Got my training in 2 weeks time and from there will be contacting agencies to get me into work at first.
So I’m shopping around for a sat nav, work boots, high viz etc, but how much of this stuff should I be expected to buy myself, and what will be provided by an agency?
hazbazz:
Got my training in 2 weeks time and from there will be contacting agencies to get me into work at first.
So I’m shopping around for a sat nav, work boots, high viz etc, but how much of this stuff should I be expected to buy myself, and what will be provided by an agency?
LOL. The agency will provide you with [zb] all unless it’s a national one, then you might get a branded top and hi-viz out of them in exchange for crappy pay rates.
You don’t to buy a satnav, just use google maps on your phone assuming it’s Android. Saved yourself anything from £50 to a grand right there. Gloves, hi-viz, pens, phone charger and footwear with toe-caps in are all a necessity.
Re footwear. In some jobs you can “slip into something more comfortable”, in many you can’t. So don’t scrimp, and get something that’ll be comfortable all day.
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hazbazz:
Got my training in 2 weeks time and from there will be contacting agencies to get me into work at first.
So I’m shopping around for a sat nav, work boots, high viz etc, but how much of this stuff should I be expected to buy myself, and what will be provided by an agency?
Sat Nav… take your choice. I wouldn’t follow RobK’s advice… He drove in a time without satnavs (and when they might have cost a grand). You want one. It will make your life easier. And as an agency man going to different places a lot it will make your life a lot lot easier. I have an expensive tomtom one, tried snooper and found it pants. Can’t comment on other brands - but you don’t need to spend a fortune.
Boots - just go to sports direct and get a leather pair that are comfy. You could try builders merchants for DeWalt or something more expensive if you want. At work it’s not a fashion show though.
Hi Viz - plenty of none national agencies give them out. My recommendation would be to have one or two in the bag anyway. They are cheap enough. In the winter I really liked a bomber style hiviz jacket as it made life a lot nicer when strapping loads in the snow.
You’ll want a decent flask as well. Get a steel thermos style one. I also have a thermal cup to make my coffee stay warm. I have a small down-filled sleeping bag which stays in my bag. I don’t tramp but do a lot of night work and i’ve been waiting many hours to be loaded before. As said gloves - I like these: amazon.co.uk/Himalayan-H310 … AMD869FD3E
Also I’d personally say a kindle is essential. Load it up with books downloaded from a not so legal site and then when waiting for hours you have something to read. But that’s very personal. Double adaptors for cig lighters as well are essential.
Thanks for the advice so far guys.
Sorry Rob K but I definitely will be getting a sat nav, I’m not great without one and google maps doesn’t have weight limits/low bridges etc. I’ve found one on amazon for £60, which I know will be pants compared to the Tomtom or garmin, but it’ll have to do the job for now.
As for the other tech such as cig lighter adaptors, FM transmitters and the like, I’m pretty much sorted as I’ve got my car kitted out in that respect, I’ll just use that for now.
I’ll get some cheap ppe to stick in a bag until it’s needed.
As for my boots, I want to spend around 40 quid, will that get me something half decent? Don’t want to break the bank on my first pair but don’t want something that will be wrecked after a week either
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hazbazz:
Thanks for the advice so far guys.
Sorry Rob K but I definitely will be getting a sat nav, I’m not great without one and google maps doesn’t have weight limits/low bridges etc. I’ve found one on amazon for £60, which I know will be pants compared to the Tomtom or garmin, but it’ll have to do the job for now.
As for the other tech such as cig lighter adaptors, FM transmitters and the like, I’m pretty much sorted as I’ve got my car kitted out in that respect, I’ll just use that for now.
I’ll get some cheap ppe to stick in a bag until it’s needed.
As for my boots, I want to spend around 40 quid, will that get me something half decent? Don’t want to break the bank on my first pair but don’t want something that will be wrecked after a week eitherSent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I have these: sportsdirect.com/dunlop-saf … e=18106391
They are actually pretty comfortable. And they absorb energy saving your knees. I’ve had them over 6 months and they are still fine. They do the job. Not the fanciest but perfectly functional.
