After passing my class 2 with PSTT a few days ago (4 minors, many thanks to Chris and all the staff there!) it is now time to start looking for work.
Are there any recommended agencies (least worst of the bunch?) in the Bucks/Aylesbury area?
I’ll be waiting till i have my licence/CPC/tacho before applying for work, hopefully within a week or two!
You could try driving an HGV Class 2 dustcart for a year and then moving on to HGV Class 1.
Driving a dust cart for a local council is an easier job than it may seem. You aren’t doing difficult Class 2 multi-drop with often no where to park, and you aren’t doing ridiculously long 15 hour days. Probably about 9 hour days on the dustcarts.
I know someone who did this for a year, and he’s now on Class 1. He said it was the easiest job that he had ever done.
Here’s one in Hemel Hempstead paying £12/hour on PAYE
carlston49:
You could try driving an HGV Class 2 dustcart for a year and then moving on to HGV Class 1.Driving a dust cart for a local council is an easier job than it may seem. You aren’t doing difficult Class 2 multi-drop with often no where to park, and you aren’t doing ridiculously long 15 hour days. Probably about 9 hour days on the dustcarts.
I know someone who did this for a year, and he’s now on Class 1. He said it was the easiest job that he had ever done.
Here’s one in Hemel Hempstead paying £12/hour on PAYE
I would second the suggestion of dustcart work but NOT for a council. It will be agency and the work is pretty mundane just driving forward, stopping, etc down roads whilst the loaders do the bins.
I did commercial dustcart work for 3.5 months and it was one of my best jobs - you work on your own and do the loading. Contact Biffa, Veolia and the like.
Good chance to look at other businesses and possible driving jobs - as you will be visiting commercial premises to empty their bins. Some will be cardboard runs, general waste, plastics etc. Bins will be in the most awkward places and you will have your reversing skills certainly put to the test.
One place I went to I had to reverse down a slope with about 2ft spare either side with a line of new cars, and then do a 90 deg turn at the bottom missing other new cars by about 6" before arriving at the garage where the bins were stored. I certainly sweated a bit the first few days! But I learnt more about manoeuvring a large rigid than I did in any other job.
I’d happily go back and do the job tomorrow. I got about 2-3 hrs overtime per day which you would not get with the council.
greendiff:
After passing my class 2 with PSTT a few days ago (4 minors, many thanks to Chris and all the staff there!) it is now time to start looking for work.Are there any recommended agencies (least worst of the bunch?) in the Bucks/Aylesbury area?
I’ll be waiting till i have my licence/CPC/tacho before applying for work, hopefully within a week or two!
Congrats on passing !
Each agency office is run differently to others so unless you know the actual office, it can be hard to recommend.
I’m nowhere near your area, but I’ve had success with Manpower and The Best Connection agencies in the past. - Both will offer PAYE payment options if that suits you.
ExtraStaff and PerTemps are worth looking into, too. Personally I wouldn’t touch DriverHire with a barge pole but other drivers in different offices have had some success with them
Post a CV up on CV Library and Indeed website and include what type of work you want on your account and you’ll find smaller agencies contacting you for work here and there too.
There is nothing wrong with signing up to multiple agencies and almost encouraged, while you figure out which are good for you and which are a waste of time. You can also carry out work with different agencies in the same week - Nothing barring you from doing that if neither can offer you full time work at this time of year.
It sometimes helps to tell the odd white lie - For example you’ve been helping moving a horsebox around for a mate etc- So where as it wasn’t paid work, being in a bigger vehicle isn’t totally alien to you 
This appears to be the quietest January-March period for a long time on agency, so don’t be surprised if it is quiet.
This might be of interest, as it mentions training, they are more likely to be taking on newer drivers - I’ve no idea what the work would be like though : thebestconnection.co.uk/jobs/lg … /BEHGV0009
No need for white lies in my situation thankfully, i spent many years (10k plus miles) towing a 8m long 2 ton caravan, also the odd xlwb van and an A class motorhome, so i have some experience with larger vehicles -worth mentioning something like that on my CV?
I have my CE in around 2 months, so until then i like the idea of agency work to experience various jobs to get an idea of what i would like to do - once i have recieved my licence and cards i will sign up with various agencies, and also post my CV on jobsites - not something i thought of - thanks.
I’m aware of this being a quiet time, so fully expect not to be engulfed with offers of work!
Looking through some ads i see PAYE or LTD pay rates - LTD usually being higher - opinions on this as well please?
I would absolutely mention it, as you’ll stand out vs the other new passes who have only driven a Transit as it’s all semi-relevant experience - Especially if you know how to use a tacho too. (No idea where I saw cranes 
)
PAYE gets you Statutory Sick Pay, Sick Pay and Holiday and simpler tax situation.
Ltd Company does away with all of those and means you are responsible for your own employee and employer taxes. You can claim somethings back like mileage if you have a savvy accountant but for £2 more per hour, in my opinion, it isn’t worth it. You would also need to know how to avoid IR35 Regs and operate outside of them.
I found CV Library and Indeed the most useful. Reed, Monster and Total Jobs didn’t do much for me. Occasionally smaller companies might advertise on Gumtree for temp jobs as it is free for them I believe?