looking to get back into driving after 7 years absence. Tried to join a certain agency and was told I need 180 days driving in the last 24 months,I have been honest and told them due to circumstances recently I was unable to drive but everything ok now.I have had my h.g.v. for nearly 15 years and drivin constantly for 8 years,but apparently that doesn’t count.To my disbelief I was told that come christmas they will overlook that rule,as all agencies do.
Thinking now that they will use this rule when it suites,and therefore breaks the employment laws?.
What area are you in ?
I had a very similar experience.I 've a class 1 since 1991,no points and ADR but for the last 9 years I have been driving a 6 wheeler.I enquired at my local agency about doing every other Saturday,keeping my hours legal and earning some extra cash.They would only offer me class 2 work because of this bizarre 180 day rule.Apparently many so called ‘blue chip’ companies insist on this but it was mid recession and i suspect it will be overlooked when it gets busier.A colleague of mine tried a different agency and didn’t have the same problem.So I suppose you just have to shop around.
Im in the glasgow area.Sorry to hear you had the same experience.
So let me thicken the plot,under employment law it states u cannot discriminate,yet if a driver has been driving 20 years then has trouble with his health,it takes 2 years to sort his problem out he is then fit to work but yet he is unemployable because of this rule (when it suits).It should not matter whether he has 180 days driving or not,he has proved himself over 20 years.This is another piece of ground they are trying to steal from under our feet and it looks like we just let them.
As I recall years ago you had to get your employer to confirm that you had driven regularly during the life of the licence. I think this applied to PSV licences. This requirement was abolished years ago and therefore to insist that you have recent experience is I think unreasonable.
I passed my class one in 1979 and didn’t drive a max weight artic until 1996, I had no problems getting work then and between 2001 and 2008 I didn’t drive an artic and again I got the first job that I applied for.
Keep on trying someone will give you a chance just a case of finding them.
Thanks for advice.But this is insurance companies telling the driving industry who to employ and when.There is a reason why I will not drive an artic for£8-9 an hour is because like the business I have running costs too and cannot afford to provide what they want for the money they pay.I have herd that according to the transport industry it is short of 24000 drivers?.
Some unscrupulous people might lie to the agency and tell them they have been driving consistently for the last 180 days, some particularly devious individuals right even read Commercial Motor to find out who’s gone bust lately, and pretend to the agency they’d been driving for them, in the knowledge that this information could not be verified either way.
Rusty spring:
I have herd that according to the transport industry it is short of 24000 drivers?.
If that was true wages would be considerably more than £8-9 p/h for class 1 work.
Harry Monk:
Some unscrupulous people might lie to the agency and tell them they have been driving consistently for the last 180 days, some particularly devious individuals right even read Commercial Motor to find out who’s gone bust lately, and pretend to the agency they’d been driving for them, in the knowledge that this information could not be verified either way.
If they have a digi card then that should confirm what they say.
waddy640:
If they have a digi card then that should confirm what they say.
Unfortunately all the fleet were fitted with analogue tachos, and all the discs were in the possession of the now defunct employer! Just spent the last 28 days looking for new work.
Rusty spring:
Thanks for advice.But this is insurance companies telling the driving industry who to employ and when.There is a reason why I will not drive an artic for£8-9 an hour is because like the business I have running costs too and cannot afford to provide what they want for the money they pay.I have herd that according to the transport industry it is short of 24000 drivers?.
Presumably these are the same insurance companies that insist upon 2 years experience.
If both these points are fact then how do they then change the rules in the run up to Christmas. I think that it is something thought up by the agencies and employers rather than the insurers.
waddy640:
Rusty spring:
Thanks for advice.But this is insurance companies telling the driving industry who to employ and when.There is a reason why I will not drive an artic for£8-9 an hour is because like the business I have running costs too and cannot afford to provide what they want for the money they pay.I have herd that according to the transport industry it is short of 24000 drivers?.Presumably these are the same insurance companies that insist upon 2 years experience.
If both these points are fact then how do they then change the rules in the run up to Christmas. I think that it is something thought up by the agencies and employers rather than the insurers.
No insurance companies insist on 2 years or 180 days in last two years . They just charge more to accommodate these . It’s the haulier that doesn’t want to pay the extra premiums or enhanced excesses
Rusty spring:
Im in the glasgow area.Sorry to hear you had the same experience.
So let me thicken the plot,under employment law it states u cannot discriminate,yet if a driver has been driving 20 years then has trouble with his health,it takes 2 years to sort his problem out he is then fit to work but yet he is unemployable because of this rule (when it suits).It should not matter whether he has 180 days driving or not,he has proved himself over 20 years.This is another piece of ground they are trying to steal from under our feet and it looks like we just let them.
Employment law says you can’t discriminate between people because of their age, race, ■■■■■■ orientation or gender, and even these categories have exceptions. It says nothing about people of different skill levels or experience, recent or otherwise.
ezydriver:
Rusty spring:
I have herd that according to the transport industry it is short of 24000 drivers?.If that was true wages would be considerably more than £8-9 p/h for class 1 work.
I don’t believe that we’re short 24000 drivers for a minute. All these surveys are done by asking employers what their current vacancies are, and that includes agencies. Agencies make up figures in order to try and tempt more people into the industry, making them believe that there is work everywhere. They take the view that they can never have enough people on the books, just to cover every eventuality. If they have placements for 100 drivers, they want 200 drivers to cover them, just in case.
These agency rules make me laugh. I’ve just done some work for one in the north east, all set up on the phone and by me emailing copies of my licences, digi card & dqc card. No proof of driving, they never asked, no,proof I’ve even used my licence. Been out with a couple of young lads just starting out, one is 20 the other 22, one has mods 2 & 4 & his DCPC, the other has nothing! Both came out of the army recently so have no commercial driving experience & had never driven a class 1 since passing their tests.
Agencies have always been the same, when they need to fill a slot their rules go out the window.
If you are told that you need experience of whatever figure they say, because the insurers insist upon it, then ask who the insurers are. If they tell you then phone and ask them what their rules are. The odds are the agency will decline to name them.
Harry Monk:
Some unscrupulous people might lie to the agency and tell them they have been driving consistently for the last 180 days, some particularly devious individuals right even read Commercial Motor to find out who’s gone bust lately, and pretend to the agency they’d been driving for them, in the knowledge that this information could not be verified either way.
brilliant as per.
waddy640:
Harry Monk:
Some unscrupulous people might lie to the agency and tell them they have been driving consistently for the last 180 days, some particularly devious individuals right even read Commercial Motor to find out who’s gone bust lately, and pretend to the agency they’d been driving for them, in the knowledge that this information could not be verified either way.If they have a digi card then that should confirm what they say.
Those digi cards are notoriously fragile things…
all depend from day.one day agency gay can said-you must have this expirience or this.next week may be they call and ask you come to work.and some time one agency have plenty client.for some client they can sent with out exp.for some client they sent people who have at least…
They would like recent proff of driving to help back them up ( mainly accidents )
There are jobs out there but you have to go look I have been offered 3 in the lat mth all full time with companies that have been going for a while pay decent for the area