I see some very differant points of view in the replies to my thread, but the point is the run normally has 8 to 10 drops so it had already been cut down to 4 hits knowing that a different driver was doing the run, I did put him on to his first and second drop and i would have given him directions to the rest but he said he had an A-Z of Brum so he didnt want me to baffle him with lefts and rights, as you all know can happen sometimes when you get directions of somebody.
I understand what you say about still getting paid no matter what you get done but 2 drops in 10 hour is taking the mick a bit dont you think 
As I said in the initial post I dont want to tar all agency drivers with the same brush because i used to be one and i know how difficult it can be on some contracts due to old vehicles amount of drops idiot TM’s and the likes, but the paper work was explained the vehicle is an X plated ERF which is kept in A1 condition by its regular driver and Im sure even to the most inexperienced of drivers 4 drops from Stockport to the Midlands is not to taxing.
I think I might have mentioned it in here before, I was an agency driver for over 5 years. My first year I was on the books of about 8 agencies, to start with. As the year went on I whittled that down to about 4. I dropped the ones I was constantly calling or who constantly sent me on multidrop work for low rates. I then got an offer from BRS’s agency, full time contract with all the perks, working for different companies on a huge variety of work.
One agency in Edinburgh sent me to a company in Newbridge. A chilled distribution company. They gave me a clapped out old 17 tonner with 22 drops round Glasgow city centre, on the 22nd of December.
I was given computer printed delivery notes. A great long strip. The deliveries had to be done in the order of the notes. From one side to the other, north, south, centre, south, north etc. I had my own A - Z of Glasgow.
I got to the first drop, the address was wrong. I found the next and the third, the company of the next had changed names, 5 years ago, but not on the delivery note. Another one had the name of the catering contractor on it, but not the name of the company where the catering department was. That was a pretty standard example of all the drops. I got to 17 of the addresses, made the delivery to 15 of them, but couldn’t find the goods for the other 2, so ended up taking 7 of the 22 back. I had phoned the company 3 times during the day and the agency twice.
At the end of that week, the company wouldn’t pay the agency, so the agency wouldn’t pay me. Needless to say, I never went back to that agency, though they had the hard neck to phone me a month later. I refused to work for that company with a couple of the other agencies too.
So good you thought you’d tell us twice 
Simon, I would have taken that agency straight to court. I was once asked to go to Lynx express in Reading for a class 2 job. Got there and refused to take out the wagon for various defects, the TM there said I had to take it, so I asked their fitter if he thought it would go through an MOT in it’s current condition. He said it wouldnt so I informed the TM of what he had said and reiterated my my point about not taking it. I even offered to trans ship the load into one of the artics and do the run in that. The TM sent me home, the agancy tried not to pay me until I reminded them of the fact that I had ful filled my part of the contract by turning up ready for work at the correct time. Therefore they were in breach of contract by refusing to pay me, one threat of the small claims court and they soon paid up. 
Here is not how to do it.
Many years ago, my agency asked me to go to Goodyear Tyres in Wolverhampton for a 6.00 a.m. start.
Into the traffic office on time, introduced myself, a sea of miserable faces, told to "Get a unit from next to the bay’s, heres your notes and trailer number ".
Fine.
For any-one who used to do Goodyear, ( now closed down ) this was the plan.
Take a unit to the trailer park , find your trailer, secure the load and off you go.
'Securing the load ’ meant roping large tractor tyres in steel frames, for delivery to Coventry.
Ah ha ! I thought, roping is not a problem.
So, dolly knots all done up checked the lights etc. only to find a couple of bulbs out on the unit.
“Where’s the garage mate ?” I asked a driver who was coupling up next to me .“About a mile down the road at B.R.S.” he said.
Off I went to the garage, and the blown bulbs were replaced.
Off I went to Coventry, dropped the trailer and collected an empty one.
Back I went to Wolverhampton, to be met by the T.M. with a red face.
The problem ?
I had ignored the line of Volvo F.L.10 units, (G reg’s I think )
I had chosen a nice white coloured Leyland Roadtrain . 
Don’t take that motor out on the road again, I was told, as the shunter driver had been drinking tea for 2 hours !
