Its a dog eat dog world out there, agencies, when it suits THEM, will cancel you, no matter how good a driver you are, how reliable you are or how polite you are, its the nature of their business to put bums on seats and try to give all their temps some work, its a numbers game. In order to look after number 1 you have to be clued up, like mentioned above they cancel you, you cancel them, that way in my experience they learn very quickly not to ■■■■ you about and they move onto someone else. The good agencies that I have worked for get 100% out of me the jokers dont.
alcraw62:
That shouldn’t be happening. You can bet your bollox that the agency are charging the client a cancellation fee, on the grounds that they could have been using you for a shift elsewhere. Part of that cancellation fee should be going to the driver.
Bet as much as you like but you’d mostly be wrong, particularly in the case of smaller agencies. They might indeed be entitled by means of their contract to send the client a bill, but they might just as well send them a letter saying “Don’t do business with us again please” because that would be the outcome if they tried to push the issue. In reality, if clients persist in doing this they drop down the urgency list just as drivers do when they pull the same stunt. Hays Distribution were buggers for it; and for booking drivers to turn up at 6 am, keeping them hanging around for four hours then expecting them to do a full fifteen.
It’s not nice, it’s not fair and it does happen I agree; it’s not true though to claim that all agencies shirk from compensating the driver. The least he should get is his costs refunded, and if you want to keep your good drivers you make ■■■■ sure they’re not out of pocket.
contractdriver:
I went Ltd in 2007.You need to run it as a small business. First you need to create a Ltd company £15 (online) to £150 ( accountants charge) then take your incorporation certificate to a bank to setup a business bank account in the name of your company. You will also need public liability insurance through the ltd company as an hgv driver (about £130 for £1 million of cover per year from Blackfriars group)
Shop around the Agencies, you can nearly always negiate a better rate. Make sure you take your ltd co and bank account to sign up with agencies.
Best thing about being ltd is that you will have a ‘proper job’ where you are permenently employed for your limited company. You can borrow from the bank and If you have young children etc you can also claim family tax credits etc as an employee.
Remember, you are not self employed ( that’s a sole trader) but you are an employee of a limited company.
Top Tip. Don’t name the Ltd company after your own name because it will get complicated later on down the line.
Good luck.
This is exactly what I did and a mate of my wife is a good accountant 
but after a year I landed a job employed by a company but certainly going down the LTD company route is the best option.
Muckaway:
Don’t believe DH when they cancel your 5 day booking after 3 days citing “work’s dropped off.” They’ve given your last two days to someone else, to keep them sweet.
Bear in mind that every branch of DH is a separate business and they’re divided by postcode, so in London especially there could be two or three branches for just one borough (Merton especially). Some are good and some are awful. Twickenham are pretty decent (Croydon were years ago when John Drinkwater was in charge), but some branches I’ve not heard from in years of being signed up to them.
And sometimes customers do make whole-week bookings and then cancel it after a day, even if you bought a weekly bus/rail ticket. They can also cancel an “on-going” booking just because they don’t like your tone of voice.
IndigoJo:
And sometimes customers do make whole-week bookings and then cancel it after a day, even if you bought a weekly bus/rail ticket. They can also cancel an “on-going” booking just because they don’t like your tone of voice.
Yes but considering when I did go back, I was asked “are you over your stomach bug”? (Perfectly normal question from a food company), finding out that DH had sent “cover” for me…When I queried their fairy story I was told they were “trying to dishing the work out fairly” to which I was not happy. I’m not a union/commie I work for my benefit not to give someone else a job.
Sidevalve:
alcraw62:
That shouldn’t be happening. You can bet your bollox that the agency are charging the client a cancellation fee, on the grounds that they could have been using you for a shift elsewhere. Part of that cancellation fee should be going to the driver.Bet as much as you like but you’d mostly be wrong, particularly in the case of smaller agencies. They might indeed be entitled by means of their contract to send the client a bill, but they might just as well send them a letter saying “Don’t do business with us again please” because that would be the outcome if they tried to push the issue. In reality, if clients persist in doing this they drop down the urgency list just as drivers do when they pull the same stunt. Hays Distribution were buggers for it; and for booking drivers to turn up at 6 am, keeping them hanging around for four hours then expecting them to do a full fifteen.
It’s not nice, it’s not fair and it does happen I agree; it’s not true though to claim that all agencies shirk from compensating the driver. The least he should get is his costs refunded, and if you want to keep your good drivers you make ■■■■ sure they’re not out of pocket.
This is absolutely no different to what Wincanton are doing out of the ex-hays Snodland yard even now.
I had done 8 hours last time I was in there, and they told me to “take a seat in the waiting room for another job in an hour or two”, obviously expecting me to do a 15, which I do actually often do there. Thing is, once I lose momentum during a shift, I pull the plug - especially when on earlies. My arguing for my “right” to go home after only 8 hours - has caused me trouble before.
If, and when I choose to work a 15 - it’s at MY convienience - and their privilege - not the other way around. 
I’m sick of the way I’ll be sent in for 6am, only to find that it’s actually 6:15 or 6:30 start when I get there… *“Take a seat, you’ll not be paid for first half an hour, but you’re here now, so it’s not worth you going home - right?”*I’m sick of all this ■■■■■■■■. I’ll put my card in, manual it to the time I actually got there (even whilst “not being paid”) and then when I actually do stay for the full 15 shift, get back with all the RSU still on back, pull my card @ 14hr50m, chuck my keys in, and bugger off home as is my LEGAL imperitive this time around. 
Winseer:
I’ll put my card in, manual it to the time I actually got there (even whilst “not being paid”) and then when I actually do stay for the full 15 shift, get back with all the RSU still on back, pull my card @ 14hr50m, chuck my keys in, and bugger off home as is my LEGAL imperitive this time around.
Don’t blame you either. I’d do the same.