PS - don’t order online they are same price in the store. All stores stock them and you can try them on for size.
Just a quick thought about boots,mine at the moment have metal eyelets for the laces,go through laces like nobody’s business,last pair had fabric eyelets same laces lasted years can’t be doing with laces rubbing in the metal eyelets and snapping,always keep a spare pair of laces in your bag aswell.
Also a torch,loo roll small travel tin of lynx spare glasses and a bag of sorts for putting rubbish in,surprising how much it mounts up in a day.
hazbazz:
Thanks for the advice so far guys.
Sorry Rob K but I definitely will be getting a sat nav, I’m not great without one and google maps doesn’t have weight limits/low bridges etc.
With all due respect, as you have openly admitted that you are, well, to put it bluntly, pretty useless finding your way around without a satnav, I would question whether you’re in the right industry? If you were applying for a job at a haulage company I owned and said that to me I would thank you for your time and point you in the general direction of the door. I’m not saying that every driver should have an intricate knowledge of the UKs entire road network engraved in their brain, but a professional driver should at the minimum possess a good knowledge of the entire motorway network and also the paths of all major (single and double digit) A-roads and the major cities and towns to which they link. You should be able to find your way between them without needing to rely on a satnav (or physical map).
Furthermore, your argument that you need a satnav because googlemaps doesn’t have weight limits or low bridges is utter tosh. On the rare occasion that I’ve needed to check a route or local access for a delivery it has served me just fine and furnished me with the details I’ve wanted to know. You make it sound like the job can’t be done without a precious satnav and a low bridge/weight limit app 
. At the end of the day it’s your money to blow on tat but it’s probably only a matter of time until we’re reading threads along the lines of “I’ve been sacked for hitting a bridge, satnav said it was 16ft! Who can I sue?” or “I’ve received a FPN for driving in 7.5t weight limit, satnav showed no restriction! Who can I sue?”.
Without wishing to sound like Juddian, we really are creating a nation of steering wheel attendants. Forget strikes and petitions to bring the UK to a halt, just jam the GPS signal from the satellites and nothing would ever get delivered as they’d all be driving around the yard in circles unable to find the way out .
Rob K:
hazbazz:
Thanks for the advice so far guys.
Sorry Rob K but I definitely will be getting a sat nav, I’m not great without one and google maps doesn’t have weight limits/low bridges etc.With all due respect, as you have openly admitted that you are, well, to put it bluntly, pretty useless finding your way around without a satnav, I would question whether you’re in the right industry? If you were applying for a job at a haulage company I owned and said that to me I would thank you for your time and point you in the general direction of the door. I’m not saying that every driver should have an intricate knowledge of the UKs entire road network engraved in their brain, but a professional driver should at the minimum possess a good knowledge of the entire motorway network and also the paths of all major (single and double digit) A-roads and the major cities and towns to which they link. You should be able to find your way between them without needing to rely on a satnav (or physical map).
Furthermore, your argument that you need a satnav because googlemaps doesn’t have weight limits or low bridges is utter tosh. On the rare occasion that I’ve needed to check a route or local access for a delivery it has served me just fine and furnished me with the details I’ve wanted to know. You make it sound like the job can’t be done without a precious satnav and a low bridge/weight limit app
Without wishing to sound like Juddian, we really are creating a nation of steering wheel attendants. Forget strikes and petitions to bring the UK to a halt, just jam the GPS signal from the satellites and nothing would ever get delivered as they’d all be driving around the yard in circles unable to find the way out
If you had said use google maps and a truckers atlas then fair enough but using google maps instead of a dedicated truck nav is far more likely to get you into all the problems you have mentioned.
Jimmy McNulty:
Rob K:
hazbazz:
Thanks for the advice so far guys.
