First 3 months as an Agency Driver

Got my Class 2 licence in January, waited for it to come back then contacted 2 agencies in Feb - One of which has kept me in near constant work from day one.

Weeks 1 to 7

Driving an 3.5T flatbed with tail-lift for a plant hire company. Also involved towing a braked trailer (with a road roller or excavator sat on it). Got loads of practice reversing trailers which ain’t going to hurt when I go for my Class 1.

Everyone was friendly and the other drivers would help show me best way to do stuff - e.g. when loading and strapping down particular items.

Customers were generally builders - typically pretty laid back always helped you load / unload and rarely moaned if something was late (probably 'cause most days they’ll just be happy if it’s not raining.)

After 7 weeks felt at home and wondered about a permanent job there. Ok so I still hadn’t driven the Class of vehicle i’d just paid 2 grand to get a licence for, but they did also run Class 2 vehicles…

I suppose some would not have wanted the job, but I think it’s best to not look a gift horse in the mouth when starting out. Enjoyed myself, learned a fair amount (e.g. reversing / strapping stuff down / using a Tacho) and I got 7 weeks pay out of it.

Weeks 8 and 9

Drove four different Class 2 Dafs for Matthew Clarks (drinks delivery to pubs / hotels / cafes).

Staff are generally a good bunch, you will need a reasonable amount of strength and fitness. I enjoyed the physical aspect of the job - viewed it as a free gym.

You are not officially expected to lift barrels - circa 50kg - which should be rolled off the side of the truck onto a mat and then generally stood upright to accept a specialised sackcart, however - the guys would often lift another barrel onto the first one on the sack cart…they get paid the same whether they are out for 6 hours or 10 so naturally some like to speed up the job.

Moving the cases of wine and bottled lagers/ ciders etc - the sackcarts were typically loaded to circa 90/100kgs, ok if you are on the flat, but some cellars and first floor bars are stairs access only. Strength is one thing, but just trying to control all that weight when lifting or dropping a sackcart up/down stairs requires technique also, the main reason I always took a few cases less where stairs were concerned as I didn’t want to be responsible for 60 bottles of wine all over the floor.

Vehicles were curtainsiders and I always had a driver’s mate. Bottles / cans generally shrink wrapped on a pallet but otherwise unrestrained , barrels could be single or double stacked and no load restraints :open_mouth:

I think all the vehicles had air suspension (as I suspect that otherwise there would be alot more breakages - barrels flying into bottles etc.). 99% of the time nothing really moved (and some of the runs were on rural B roads) but I had one memorable moment entering / exiting a roundabout where a barrel dropped and then came to rest against the curtain (making a VOSA - baiting sized bulge) so we hastily pulled over while my driver’s mate climbed in and sorted it out.

Although all DAFs, the contrast between the different trucks was interesting.

Day one was in a LF 14.5t Auto (8.5m long) so a nice easy start.

Day two was a 7 year old manual LF 18 tonner and the first thing that struck me on the winding road out of the depot at 7am (when I’m not at my best) was that I had got used to an autobox choosing an appropriate gear, so there’s a fair bit more to think about and 6th probably aint the best choice if you are fully loaded and entering a sharp curve.
I’m used to manual cars, but when you’ve ten times the weight of car, then correct gear selection is probably about ten times as important :wink: By the end of the day (and now around 8 tonnes lighter) I’d grown to like having a manual box, at least as soon as you dump the clutch you’re off, I find Autos can take half a second or so from when you boot it to actually start moving which can be a problem when trying to join a busy roundabout.

Day 3 and I was in a 16 plate LF 18t Auto which handled better fully loaded than the manual 18 tonner did empty ! Barely any nose dive braking for a roundabout with a 9 tonne load, very different to the day before and also much more controlled through the bends.

Day 6■■? in a CF, didn’t like the mirrors as much but it sounded good - fair bit more powerful methinks!

