I’ve never done any agency work and I hope to god I’m never desperate enough to do any agency work. I do however have a suggestion for you. How about shutting up shop and going into a more honest profession; like law or burglary?
some cracking posts lads, its just a shame theyr true, get on this one iv got my adr hiab wheel barrow licenses etc was even asked to go in for shuttle license anyway i ■■■■■■ it rang agency to tell them and guess what heeee heee jobs gone in house mate what a bummer i said give us a call still waitin a month later lying ■■■■■■■
Since the rest of the lads have given you the downside from the drivers’ point of view…most of it predictable but much of it with a reasonable amount of justification… I suppose I’d better fill you in from a former consultant and TM’s viewpoint (though I’m now a driver) of what you can expect a few drivers to do to you.
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Fake or duplicate licences. ALWAYS check a candidate’s licence with DVLA whilst he is with you at interview. If the candidate tries to put you off he’s got something to hide.
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References. As above.
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You’ve just confirmed a driver with a job; he rings you back a few minutes later to say the wife/kid/dog has taken ill and he can’t do the shift. You lose the booking, find out later that he’s turned up for another agency which offered him 50p an hour more. Happens far more often than you might think.
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Despite the fact that you’ve instructed a driver that he MUST have safety boots on a job, he turns up in sandals and gets sent home.
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Your client books a Class 1 driver for a one-hit run to Manchester; driver gets to client and finds it’s changed to three drops local on a rigid, throws a mardy strop and walks off the job. It is of course your fault because you should have known despite the fact that the client didn’t tell you.
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There are some drivers who are simply temperamentally unsuited to agency work, and some who absolutely thrive on it. Only by experience will you find out which ones are which.
I’ve come across all these, and a fair few more. It’s a two-way street and it ain’t always the agency that’s at fault. Agencies might have a bad name, but as with anything else it’s the bad 'uns which spoil it for the decent ones and there are some about. Human nature dictates that we remember the one day on a crap booking far longer than the six months on a good one.
One bit of advice I will give you though Freddie; if you do employ consultants then train them to treat drivers with courtesy, respect and honesty, pay those drivers accurately and promptly, and do your best not to mess them around. You’ll reap the benefits; and who knows, you might even earn enough to buy a posh car! 
mfm:
Q, What do they do well. A, NothingQ, What could they do better. A, Everything
Q, What do they quite simply fail to do at all. A, Tell the truth.
I trust this answers your questions.
+1^^^^^
Absolute scum of the earth they are(agencies). Don’t kid yourself thinking employers need you because you’re so vital-you aren’t!!! I once worked for an outfit that managed to run the show of more than 100 motors without using agencies all year round…!
In a free market, it should be perfectly legit to drop a shift and take the same shift from another agency for more money if you want.
It might lack professionalism though. 
I can’t say I’d be tempted for a mere 50p more to drop a shift, but if I got offered an entire week’s plum work that depended upon starting “today”, and I’ve already been booked for a single shift “today” with another agency, then I’d give my options both serious consideration indeed. 
I’d probably drop B for A’s offer, but not vice versa, because in this hypothetical example, you know from experience that B offering you a weeks work is much more likely to get cancelled before you attend for day (2). 
Best to keep the reputation that you’ll stick with the “first come, first served” system.
I hate how they’re allowed to advertise full time employment on various recruitment site. .
Hello Freddie
Have you searched every post relating to agencies on this forum?
I don’t think you will find many extolling the virtues of the agency.
You might like to look at my experiences with agencies.
I was called last Friday at 17:45 hrs by an agency who I have worked for in the past to do a 20:00 shift for ‘a rate’. It was quite a good rate. I did the shift and all was good. The questions hangs; will I actually get paid what they said?
It is this sort of distrust that pervades the trade.
SD
In principal the idea of agency staff is a good one, holiday cover, Christmas and other busy times of the year and the chance of looking at a possible new employee and flexible employment for those who require it.
Sadly what it has become is a criminal enterprise, companies using agency staff for years on end, the fraud perpetrated by the umbrella scheme the lies and deceit and other questionable practice, cancelled shifts without compensation and generally being treated like a serf.
The use of the word “recruitment” is most sickening.
A percentage cap should be made law, this would allow cover for busy periods and holiday cover and prevent drivers being exploited.
- dont lie. we are your biggest asset and we are the face of the agency. we talk to each other and we build a raport with your clients. we do know when a ‘cancelled’ shift wasnt cancelled at all and you just put someone else on it
- get to know your drivers. some want early, some want backshift, some want nightshift, some want weekends, some dont. you need to attract a diverse range of drivers and preferences if you want 24/7 cover and if you keep throwing the wrong shifts at drivers you will lose them
- get to know your clients. without them you have no work which will lead to no drivers to do any future work. find out who they would prefer and match those drivers and their preferences to the clients. that way everybody wins. having a ‘preferred’ driver at home while new names and faces are doing the work is going to annoy both client and driver
- keep your rates on par with your competition. why would i want a 5 day/40 hour week at £9 per hour when i can get a 4 day/50 hour week at £10 per hour?
