Hi
I would like some advice please
I have been working for a few agencies over the last couple of months and also working a few day for a local company. The local company asked me a few weeks ago to go full time but casual with them which I said yes too. I now am getting a bit pressured from management to take out trucks that have got problems with them and things missing. The management don’t seem that bothered about getting them repaired. I am enjoying the job but don’t want to risk my licence. Do you think I should leave and either look for another job or go back to agency work.
akhurst1234:
Hi
I would like some advice please
I have been working for a few agencies over the last couple of months and also working a few day for a local company. The local company asked me a few weeks ago to go full time but casual with them which I said yes too. I now am getting a bit pressured from management to take out trucks that have got problems with them and things missing. The management don’t seem that bothered about getting them repaired. I am enjoying the job but don’t want to risk my licence. Do you think I should leave and either look for another job or go back to agency work.
I personally think thats easy to answer. Would you rather loose your licence or not? If yes, stay where you are and keep taking broken trucks out on the road. If the answer is no, then go back to the agency. 
at the end of the day if you get caught driving with a defect that was known and get pulled its down to you and they will prob just drop you in it. if its defective and they tell you to take it out put fault in your defect book and get someone in authority to sign it saying its ok if they wont then dont take it out.
They’re pressurising you 'cos your’e a novice and possibly desperate for work.
Don’t do it, you paid a lot of money to get a vocational license. Don’t lower your standards for cowboys with knackered trucks as they certainly wont stand by you if you get pulled over.
Easy answer… Days earnings IRO £100■■ - possible fines for faults = wages earned.
You might get lucky, you might never get pulled, you might be fine… BUT…
You can still stay on for them, but make it clear you won’t be risking a fine or your licence and if you turn up and they try to force you out in a faulty vehicle, they’ll still be getting billed whilst you’re home on the PS3.
It’s upto you pal, you know the rights and wrongs, and you know the risk vs reward.
Thanks for the advice guys I had already have planned to leave just wanted some others to confirm to me that I am doing the right thing. The management have really round me up when I reported the fault with the current truck I got the reply what do you want me to do about it. This company is really penny pinching. I plan on telling them tomorrow.
akhurst1234:
Thanks for the advice guys I had already have planned to leave just wanted some others to confirm to me that I am doing the right thing. The management have really round me up when I reported the fault with the current truck I got the reply what do you want me to do about it. This company is really penny pinching. I plan on telling them tomorrow.
Its an easier decision to make if you know you have another job to go to. Good Luck and I personally think you are doing the right thing. 
What sort of defcets we talking about??
Gembo:
What sort of defcets we talking about??[/quote
+1
One of the truck which i am not driving but somebody else is has tyre defects.
The truck I have been given has the fuel cap missing and was given some cling film and a couple of elastic bands by management as they can’t be bothered to replace it. I have brought out of my own money a fuel filler cap just having a problem fitting it at the moment so I can keep my self legal.
Buy a box of spanners you ungrateful wretch and get those trucks fixed! Bloody newbies won’t turn a hand these days… 
akhurst1234:
One of the truck which i am not driving but somebody else is has tyre defects.
The truck I have been given has the fuel cap missing and was given some cling film and a couple of elastic bands by management as they can’t be bothered to replace it. I have brought out of my own money a fuel filler cap just having a problem fitting it at the moment so I can keep my self legal.
Yep, thats bad 
Gembo:
akhurst1234:
One of the truck which i am not driving but somebody else is has tyre defects.
The truck I have been given has the fuel cap missing and was given some cling film and a couple of elastic bands by management as they can’t be bothered to replace it. I have brought out of my own money a fuel filler cap just having a problem fitting it at the moment so I can keep my self legal.Yep, thats bad
Agreed, a tyre fault is a good fine + POINTS, and that’s assuming you just get pulled and it doesn’t shred and kill someones … wait for it … child 
Missing fuel cap is probably just a fine, but combine it with a full tank and a few round abouts or corners, then picture the motorbike that takes the corner after you… Well, you don’t have to, I’ll post the pic…
But not tonight, cause I can’t find it, must be on 1 of my drives that’s not in, but let’s just say that the side of my bike was a mess, and the side of me much worse and time off work plus nobody to claim off, because someone thought it was ok ■■■■■■■ diesel all over the road 
waynedl:
Gembo:
akhurst1234:
One of the truck which i am not driving but somebody else is has tyre defects.