Week 10

Back at Clarks, told I’m down to be a driver’s mate, I refuse, so sent home. If I’d had a bit more notice, might have reached a different decision, but I want to get driving experience not passenger experience (I accept you can probably learn a thing or two as a passenger) i’m also not that keen on being at the mercy of some unknown who for all I know is hungover, sleep deprived and has an attitude problem…

I phone the agency, they phone clarks and i’m back there for two more days - driving - then that’s it (probably for good now !)

Friday, do a day of multidrop palletwork with a MAN 26 tonne curtainsider (auto), which felt huge after the LFs / was low on fuel leaving the depot and 2 miles later (round about the time I came to the first long descent) informed me it had a brake fault :open_mouth: .

Started at 8.00am finished at 18.30 and WOW felt a real achievement to not hit anything, get lost, run out of fuel and to get MOST of the drops done. Hardest days work I’ve done to date driving. Made me realise how easy Clarks was in comparison (where you always start with a full tank of fuel filled on site / you are doing established routes your driver’s mate knows inside out and within a minute of pulling up on a drop he’s already got the curtain back and the first barrel off !

With this gig, it’ s mostly all down to you, about half of the pallets were taken off the side with a forklift, the other half you are manhandling them onto the tail lift with a pallet truck. The depot had told me where to fill up (was relieved to find it) half of the drops were to private addresses in rural villages, amazing the narrow roads you can squeeze a truck that big down and still find room to turn around when needed :slight_smile:

Week 11

did a day in a 66 plate Iveco Eurocargo curtainsider, nice to have a shiny new truck but felt a bit basic compared to the DAFs and the MAN. Easy job though, just drive 50 miles get unloaded by forklift, drive 70 miles, reverse onto a bay, get loaded, drive 40 miles back to depot.

did a day delivering roof trusses in a MAN 7.5t (10 metres long) - 3 drops. No-one at the 2nd drop, unloaded them myself (25kg each) a bit awkward at 20 or so feet long and with a car to squeeze them past ! Last drop was a remote farm, trying to turn round on a single track road maybe 6 inches off a stone wall at the front, the (small compared to a Class 2 vehicle) front tyres sink into the grass verge, the vehicle lurches forward and I smack the front bumper on the wall :open_mouth:
Had to give up on that manouevre in the end, reversed it half a mile back to a T junction instead.

Friday was more mutidrop pallet work - same company as before but this time in a 56 plate Renault 7.5 tonner with the worlds sloppiest manual gearchange and a chassis that felt a bit all - over the road, i’m thinking the wheel alignment must have been out. On the plus side, most of the drops were in my hometown /and well it aint a 26 tonner, so a much easier day than the previous friday. Last drop of the day I took bit too literally, erm, dropped a bulk bag of soil straight off the back of the tail-lift :blush: I think I had the pallet truck pumped up too high, best to have it JUST at the point of moving with anything heavy. The two gardeners I was delivering to were completely unconcerned - they were going to have to shovel it into their wheelbarrow anyway - LOL !

Week 12

A week of delivering steel in 4 year old Merc 18 tonners (one with a HIAB, one without) apart from the part when I stumbled on the bed of the truck and could have fallen off the side far and away my best week yet - loved every moment (well apart from the moment i’ve just described obviously).

Nice trucks to drive, loved the control afforded by the slick 6 speed manual box and loved the extra control you get with the engine brake (once I’d discovered where it was, which took untill the wednesday :blush: ). The one with the HIAB I found a bit nicer to drive, I think the extra two tonnes at the front made the front of the truck feel a bit more planted on the road.

What made it such a great week ?

Well the steel delivery aspect was interesting (and i think I’ve already decided I prefer flatbeds to curtainsiders As i like the feeling of being up on the back in the open air while adjusting your straps etc.) but there’s no guarantee that delivering steel around london in january would be as good. I was driving in a week of great weather through national park quality scenery on largely deserted rural roads delivering to farms and the like - discovering tucked away places in stunning locations and revelling in controlling an 18 tonne truck on roads that don’t seem quite built for it.

week 13

Took a break this week - that’s how I’ve found the time and energy to write this.

