youtube.com/watch?v=w5xmr83z1Eg
I think she had a really good take.
Most agency ppl like to pretend there is a shortage.
I’ve personally had my work cancelled with like an hours notice with no warning or compensation and then they start moaning when they cant get drivers when they need them.
Also a video on perceptions on HGV driving.
youtube.com/watch?v=_BwuDbJToco
I liked the womens take on the lack of career progression.
Shortage of ‘qualified’ drivers.That can only mean the ‘experience’ word unless it means no licence. 
As opposed to a shortage of drivers who want to do class 3 work.( I do think the change from class 3 and class 2 to Cat C was just a ruse to hide that difference ).
Career progression as in few ‘drivers’ want to be lumbered with local multi drop or building trades deliveries among other types of zb work on the basis that only ‘experienced’ drivers who’s faces fit get access to the the limited decent jobs.
Maybe someone should have asked why would any employer want to pay class 1 agency rates for a 7.5t or 18t driver.
Exactly what type of available work have they actually got on their books to offer any driver like at that moment.
The government is committed to taking as many trucks off the road as possible.Especially in the most attractive long haul work sectors.
Less people want to enter the resulting deliberately crippled industry.
Who would have thought it.
There isn’t a shortage. Just a shortage of people who are prepared to work for bad terms,bad money,and being treated like doggie do do. There’s lots of drivers, just not lots who wish/want to work.
Shes partially right, there isnt a driver shortage there never has been, but shes also biased as she works for an employment agency. Its been stated here before, very few drivers make a career out of agency driving, newbies only do it to gain experience, others do work between “real” jobs, or as a last resort to make money to pay the bills. So it does attract some certain types of drivers, including undesirable or unreliable types who give the sector a bad name, these are the ones who get the crappy job at crappy sites. The minority of good driver get regular work paying decent rates, these are also the ones who end up doing the same job month on month.
peirre:
Shes partially right, there isnt a driver shortage there never has been, but shes also biased as she works for an employment agency. Its been stated here before, very few drivers make a career out of agency driving, newbies only do it to gain experience, others do work between “real” jobs, or as a last resort to make money to pay the bills. So it does attract some certain types of drivers, including undesirable or unreliable types who give the sector a bad name, these are the ones who get the crappy job at crappy sites. The minority of good driver get regular work paying decent rates, these are also the ones who end up doing the same job month on month.
How do you explain the situation of a client with decent work telling the driver he wants him to stay on the job but the agency disagreeing with the client ?.
At best possibly through fear of poaching of agency staff and losing the client.
Why is the so called ‘unreliable’ ‘undesirable’ driver suddenly ‘reliable’ and ‘desirable’ enough to keep on the books for zb work.Surely such an ‘unreliable’ driver can’t be trusted at all for any job ?.
In which case at worse what it actually means is some drivers think that they are an elite who’ve got a god given right to all the best work just like in the case of non agency jobs.
Bearing in mind the limited nature of decent work on agency books anyway.
It’s mostly the dregs of the industry that no one wants.Including sometimes previously decent jobs which management types have deliberately turned into zb ones.Like hub system trunks rather than direct trailer swaps.Or distance bulk work turned into local multi drop.
The truth is agencies are mostly all about local building materials or retail multi drop.Often involving loads of manual handling/labouring.With clients often willing to pay class 1 rates for zb 7.5t-18t work.
biggriffin:
There isn’t a shortage. Just a shortage of people who are prepared to work for bad terms,bad money,and being treated like doggie do do. There’s lots of drivers, just not lots who wish/want to work.
That would be my take on it, I am sitting in my house getting all the jobs I need to do in preparation for selling, I could do these at the weekend, but I would rather not go out to drive, give up a few hundred quid a week and have my sanity, self respect but most of all, integrity.
I like to be nice to others as it makes for a more pleasant experience all round, but it was becoming increasingly difficult when treated like dirt by others who thought that was normal and when you remonstrate politely they just ban you and do not enter into dialogue as they know they are being unreasonable.
At least I did get some to smile in the triangle of misery that is South Yorkshire 
peirre:
Shes partially right, there isnt a driver shortage there never has been, but shes also biased as she works for an employment agency. Its been stated here before, very few drivers make a career out of agency driving, newbies only do it to gain experience, others do work between “real” jobs, or as a last resort to make money to pay the bills. So it does attract some certain types of drivers, including undesirable or unreliable types who give the sector a bad name, these are the ones who get the crappy job at crappy sites. The minority of good driver get regular work paying decent rates, these are also the ones who end up doing the same job month on month.
Maybe maybe not. I’ve met some drivers who have been agency for years sometimes on the same job, all depends on T&Cs so that makes the company drivers the stupid ones. On the cancellation of shifts issue - agreed that last minute cancellations ■■■■ but if a run is cancelled what can you do - if they can get away with not paying the will otherwise it’s a straight loss to their wallet and I’ve previously advocated against no-pay cancellations…If cancelled on arrival (we already have a driver) then it could be because in the past they’ve booked no-shows from agencies so they now want to cover their a$$ets.
