All depends on circumstances.
If you got a £600 a month mortgage,and a couple of nippers…and they know about it…your forked.
They’ll give you all the sheet,knowing full well you can’t afford to turn it down.
Refuse a job…and they’ll stand you down for a few days.
However,if you don’t need a massive amount of cash coming in,every week…the ball is in your court.
Harry Monk:
I do agency work and my experience of it is that you have to let the agency know from the get-go who is top dog, otherwise they will walk all over you. You have to make it clear from the start that you aren’t some clown from Lithuania who got his HGV licence because he could drive his uncle’s tractor 50 yards down a muddy track, and you have to make it clear that you are only interested in the best work, for the best money, and if they can’t provide that then you are quite happy to stay in bed.Works for me, anyway.
What agency Harry ?Big or small firm .i never use them but am looking around rugby cov now … 
Beetlejuice:
Harry Monk:
I do agency work and my experience of it is that you have to let the agency know from the get-go who is top dog, otherwise they will walk all over you. You have to make it clear from the start that you aren’t some clown from Lithuania who got his HGV licence because he could drive his uncle’s tractor 50 yards down a muddy track, and you have to make it clear that you are only interested in the best work, for the best money, and if they can’t provide that then you are quite happy to stay in bed.Works for me, anyway.
What agency Harry ?Big or small firm .i never use them but am looking around rugby cov now …
I’ll PM you.
Harry Monk:
I do agency work and my experience of it is that you have to let the agency know from the get-go who is top dog, otherwise they will walk all over you.
^ This
Unfortunately it took me far too long to realise it.Having said that there is a good chance that you’ll have to walk away in many cases rather than bother to argue with the zb’s.That might get you black listed but that’s a risk that’s well worth taking.
Harry Monk:
Beetlejuice:
Harry Monk:
I do agency work and my experience of it is that you have to let the agency know from the get-go who is top dog, otherwise they will walk all over you. You have to make it clear from the start that you aren’t some clown from Lithuania who got his HGV licence because he could drive his uncle’s tractor 50 yards down a muddy track, and you have to make it clear that you are only interested in the best work, for the best money, and if they can’t provide that then you are quite happy to stay in bed.Works for me, anyway.
What agency Harry ?Big or small firm .i never use them but am looking around rugby cov now …
I’ll PM you.
Thanks Harry
Harry Monk:
I do agency work and my experience of it is that you have to let the agency know from the get-go who is top dog, otherwise they will walk all over you. You have to make it clear from the start that you aren’t some clown from Lithuania who got his HGV licence because he could drive his uncle’s tractor 50 yards down a muddy track, and you have to make it clear that you are only interested in the best work, for the best money, and if they can’t provide that then you are quite happy to stay in bed.Works for me, anyway.
If I had a quid for every driver who signed up with that attitude when I ran an agency desk I could’ve retired years ago.
Trouble is, actions speak louder than words.
Agency can be good and bad.
I just got home from a shift - driving a sprinter van with 32 drops. I didn’t ask and thought I’d be driving a truck. I have promised to work there tomorrow. And I won’t let anyone down. But I will ask politely for them not to give me horrific multidrop work going forward.
Harry Monk:
You have to make it clear from the start that you aren’t some clown from Lithuania who got his HGV licence because he could drive his uncle’s tractor 50 yards down a muddy track
I’m sorry, but you talking bs, driving tests in the EU countries are all standard and there is no difference, I’ve taken tests in the UK and I have taken test in Latvia and I can assure you that there is no difference, only language obviously.
milesahead…its not BS…i was told by a group of Poles i worked with that their test for a class 1 licence was exactly as Harry had said…by now, the rules have been tightened up…but as an experienced driver myself, and of many eastern bloc countries are concerned…their standards are not up to the same level as many western countries…However, i cannot understand how you would have taken 2 driving tests…unless 1 was for a car, and the other heavy goods…and NO the driving tests are not standard across Europe or indeed the Balkans…the same as an MOT standard…they dont exist.
truckyboy:
milesahead…its not BS…i was told by a group of Poles i worked with that their test for a class 1 licence was exactly as Harry had said…by now, the rules have been tightened up…but as an experienced driver myself, and of many eastern bloc countries are concerned…their standards are not up to the same level as many western countries…However, i cannot understand how you would have taken 2 driving tests…unless 1 was for a car, and the other heavy goods…and NO the driving tests are not standard across Europe or indeed the Balkans…the same as an MOT standard…they dont exist.
It depends when they took their tests, I would say standardisation happened in the last 20 years, 30 years ago Eastern Europe was an absolutely different world and I’m talking about the EU not all the Europe. Yes, I’ve done my car test in Latvia and bike and class 2 tests in the UK, and there is absolutely no difference in the procedure. I’m talking only what I know about. What I don’t like when people try to put their stereotypes as absolute truth, without even some research.
Someone in good authority told me a couple of years ago that the CE test in Poland was - literally - a farm tractor and trailer.
Could well have changed by now of course.