Now edited down as was overlong (and probably still is :slight_smile: )

Apologies to anyone who tried to get to the end of the original

Great read, encouraging to read about having plenty of work. I’m at the start of learning to drive, long way off my licence. I’m in full time work and the prospect of giving it up to go agency to get driving experience makes me twitchy.

Mates in the trade tell me there’s plenty of work and your experience certainly makes me feel less twitchy.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Good read, and shows there is work out there is you have the right attitude.
Mine had been similar, I’ve had a rocky ride since passing but have been at the same place for nearly two months now.

Thanks for the comments, nice to know I’ve provided a bit of encouragement, as plenty of posts on here have done the same for me.

Wasn’t working back in August when I decided to go for this - so in a sense I had nothing to loose. Probably harder to make the leap from a full time job.

Think I was pretty lucky to drop onto a 7 week stint 3 miles from my house the week after I signed up - (which actually required a B+E licence). I met another driver with my agency who was less happy with the amount of work he’d been getting (back in March) but he didn’t have B+E and I suppose in Jan / Feb there is typically less work around.

Already got another 4 days Class 2 lined up at a place that preferred experience of dray work (beer barrels).

Shows that once you are a couple of months in you are already more employable - and seems to agree with Thehig’s experience.

KTMrider:
Thanks for the comments, nice to know I’ve provided a bit of encouragement, as plenty of posts on here have done the same for me.

Wasn’t working back in August when I decided to go for this - so in a sense I had nothing to loose. Probably harder to make the leap from a full time job.

Think I was pretty lucky to drop onto a 7 week stint 3 miles from my house the week after I signed up - (which actually required a B+E licence). I met another driver with my agency who was less happy with the amount of work he’d been getting (back in March) but he didn’t have B+E and I suppose in Jan / Feb there is typically less work around.

Already got another 4 days Class 2 lined up at a place that preferred experience of dray work (beer barrels).

Shows that once you are a couple of months in you are already more employable - and seems to agree with Thehig’s experience.

I started out with 2-3 days per week at the most, u til recently I got a 6 month contract with the airport.
Great job, half decent pay one the contract ends I’ll have nearly a years experience and it will be a busier time of year.

IronEddie:
Great read, encouraging to read about having plenty of work. I’m at the start of learning to drive, long way off my licence. I’m in full time work and the prospect of giving it up to go agency to get driving experience makes me twitchy.

Mates in the trade tell me there’s plenty of work and your experience certainly makes me feel less twitchy.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Loads of work out there m8

The ones that tell you that there is not are the ones who want their ar se stuck to a seat all day whilst refusing to lift anything heavier than the Mars bar or twix that they are constantly shoving down their fat lazy throats :wink:

I take my hat off to you mate, there’s no way I could work like that or do that work!

I have zero interest in class 2 and am allergic to hard work to boot! I also don’t deal with uncertainty very well. So I went the predictable route - to a firm big enough to take newbies and class 1 only work. I love it, minimal load interaction, fairly simple routes and get left alone to get on with it. It’s perfect for me, but for people who get bored easily it’s the wrong job.

Have been on agency doing pretty much the same as you, have started getting ■■■■■■ off with it tbh. They quite often have me at Antalis, which is mainly deliveries to big print factories, although you do get the odd awkward small town shop to deliver to. Got used to their routes, I just stay out of North Devon. But then every now and then the agency has me out on some ballache job (like foodservice which I now flat out refuse to do) which I don’t want to do, gives me incorrect addresses for them, incorrect times, etc etc. Got offered a fulltime cluster driver job for Jewsons through the agency but changed my mind as it’s FAR too local. Not worth the woeful wages and wants a drivers’ mate.

Did you find after so long you were beginning to tire of it, or just been finding it good the whole way through?

Great diary KTM, like you I love variety and not knowing what I’m driving next. Done a few C1 shifts myself since passing in between the Cs, if nothing else it’s gotten me into using digi tacho’s, but like you I prefer the challenge of the big stuff. If I ever earn enough might go CE!
Keep it up and safe driving!

slowlane:
I take my hat off to you mate, there’s no way I could work like that or do that work!