Until they can claim lost money from no-shows due to failed/delayed deliveries it wouldn’t be reallistic to expect cancellation pay. Now if they have to rely on a last minute booking to get their job done clearly it’s not a great company either. ALl i’m saying is things are less black and white. Agencies are in it to make money off companies and drivers, companies and drivers use agencies to avoid long term commitment, not dissimilar to uhm…prostitution or 1night adventures 
I tend to be the last person to be cancelled due to the contract I have with the agency that guarantees me 24hrs pay per week, so they’ll cancel others to ensure that I’m not sat at home costing the agency money, iirc without checking the calendar I’ve only lost 5-6 individual shifts since I started back after furlough
peirre:
I tend to be the last person to be cancelled due to the contract I have with the agency that guarantees me 24hrs pay per week, so they’ll cancel others
What’s in it for the losers in that arrangement.
Scraps.
Runts always get the scraps.
Carryfast:
What’s in it for the losers in that arrangement.
I haven’t seen the details of their contracts, but probably nothing. But the majority of those are/where Ltd Co. There are only a dozen or so of us who are on old PAYE contracts that has this minimum hours clause in our contracts, that is what got me furlough pay
She makes some fair points, is she Polish? ironic that a good common sense bollocking of the industry itself has to come from an East European lady working in an agency when there’s hundreds of home grown logistics.com pointy shoes out there in transport well paid admin/management roles that are at the root of the industry problems themselves.
Attitudes in some companies would put all but the most desperate off from working there, but there is another side to the coin, some licence holders have a dreadful attitude and take no care or pride in their work.
Things are probably gone too far now to effect real change, but until companies get their act together and make their places desirable to work at, decent pay decent attitudes conditions etc they are going to struggle to keep the dwindling supply of competent drivers in their employ…when they establish themselves as good employers again they’ll find they can cherry pick from the better quality staff and won’t need to worry about the belligerent uncooperative wreckers and oafs they seem to attract, a situation that also puts off the better drivers if the company make no distinction in how they treat staff, no good driver is going to put up with being treated like an incompetent fool.
Sadly my experience has been that nearly all good jobs i’ve had have followed the downwards trend, invariably following the installation of new management (with no knowledge at all of the specialist sector they immediately seek to change completely) into what were previously well run succesful operations that were a joy to work for.
RDC’s and delivery points in general are to blame for a lot of the problems too, drivers delivering are not charged felons on remand they are fetching and delivering your products, if made politely welcome and at larger centres allowed to use some proper facilities…ie decent toilets a proper canteen and a comfortable waiting area the whole industry would benefit.
biggriffin:
There isn’t a shortage. Just a shortage of people who are prepared to work for bad terms,bad money,and being treated like doggie do do. There’s lots of drivers, just not lots who wish/want to work.
Spot On
Yes, there is a driver shortage. Even with Brexit and Covid reducing the volume of road transport, there are still a lot of “drivers wanted ads.” Why else do you thing this video was produced and aired. Agencies want to perpetuate the "no shortage myth so rates can be repressed.
Optimum:
Yes, there is a driver shortage. Even with Brexit and Covid reducing the volume of road transport, there are still a lot of “drivers wanted ads.” Why else do you thing this video was produced and aired. Agencies want to perpetuate the "no shortage myth so rates can be repressed.
Can you show evidence of a driver shortage? The same poor paying companies continually advertising due to high turnover does not signify a shortage, all the inquiries into so called driver shortages have laid the blame squarely with hauliers due to their operating procedures and how they treat drivers but the last big inquiry concluded there was no actual shortage. Rising wages as firms compete to get drivers would be a sign of a shortage yet we regularly see adverts posted on here at minimum wage so firms must be getting bums on seats.
Can you show evidence of a driver shortage? Yes, phone your local jobcentre and ask how many HGV1 driers they can offer to you.
Optimum:
Can you show evidence of a driver shortage? Yes, phone your local jobcentre and ask how many HGV1 driers they can offer to you.
I would take evidence to be yards full of vehicles and empty shelves
Optimum:
in Birmingham alone ythere are 35 unfilled positions.
findajob.dwp.gov.uk/search?loc= … ver&page=2
34 out 35 are agency all sounding pretty much the same I doubt if even half of those positions exist outside of the agency’s office
Optimum:
Yes, there is a driver shortage. Even with Brexit and Covid reducing the volume of road transport, there are still a lot of “drivers wanted ads.” Why else do you thing this video was produced and aired. Agencies want to perpetuate the "no shortage myth so rates can be repressed.
Drivers wanted isn’t the same thing as jobs available.
You seem to have got your supply and demand equation the wrong way round.
There is a shortage of class 2/1 drivers wanting 7.5t and class 3 work which is mostly all that agencies have on their books.Certainly rarely if ever class 2 ro/ro bulker or tipper or class 1 distance work for example.
To the point of clients being prepared to pay class 1 rates for 7.5t and 18t sometimes 26t roles in the local building materials and retail multi drop sectors.
Agencies are all about filling the jobs that no one wants to do and finding the desperate mugs willing to do them.