Check the tax and O licence discs boy’s and girls, this wagon had neither
But - no-one told me, I just thought it was all O.K.
You know what thought did 
Cheers,
Niall.
Check the tax and O licence discs boy’s and girls, this wagon had neither
I bet the diesel in the tank was the same colour as this face too:
I take alot of pride in my job, and any mistakes or failed drops, NOT that there have been many , are purely an accident or general holdup that any driver would encounter…
I always try my best… I am always polite to the TM and the clients, apologising if I’m late or whatever… I behave no differently than if I were in full-time employment…
Luv
Chrisie… 
It doesnt matter whether you are an agency driver or an employed driver, everyone has to learn somewhere, Like we all had to. You have to start at the beginning and learn the ropes literally, learn to read a map, learn to fasten on a load and learn how to speak to people,
After that you can start to learn to drive and learn the job. No one expects a relief driver to do wonders, but if they cannot recognise a public phone box, maybe driving is not for them.
I think there are too many drivers who come into this job refusing, multidrop, older trucks, nights outs, London, locals, distance, whatever.
In the latest Truckstop news there is a story from someone who thinks the world owes him a liviing.
He tried bus driving but the passengers picked on him. Now he wants free training to be a truck driver. So that he can earn £1000 per week.
Boy, has he got a shock to come
I haven’t read all of the posts on here,because I’m tired and in need of bed,but I get the gist of the thread.
Here’s an example of an agency driver I used on a contract I was running about 5 years ago…
It was running out of a site in Hartlepool,and he had 8 drops,on a Volvo FL6 rigid,starting in Hartlepool,and finishing in Newcastle.
He left the site at 08.00,with full addresses,and directions,and returned at 19.00 with 5 of the 8 drops he went out with.Needless to say,I wasn’t best pleased,and the following morning,I ordered the agency manageress to my office,where I promptly hauled her over the coals,and told her I didn’t want to see him again,and then added further to it,by refusing to pay the bill for him.I also told her that my head office would be informed,and if she wanted to keep the business,then I expected to get a better class of driver.
I went in with both barrels because it was a new contract worth a hell of a lot of money,so I needed to impress my customer.I couldn’t afford to have staff,whether permanent or temporary,operate like that.
I have to say,in my current job,I also have to order agency staff,and while we do get the odd a-hole,most of the agency lads,we ask for by name,because they do a cracking job,and they are appreciated and like to come back.
Ken.
Quinny:
I also have to order agency staff,and while we do get the odd a-hole,most of the agency lads,we ask for by name,because they do a cracking job,and they are appreciated and like to come back.Ken.
how many of them have you got working now in this slack period?
we are disposable labour.
i have been in that situation. in a company i like, doing the job, being asked for by name… then not even a single shift for 12 weeks 
face it… as long as we don’t crash the motor and do the job in a reasonable time. as we leave to go home we are not given a second thought 
Set impossible tasks and you’ll not get results. I started off doing agency work, and I delivered bread. Every single day the orders were wrong. I would try to unload them, and something would be wrong in each and every order. This wasted time. My deliveries went from an 8 hour run to a 12 hour run. This was not because I could not find the places to deliver to, but because, the dough site, employed idiots to make the orders up.
In most cases, if you give a driver a map, they will find the place… Anyone who needs a driver from an agency, should vet the potential employers, and not the agency, as to why they cannot get regular drivers on jobs!
Niall:
Let’s face it, how can a driver do a 20 drop in a fridge on a Monday, do a 2 drop in a Curtain on a Tuesday, and a Tail lift or a flat bed on a Wednesday ?
I have done, and usually been complimented on doing a pretty good job as well. Add in a concrete mixer Thursday, and a hook-loader friday, and that was some of my normal weeks…
As I said Alli, no 2 people are the same.
Some people can cope with a different truck, load, and agency job on a day to day basis. Other’s cannot.
If more expeirienced drivers helped the agency drivers out, it may run a bit smoother.
Cheers,
Niall.
p.s. how is that old F.L.7 Volvo 
One job I got as an agency driver, I thought was going to be really easy.
