Any news yet? 
Ohhhā¦I just thoughtā¦Bank holiday traffic, ooohh nooo!!! 
T.ā ā
Hi lemram welcome to TruckNet UK and
congratulations on passing the test.
Also good luck with the job
Hiya Lemram, welcome to tnet! How did it go? 
They will run you to the limits, not give a toss about you, just aslong as that truck keeps earning money, just as you think its nearing the end of your day up pops another urgent load, or if your supposed to be home for the night you have to park up and have a night out as the cost of diesel is to much to run in empty.
(2nd week on bulk tippers)
If you can hit the ground running then my firm will consider new drivers for tramping out of Newport.
Monday-friday near max hours, general haulage, but donāt expect to be home much during the week. circa Ā£500 in your bin and hassle freeā¦
steve_24v:
If you can hit the ground running then my firm will consider new drivers for tramping out of Newport.Monday-friday near max hours, general haulage, but donāt expect to be home much during the week. circa Ā£500 in your bin and hassle freeā¦
Who you working for Steve? Hicks or Masons.
Wayne.
Wayne:
steve_24v:
If you can hit the ground running then my firm will consider new drivers for tramping out of Newport.Monday-friday near max hours, general haulage, but donāt expect to be home much during the week. circa Ā£500 in your bin and hassle freeā¦
Who you working for Steve? Hicks or Masons.
Wayne.
Been there done that Wayneā¦
Given up on Welsh hauliers now pulling for the Jocks 
steve_24v:
Wayne:
steve_24v:
If you can hit the ground running then my firm will consider new drivers for tramping out of Newport.Monday-friday near max hours, general haulage, but donāt expect to be home much during the week. circa Ā£500 in your bin and hassle freeā¦
Who you working for Steve? Hicks or Masons.
Wayne.
Been there done that Wayneā¦
Given up on Welsh hauliers now pulling for the Jocks
Give us better clue than that then, 3 years of working for ā ā ā ā ā ā ā paying ā ā ā ā money and I need some help here.
Nobby not working out Wayne ?
Didnāt think working all the hours god sends was your cuppa. There is also a remote possibility we may be re-locating in the near so maybe not the best time but you have pm
Hasnāt that new bloke got back yet?
Get him on the mobile 
Ive got another trailer to go up to Scotland tonight 
Wheel Nut:
Hasnāt that new bloke got back yet?Get him on the mobile
Ive got another trailer to go up to Scotland tonight
Thatās the good thing about working for Jocksā¦
Canāt understand a friggin word they say 
ātxt me if you canā
steve_24v:
Nobby not working out Wayne ?Didnāt think working all the hours god sends was your cuppa. There is also a remote possibility we may be re-locating in the near so maybe not the best time but you have pm
Nobby wants to change the shift pattern from 4 on 4 off to tramping for Ā£5.75 per hour for the first 40 hours then time and half after that. I took the job because of the 4 on 4 off.
Wayne.
steve_24v:
Wheel Nut:
Hasnāt that new bloke got back yet?Get him on the mobile
Ive got another trailer to go up to Scotland tonight
Thatās the good thing about working for Jocksā¦
Canāt understand a friggin word they say
ātxt me if you canā
What did you say there Steve.
Wayne:
steve_24v:
Nobby not working out Wayne ?Didnāt think working all the hours god sends was your cuppa. There is also a remote possibility we may be re-locating in the near so maybe not the best time but you have pm
Nobby wants to change the shift pattern from 4 on 4 off to tramping for Ā£5.75 per hour for the first 40 hours then time and half after that. I took the job because of the 4 on 4 off.
Wayne.
I take it that this hourly rate is for driving something like a Transit van, correct 
Rob K:
Wayne:
steve_24v:
Nobby not working out Wayne ?Didnāt think working all the hours god sends was your cuppa. There is also a remote possibility we may be re-locating in the near so maybe not the best time but you have pm
Nobby wants to change the shift pattern from 4 on 4 off to tramping for Ā£5.75 per hour for the first 40 hours then time and half after that. I took the job because of the 4 on 4 off.
Wayne.
I take it that this hourly rate is for driving something like a Transit van, correct
Wrong.
Wayne:
Rob K:
Wayne:
steve_24v:
Nobby not working out Wayne ?Didnāt think working all the hours god sends was your cuppa. There is also a remote possibility we may be re-locating in the near so maybe not the best time but you have pm
Nobby wants to change the shift pattern from 4 on 4 off to tramping for Ā£5.75 per hour for the first 40 hours then time and half after that. I took the job because of the 4 on 4 off.
Wayne.
I take it that this hourly rate is for driving something like a Transit van, correct
Wrong.
Hello folks,
Iām back with a story - what a story, a case of be careful what you wish for.
