Hi all
Just wanted to say hi, as a newly qualified LGV driver i am finding this site very useful
I passed my Class 2 last week and intend to leave 17 years behind a desk in a few weeks (after a bit of class 2 experience and hopefully learning my class 1 booked in November) in the meantime i will be doing some class 2 agency weekend work to pay for it all.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated, especially with regards to Taco and hours!
Cheers
Michael
Get a Drivers Hours Guard. It’ll be invaluable to you for the first few months. Also buy a TRuckers roadmap - one showing bridge heights. As well as that I’ve found Satnav invaluable…something like the TomTom PDA based package that you can move from one vehicle to another but at £400+ you need to be sure driving is going to be something you’ll do for a while however it’ll aid routing and have places not covered by streetmaps such as small towns/villages.
DO NOT let the companies you go to pressurise you into speeding, running bent or doing something you’re not happy with.
ASK QUESTIONS - lots of them. I cannot stress this strongly enough. AS a newbie you’re not going to know the many different gearchanges, controls etc, best way to distribute a load, secure it or the best way to get to a place so the first time you come across something new, ask. In the case of loading, the best person to ask is the forklift driver - they’ve been loading it for ages. I’ve also found the best people to ask for directions in a town are petrol station attendants with Shell garages rating highly closely followed by BP ones. If in doubt, ask. If someone offers help, accept it. In this job you soon learn to talk to complete strangers and that you can’t do everything yourself.
On agency work remember the essentials:
What fuel card is it, and whats the PIN number,
What is the phone number of the office.
What is the phone number for blowouts/breakdowns
But most of all…ENJOY IT. 
sounds like sound info Connor, thanks, after reading this site my drivers hour guard is already on route!
Well done mate; you won’t regret it!
DO NOT let the companies you go to pressurise you into speeding, running bent or doing something you’re not happy with.
With the above comment, bear in mind that there are Less Drivers Than Jobs! An hour guard is totally priceless, I got mine from a BP station about £30 or so.
Nobody will laugh at you for asking questions; in fact at an RDC where drivers have been q-ing for hours on end its a welcome relief!
Tachos - many trucks you just open the speedo and pop it in. Some are digital, but the principle is the same.Just switch on the ignition, press the eject button and insert the tachochart face up with a bit under the plastic lip (you’ll see when you open one!). A hint is to ‘aquire’ a tacho key, as some trucks their regular drivers keep them for some reason, and it will save some ballache some day to have a spare on your keyring.
Maps - if its local multidrop type work, buy a good A-Z of the local county and a big one of London too. Other paper maps you will go through like they are going out of fashion; modern road maps the bindings are not very good and soon fall apart!
Best of Luck
Si
Great news enjoy your driving ignore the negativity and draw your own opinion of the industry you are about to enter 
WELL DONE MATE 
Another driver in our midst great news it is something you won’t regret mate 
oh and WELCOME TO TRUCKNET
enjoy yourself thats the main thing.
The best advise i was given when i set out was:
If in doubt ask - If your not happy about it, don’t do it!!!
It always helped me to remember this - Good luck
Alex
Many thanks all for your comments, these and the forums are being really informative, I cant wait to get going just waiting for the DVLA to get my licence back to me and then i can escape this goddam office!