The truck I have been given has the fuel cap missing and was given some cling film and a couple of elastic bands by management as they can’t be bothered to replace it. I have brought out of my own money a fuel filler cap just having a problem fitting it at the moment so I can keep my self legal.Yep, thats bad
Agreed, a tyre fault is a good fine + POINTS, and that’s assuming you just get pulled and it doesn’t shred and kill someones … wait for it … child
Missing fuel cap is probably just a fine, but combine it with a full tank and a few round abouts or corners, then picture the motorbike that takes the corner after you… Well, you don’t have to, I’ll post the pic…
But not tonight, cause I can’t find it, must be on 1 of my drives that’s not in, but let’s just say that the side of my bike was a mess, and the side of me much worse and time off work plus nobody to claim off, because someone thought it was ok ■■■■■■■ diesel all over the road
I nearly lost my ■■■■■■■ truck on a diesel covered road last winter, was like steering on ice, lost all feel through the wheel, and i was going down hill. i ■■■■ myself for a second i tell ya! Plod closed the road shortly after.
waynedl:
Missing fuel cap is probably just a fine, but combine it with a full tank and a few round abouts or corners, then picture the motorbike that takes the corner after you… Well, you don’t have to, I’ll post the pic…But not tonight, cause I can’t find it, must be on 1 of my drives that’s not in, but let’s just say that the side of my bike was a mess, and the side of me much worse and time off work plus nobody to claim off, because someone thought it was ok ■■■■■■■ diesel all over the road
Wot 'e said.
I’ve buried two close friends who would still be partying with me today had it not been for some ■■■■■■■■ who either didn’t put his filler cap on, or brimmed his tank and trailed the overflow down the road.
To be honest as a fellow agency driver you always will be dumped on with the pride of the fleet, just make sure you note all the defects and report them to cover yourself and keep a copy for yourself ( to cover ya self ).
If the vehicles seriously _ not roadthworthy _ then dont be afraid to put ya foot down , refuse out right to drive it , end of the day its your licence not theirz , ask to be supplied with a road worthy vehicle or tell em your off…
I wish more drivers would grow a pair instead of allowing themselves to be shafted up the backside.
Had a case like this just a week ago … front windscreen cracked - horizontal crack half way along the screen , drivers side mirror smashed and partially missing , other passengers side mirror hanging off / unsecure from mounts , passenger side wheel facing mirror missing altogether, front indicator smashed and missing - no attempt made to remove the broken bulb still in the bulb holder - which was also shorting the indicators and lights causing them not to function, one mudflap missing off back aswell, other rear mudflap wheel liner tied on with cable ties onto stay ( hanging loose ).
Reported all of the faults told the dimwits in transport told em that this wagons going nowhere … guess what happened ? they soon swapped me on to another wagon , and one of their own drivers drove the wreck , later on in the evening i found out he was the one who smashed up the wagon , yet he was refusing to drive it and so did the other drivers… hence the reason the Temp was called in , assuming i would be thick and desperate enuff to drive it all week till they got the wagon in the garage on the weekend.I would had no issue with walking off the job , as i would have told the agency that the vehicle was clearly unfit for the road, and that your client is supposed to provide a road legal vehicle.if they give you any crap just threaten to report em to VOSA .
ukthugz:
To be honest as a fellow agency driver you always will be dumped on with the pride of the fleet, just make sure you note all the defects and report them to cover yourself and keep a copy for yourself ( to cover ya self ).
I did agency work for the thick end of a decade and a half. Very rarely got given a shed and when I did, it was no better or worse than their own drivers got.
Newest truck I drove on agency was 4 weeks old.
the newest truck i drove …was a rental , because joe blogs wagon failed its mot.