I have zero interest in class 2 and am allergic to hard work to boot! I also don’t deal with uncertainty very well. So I went the predictable route - to a firm big enough to take newbies and class 1 only work. I love it, minimal load interaction, fairly simple routes and get left alone to get on with it. It’s perfect for me, but for people who get bored easily it’s the wrong job.

Thanks. I’m really just taking each day as it comes and doing what I can to gain experience. I’ll try anything at least once. My training school recommended I got some experience on Class 2 before going for Class 1 (which I want to do, simply because with both licences you have more options) and my wife was completely fed up with her being the sole wage earner, so I didn’t feel that trying to go straight to Class 1 was the way forward - especially if I didn’t pass first time :unamused:

spacemanZ10:
Great diary KTM, like you I love variety and not knowing what I’m driving next. Done a few C1 shifts myself since passing in between the Cs, if nothing else it’s gotten me into using digi tacho’s, but like you I prefer the challenge of the big stuff. If I ever earn enough might go CE!
Keep it up and safe driving!

Yeah the variety is great (been getting to grips with a 4 over 4 gearbox this week) and although the little 3.5T Isuzu flatbed I drove for the plant hire company was kinda fun for a while, it was no real challenge of course.

iomex:
Did you find after so long you were beginning to tire of it, or just been finding it good the whole way through?

Funny really, If I’d answered that question on Thursday I probably would have said it’s been pretty good the whole way through, but then yesterday the prospect of being driven by a stranger came from straight out of the blue again and - for a moment - I thought [zb] perhaps it’s about time I knocked this agency lark on the head and got myself a regular job where I could be more sure of what I was going into each day.

That’s the thing with variety - sometimes it’s the sort you don’t want.

As it happens I did do all the driving yesterday and after I’d spent a few hours with the guy was pretty confident I wouldn’t have had an issue splitting the driving with him as originally suggested, but the prospect of getting a regular job where I can be more confident of what will be asked of me each day is starting to look more appealing.

iomex:
Have been on agency doing pretty much the same as you, have started getting ■■■■■■ off with it tbh. They quite often have me at Antalis, which is mainly deliveries to big print factories, although you do get the odd awkward small town shop to deliver to. Got used to their routes, I just stay out of North Devon. But then every now and then the agency has me out on some ballache job (like foodservice which I now flat out refuse to do) which I don’t want to do, gives me incorrect addresses for them, incorrect times, etc etc. Got offered a fulltime cluster driver job for Jewsons through the agency but changed my mind as it’s FAR too local. Not worth the woeful wages and wants a drivers’ mate.

Not had too many issues with incorrect addresses / finding places so far (and most of those were in the 3.5T so much less of a ballache anyway). Best mate has driven for Jewsons for years, suits him 'cause it’s sensible hours & a 10 minute drive away (and he’s got better hours and pay than a newbie) but he’s pretty jealous when I tell him some of the far flung places I’ve been getting to !

Congratulations, you’ve made it on to my Newbie Limpers recommended list! :sunglasses:

Great post on the benefits of limping as a Newbie, and how it gives you a variety of work, to see what suits you…

And yes, we’ve all had our moments, as that’s how we all learn. :wink: ( The test means [zb] all! :laughing:)
Accidents and scrapes happen, but being a liability or careless driver is another thing.
It’s what defines you having a safe weeks work/limp at a previous firm if you ever want it! :open_mouth:

You should abuse agencies as well! :grimacing:
If class 1 is your goal, target a sector that runs artic’s as well such as pallets, it worked for me…
As already said, I’m also lazy so went quickly to class 1, so wouldn’t have driven some of your toy trucks! :wink:

To add to what you’ve said, Newbies entering the industry should appreciate that there is a wide variety of work in the industry!
But most want too many hours of your life for the reward. :imp:
The rest that are more sociable, don’t tend to pay so well… :cry:

Don’t want to sound negative, and I understand your enthusiasm with the job.
I’m just suggesting you target good pay and T&C’s, for the hours…
It’s what I’m still limping for! :open_mouth:

Best of luck pal, and thanks again for a great post to help others… :smiley: