Having just gained cat C, I dropped into a couple of agencies recently to register & test the water. After wading through all the expected paperwork, they dangled the carrot of initially baptising me with some night trunking. That has so far amounted to one 7.5t run. In fairness to them, it took me seven and a half hours to complete and they paid me inc. 45min break at 8.50ph. On the downside, I covered 60 miles to & from the job, so around 12 quid went straight into my tank. A fortnight on, Ive had nowt but group txts for one-off ASAP Yodel & UPS 3.5 multi-drops (basically to cover regular guys who couldnt be arsed on that particular morning I guess). Opted to stay in my lovely warm cot. Another block txt came through the other day for someone (anyone) to do another job for this company. Even as a complete newcomer, I could deduce they were a pretty rough-arse outfit if the state of their wagon was to be taken into consideration, so I declined to scramble for it. Ive been licensed and able to do this ■■■■ since the mid seventies, so why would I want to go backwards instead of forwards? Call me a fussy old barst (I kinda am) but I spent a small fortune and put a lot of time and effort into swotting for my new entitlement, and im gonna hold out for the right work, otherwise these users will dilute everything ive worked towards. Round 2 now, so im gonna pay a visit to every potential firm in the local directory and put my face about. Im essentially old-skool (cos im old) and prefer the up close & personal approach. The only surprise in all of this is that I got paid for my break!! Well done to anyone who`s actually made it to the end of this!! (my first novel)
Register with more than one agency (and by the sounds of it you’ve registered with a ■■■■ one!).
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The only surprise in all of this is that I got paid for my break!!
Not too surprising really. The few agencies I have worked for have always paid me a minimum of eight hours.
Its good advice to register withmore than one agency. I would also take some of the crap jobs if you want to become established , if you refuse / turn down work on a regular basis you will soon get dropped to the bottom of the pecking order and the phone calls and texts will stop. Sometimes you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. In my present post i joined them 6 years ago doing 3.5 tonne C&D 40 drops per day , now i am day trunking 40foot artic cushy number .
Cheers for the input, fellahs - will aim a bit lower for now (but keep touting) n see what occurs. Got 21hrs of the much maligned cpc to savour 2nd week in Jan, with the remainder to sort afterwards. Hoping (probably in vain) that an eventual dqc will add a feather to my cap. C+E with a clutch of ADR`s is what a vocational driver obviously needs to be able to run with the pack, but that will only transpire in due course after a bit of experience - and a few paydays!!
Hi well i signed up with five agencies in january this year,i done some van work to start with then moved to 7.5 t. I passed my class 2 in january did not get my first class 2 job until May.I then passed class 1 in June. I did couple days class 1 trunking untill Octobet this year doing 5 on 3 off with local company still through an agency…All my work has kept me working since January, what i did was phone my agencies every day to say i wad available o made a nuisence of my self, never short of work. But my advice is try and find a small local agency a one man band i got more work from smaller agency speaking to a person rather than just being a number. Keep in contact show them that you are keen. If you do a good job the right jobs will come along,but dont be too fussy cos they only seem to contact you if you say yes. I was lucky to get more offers than i could do.