Sorry Rob K but I definitely will be getting a sat nav, I’m not great without one and google maps doesn’t have weight limits/low bridges etc.With all due respect, as you have openly admitted that you are, well, to put it bluntly, pretty useless finding your way around without a satnav, I would question whether you’re in the right industry? If you were applying for a job at a haulage company I owned and said that to me I would thank you for your time and point you in the general direction of the door. I’m not saying that every driver should have an intricate knowledge of the UKs entire road network engraved in their brain, but a professional driver should at the minimum possess a good knowledge of the entire motorway network and also the paths of all major (single and double digit) A-roads and the major cities and towns to which they link. You should be able to find your way between them without needing to rely on a satnav (or physical map).
Furthermore, your argument that you need a satnav because googlemaps doesn’t have weight limits or low bridges is utter tosh. On the rare occasion that I’ve needed to check a route or local access for a delivery it has served me just fine and furnished me with the details I’ve wanted to know. You make it sound like the job can’t be done without a precious satnav and a low bridge/weight limit app
Without wishing to sound like Juddian, we really are creating a nation of steering wheel attendants. Forget strikes and petitions to bring the UK to a halt, just jam the GPS signal from the satellites and nothing would ever get delivered as they’d all be driving around the yard in circles unable to find the way out
If you had said use google maps and a truckers atlas then fair enough but using google maps instead of a dedicated truck nav is far more likely to get you into all the problems you have mentioned.
Explain how.
In my experience of Agencies, the better ones will give you a hi viz - Not all agencies will.
They are legally your employer and are supposed to provide all PPE required for the job (If you go PAYE). That doesn’t mean they have to provide comfortable boots, just ones that are rated for the job. I’ve always bought my own so I have something comfortable for being in 10-12 hours a day - Right now I have Timberland Pros with composite toe caps that are much lighter than the usual steel types and available in extra wide sizes - They were closer to the £90 mark from memory.
Sometimes the bigger clients will provide gloves - These are usually the cheapest nastiest that will fall apart in less than a week. I use my own that seem to be lasting well
I would recommend a truck sat nav. It is easy to miss weight limit signs on roads, when you’re dealing with traffic etc in an area you don’t know - I personally have a Garmin dezl 770 and I carry a truckers atlas to double check anything I’m unsure about. Sat Navs are great for telling you about traffic problems ahead of time and giving you other route options.
You might want to consider having some kind of food with you for when the truck breaks down and it takes hours for recovery to turn up.
I can imagine Rob K getting put through a diversion and having to stop every five minutes to check maps to see if he’s going the right way. What a dinosaur.
You can buy a decent sat nav for a hundred quid, my one has traffic updates and road closure notifications. I see truckers heading towards hour plus standing traffic when my satnav has told me to turn off to avoid it.
NicholasFromWidnes:
I see truckers heading towards hour plus standing traffic when my satnav has told me to turn off to avoid it.
But if your paid by the hour …
NicholasFromWidnes:
I can imagine Rob K getting put through a diversion and having to stop every five minutes to check maps to see if he’s going the right way. What a dinosaur.You can buy a decent sat nav for a hundred quid, my one has traffic updates and road closure notifications. I see truckers heading towards hour plus standing traffic when my satnav has told me to turn off to avoid it.
My satnav also has this functionality… And sometimes I’ll still be heading towards that traffic jam. It depends how you are paid and if you need to rush home.
As a sidenote - I’m a huge satnav fan. But have done plenty of night shifts where diversions become pretty significant. And I wouldn’t dream of letting my satnav take over in those situations. You follow diversion signs until you are back on the road you wanted to be on. Or there is a very good chance you will just end up going around in circles.
NicholasFromWidnes:
I can imagine Rob K getting put through a diversion and having to stop every five minutes to check maps to see if he’s going the right way. What a dinosaur.You can buy a decent sat nav for a hundred quid, my one has traffic updates and road closure notifications. I see truckers heading towards hour plus standing traffic when my satnav has told me to turn off to avoid it.
