Are all jobs crap without 2 years experience?

Seen this thinking in a few posts now, and the simple answer is NO!

There are good/easy jobs out there that don’t require you to have 2 years experience first! Yes there are those that won’t touch you without 2 years, but that’s more down to them and their insurance than anything else…

I did a crap job for 2 shifts before I found something better, but again, that also depends on what your opinion of a crap job is… For me it was delivering chilled/frozen in cages to crappy convenience stores where it was a dog to park, the staff rude, and you had to handball the stuff out of the cages on to the floor as they watched and checked it off on the paperwork. Not my cup of tea at all, yet some of the full timers said it was the easiest work they’d had. My suggestion to them is that they need to get out more!

After that I got on to pallet work in a Rigid curtainsider, much more to my liking…
About 12-16 drops a day, mainly industrial with a few domestic thrown in to add a bit of variety. Most came off the tail-lift which was a lot bigger and better than the crappy little ones I’d used on cages, and the rest were open the curtain and wait for the forkie. Did that for a few months getting to know the guys at the yard and having a good crack, but always had my eye on easier work which to me was Class 1.

Luckily most pallet firms run both classes, and while I waited for my class 1 lessons, I got a bit of practice coupling and uncoupling units and trailers in the yard. I even got to drive around the yard and screw up a few reverses as well! Passed my Class 1, and the next day I was sat in a Artic doing another blokes round for him with him in the passenger seat taking the ■■■■ out of me! As well as giving me help and guidance… Did that for 2 days in total, and after that was given my own Artic route which I did for a few months.

Took a bit of time off after Xmas (thanks agency ) before finding a lucrative little number close to home working ‘out of scope’ driving mainly Rigid’s with the odd bit of Artic thrown in. Didn’t bother me in the slightest that I’d taken a step back, I’m a tart and was thinking only of the money I was raking it in, but doing silly hours mind…

Next I did a few weeks as filler driving a scaffolders bin, which I won’t go into, as I’ve posted that here:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=136558
Before I went back to the same pallet firm I’d work for before to get my eye back in on real trucks!
Did that a month or so and started looking for better things closer to home and more to my liking (Lazy! )

Now I drive Artic tankers, and the job is a doddle. I drive from A to B and either swap trailers and drive home again, or I may have to stand around and do basically nothing for an hour or so as the tanker empties, and then drive home! We only have a limited number of places we deliver to, and all of those are expecting me, are easy to get in and out of, and have plenty of room for maneuvering. The people are friendly and polite as the work is clean, what more could you want?

I could go into more detail, but as I’ve no intention of getting mixed up in a companies social media policy, I won’t. And the easiest way to avoid it, is not to say who you work for! I’ll also add that most of the work I’ve done has been ADR, and to me that licence has been invaluable and probably kept me in work when other limpers have had to limp off when things got slacker. I’m actually still a limper now, but that’s because the firm only does it’s trunk drivers this way. Not ideal, but I can assure you that when other limpers are scratching around for work post Xmas, I won’t be!

So to sum up, you don’t have to sit in the same crappy dead end job until you have 2 years experience, you can limp around a bit. I believe the variety is good for your CV, and also lets you try out different things to see what suits you. The scaffold gig was a doddle & on my doorstep, and I was asked if I wanted to stay there, but as I said before, I’m really really lazy, and that gig did have a bit of physicality to it. I knew I wouldn’t stick it as the money wasn’t brilliant as the hours were limited, and I also didn’t want to lead the employer on as they would have had to put me through my Hiab ticket.

Yes before I got this tanker job I got knocked back by a few jobs because I didn’t have 2 years experience, but I wouldn’t say those jobs are any better than the gig I have now, and in a way I’m glad they told me to limp off! Whether I’ll still be doing this gig in a years time when I have over 2 years experience I don’t know, but for now I’m more than happy as I’m on easy work and pretty good wage to boot!

That is all!

Done my first shift today but first two hours was picking/sorting parcels ready to load! Wasn’t told this by the agency but just got on with it as I can’t be fussy il take any work as you say to get experience.

As you should pal, work is work, and as long as it leads towards the goal you just do it…
Unless it’s unpaid!
And believe me, some agencies will try this on for inductions/assessments…

Our gaff doesn’t need 2 years. We’ve put 2 guys through class 2 and class 1 in the last year. To be fair ours is hardly the average driving job, but I wouldn’t do anything else.

This is nice to read it gives us newbies hope. So is it dangerous goods or foodstuff you’re transporting?

Nate187:
This is nice to read it gives us newbies hope. So is it dangerous goods or foodstuff you’re transporting?

