I’m set to undertake my Class 2 training & test in October/November time… And providing I hopefully manage to pass 1st attempt, will be looking to get a job as soon as possible after that.
But so I just wondered if anyone could provide any practical advice/resources how I would best be able to find & obtain the type of Class 2 jobs I’m seeking?
The type of work I personally would be seeking is:
• 1-4 drops per day (Not looking for multi-drop jobs)
• 3-4 days per week (Am totally fine with early starts / Late finishes / Night-shift work though)
• Ideally £14-£16p/h pay-rate
I’m based near Heathrow (London), and so when I Google ‘‘Class 2 HGV jobs’’ on a few hundred within a 30-mile radius show-up on jobsites such as Indeed…
However I’m not really sure how to ‘filter these’ (when reading the job descriptions) to identify which ones would match the type of work I’m seeking/which wouldn’t?
Also am pretty confused how to know which jobs are ‘‘agency contracts’’ vs ‘‘haulage firm jobs’’?
Moreover, are job sites such as Indeed actually the main way most HGV work is advertised, by the majority of firms?
Some people will relate tales of passing and walking straight into a suitable job, that was not my personal experience, nor do I personally know many new passes who could also claim this to be the case.
At the risk of raining on your parade, most new passes tend to struggle to get a chance to cut their teeth in the industry; deciding in advance what you will or will not accept may simply cause a delay in the inevitable adjustment to the realities of what’s on offer. Whereas Six months experience under your belt doing anything that comes your way would massively increase your range of opportunities.
Personally I found that Indeed and similar job sites are very much less than satisfactory, I’d go so far as to say that a lot of what you see on offer may very well be totally bogus, and I concur with Rog, agencies will spin you a right old yarn to have you sign up with them. Many do this then ignore you totally, until one day you get a call out of the blue from some outfit you’d forgotten you’d even signed up with.
Hello guys, and thankyou both for your quick replies.
After having spent the past 1-hour reading old topics on this forum (about others in the same boat as me of wanting this specific type of Class-2 work)…
It basically just sounds like 98% of Class 2 work is multi-drop / The 2% of Class 2 trunking jobs would be massively over-applied to by more experienced drivers than myself.
And thus rather than fighting against the tide, I’m instead just going to change to going straight onto Class 1 training instead.
(As by the sounds of it most Class 1 jobs do basically match what I’m seeking / Virtually no Class 2 jobs do)
Your biggest issue will be experience. Most get around this by going agency for a while to get experience.
Being near to Heathrow, Are there no Cat C jobs at the airport? They wont be multi drop but they likely wont be trunking either… Although perhaps some Air Freight companies might trunk stuff between airports?
Hermes Parcels on nights usually run 12 and 18 Tonne vehicles and you’re usually doing 3-4 runs a night from their depot to the little sub depots, usually within an hour or 1.5 hour’s drive from the depot you are based from. Days are different and involves collections and can be like multi drop.
I personally found Indeed not great for jobs. CV Library and Glass Door are cheaper to advertise on and you’ll get the smaller companies advertise on there, in addition to what you’ll find on Indeed.
Hi recently passed Cat C here and signed up with a few agencies north London area via Indeed, Totaljobs, Glassdoor etc. Looking to transition gently while still working part time as an adviser. Felt similar about multidrop as sounds like hard work. Also thought about ADR or shifting up to artics to avoid. Fortunately I found a role with a company directly, that sounds fairly flexible, and passed the assessment.
Have you thought of getting a few months’ 3.5t van multidrop experience? Might help with learning how it works so an 18t truck job won’t be so daunting at first.
I recently passed my Class 2 and found a job.
I did the usual checking of jobsites - I found a lot of the jobs duplicated across the different sites - not sure from an employers perspective which sites are preferred by them but I used Indeed, CV Library and the government’s findajob website.
Quite a few of the jobs were advertised by agencies (you can tell by their names and the frequency/amount of jobs they advertise) and a high proportion of these were what I call “fishing adds” i.e. they get you to call about a great sounding job, which never actually materializes, but then go on to take your details and offer you the rubbish jobs they’re trying to fill. So I stopped dealing with agencies. Although I’ve heard this can be a good way of gaining experience.
I did a bit of research into companies within my commuting area and then wrote to them, including a copy of my CV. I got a good response, even from some companies who didn’t have vacancies but said they would keep my CV on file. I think they were impressed I’d taken the time to actually write a letter.
Three interviews with three different companies and three job offers later I managed to find a job.
So it worked for me … maybe it’s something that would work for you?
From my responses and interviews it became apparent that a lot of companies were ruled by their insurance, which meant they couldn’t take on drivers with less than one year experience. I’m guessing this could also be the case if you decided to go straight to Class 1?
Anyway, I hope this helps, and good luck with your test and subsequent job search.
If you go for C+E, realistically you will require some training to get you up to speed. Some companies do occasionally offer formal training for new passes, but this may be difficult to find.
More realistically a general haulage firm may be a good try, where you may be shown the ropes with another driver.
Once you have six months experience and can reverse either on a bay or between two trailers, the job market will be more open to you to apply for something else. If there are good employers in your area and you can pass an assessment including a reverse, bob’s your uncle.
Going on agency may be an option at some stage to get some experience in the type of work you eventually want. If you have a 1-2 year plan you could potentially land a job you would want to stay in long-term and that pays well.
Agencies are a lottery there are cool ones and not so cool ones. Indeed is a jobs page and sometimes you don’t know the name of the company until they phone you back. I got my banging job from indeed. Best way is to turn up for the Interview or read the job description . You sually get a good rundown on the job by the job description. If the pay is not what you want don’t take the flippin job… unless other aspects if the job are beneficial to you. The drops you mentioned ARE multi drop you just mention 3 or 4 drops that’s all. Some van drops are 120 drops a day but it’s all multi drop.
With the type of job you described you should have no problem finding the work you want.
Try any of the companies in the Palletline network and you may find a job to suit you, they ate looking, just Google it. You’re on your way.
Just tell them what you want at the interviews and pick your fave job.