You might find that if that happened to Rob he would no where he was going without a sat nav or maps, would you no where to go if you get in a truck one day and find you cant plug yours in. I remember doing some runs Scunthorpe to Barnsley and M18 was shut the lad I was with sat on M180 I went M18 M62 and down A1 unloaded came back and he was still sat there no knowledge
Jimmy McNulty:
NicholasFromWidnes:
I see truckers heading towards hour plus standing traffic when my satnav has told me to turn off to avoid it.But if your paid by the hour …
Oh don’t get me wrong I’ve headed towards the traffic in cases where I’ve wanted to get all day out of a job but I was more talking about when you actually have to be somewhere for a set time or just want to get back to depot to finish your shift ASAP.
mac12:
NicholasFromWidnes:
I can imagine Rob K getting put through a diversion and having to stop every five minutes to check maps to see if he’s going the right way. What a dinosaur.You can buy a decent sat nav for a hundred quid, my one has traffic updates and road closure notifications. I see truckers heading towards hour plus standing traffic when my satnav has told me to turn off to avoid it.
You might find that if that happened to Rob he would no where he was going without a sat nav or maps, would you no where to go if you get in a truck one day and find you cant plug yours in. I remember doing some runs Scunthorpe to Barnsley and M18 was shut the lad I was with sat on M180 I went M18 M62 and down A1 unloaded came back and he was still sat there no knowledge
Quite ^.
I’ve seen plenty of evidence of the clueless numpties following their satnavs trying to avoid night closures and diversion routes, usually seen haplessly trying to reverse out of a single track lane with tall grass growing down the middle 
.
Also much amusement was to be had when the A1 at Scotch Corner was shut both ways. The satnav numpties heading southbound could all be found either with their trailer stuck on the railings in Richmond, trying to turn onto Maison Dieu from Darlington Road, or they’d be stuck in Middleton Tyas unable to get their trailer round the sharp bend where the van parks on the corner (ignoring the fact that the latter is a 7.5t weight limit as well). Northbound you’d find them all stuck on the single track road from Little Crackenhall up to Catterick because satnavs try to send you back to the A1.
Now if only they’d spent a bit of time doing some research beforehand they would have been in possession of enough local knowledge to know there’s a workable route from Leeming Bar to the A66 via Richmond completely avoiding Scotch Corner and only adds 15 mins on rather than the 45 min diversion up the A19 to Miggy, Darlo and back down from the north.
Local knowledge also saved me hours of sitting in queues when the M1 was shut northbound at 39 when they were doing the managed motorway. The diversion and satnav routing sent you into Wakefield town centre and back out on the 650 to J41 but a sneaky left under the bridge up Thornes Rd and up Broadway through Lupset would put you back on J40 within 5 mins of leaving at 39.
Yes, this “dinosaur” has been finished for 2 hours and on his 2nd or 3rd pint in the local while all the satnav experts battle with trying to reverse their truck out of yet another farm track “shortcut”.
When i was agency they offered a branded hivis a d that was it, but i had to pay £1 for the privilege of pointing out i was a limper…yeah that gonna happen (Lidl only charge 10p for their bags to do the same).
Beyond that dont bother as mentioned with anything you’re given unless its from employer and specific to the job, eg goggles. Even full-time they provide some good and some rubbish.
Good boots and a waterproof jacket (hivis type even better) and you’re sorted.
Oh re cig lighters, just remember some ports are 12v and some 24v. Many things will cope with both but not all. Also need a hella adapter for some trucks amd one of those battery blocks for when the cig lighter fails (they do, often).
You don’t need a sat nab learn to rad the road sign that what they there for forward planning oh don’t get me wrong they do have some uses yep have a car sat nav works well in the lorry ( no hight or weight though ) but I can read the road signs I also have a map with the bridge hight in not like thursday when 4 lanes got held up at the Dartford tunnel due to over hight vehicle
As for PPE i bought my own gloves as know which I prefer also went to workwear shop bought boots ( yep Rob K I did find in my size just 
with out going to kids section ) also remember that stele toe cap have no VAT on as well as hi-viz
I know that this should be provided but all bought with little expense so know I had & what I wanted
I always find it funny that there is seemingly nobody who knows where they’re going and has a satnav. Apparently you’re following a satnav blindly or using a rule and compass to navigate the highways of this fine land and beyond.
There is mothin g wrong with attackers atlas, or a truck satnav, or google or even better a combination of all three and anything else you can get to help out. Use everything you can to your advantage including your eyeballs.