A 5:00 am start and being my first day behind the wheel there was no way that I could sleep the night before, I was so tense. I donāt think my wife slept too well either but thatās another story.
The unit was in one yard, the trailer in another. A case of collecting keys, unlocking a gate and getting the unit, locking gates, handing keys back in, get papers, find trailer, couple trailer and check things over. What do you know the tank is empty, now thereās a surprise! It seems I have a fuel card so up the road I go, all ready to go, to fuel up just prior to the M4. Fuel card doesnāt work in the pump, time after time and finally the card is rejected outright; five strikes and Iām down.
So itās back to base and explain the situation. Only then do they tell me where the PIN number is for the card! So, can I have the shunterās card, it seems not. I have to collect another tractor unit so itās uncouple and couple up again. And. for some reason the suzies are covered in grease, thick black grease and despite the gloves itās everyhere.
I lost 2 hours and it was 7 oāclock before I was on my way. The original load was supposed to have been 3 drops but the driver before me, by seconds, had already taken that. Fortunately I had an easy run to just outside of Plymouth and a nice light load it was too. I sweated pints offloading it though and then settled down for a cushy run back home to Newport/Cardiff. By the time I had got back to Taunton Deane Services the cushy run had become a load out of Bridgewater which eventually turned out to be another real nice number as a shunter there took pity on me and brought my trailer round to me; I couldnāt fault the guy. It seems thereās a lot of nice people living in the West Country.
So, a 5:00 am start and a 6:00 pm finish, not bad for a first day and well within my legal limit of 9/10 driving hours. I wonāt tell you what I did wrong along the way because Iām too embarassed to air it here but thereās a clue present in the above.
As is usual with agencies and the big independent haulier, the phone didnāt stop during the day and I wasnāt even hands free, that has since been corrected. So working on Friday now becomes, āCan you do a run for so and so on Saturday?ā - no problemo.
Saturday was a late start at 10:00 am, working for a much respected Taffs Well haulier. I turned up an hour early to see what I was driving, get to know the gearbox and acquaint myself with the unit and everything else. Itās one thing to be able to drive a lorry on a test and another thing to drive a working lorry on the road in real life. Everybody I came across at this haulier couldnāt do enough for me, they seemed like a good crowd and the main man in the yard could have been compared to a saint, he was that helpful.
I was out of the yard at 10:00 oāclock, gingerly at first but having had the gearbox and a few difference explained to me first hand made all the difference and it was plain sailing out on the road.
Up the M4 to just short of the Windsor turn off and then everything stopped for a few hours. Barrier repairs following an accident around the junction 5/6 area had turned the M4 and all side roads into a motorists nightmare. Dartford by 14:30 was no longer on the cards and it turned out to be 17:30 when I got there, I even overan my four and a half hours driving time by a substantial margin before I could stop at Clackett Lane Services. Still, I marked it down on the chart and there was nothing I could do about it.
I waited a fair while at the DC but once they got underway they really motored and it turned out to be a reasonable drop. There was a good crowd of drivers there and it was nice to talk and learn a little from them. I came back empty and it was a straight run even though I was pushing it to the limit on my hours for the day. There was a break stop at Membrey, hope Iāve spelt that right, and then foot to the floor back to Cardiff. By my reckoning my hours were up at 00:45, I came out of the gate at 00:30, a 14 and a half hour day with just short of 10 hours driving time. It seems that quite a few of the drivers I talked to during the day regularly worked a 15 hour day which to me seems hard work on any day of the week.
I only worked the two days in that week but considering I had only passed my test on Tuesday it was quite an achievement. Not only had I worked for the biggest and most noticable independent haulier on the road today but I had also manage to work for one of the more respected companies, certainly in the top three anyway, in South Wales.
Iām also working Bank Holiday Monday but thatās another story. I have learnt a lot these two days and what Iāve learnt the most is how little I really know.
So come Tuesday Iām going to try and learn some of the ropes with a local firm, Iāve offered to work for nothing for the rest of the week in order to brush up on what little I know.
So Iāll leave it there now, thatās enough for one sitting. I can see that this posting has stirred things up a little and it was very interesting to read the replies and see the responses that have arisen just from saying that I was looking for a job. It seems that thereās plenty of work out there and once you have a toe in the door so to speak then that work will come looking for you rather than what I thought would be the other way round.
Iāll start a new posting once Iāve sorted myself out and Iāll call it 'Be careful what you wish for!".
Bye all, drive safely and try not to fall asleep.
Good read but you should list the mistakes youāve made on the way. No need to be embarrassed, weāve all been through it remember.
Not sure I agree with you working a full week for nothing but thatās your choice. Just watch out that they donāt take the urine.
Glad you had a good couple of dayās m8,but also canāt see why you want to work for nothing Youāll learn as you go along and get paid for it,but your choice.
Good read lemram