Hi,
Just a quick question with ref to agencies!!
Are you permitted to register and work for two agencies, ie, weekend work?
The first agency i have registered with covers one half of the county, so i decided to register with a second to cover the other half, with a veiw to obtaining full time employment?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Cheers
Jay
you can sign on for as many agencies as you like
what you will have to watch out for is when they both call for work on the same day, they will start getting a bit upset when you keep telling them you are not available
What rob said, thought when they you are beating them both off with a stick, that’ll be a good thing as there will be work there for you, unless you do it too often and get put at the bottom of the ‘to call’ list
Am I right in saying that any work done for one employer must be told to the other(s) for the TACHO & RT(WTD)R laws 
A driver is sometimes required to sign a waiver to the effect that he can legally do the work that he has signed up for.I know that this is the procedure at R.M.I imagine that you wont be offered that much work initially ,so no need to worry just yet.
ROG:
Am I right in saying that any work done for one employer must be told to the other(s) for the TACHO & RT(WTD)R laws
yep , who ever is your main employer is the one that keeps ur p45 but in reality you need to let them both or all know what hour you have worked , There is no need to tell each other who your working for though … when I started i was on 8 Agencys always made it clear that who ever rang me 1st got me for that day,
Had one compant that woud ask for me late in the day and as i was booked out with another agency the would get [zb]with it mind it didnt take them long to realise that if they rang eary in the morning i would be more than happy to go there in the end i was there tramping for them for 6 months
You can sign up to as many agencies as you like, but you must keep a record of the hours that you are doing, as agencies should keep records of the hours that you are working and should ask what hours you have done that week and previous week to keep you inline with the wtd/tacho hours.
Thanks Guys,
All great advice, i have been noting my hours at my main employer to ensure i keep within the WTD when i start with the agency etc. Not sure so far if its a good idea to register with both as i do not want to cause any hassle for me or them. On the other hand if one can’t give me work, then the other might.
I have been told that agencies can get a [zb] on if they know that you are also on the books of another, but i need as much weekend work as possible, within the drivers hours and WTD to get me out and on the circuit, as i believe this is the best way to secure permanent employment.
Cheers to all.
J
i used to be on 4 agencys at once and it didnt take long for one that i liked to book me for all weekend by wed afternoon. 
play agencys at their own game use them like they use you. ive never met a good agency yet… in fact thats a lie the best agency was juice in wakey really nice people.
I think there are a few good agencys out there, the problem with a lot of them is they have so many guys on their books for so little bookings that they cant use a lot of the guys all the time, i am a “on site coordinator” (dogs body) for an agency, and i try to keep my guys busy by not flooding my availability list with to many drivers, it would be great to have a 100 guys on the list, but if i did that i would not be able to offer the drivers al least a half decent week and as such they would suffer for it. I think the problem with agency work is finding the right agency that is not all about the number of people on its books but the quality/quantity of work it can offer its drivers.
there is no legal obstructions to signing up to several agencies but one must be your main employer and the others are second jobs which will cost you more in tax to work for them. putting them all down as your main employer COULD have the inland revenue chasing you. it would depend on whether or not they notice you are paying the same rate of tax by more than one employer
spencerhic:
I think there are a few good agencys out there, the problem with a lot of them is they have so many guys on their books for so little bookings that they cant use a lot of the guys all the time, i am a “on site coordinator” (dogs body) for an agency, and i try to keep my guys busy by not flooding my availability list with to many drivers, it would be great to have a 100 guys on the list, but if i did that i would not be able to offer the drivers al least a half decent week and as such they would suffer for it. I think the problem with agency work is finding the right agency that is not all about the number of people on its books but the quality/quantity of work it can offer its drivers.
I think many agencies shoot themselves in the foot by having too many drivers and not being able to cater for them all.
They would be better off getting a core of good reliable drivers and look after them and they in turn will probably look after the agency. That way everybody wins.
I have been registered with an agency since 2006 and have never been offered a days work. There are obviously too many others on their books to spread the work around.
I agree with waddy640, its the agencys that just have the attitude of puting ‘bums on seats’ and are not trying to give good constent work out to their drivers that give the other agencys a bad name. i have an ongoing battle with my agency to get more drivers onto our books but this will only dilute the work for the rest of the drivers, at the moment i have a good team going and dont want to risk the lose of good drivers because my agency want to quote high numbers of drivers on their books to our customers.
Much can be said of both agencies and drivers, much of which has been beaten to death on TN uk before so a quick search will reveal all you need to know.
Each party can sometimes be as bad as each other with the consistancy of work and attitude to the job. Just read my own post some time ago on how bolshi I used to be and the resulting lack of assignments I was given, to understand what I mean. Which is why agency work doesnt suit most people. however those that do regularly work for the agencies know whats involved and the flexability reqd to make it work
From a personal point of view I prefer to work as a casual for one company. Since I joined them in 2008 I have never been short of work.
There are benefits in as much as you are an employee rather than an agency driver and I think it makes life easier knowing the procedures and knowing who’s who.
Every driver is different and have their own requirements. Ultimately whether you are full-time, part-time, casual or agency you will have good days and bad days. You just make the best of them and hope things will improve.
Great info from you all once again!!!
Many thanks
Jay