- dont go after clients for the sheer hell of it. if its crap money and a crap job which isnt really making much money for the agency then let it go and chase the more lucrative jobs. the more money a driver makes the more money the agency makes
there is nothing there that you shouldnt already know. its basic business strategy and common sense. there is nothing complicated about it but most agencies still seem to struggle with the concepts of teamwork and communication
Recruitment agencies that focus on the transport industry have a business model that is based upon illusion & deceit. Our politicians know it (both at home & our masters in Europe) but most importantly, they themselves know it, the transport industry knows it & us the drivers know it.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
The agencies seem to have morphed into a Frankenstein creation of their original purpose, which is to provide temporary holiday/sick cover & peak period relief.
Many truck operators will pay a garage a set monthly fee to cover the service & maintenance of their fleet, the garage will have been selected for its cost effectiveness, its reputation & its integrity.
Why can’t/won’t that same operator pay a set monthly fee to an organisation that promises to fulfill its temporary driver requirement?
When the truck breaks down you’re guaranteed a professional response from the garage that you employ, why isn’t such a response to provide a driver rather than a mechanic/fitter available?
Is this the birth of a new business model?
The only good thing from a drivers view is that they will give new licence holders a chance.
alamcculloch:
The only good thing from a drivers view is that they will give new licence holders a chance.
not round here in Manchester they wont! Loads of bloody work, but they all want 2 years Experience!
things are so bad i signed up to an agency in leeds today!
its a complete buyers market for drivers at the moment, companies (and this includes agencies) can pick and choose the drivers available, leaving those of us trying to get a break, struggling!
B…
alamcculloch:
The only good thing from a drivers view is that they will give new licence holders a chance.
Balls to that! Same story in my area, no agency wants to give you a shot unless you’ve done ‘Six months driving in the last 2 years’ or just flat out 2 years experience. Because I will certainly be a better driver after two years of not being on the road than in the weeks and months after passing. That said, it’s not just agencies that propogate this ridiculous idea.
Easier said than done but keep trying and don’t lose hope. Be willing to do the jobs nobody wants and be the guy that says yes when he gets phoned at midnight for a 2am start. It ■■■■■ but I’ve rapidly gone from taking on nightmarish 7.5t jobs to getting my first Class 1 shift.
Sure, agencies take the ■■■■ but when it’s experience that’s holding you back you’ve unfortunately got to take it. If you’re reliable the agencies and clients do seem to take note.
Trouble is, if you start down that road, that’ll be ALL the work you’ll EVER get.
There’s no moral obligation for the better work to ever be offered to you, once you grab the greasy pole you see. 
grroover:
Easier said than done but keep trying and don’t lose hope. Be willing to do the jobs nobody wants and It ■■■■■ but I’ve rapidly gone from taking on nightmarish 7.5t jobs to getting my first Class 1 shift.
Sure, agencies take the ■■■■ but when it’s experience that’s holding you back you’ve unfortunately got to take it. be the guy that says yes when he gets phoned at midnight for a 2am start. If you’re reliable the agencies do seem to take note.
the problem with this is that once they realise that you will accept a booking at short notice you will not get any other type of booking, the guy who refuses to accept late bookings will get the early jobs and you will be held in reserve just in case. This then results in you getting less work not more and the little work you do get is all last minute 
this also applies to people with adr , hiab etc, you are held in reserve just in case a job comes in, if you don’t hold such quals you get the everyday jobs and earn more than the holders of such qualifications
Fair point guys but surely when you’re inexperienced and not getting offered any work at all being the go to lackie is better than sitting at home, not getting paid and complaining there’s no work out there? Needs must and right now I certainly need all the work I can get.
grroover:
Fair point guys but surely when you’re inexperienced and not getting offered any work at all being the go to lackie is better than sitting at home, not getting paid and complaining there’s no work out there? Needs must and right now I certainly need all the work I can get.
I completely agree! hopefully by the time you get ■■■■■■ off with all the ■■■■ shifts and crap times, you’ll have enough experience to tell em to stick it!
B…
green456:
the problem with this is that once they realise that you will accept a booking at short notice you will not get any other type of booking, the guy who refuses to accept late bookings will get the early jobs and you will be held in reserve just in case. This then results in you getting less work not more and the little work you do get is all last minute
I disagree. A smart consultant keeps his good guys busy on regular decent work; likewise those with extra quals. If they’re good you either use them or lose them because if you don’t keep them busy another agency will.
However; if a job comes up which does demand one of those specialists, I concede that it is likely they will be pulled on to a job which they have the skills for. The trick is to know which guys don’t mind if this happens; and also which customers.
Don’t forget that the consultant need not butter-up ANY of their staff. There’s a job. A large number of bods would pick it up just like that.
It’s easy to fill therefore.
Then you’ve got the jobs that are unpopular for some reason, or few are qualified for.
So you take someone off another plum job, and for once offer their former plum shift out to one of the newer bods perhaps, whilst the bod with the HIAB ticket, prepared to take stupid O’clock calls & bookings, or it’s friday ahd he’s had bugger all that whole week so far will get given the shift instead.