Agency help

[driveress]

How does it all work? I know nothing, but I think this will be my route into work as I want some freedom and flexibility over when I work. I would appreciate the low-down and any advice from anyone who knows. Thank you.

[Swordsy]

Look on indeed or totaljobs or wherever.
Find an agency.
Register.
Do work.
If you like it, carry on. If you dont, choose other work or agency.

[Harry Monk]

If you are new you will generally be offered the dross that no-one else wants, middle-of-the-night phone calls saying "Can you start 30 miles away in half-an-hour?" etc but if you stick with it and get a reputation for turning up and getting the job done without smashing stuff up then you will rise up the pecking order and be able to be more choosy.

[drover]

Just like Harry says above you have to put up with the crap to start with until you get known.

But unless your really looking for ad-hoc work i really wouldn't bother much with agency's right now, plenty of employers will take new passes.

What level of experience have you got?

[Carryfast]

If you are new you will generally be offered the dross that no-one else wants

^ Which obviously also means that the same self entitled elite think that only they have the right to set their own terms and conditions as to when and where and how they work.
Which sort of defeats the object.
The truth is if you intend to stipulate that you only work as and when you want you might as well add getting a fair share of the best quality of the work that might be on offer.There's supposedly a driver shortage so tell them to stuff their pathetic pecking orders where the sun doesn't shine or walk away.

[driveress]

Thank you for your replies

If you are new you will generally be offered the dross that no-one else wants, middle-of-the-night phone calls saying "Can you start 30 miles away in half-an-hour?" etc but if you stick with it and get a reputation for turning up and getting the job done without smashing stuff up then you will rise up the pecking order and be able to be more choosy.

I will be new. How long does it take to rise up the pecking order? I can do the dross, It’s more important to me to be able to work on my terms….

But unless your really looking for ad-hoc work i really wouldn't bother much with agency's right now, plenty of employers will take new passes.

What level of experience have you got?

…so yes, I think I am going to be looking for ad-hoc work because I will want more time away from work than statutory holiday allows. I will not want to work most of the school holidays. In term time I’ll do whatever. I’m sure some people reading this will groan but that’s the work-life balance I require.

I’m 48 so a relatively high level of life/car driving/work experience but zero experience at this.

Is it feasible to get all my work through an agency and work ad-hoc long term?

Do general haulage firms employ drivers on a casual zero hours contract basis? That’s another option, I just don’t know if it exists. I appreciate that most drivers want secure full-time employment, so that’s mostly what’s on offer.

[yourhavingalarf]

Is it feasible to get all my work through an agency and work ad-hoc long term?

Do general haulage firms employ drivers on a casual zero hours contract basis? That’s another option, I just don’t know if it exists. I appreciate that most drivers want secure full-time employment, so that’s mostly what’s on offer.

Yes it...

Is very feasible to get all your work through an agency. Many drivers do nothing else but work the agency circuit.

I have worked for a haulage firm direct on zero hours but, it's a very rare practice.

Take pretty much what ever you get offered providing the money isn't too little. Tell people you have limited experience and they should slot you into work that suits.

Good luck.

[driveress]

If you are new you will generally be offered the dross that no-one else wants

^ Which obviously also means that the same self entitled elite think that only they have the right to set their own terms and conditions as to when and where and how they work.
Which sort of defeats the object.
The truth is if you intend to stipulate that you only work as and when you want you might as well add getting a fair share of the best quality of the work that might be on offer.There's supposedly a driver shortage so tell them to stuff their pathetic pecking orders where the sun doesn't shine or walk away.

I do want to set my own terms and conditions as to when I work. I wouldn’t call that self-entitled and elitist, it’s just what works for me, but maybe you weren’t referring to me and were referring to agencies? I would expect there to be an element of earning your stripes so to speak, in any new career/job/position, so I’m quite prepared for that.

What’s your definition of best quality work, out of interest?

[carlston49]

Agencies need drivers who can cover their busy periods such as June to August when there's a shortage of drivers due to many of them going on holiday.

