I noticed on Directgov Jobs site that the agencies seem to be bombarding it with spam jobs. “Class C+E,C etc, all shifts, odd days etc.” One is advertising Class2 in Bicester £8 ph PAYE or £9 ph self employed/umbrella. I’ve been thinking of emailing Directgov and complaining about all the non jobs being touted.
Perhaps Truck and Driver could do a feature in a future issue, asking agencies why they’re promoting fake jobs?
This agency is doing just that. They called this afternoon wondering if I was interssted in doing some work driving a car… I mean come on!!!
I asked about the latest advert for CE and was told it had already been taken…my left foot!
Still I delivered all my cv’s on monday and had some good feedback so ill bite my tongue and wait it out for a bit.
karl67:
I wouldn’t do it not for the rate your probably going to get on driving a transit.
Depends where you are. £7.50/hr in Hull is Class 1 rate.
D’ya not?:
After deductions and no fuel assistance it’s going to work out at less than £3 an hour.
Utter ■■■■■■■■. If he’s done no other work that week even if he works a 15hr shift there are no stoppages and 70 mile round trip is going to be £8-£12 in fuel.
If the choice was between spending a tenner or so on fuel to earn over £100 or sitting at home earning nowt I’d spend the tenner.
stevo101:
This agency is doing just that. They called this afternoon wondering if I was interssted in doing some work driving a car… I mean come on!!!
I’ve done that before with an agency and got paid Class 1 rate. Are you that much of a snob you’d rather sit at home earning jack all than drive anything smaller than an artic?
My mate is like that. Spends a lot of time at home and has no money.
Far from it. I earn more driving my car locally then they are offering. So Im not sat around losing out. 
I agree with being picky; If a few more of us said no to these agency parasites then they might get the message.
Two agencies near to me are punting the exact same job on Gumtree - Cl1 nights 8 ph, oh, but wait it, goes up to 9 at the weekends, cage work to shops apparently 
And I live in the Sarf where the cost of living aint cheap.
I often wonder about this ‘‘we’ll speak to the customer to get a higher rate’’ because with my mob they sign a contract at a set rate and this contract will state they will meet the needs of our business as and when. The contract rate will never alter without head office approval. You cant even buy a box of pens without our head office approval.
We are inducting an extremely large amount of people recently and it kinda gets on my ■■■■ that our regular agency are being stood down for these fellas. That is how an agency treat its long time drivers they stand them down to give someone a shift just so they can get them on the books. We can’t even specify what drivers we want from their pool which is also a bug bare.
As for stand downs it happens every single day and there is a 2 hour window before start time if we cant cancel the agency before that 2 hour window we need to pay the agency 8hours i have no idea if they pass that onto the driver. My company is trying to get this to a 1 hour window. At my depot which may operate different to our sister depots at christmas when demand outstrips supply in regards to drivers, our agency guys are ‘‘on call’’ even if we don’t need them they still get paid. It is an extra layer of protection so we never fail deliveries.
Stand downs happen for various reasons, sister depots take the slack. Production lines stop because of breakdowns, core is able to cover more of the planned work etc.
Remember as a PAYE Agency employee (not umbrella or self-employed) you can offset the 140 miles travelling at 45p per mile against your tax. So a 10 hour shift @ £7.50 ph gets you £75. Deduct £63 for business mileage and your only taxable on the remaining £12 which would then be covered by your personal allowance. Do this for every shift during the year and its unlikely you will pay any tax.
In addition 5 x £75 shifts in a week= £375. Less 5 x £63 business mileage accrued = £315. Leaving a weekly taxable gross of ££60. Earning £60 per week will probably entitle you to full Housing and Council Tax benefit in my case equal to an extra £140 per week.
If you have kids then Tax Credits would take £60 x 52 = £3120 as your annual income rather than the pre-deduction 5 x £375 = £19500, meaning you would get full child and working tax credits (worth £210 per week in my case) and free prescription, dental, optical etc.
Be picky if you want but you can make the system work for you by doing the distance jobs.
Just politely say no thanks and walk away. Don’t sell yourself cheap, that has always been in HGV and PSV industry I am afraid. The French truckers get paid a fortune and have routiers bars/cafes/motels up and down France. They work decent hours because they do not take ■■■■ and they do not let non union drivers undercut you.
coreysboys I am a self-employed maintenance man and I get my mileage back through my accountant you don’t have to be PAYE
alder:
coreysboys I am a self-employed maintenance man and I get my mileage back through my accountant you don’t have to be PAYE
I get that. Its just that hardly any PAYE agency workers know that they can do this and they don’t need an accountant to do it they just contact the tax office and they send them a form to sign, and in some cases may have to do a basic self assessment return online at year end.
I cant believe people are taking a nightshift for £8.50 let alone £7.50!!! WTF!!
- 1 .
The rates on agencies seem to be heading in the wrong direction and have been for some years . In my area , 5-6 years ago £13-£15 was commonplace . Now it’s around the 9 mark .
Conor:
D’ya not?:
After deductions and no fuel assistance it’s going to work out at less than £3 an hour.Utter ■■■■■■■■. If he’s done no other work that week even if he works a 15hr shift there are no stoppages and 70 mile round trip is going to be £8-£12 in fuel.
If the choice was between spending a tenner or so on fuel to earn over £100 or sitting at home earning nowt I’d spend the tenner.
Working one day a week, to avoid deductions isn’t an option for most people.
Anyway, lets say you get your £100 for a one off shift, less fuel, you’re getting £6 an hour, and putting at least fifteen hours of effort into it… I guess some would think it’s worth it.
stevo101:
This agency is doing just that. They called this afternoon wondering if I was interssted in doing some work driving a car… I mean come on!!!
I asked about the latest advert for CE and was told it had already been taken…my left foot!Still I delivered all my cv’s on monday and had some good feedback so ill bite my tongue and wait it out for a bit.
I’d drive a car if the money was right - are you 1 of the aforementioned glory boys?
Conor:
karl67:
I wouldn’t do it not for the rate your probably going to get on driving a transit.Depends where you are. £7.50/hr in Hull is Class 1 rate.
Class 1 overtime rate you mean?? 
Double post
shade:
I cant believe people are taking a nightshift for £8.50 let alone £7.50!!! WTF!!
- 1 .
The rates on agencies seem to be heading in the wrong direction and have been for some years . In my area , 5-6 years ago £13-£15 was commonplace . Now it’s around the 9 mark .
I know a person who has a driver hire franchise. You want to see the cars they drive! The money is still there but they are getting it and paying the drivers peanuts. The problem is that drivers will work for nowt just to get the job, so if someone is willing to undercut you then they will drive the market price down. We need a truckers union in this country!
Tell the agency to f*** off and look for a proper job. All agencies are liars so NEVER believe a thing they tell you, it’s all lies.