental attitude.

Finally, our timing wasn’t good - we got in right in the middle of a recession. It won’t last for ever - things will get better.

I have sent you a PM about agencies.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Alan

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Yer I am in a general haulage company so I am getting a bit of experience but I dont think 15 hour days and any good for no one !! Especially when drivers have a young family ! When I started they told me 50-60 hour weeks but I done nealy 70 this week ! I gunna ask see if I can get on more local runs so I can get back earlier ! If not I have too see if I can get something else ! And if that fails I will have too go back too bricklaying for a while ! Thanks for the nice reply jennie !

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OnlyAlan:
Remember that many of the ‘experts’ on here would not be here if they had been required to shell-out £X,000 to get into driving.

can i ask who they may be then?

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A 15 hr day should be expected as the norm in this industry, for once I agree with smashedcrab, you should always do research into what you’re letting yourself in for and when you don’t, this is what happens and you suddenly find yourself asking is this what it’s all about?

Sure it will get slightly better, you might make £8.45ph within your first year of driving and you’ll be hard pushed to find anything like £13 per hour in your career, okay maybe not in years to come but as long as this recession is going on everyone will struggle, including the hauliers.

I can’t help but think why some in here are basically saying, ‘aw don’t listen to them about doing research’, but it’s a different story when someone is done out of their hard earned doe because they fell for a broker or suchlike, it’s a case of: “why didn’t you do any research into this?”

I’ve mentally set myself up for 15 hour days, I’ll say right we’ll go out here and do this and if it takes 15 hours then so be it but let’s hope it doesn’t,

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I no money is the reason we all go too work but I don’t live too work ! Seeing my family is more important too me than earning loads of money ! As long as I’ve got enough money too pay the bills I’m happy ! But I will find somewhere that can accommodate me only wanting too do 12 hours a day if it’s this year next year or the year after that’s fine ! I will go back too bricklaying untill I find it ! What life have people got working 15 hours a day ? No life ! Lifes too short too do that !

14

Samhollis1987:
I no money is the reason we all go too work but I don’t live too work ! Seeing my family is more important too me than earning loads of money ! As long as I’ve got enough money too pay the bills I’m happy ! But I will find somewhere that can accommodate me only wanting too do 12 hours a day if it’s this year next year or the year after that’s fine ! I will go back too bricklaying untill I find it ! What life have people got working 15 hours a day ? No life ! Lifes too short too do that !

It’s all about finding the work - life balance.

For some they enjoy the work so much that 15 hour days are fine and they don’t have any family commitments to worry about.

For others the life part of the balance is important (as it appears yours is).

You may find that with a young family, lorry driving is not the right thing for you at the moment.

An agency is probably the best route if you still want to drive for a living as you can turn down work that will not suit the hours you need for your family.

15

If I speak oo the transport office ain’t there no way they could arrange for me too do ad near as 12 hour days as posible? Surely these companies know that some people have commitments and can’t work 15 hour days ?

16

Lee G:

OnlyAlan:
Remember that many of the ‘experts’ on here would not be here if they had been required to shell-out £X,000 to get into driving.

can i ask who they may be then?

Of course you can ask.

A recent example of one of these experts is someone who regularly gave ‘advice’ on LGV work and turned out to have never driven a LGV vehicle in his life and didn’t hold a LGV licence.

Anyone can join a forum and profess knowledge, that is why I put experts in inverted commas.

OK?

17

If you show your unwillingless to do 15 hrs they will just phone someone who will do it, then you will be sat at home all day…

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and i was under the impression that you could only work 15 hours a day 3 times a week(unless of course you been a sleep for 3 hours on break)

is it me?

19

Yer u can work 3 15 hour shifts but then u have too park up n sleep out ! I can ask too b cut down too 12 hours the worst they can do is say no surely ? If not I will just stick it out too get my experience !!

20

Thanks for all the encouraging responses. In answer to SmashedCrabFace■■? Yes I did do some research, but evidently not enough. I asked a friend who used to be a Tanker driver for Texaco up until about 15 years ago, he told me it was the best thing he ever did, the money was amazing (£36000 20 years ago), the hours very reasonable, brilliant pension, the boss still popped in to visit and the company paid to put his kids through university. Sounded awesome and I wanted in. I also talked to a neighbour who regularly did runs down to spain and he also extolled the virtues and wages.

I don’t mind in principle the long hours, I would rather work 3 15 hour days than 5 9 hour days, but I just don’t want to surrender my life to the job. I was talking to a trucker who did work all hours, he said that he earnt good money - £1000 week, but he had entirely missed his kids growing up, I don’t want that.

In the meantime I will keep going, the opportunity to gain experience is really valuable, but I am going to keep trying for every sensible job that I see advertised.

Thanks again for all the responses, this place is amazing…