Multidrop around west yorks, only 10 drops and the customer gave me printed maps from his PC routeplanner of all the drops.
Sounds great untill I get to first drop to a PO office following his map. Couldn’t find the PO office anywhere. So I asked a lady if she knew where it was, luckily she did. Unfortunately it was 10 miles away. All but 2 of the drops were marked wrong on his maps. Oh well back to a-z’s.
many of these automated mapping systems work by post code, the red circle shows the CENTRE of that post code area, not the actual address. People fail to read the small print that tells you this.
many of these automated mapping systems work by post code, the red circle shows the CENTRE of that post code area, not the actual address. People fail to read the small print that tells you this
You are indeed correct.Microsoft autoroute is one such programme,as we have it at work,although I tend to use Multimap as well,and being a former rally navigator,I can plot the customer to within 100 metres using other methods.and in our office,usually one of our drivers can help the agency driver to the exact spot of the customer’s door.
However,back to the subject of agency drivers,and how good they can be/cannot be…
Today,we had 5 drivers from one agency in,and at the moment of writing,all of them have completed their days work without any problems,and coupled with the fact that at 6 o’clock this morning,I wasn’t all with it due to my eldest daughter being taken into hospital last night,and me only getting 3 hours sleep,I have nothing but praise for them in the face of adversity.
To be fair,after I left work at 12.30,I diverted the phone to the mobile,and told them if they had any problems,to ring the office,whereupon it would divert,and I would help them all I could. (Once I’d got my head together.)
The only calls I got,were to ask where they were to leave their trailers once they had finished, (We have 3 yards within a mile of our customer.) so I will make the point of ringing the agency on Monday,and personally thanking them.
Always nice to be nice in my opinion.
Ken.
so I will make the point of ringing the agency on Monday,and personally thanking them.
small things, can big things make. Please remember to tell them to pass it on to the individual drivers concerned.
Hope your daughters ok Ken.
Nice one Quinny. Hope the drivers get your congratulations.
And I also send my best for your daughter, tell her to get well soon!
This thread is getting long, well we all seem to agree there are good and bad drivers, whether they be agency or not. Like most agency drivers, I’ve had my share of the good, the bad, and downright ugly jobs. I do every job to the best of my ability and with professionalism. Then you get some a-holes in the transport office, who ignore any questions you have, look at you like you’re a ■■■■■■■■■■■■■, and what are you doing taking up space here. Well you ■■■■■■■ asked me to come here and drive that ■■■■■■■■■■■■■ of an excuse for a truck!!!
A couple examples of the above are Express Dairies Wythenshawe (Night shift staff are ignorant as ■■■■) and Maxi Haulage (Manchester) who gave me a smelly clapped out shunter wagon with power steering that was as knackered as the wagon itself, not to mention the TM was a complete ignorant A-Hole
All jobs completed as required, sign my timesheet, off I go home… Just make a mental note of the companies and tell the agency not to send you back there, it works both ways guys!!!
Had jobs where they keep asking me back, even though sometimes I didnt want to go back. there are two sides to every story, there’s good and bad on both sides here.
peace
Reading this thread I have to agree that some of the drivers highlighted leave a lot to be desired, After 20 years + in this Industry 7 spent behind the desk 18 months ago I myself returned to agency work, As at the time I had a choice of a couple of jobs, I took time to check out the agency, who offer a very good contract of employment, (this includes a guarentee of £1400 minimum earnings each 4week period, 28days paid holiday)The agency also spent time checking me out both work, and personal referenceces before offering me employment. In 18 months I have worked mainly for one firm, who are obviously happy with what I do, and to date all 3 parties are happy and must all be making money with this arrangement. I think one point missed by most in this thread is that if the agency take the time to ensure the driver feels he is in more than just a dead end job, they will attract, and retain the services of a dedicated workforce who will do that little extra to ensure the customer receives a good service, the agency retains business, and work is available all year round. The agencies who treat there drivers lower than a snakes belly, along with some companies who also treat the driver with contempt will get there just desserts a Driver who does not give a ---- and the job not done, It is as mentioned earlier in the thread, some drivers care more, but given an employer who cares more as well increases the willingness of the employee to do a good job.