If you don't want to work the 6 week children's summer holiday, you should still be in demand during the other 7 weeks of that 13 week period.

Most agencies don't ask about a driver's long term plans for their holidays. They usually ask for a driver's availability one week in advance...as in what days and times will you be available.

It's important to tell the agency what days and start times you will be available one week in advance...they will ask you...usually by text message. The normal window for start times is about 4 hours. So you might say I want to start between 3am-7am in the morning, or 1pm-5pm in the afternoon. Don't be tempted to accept shifts outside your normal start time window...as that's a recipe for tiredness and accidents.

What you get depends on what the agency is covering in your area. Having good agency work very much depends on the area.

Look on indeed.co.uk to get an idea of work in your area.

You will need your 3 cards, ie. driver's licence, cpc card, and tacho card. You will need steel toe capped boots, hi-viz vest, gloves, waterproof jacket, pen, paper, phone charger to plug into the cigarette lighter socket on the lorry, mobile, sat-nav, paper towels to wipe mirrors/windows clean, wet-wipes, drinking water and sandwiches.

[Conor]

Is it feasible to get all my work through an agency and work ad-hoc long term?

I've been doing agency for most of the last 26 years so the answer to that is definitely yes.

Do general haulage firms employ drivers on a casual zero hours contract basis?

No. A few have their own in house agencies but mostly its permanent part/full time.

[Carryfast]

If you are new you will generally be offered the dross that no-one else wants

^ Which obviously also means that the same self entitled elite think that only they have the right to set their own terms and conditions as to when and where and how they work.
Which sort of defeats the object.
The truth is if you intend to stipulate that you only work as and when you want you might as well add getting a fair share of the best quality of the work that might be on offer.There's supposedly a driver shortage so tell them to stuff their pathetic pecking orders where the sun doesn't shine or walk away.

I do want to set my own terms and conditions as to when I work. I wouldn’t call that self-entitled and elitist, it’s just what works for me, but maybe you weren’t referring to me and were referring to agencies? I would expect there to be an element of earning your stripes so to speak, in any new career/job/position, so I’m quite prepared for that.

What’s your definition of best quality work, out of interest?

Firstly by self entitled elites I was referring to the 'winners' in the 'pecking order' scam and it arguably applies even moreso in the case of agency work.
While there's no reason as to why that doesn't also include the choice of the best part time shifts and shift patterns.
'Quality' of work is subjective with a few grey areas like Harry describes where local work doesn't always mean loads of 'other duties'.
But taking the idea of pecking orders to the logical conclusion, depending on location, that can mean virtually a constant diet of local retail multi drop and/or building materials deliveries including the job of scaffolding labourer driver.IE not what most of us enter the industry for let alone after upgrading to class 1.
Assuming that you're not prepared to put your foot down regarding the allocation of that type of work among other unattractive jobs, then it's obvious that the agencies will also take it for granted that you'll be prepared to compromise/back down on hours per week as required by the client.
IE regular assignments of local multi drop/building etc type work 5 possibly 6 days a week starting at 7am finish at 6pm somtimes later.Because none of those high up the pecking order will want to take their share of it.
Whatever you do at that point don't say you want to earn your stripes and will do whatever they want you to do.

[Conor]

What’s your definition of best quality work, out of interest?

The best work is "own contract" work. Own Contract is when a company runs its own lorries but doesn't make its money from transport. An example of that would be for example Wren Kitchens who run their own fleet of lorries but their business makes money selling kitchens.

Out of that kind of work logistics companies that provide the logistics for large companies like Tesco, Next etc such as Wincantons or DHL tend to have the better conditions however a lot of neanderthals in this job don't like them because they tend to want you to do the job properly and they bother with things like health and safety - there's a lot of drivers, even on here, who would rather things carried on like they did in the 1970s.

[drover]

Thank you for your replies

If you are new you will generally be offered the dross that no-one else wants, middle-of-the-night phone calls saying "Can you start 30 miles away in half-an-hour?" etc but if you stick with it and get a reputation for turning up and getting the job done without smashing stuff up then you will rise up the pecking order and be able to be more choosy.