I move ADR stuff around in the tanker.
You could consider it a dangerous job, but probably only fractionally more than truck driving in general.
But on the plus side are trucks and trailers are up to scratch, and if I put a defect against something, it won’t move until it’s fixed and signed off by our onsite workshop. Better than the pallet work where they will try and shove you out the yard in a battered old shed without any reversing lights!

Evil,

so have i missed your move to tankers recently? petrol/diesel tankers? How does it feel to stop with a liquid behind you?

Newbie1985:
Done my first shift today but first two hours was picking/sorting parcels ready to load! Wasn’t told this by the agency but just got on with it as I can’t be fussy il take any work as you say to get experience.

Give me a H give me a E give me a R give me a M give me a E give me a S
and what do you get
HERMES been there done that

Priest:
Evil,

so have i missed your move to tankers recently? petrol/diesel tankers? How does it feel to stop with a liquid behind you?

No worries mate!

You don’t really feel the liquid moving, as you’re either full or empty…
I’m currently having more fun with hills, as i’m either a shade under 44t, or 20t. At 44t I crawl up some hills as slow as 15 miles an hour, and going down the other side I’m giving the retarded the max, and also having to use the footbrake!

When I was doing vacuum tankers a while before though, that was fun! As you could have any amount on, and half full was probably the worst. When you braked it obviously surged forward, even with the baffles, and when you took your foot off the brake, it would take a while to settle and make you a touch sea sick at times. Cornering was also dodgy and had to be done very slowly, but it’s all very hard to describe. Fun, but not something you test the limits of…

Evil8Beezle:
I crawl up some hills as slow as 15 miles an hour

It’s also worth mentioning that in my experience as a newbie you don’t necessarily have to limp between jobs to see what suits you best.

Since passing my Class 2 i have been in the fortunate position that all my jobs have been full time employed.I’ve worked on RoRo’s,Foodservice,General and for the last 6 months tippers.I know tippers isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but the works steady,the pays decent and most importantly i ain’t doing silly hours and i’m home every night.Lets just say i’m in no rush to move on.

I know alot depends on the area you live in and how you come across to potential employers but there is full time work available for new passes.

Priest:

Evil8Beezle:
I crawl up some hills as slow as 15 miles an hour

The truck tells me I’m getting 1 mile per gallon at that point!

at this speed you can get some gipsies running along with a pump up your tank

I’d just like to back up what Evil8Beezle has said. After obtaining my class 2 and class 1 back to back 3 years ago I got a full time job straight away with a local company driving artics delivering temp controlled goods. After just 3 months with this firm I joined one of the big four supermarkets where I’m still currently at. Guess I was lucky but I never needed to go down the agency route first. And I’ve only ever driven a rigid a couple of times!

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blue estate:

Newbie1985:
Done my first shift today but first two hours was picking/sorting parcels ready to load! Wasn’t told this by the agency but just got on with it as I can’t be fussy il take any work as you say to get experience.

Give me a H give me a E give me a R give me a M give me a E give me a S
and what do you get
HERMES been there done that

Priest:

Evil8Beezle:
I crawl up some hills as slow as 15 miles an hour

Evil must be driving an ERF with a Gardner 180

carryfast-yeti:

Priest:

Evil8Beezle:
I crawl up some hills as slow as 15 miles an hour

Evil must be driving an ERF with a Gardner 180 [emoji38]

I think you need to get rid of those fire extinguishers you might go a little faster haha

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mdourish:

carryfast-yeti:

Priest:

Evil8Beezle:
I crawl up some hills as slow as 15 miles an hour

Evil must be driving an ERF with a Gardner 180 [emoji38]

I think you need to get rid of those fire extinguishers you might go a little faster haha

Sent from my SM-A300FU using Tapatalk

BeakFreak81:
It’s also worth mentioning that in my experience as a newbie you don’t necessarily have to limp between jobs to see what suits you best.

Since passing my Class 2 i have been in the fortunate position that all my jobs have been full time employed.I’ve worked on RoRo’s,Foodservice,General and for the last 6 months tippers.I know tippers isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but the works steady,the pays decent and most importantly i ain’t doing silly hours and i’m home every night.Lets just say i’m in no rush to move on.

I know alot depends on the area you live in and how you come across to potential employers but there is full time work available for new passes.

Very much so, I live pretty much out in the sticks and there is a couple of firms within a ten minute drive who i’d work for (currently work for one). If I lived about 30 miles from my current address i’d have the choice of probably around 50, but i’m not really into commuting for a job!

I have a job going for someone on fridge if ur interested new driver no problem as long as u give a ■■■■ and turn up when ur meant too!!!