truckman020:
what annoys me is signs you see attached to trees and lampposts saying HGV DRIVERS URGENTLY REQUIRED,when you do register,nothing happens,something needs to be done about these agencies,the agency in question is drivers direct
take the signs down ?
Winseer:
How much does a genuine 5th-wheel-wiped & ready high-viz fetch on Ebay these days?
last year i sold a Maritime hi viz for £5 on ebay ,genuine grubby
LIBERTY_GUY:
only if they’re thick and or complacent.
There’s plenty of those HGV driver’s around!
taffytrucker:
Worked agency before ticked a list of what was willing to do etc but until you get your feet under the table prove your worth and that you can get the job done you take anything they offer. Doing that you soon move up in the pecking order and get the work you want.
Couldn’t have put it better.
taffytrucker:
Worked agency before ticked a list of what was willing to do etc but until you get your feet under the table prove your worth and that you can get the job done you take anything they offer. Doing that you soon move up in the pecking order and get the work you want.
Or of course you could just get a ‘proper’ permanent job like what I and others have done. Before someone steps in and says there are no permanent jobs out there, try looking at the sites of some of the hauliers in your area, you may be pleasantly surprised.
taffytrucker:
Seems to me the OP was just being a a $$hole
I suppose that is a question of perspective. Just remember I am doing the dirty mucky industrial and construction stuff where I am getting covered in mud, grime oil and even sewage, not the clean box jockey work. Every one of those industrial and construction clients has been happy to have me back. The truck has been brought back in one piece, I have been polite to their customers and the right stuff has been done in the right place. Job done!!
Irrespective of geographical areas, I can tell you EXACTLY which jobs the agencies have problems covering.
I just find it annoying when they advertise vacancies they don’t actually have. I can think of two mainstream chain agencies that have identical vacancies (word for word) for most of there branches. That is where their integrity goes right out of the window and shows them in their true light.
What I would say, in my (limited) experience, is that generally speaking, local type haulier’s tend to be pretty good at responding to Emails sent from prospective drivers like me, even if it’s to say ‘no vacancies’ et al. I’ve only ever had one that gave no response whatsoever.
LIBERTY_GUY:
Sidevalve:
LIBERTY_GUY:
What folks have to appreciate about the agency I have been working for recently, is that just a few days ago they were advertising tipper work, even though the two big local contracts that had created the vacancies were coming to an end and drivers were already getting laid off. Even late last week this same agency were advertising ‘urgently required’ steel jobs that have failed to materialise, not just for me, but for other drivers on their books too.And what you, along with hundreds of others, fail to realise is that to an extent agencies HAVE to work that way. If they’ve gone to a client and obtained a foot in the door, it’s no ■■■■ use them not having any suitable drivers when said client rings up and orders half a dozen for that night is it? Trust me if you think agencies are fickle creatures you should try dealing with some of their clients! Hence the “non-specific” adverts which get so many drivers steamed up. It is not ideal I grant you that, and it’s easy to see why folk who take everything literally might think they’re being conned; but there is often no other way to achieve it.
The problem is ‘one size doesn’t fit all’. A steel driver is experienced in industrial environments and dealing with that industry. Someone without experience in steel is likely to end up with the load over the road or perhaps even killing someone. Pointless luring people in, then trying to offer them work that is beyond their experience and training. Bit like the agency consultant that thought I’d be ok to “blag myself into it” for a hook lift role because I’d worked on tippers, until I pointed out how lethal those things could be in untrained hands.
Trouble is many recruitment consultants are only interested in the pound signs with zero thought as to putting the right people in the right roles, which also incidentally would benefit the client too.
The only “blagging” that goes on are attempts to get drivers to under-sell themselves in terms of “maxed work at lower rates” and “work always cancelled at higher rate”.
How many agencies these days run only Specialized drivers for any client venue?
Such an agency would be paying minimum hourly rates way above the industry average - one would think. I think it’s like rockinghorseshyte though: The perfect job for the perfect driver at the perfect rate of pay doesn’t actually exist - at least on the agencies that say it does.
How’s that for a paradox? 
iv noticed that multi drop drivers always look healthier .