I will be new. How long does it take to rise up the pecking order? I can do the dross, It’s more important to me to be able to work on my terms….

But unless your really looking for ad-hoc work i really wouldn't bother much with agency's right now, plenty of employers will take new passes.

What level of experience have you got?

…so yes, I think I am going to be looking for ad-hoc work because I will want more time away from work than statutory holiday allows. I will not want to work most of the school holidays. In term time I’ll do whatever. I’m sure some people reading this will groan but that’s the work-life balance I require.

I’m 48 so a relatively high level of life/car driving/work experience but zero experience at this.

Is it feasible to get all my work through an agency and work ad-hoc long term?

Do general haulage firms employ drivers on a casual zero hours contract basis? That’s another option, I just don’t know if it exists. I appreciate that most drivers want secure full-time employment, so that’s mostly what’s on offer.

Absolutely it's feasible to work long-term ad-hoc through agency.
What you need to do is find a niche industry/company that fits around your requirements.
Admittedly that might be difficult if you want the school holidays off as that is normally the busiest time of year for agency work outside of xmas.

I used to work flat out during the agency peak times (Easter, summer hols, & xmas)and then have months off in-between.

When you get experienced in this industry and get a good rep it's fairly easy to jump from job to job, agency to agency.

Some on here will say all agency work is rubbish & yes it can be very annoying even for experienced drivers but there are good agency's out there it's sometimes just a matter of being in the right place sometimes. Just taking a job at short notice can land you a good little number for years.

Personally I've never done general haulage but the way the job market is it's possible to work part time for companies direct.


Where abouts are you based? That could make a huge difference to the amount of work available to you.. ..

[lolipop]

More than likely the "regular"Drivers will have done the crap jobs,had all the phone calls at stupid times,and now have the chance of doing regular Agency work with a company,but if you want to pick and choose the days and times you want to work then expect the "crap"

[dozy]

Agency have always been fine with me doing 3/4 days a week and having as much time off as I need / like for her holidays / hospitals etc
I’ve upto now never got the crap most of the agency speak of ( I just think that’s them bigging themselves up , trying to make themselves more important than the next agency driver) , the only time I’ve had worse work is compared to the company drivers , that’s fine with me , I’d expect the same myself , but in comparison to other agency from when I started , no same work as them .
Same as this crap about you have to build a reputation , Jesus Christ your only steering a bloody lorry , just get the load from a-b and that’s all they ask for , again drivers bigging them selves up
Best of luck

[yourhavingalarf]

I’ve upto now never got the crap most of the agency speak of

You sure...

About that? I seem to remember you whinging like a little girl that you'd been stitched up again on a Friday and would be out when you wanted to be home.

[Carryfast]

More than likely the "regular"Drivers will have done the crap jobs,had all the phone calls at stupid times,and now have the chance of doing regular Agency work with a company,but if you want to pick and choose the days and times you want to work then expect the "crap"

The building and retail distribution sectors don't work half days or 3 day weeks and if the 'new' driver is there mainly to do the jobs that no one else wants ( agreed ) then no reason to expect that won't also include them often being needed to do crap job assignments on a full time and long term weekly or even for months basis in many cases.
If the 'new' driver is going to put their foot down on shift allocation from the start then might as well include quality of work too because the resulting stand off will be just the same.
IE I just ain't going to work on a scaffold wagon/hiab wagon/18 tonner multi drop etc etc let alone for 5 days per week.Set that out from day 1.
The pecking order scam will only survive so long as it can find the mugs prepared to go along with it and if the reports of a driver shortage are correct that rigged system, of a self entitled elite, who think that only they have the right to the best work, will rightly have to go.

[LazyDriver]

Agencies are big on reputation. The sort of things that make a rep are attendence, whether you turn up and are on time. Accept a shift and no show, will be a guaranteed back of the queue for work.
Damaging vehicles and deliveries may see you barred from certain contracts.
Time you've held your licence will limit you to some jobs too.
Basically, say what you, and do what you say and you should be good.
One more thing, on the list of things you need, include a torch for completing your daily checks during winter. And pens, lots of pens. Until you learn to 'liberate' some...

