Just wondered what everyone would do in my situation.
I recently passed my C+E, and just got my licence back today. I’ve got the DQC and a digital tachograph card so I’m ready to go. I work full-time at the moment and earn around £20k a year doing a job that I hate. I am desperate to get a driving job as soon as possible, so desperate that I am now considering quitting my current job and taking my chances with the agencies, something I said I would never do.
Initially my plan was to stay where I am until I found proper full-time employment driving but I understand that this will be hard to come by without any experience. I am thinking about signing up with a few agencies and telling them I’m available 24/7 to do anything they can give me, to do this I would need to pack in my old job though.
What would you do? Would you throw away a secure full time job (that you hate) and take a massive risk to do a job you know you will love? I have a mortgage and an expensive girlfriend to pay for but my current job is doing my head in and I need to get out before I go completley mad and end up on the news like Derrick Bird.
SmashedCrabFace:
Initially my plan was to stay where I am until I found proper full-time employment driving but I understand that this will be hard to come by without any experience. I am thinking about signing up with a few agencies and telling them I’m available 24/7 to do anything they can give me, to do this I would need to pack in my old job though.
The idea of telling agencies that you’re available 24/7 may lose its atractiveness when they phone you and ask you to be at a clients in 30 minutes to do some dirty job because another driver has let them down.
Also just because you say you will be available 24/7 doesn’t guarantee you work
SmashedCrabFace:
What would you do? Would you throw away a secure full time job (that you hate) and take a massive risk to do a job you know you will love?
How do you know you will love it until you’ve tried it
You wouldn’t be the first to think that, just to find that the reality is a little different to the dream.
SmashedCrabFace:
I have a mortgage and an expensive girlfriend to pay for
You could lose them both if you don’t earn enough money through the agencies.
Personally I think you’d be insane to give up a regular job until you’ve got another job lined up, the sensible thing to do would be to try to get some weekend work through the agencies, then you will not only find out if you like the job but you will also gain some much needed experience.
But I suspect you already know that really, good luck
I did it mate. Under slightly different circumstances to you though.
Firstly it was about 4 years ago when there was more work around, and secondly i still lived at home so financially i could handle it if i didnt have any work. Having said that, once id done it me and my girlfirend got a house through private renting on the agency wages which was a risk but it worked out for us as like i said there was plenty of work.
About 2 months ago i got in touch with a few agencies as i was driving 8 wheeler tippers which i wasnt too happy doing cos i was desperate to get on an artic, each one i rang advised me not to quit a full time job to go agency as its dead at the minute and i might be lucky to get 3 days a week. not sure what its like where you are of course.
Its a tough one really, all depends on your financial situation i guess, if you could afford to take the risk of going without work then go for it. i decided against it and stuck where i was and put a lot of effort into finding a new job, it paid off because ive just started my first artic job and im loving it.
Personally i would stick with a full timer and look for something else, after all its better to be in full time work that you hate, then been out of work which you’d soon find you hate more!
Good luck with what you decide though mate and let us know
As has been said stay where you are for now you could do some weekend work to gain experience then you can see if you do like it as you wont be the 1st as tachograph has said
The agencies are quiet all over atm yep they will poss pick up round Sept - Dec for the xmas rush but jan is always quiet
As has been said if you can afford to only work 3 days a mth then fine go for it otherwise stay where you are
You could take a different approach to your current job though although you dislike the job what about the people you work with see what banter you can have with them it may make a difference ( I know my son done a similar thing with his old job although has since moved on after 4 yr working there )
Thanks for the replies, just fired off an application for ‘Fast Eddie’ at his Newark depot so will see if anything happens with that before I do anything stupid.
tachograph:
The idea of telling agencies that you’re available 24/7 may lose its atractiveness when they phone you and ask you to be at a clients in 30 minutes to do some dirty job because another driver has let them down.
I honestly wouldn’t mind, I get called at the last minute to go back for night shifts at my current job after doing a 10 hour day shift as it is . And other than being a coal miner or a cess pit cleaner, I can’t think of many other jobs dirtier than the one I already have. I am willing to do anything to get into driving.
tachograph:
How do you know you will love it until you’ve tried it
I know I will love it, I used to be a taxi driver and loved every minute. I reguarly spent 16 hours a day without getting out of the car, I was born to drive.
stick with the job and do a bit of weekend work for the agencies until you gain experience and or something full time becomes avalable .agencies are slack at the moment and a newly passed driver wouldn’t be high on there send him there list (damage , client retention).
tachograph:
How do you know you will love it until you’ve tried it
I know I will love it, I used to be a taxi driver and loved every minute. I reguarly spent 16 hours a day without getting out of the car, I was born to drive.
Fair enough mate, you seem to know what you want, but unless you can get a regular job like the one you’ve just applied for I’d still go the weekend driving route if I was you
If you can’t get fixed up with a regular job have a look at the big companies that use a lot of agency drivers for weekends, try to find out who the main agency is and it could lead to regular ongoing full time work.
I would stick the job out and just apply to haulage firms in your area, get a good CV and covering letter, if your like me get someone whose good with words to help spruce it up. You might just get a phone call sooner than you think.
I went down this route because all the agencies I spoke to wanted 2 years. I’ve had my licence for 2 weeks and am now driving an artic for a living at the age of 23 so don’t let the experience thing bother you.
I’m in the same situation, except that I’ve already handed my noticc in at my current job, and I’m applying for any driving job going. I’ve had quite a few responses, acouple of interviews and I’ve joined a few agencies which seem quite promising (though ill believe them when I’m working) The other thing I’ve done is to print out 50 cvs, and cover letters as well. A good Cv and cover letter will help, also worth doing is getting some business cards printed with your contact details and licence qualifications on to include in the envelopes with your Cv and cover letter as its something that can be pinned on a board or in an address book, plus it something that can make your Cv stand out.
Just be persistent, give the companies you’ve sent your cvs to a call a couple of weeks later to jog their memory. You might not get work straight away, but it could make you the first person they call if they need a driver.
When it comes to getting work from agencies, it may pay to not be fussy what you drive. I’ve got a class 2 licence, and as much as is like to drive that kind of thing straight away, I’m happy to do van work to get my foot in the door.
SCF go for it I had been a taxi driver for the past 16 years then just quit in may to do this didn’t realise it would take so long to get to the end but it’s in sight and looking foward to it all
If it’s what you want go for it,i have been driving 10 years and used to be away all week for about £28000 but i gave it up and went on the agency in the last year i got £23500 never worked more than 4 day week had from dec 24th to 1st march of though choice and four weeks in spain last summer but best of all home every night,i no i have work untill xmas.Go to more than 1 agency im with two and only work at two places 1 for each agency.Things wrong with them are if you get ill no money and work is never certain but i will stay with them for now.
Kirk Ella 71:
SCF go for it I had been a taxi driver for the past 16 years then just quit in may to do this didn’t realise it would take so long to get to the end but it’s in sight and looking foward to it all
Can you drive a taxi Monday to Friday for example, then do agencies at weekends?
I too have thought about chucking my job and going agency, and while I don’t have huge financial outgoings, I would miss the regular income. Also, because I drive buses I can’t do agencies at weekends!!