LIBERTY_GUY:
taffytrucker:
Worked agency before ticked a list of what was willing to do etc but until you get your feet under the table prove your worth and that you can get the job done you take anything they offer. Doing that you soon move up in the pecking order and get the work you want.Or of course you could just get a ‘proper’ permanent job like what I and others have done. Before someone steps in and says there are no permanent jobs out there, try looking at the sites of some of the hauliers in your area, you may be pleasantly surprised.
taffytrucker:
Seems to me the OP was just being a a $$holeI suppose that is a question of perspective. Just remember I am doing the dirty mucky industrial and construction stuff where I am getting covered in mud, grime oil and even sewage, not the clean box jockey work. Every one of those industrial and construction clients has been happy to have me back. The truck has been brought back in one piece, I have been polite to their customers and the right stuff has been done in the right place. Job done!!
Irrespective of geographical areas, I can tell you EXACTLY which jobs the agencies have problems covering.
- Multi drop shop deliveries
- Parcel deliveries
- Builders merchants.
I just find it annoying when they advertise vacancies they don’t actually have. I can think of two mainstream chain agencies that have identical vacancies (word for word) for most of there branches. That is where their integrity goes right out of the window and shows them in their true light.
Agency work suited my lifestyle at the time. I could work when I wanted not when someone else said I have to its that simple.
As for all that other dribble I’m pretty lucky and have done a lot of different types of haulage work from car transports to expensive wine for wine clubs to class 2 & 1 hiab work to construction sites and apart from reefer work you can just as dirty and stinking on most of them.
You are probably best where you are now taffytrucker, as trust me the UK agency driving work and the way it is operated in 2015 aint somewhere you’d want to be nowadays. Years ago it was reasonably ok, but nowadays there are more rogue agencies and sharks than there have ever been, with no concept of the word ‘honesty’.
I did two long term stints for a major engine plant as a technical assembler last year at more money than HGV driving typically paid and that was six months work in total. It does make you wonder what the attraction for new drivers could ever possibly be, just to get endlessly walked over.
LIBERTY_GUY:
Irrespective of geographical areas, I can tell you EXACTLY which jobs the agencies have problems covering.
- Multi drop shop deliveries
- Parcel deliveries
- Builders merchants.
I just find it annoying when they advertise vacancies they don’t actually have. I can think of two mainstream chain agencies that have identical vacancies (word for word) for most of there branches. That is where their integrity goes right out of the window and shows them in their true light.
If those adverts are in the offices, they’re perfectly legal. It is, after all, just an advert. No worse than those daft telly ads which claim that 85% of women noticed a difference after using XXXX face cream; then in the small print at the bottom it says “based on a sample of 76 women”. You should be smart enough to dismiss it as the fluff that it is; but would you prefer them to be ultra-honest and say “well we’ll sign you up but we can’t guarantee you’ll be working five days a week”? Of course not; you wouldn’t even walk through the door.
As for those types of jobs; yes you’re right. They’re also the sectors where turnover in full-time drivers is probably the highest in the industry, so is it really any surprise that the agencies struggle too? All have seasonal ups and downs, all are a ■■■■ sight more hard work than piloting a fridge up and down the motorway, and most aren’t particularly well paid, even full-time permanent. They’ve still got to be done though.
corij:
iv noticed that multi drop drivers always look healthier .
That’s because they’re aged 20-30 rather than “overweight, and an average age of 53”…
I don’t understand this not being able to to get work, or get good money. In the South at least… I’m on more than I expected before I entered the industry, and not had a day out of work with an agency job. My agency and firm have stopped bothering to book me weekly, as i’m told I’m ongoing, and the job is a pallet multi-drop doddle. 
(Although I think my company may be better than most…) Yes i’d take a permanent job that was local to me with good T&C’s for less money, as quality of life counts… But if you are in the South, there is reasonable money and plenty of work, as I can’t attend, (or even want) assessment drives other agencies are offering me… As I’ve walked into what i perceive to be a good gig for my zero experience, and am sadly turning down the offer of a permanent job as the travel to and from work, is too far to be viable long term…
Hope you enjoy Liberty_Guy!
Can I ask where in the country you are, sorry if I should know this from previous posts, but i’m a scumbag agency class 2 dipstick, and that’s excuse! 
P.S. I’ll be in a 7.5t for the same money on Monday, and strangely I don’t care… 
Good for you. Agencies down south here DO seem to be offering more rigid work at artic rates I’ve noticed. The last few Christmases at RM have been very much "can we put you in there in a 600cf job - but pay you our regular agency class one rate please?"
Supermarkets are the same story. “Just come in and drive a LGV of any size, and get paid for driving anything and everything upto 44t at the 44t rate.”