[Carryfast]

Agency have always been fine with me doing 3/4 days a week and having as much time off as I need / like for her holidays / hospitals etc
I’ve upto now never got the crap most of the agency speak of ( I just think that’s them bigging themselves up , trying to make themselves more important than the next agency driver) , the only time I’ve had worse work is compared to the company drivers , that’s fine with me , I’d expect the same myself , but in comparison to other agency from when I started , no same work as them .
Same as this crap about you have to build a reputation , Jesus Christ your only steering a bloody lorry , just get the load from a-b and that’s all they ask for , again drivers bigging them selves up
Best of luck

It seems that there might be a wide geographic variation in that.
If it's in and around London all bets are off.
It's around at least 80% crap assignments with a laughable pecking order regime for the remaining 20% or less.It's why I walked away from agency work here.
The permanent employed sector isn't/wasn't much different.
While at best no pecking order just means too little decent quality work spread around too many people looking for it it.That applies even driving cars doing trade plating let alone trucks.

[driveress]

Thanks again for the detailed, informative and insightful replies.

Just a few more questions :

they should slot you into work that suits.

What you need to do is find a niche industry/company that fits around your requirements

it's sometimes just a matter of being in the right place sometimes. Just taking a job at short notice can land you a good little number for years.

What I'm getting from these comments is that once I have done a variety of work, found an agency that I like, done some more research, found places I like working and who like me, it's probable that I will end up doing the majority of my work for one or two clients long term. Is that right?

Does "own contract" work also pop up in agencies?

Should register with a few agencies, to get a feel for the good and bad?

Look on indeed.co.uk to get an idea of work in your area

I have a look every now and then and a lot of the jobs are full time, but I do need to do some more thorough research into agencies/local work/own contract companies. I have found one agency (The Best Connection) that says they offer a variety of shifts and that you can pick how many days a week you work, which is advertising work local to me.

Where abouts are you based? That could make a huge difference to the amount of work available to you

I'm based in North Devon in a small town with about 3 hauliers in (almost) walking distance, plus a Jewsons. It looks to me like a lot of the established family firms only employ full timers and don't use agencies. There seems to be lots of agency work out of Exeter, which would be a maximum of an hour commute for me. There are plenty of firms around here - it seems every 10th vehicle on the North Devon link road is an HGV - and there are lots of tippers. There's Gregorys too, who look too good to be true on paper, but are advertising for a casual tramper at £12.31 incl holiday pay, which is £10.20 net, and you did advise

Take pretty much what ever you get offered providing the money isn't too little

Well I know that I haven't been offered this, but his is too little, right?

Basically, say what you, and do what you say and you should be good.

This is me - I hate it when people don't do what they say they're going to do. I have experience of being an employer and having managed some pains, I can say that the last thing I will be is a pain to manage!

I'm looking forward to getting started and I'm sure I will find the right thing for me eventually. Thanks again for helping me on my way.

[Harry Monk]

One thing I found with agency work is that a lot depends on your handler. A good one will listen to your requirements and match you to the right work, a bad one will lie through their teeth to you and do anything to get an assignment filled even if the work is totally unsuitable (e.g. heavy handball loads all day when they know you are in your 60s).

[Carryfast]

One thing I found with agency work is that a lot depends on your handler. A good one will listen to your requirements and match you to the right work, a bad one will lie through their teeth to you and do anything to get an assignment filled even if the work is totally unsuitable

^ That's mostly what it's all about.Bearing in mind that the 'bad' one will also be pressurised by his/her boss based on what and who mostly makes up the agency's client base.
What's needed is for the agency sector to clean up its act by removing the premise on it being seen by clients as a stop gap to fill unattractive jobs.
Some of which can't really even be described as being a part of the 'road transport industry'.They are building/construction trades labouring assignments which just sometimes involve the use of a truck to move materials between sites.
Or others in which the client and the agency will try to circumvent the driver's motivation for even having a class 1 or the old proper class 2 with van/7.5t quality work.
Although it's sometimes possible to find the exception which proves the rule, of 18t work, which is better than some artic jobs.
Distance work, which maximises driving time, combined with 10-12 hours max shift length, is the best way to avoid being lumbered with any dodgy 'other duties'.
If it's local work, especially involving building trades, all bets are off.

