I thought I would ask the view of truckers on agency drivers. I myself live in Derby & there are about 10 driving agencies in the area. I used to work for 3 agencies but since finding 4 days aweek permeant work, I now work for 1 (ADR).
In my years as a class 1 driver, I have found it very hard to find permanant work in the Derby area, I used agencies who I must admit abused me all the time, ringing me at the last minute to cancel or move me back to the afternoon when Ive been up since 5am, since I have found a job 4 days a week, I still use the agency 1 day aweek but because I’m not relying on them & I only do a shift at the weekend, they have been 9/10 quite good.
I have read elsewhere that trucking companies are worrying about the shortage of class 1 drivers & the fact that new ones are coming through but at a cost of roughly £4000, what youngster would. To be honest I’m glad that they are struggling as this might just be helpful to the thousands of HGV drivers who can not get full time work, these agencies have had it to good for to long & the companies have fuelled this with the fact that they can just ring the agency at the last min and cancel.
Rates of pay in Derby for class 1 range from £8 to £9 an hour for days & add a £1 for nights, this is disgusting for the skill we have & the service we provide, we make sure the people of the Uk, GET FED, CLOTHED, deliver their TV’S etc, we are also driving a killing machine with skill & what do we get for it, VOSA trying to catch us out for anything & comapnies & agencies ripping us off.
I hope the driver situation gets so bad because like the other week, my agency offered me a £100 bonus to go in on a saturday, its about time lorry drivers stood up for themselves. A couple of national strikes by drivers would bring this country to a stand still & they know it but we stand by & let them abuse us
Very weak rant and no swearing. 1/10.
You’re on yer own mate, just pop on to the Tosco Doncaster thread to see that new (and some older who should know better) drivers are queuing up to drive through any pickets there…as punishment presumably for Tesco drivers having good jobs…please mr boss can i have a pat on the head, or will i get the next new lorry for strike breaking.
If we had another serious war i reckon it might be safer getting hand to hand with the enemy, that way you can see the knife coming.
There will be a shortage soon enough, but don’t be complacent that drivers fortunes will change too much, they’ll simply shift the goal posts when needed to make sure the shortage doesn’t happen.
The only good thing is that skills are being lost rapidly, so good drivers should find themselves at a premium with a bit of luck, even the biggest logistics operator can only dumb the job down so far, eventually it bottoms out.
Juddian:
You’re on yer own mate, just pop on to the Tosco Doncaster thread to see that new (and some older who should know better) drivers are queuing up to drive through any pickets there…as punishment presumably for Tesco drivers having good jobs…please mr boss can i have a pat on the head, or will i get the next new lorry for strike breaking.If we had another serious war i reckon it might be safer getting hand to hand with the enemy, that way you can see the knife coming.
There will be a shortage soon enough, but don’t be complacent that drivers fortunes will change too much, they’ll simply shift the goal posts when needed to make sure the shortage doesn’t happen.
The only good thing is that skills are being lost rapidly, so good drivers should find themselves at a premium with a bit of luck, even the biggest logistics operator can only dumb the job down so far, eventually it bottoms out.
Sooo much truth in that line.
The trouble is times are so hard at the minute that everyone tends to look after their best interests. I dont think wages would increase, I think the cost of training would go down so that any Tom ■■■■ and Harry would be let loose in a truck. Which would pee me off because it’s costing me a fortune at the minute!
jimchree:
I have read elsewhere that trucking companies are worrying about the shortage of class 1 drivers & the fact that new ones are coming through
The bosses are always worried about the shortage of people willing to work for less.