Pat, Im sure you can answer this my mate just got his class 2 and wants to gain experiance and get a little work from a agency on his time off from shift work, is there much work for a newly qualified driver?
What is the wage from an agency roughly?
What are the hours?
Is it worth getting a HGV license to earn some extra cash?
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So many questions:)
Everyone from insurance companies to agencies will be wary of a newly qualified driver, however agencies and summer holiday periods are the times to start to earn a reputation for yourself of being competent and available at short notice.
The hours vary immensly but usually agencies will guarantee an 8 hour paid shift if you are called out but any shift can be 15 hours long.
It can be days ( 1am-4pm start) or nights and it's best negotiated with the agency what hours you're prepared to do.
It is almost always short notice and expect to have a bag packed and be at work within a couple of hours of a phone call at the beginning until you can afford to be choosy!
Wages vary with contracts and location but £7 per hour minimum upwards depending on weekends/nights/bank holidays for premium payments.
And in answer to your last question........NO:)
Reason 1
You will end up loving it and get itchy feet causing you to get a divorce and give up the day job:)
Reason 2
This is the serious one.
Any work done in your regular job counts as 'other work' for the tachograph regulations so you then have to comply with daily and weekly rest periods even though you are not driving. Don't think because it's a different employer, VOSA won't find out.......they will.
Reason 3
There are so many older, time served lorry drivers out of work this last couple of years, that it is so much harder for a newly qualified driver to get a start.
Reason 4
It will cost around £2000 to get your class 2 training and tests and around another £200 for a licence/medical and digi card.
IMHO too much outlay for too little return unless it's something you really want to do for life.
Hope this helps, just ask away with anymore questions!
Pat
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And most agencies will expect you to have your own Sat-Nav!!
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Or a full set of A to Z's and you supply your own work gloves.:)
I thought I hid my opinion of HGV Agencies pretty well in my post, perhaps not:)
Pat
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Thanks Pat.
He used to go out with his dad as a kid in the school holidays and i think had another mid life crisis to get the class 2 license which he now has is other was a vespa!
My days off are spent sunbathing not working anymore 12hr shifts enough of them here!!
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If you're young, I have a feeling you can get it paid for through a government scheme. They covered every expense, and will even pay for a re-test if you fail the first one. My sister did hers with a company called TransPlant Mastertrain (it is a driving school, not a college for amateur surgeons), and now drives huge horseboxes.
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There have been various schemes to finance it in the past and one was to encourage more females into the industry and so only available to women, which was quite wrong. That particular scheme resulted in a lot of female HGV licence holders who have never turned a wheel since their test. Had it been open to men as well, I'd like to bet a large number of them would have made a career of it.
The Welsh Assembly currently have some grants for training if you're a resident and of course if you've been unemployed for a long time sometimes you can get it funded.
Despite all this though, you still have to get that elusive experience to actually get employed, and it's harder at the moment than it's ever been.
Pat
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HGV Working.................... - Pat