[LazyDriver]

Thanks again for the detailed, informative and insightful replies.

Just a few more questions :

There's Gregorys too, who look too good to be true on paper, but are advertising for a casual tramper at £12.31 incl holiday pay, which is £10.20 net, and you did advise

Take pretty much what ever you get offered providing the money isn't too little

Well I know that I haven't been offered this, but his is too little, right?

There's a knee jerk reaction that would say, absolutely. But it's not that simple. If you were based nearer Exeter, then you wouldn't need to consider this as you'd have a much bigger pool of employers chasing a smaller number of drivers. This is the case across the country. But as you say, 2hrs a day spent travelling to this metropolis equates to £20.40 a day or £102 a week that you will have to earn (plus fuel and wear & tear) just to break even with this job. That said, 'causal tramper' seems like they are out to get everything they can from their drivers without giving them too much commitment.
This is the issue of living in an area where employment is scarce. You should try knocking on the door of the family firms. I've found them to have a better understanding of what their employees need. Good luck on your future career.

[driveress]

Thanks LazyDriver

I’ve been self-employed for years - I dread to think what my hourly rate would equate to if I actually sat down and worked it out - so a big part of this process for me is learning how to be employed and not undervaluing my time. At this early stage though, money is not the main driver for me (if you’ll pardon the pun) - getting experience along with getting what I want and keeping everything in balance is, so I’m not going to turn my nose up at an opportunity which is 2 miles away even if the rate seems on the low side, especially as I think it’s single drop. As well as registering with agencies, I will definitely go door knocking.

I’ve already knocked on one door, not because I wanted a job there, because I wanted an insight into the industry and some mentor-ship going through the process from the owner, who I know. I don’t think he believed that I wasn’t asking for a job. We had a lovely chat in his office and at the end he told me to come back when I’ve passed and he might be able to find some 6 wheel tipper work for me, which was really nice of him, don’t get me wrong, but let’s just say it was me doing all the listening. I will keep trying with the family firms though, and the rest, until I find a good fit. Thanks for the advice and good luck wishes.

[SWEDISH BLUE]

I signed on to an agency in Exeter. I told them that I only wanted 2 shifts a week and no handball. This was agreed to and I was doing Fri and Mon/Tues. Start about 14.00. Trailer to midlands, drop/swap and return. It was that easy to arrange as I told them what I wanted and what I was prepared to do. No problems as the rules were set before I did the first shift. And the money was good.

[driveress]

I told them what I wanted and what I was prepared to do

This, it seems, is the key

I realised it was possible to get what you want in this industry after watching one of switchlogic's videos. He basically said "work out what you want and go and get it". I thought I would get crucified on here for wanting to work flexibly and on my terms but I've had some really helpful insights, including yours, thanks.

Would you share the name of the agency you used with me?

[Star down under.]

Driveress, choose carefully from whom you take advice, particularly in this thread.
One poster has no experience in the last quarter century, yet continues to promote a picture of doom and gloom. He has adopted this attitude because he failed in the industry, due to his aversion to physical activity. Do your own research, on this forum and you'll find the recurring, bitter theme.
This industry is no different to any other, there are good and bad jobs, employers and employees.
You'll obviously have to prove yourself, within your parameters, on the bottom rung. Do a decent job and you will progress.
All the best with your endeavours.

[SWEDISH BLUE]

Driveress pm sent

[driveress]

Do your own research, on this forum

Done

[cooper1203]

I have had differing experience with agencys when i was in warehouses there were good and bad jobs. When i got my licence I went to one agency and they messed me around. I quickly learnt that the best way is to approach a company you might like to work for and find out what agency they use. You might not get placed with said company but you can be fairly sure they wont mess you around.