Ive been driving for an agency and their regular clients for a few months now. Normally it goes well get all drops done (but one maybe if i cant get to it), and normally get back on time.
Im hoping its just cos I havent driven yet this year due to a quiet period but im having a fricking awful day. Been sent round doing collections and a few drops today which ive found ok but its in the middle of nowhere so its unfamilar back roads in fog so been quite slow going.
The truck.needs to be back for seven for the night trunk but i ran out of time so on a 45 and wont get back till 715 at the earliest. I rang up and apologized and said roughly what time ill be back but theyre not happy.
I think they’re taking advantage of your nice nature mate. I was apologetic at not getting all the drops done in the early days of agency work but you quickly realise they are taking the urine. Do a good days work and be happy with that. If they don’t like it they could always hire a self-employed guy who would do the job fine but charge them £15 an hour. They want you working yourself into the ground for nothing - they’ll never be satisfied.
Be polite but don’t let them take you for a mug. And don’t worry if you don’t get all the drops done - I’ve brought back more drops than santa and still got regular work from the agencies.
One more thing to consider - if I was paying someone close to minimum wage I’d be grateful that they even bothered getting out of bed. If they actually did any work I’d be ecstatic.
Think its just cos ive not done it for a while. I got the call an hour and a half before i started so my heads probably not on right.
Ive done all my drops today and got my last and only collection. An 18tonne 15 miles for 20 envelopes?!?!!?!!?!!■■ makes no sense to me. Just wishing the tacho on to say ive done my 45 so i can drive back lol.
If you are not getting lost everyday, and they want the truck back at 7pm, then take it back for them. If you have run out of driving time 30 minutes from the depot, maybe you need to organise your breaks better.
You can never do enough for a good guv’nor
The more you do, the more is expected, is something I was told when I was 18, the same rings true over 35 years later
I know exactly What you mean. I had the same thing happen to me.
I missed a timed delivery, called the office up and spoke to the person in charge. I explained very politely (she was a Woman) that i had missed my slot etc. She went off her rocker, anyone Would have thought someone had died. There and then i thought, is it even Worth it. She slammed the phone down and that was that…all over a pallet of candles ffs.
We dont get paid to be spoken to like something on the bottom of their shoe, im polite and well mannered and expect the same but unfortunatly, as already said, it is’nt always recodnised or reciprocated.
I suppose in time, as we new drivers become more experianced in various situations, then the confidence Will also come to voice your opinion in a mature way if that makes sense. As for neW drivers, i suppose We dont want to upset anyone or tread on toes for fear of loosing valuable experiance…Shame really.
But everyone has good and bad days, if you feel this might not be for you, give it a while, things might change…but if down the line you still feel the same, maybe its not for you…But y0u’ll always have your licence to fall back on.
All the best.
Ben
Thanks Ben, after finishing I’ve put it down to a bad day. To top it all off while I was having my card downloaded, I got sent to grab a form from the truck which I handed in to the office. They then said goodbye and I was fifteen minutes down the road when I screamed “CARD!!!” lol.
Do not think you will find a driver that has not had a bad day!!
One of the first jobs I had after getting my Class 1 (many years ago) was with an agency working for Carryfast, sent out in an artic to do about 30 drops in the centre of Manchester, didn’t know the run, the area or the truck, worked my socks off and somehow managed to get all drops done. Chugged back to the depot on the limit with time, quite pleased with myself. Until… boss asked me “where are all the collections you should have done”.Ooops! They never asked me back
One problem with agency work is that you rarely get to know “exactly” what you are supposed to do, often end up treading on toes. Get the job done too quickly and the other drivers complain, take too long and the TM will complain. As you get more experience and knowledge it “should” get easier…
Dont let it get you. If you do 7 deliveries one day the next they will want 8. The more you do the more they want that will never change in this job. End of the day you got your digi card to prove that you wasnt just parked up in a lay by with a fat burger in hand. just make sure you shoulders slope downwards so all the sh*t they give you runs off lol
Yes mate i feel for you , its a steep learning curve this driving lark! ive been doing class 2 for a month now and i dont feel like ive done a good days work yet ( or havnt felt like a berk!) But iam confident that these smaller details other than driving the truck will get ingrained into my working day.
Don’t know what work you’ve been doing but the biggest wastage of time is at drops, if you can speed up once your on a drop that will save you endless amounts of time. For example if your delivering a parcel to a house, don’t ■■■■ about waiting for them to come to the door, ring it once no signs of life after ten seconds write not present on the ticket and leave on the doorstep, its called ‘dump n run’. If your looking for a address for more than 2mins, your lost, call the customer. When you tip in a yard if possible help the forkie, tell him what’s coming off, help take the light stuff off. If your having to wait to get tipped, stick it on a 15, gets rid of it when your not doing anything so you only have to get 30 later on.
Try to get a 15 in when you can and the save that 30 for as late in the day as you can.
Oh and being 15 minutes late…■■■■■■■■ to them and don’t worry,they see it as part of their job not to be happy and because they’re not happy they try to pass on the good news.Just say sorry and walk away.
taffytrucker:
Dont let it get you. If you do 7 deliveries one day the next they will want 8. The more you do the more they want that will never change in this job. End of the day you got your digi card to prove that you wasnt just parked up in a lay by with a fat burger in hand. just make sure you shoulders slope downwards so all the sh*t they give you runs off lol
I agree.
I had my class 1 back in 92 and used to do alot of agency work. Im not sure how it is now as ive not done agency driving for about 15 years now but i found you were always looked down apon and had the pis ripped from you on a regular basis! One night i particularly remember was being sent out in a bloody shed yard shunter and trailer loaded with plastic baskets of bread, floor to ceiling. They wanted 2 runs of 2 hours each way and you had to unload and load a 40 footer on ya own, all for the princely sum of about 6 quid an hour.
I stuck that ■■■■ for a week.
Dont let people take advantage just because they think your an easy ride being an agency driver, you’l be in ya box before your 50.
The more you do, the more they expect you to do the next time!
I dont understand why you fella’s even care if you complete the run … I know personally i’ve taken back plenty of loads uncompleted …lol… at the end of the day always remember your doing the client a favour by taking his load out i.e bailing him out of the ■■■■.
You will often hear
" Oh our driver normally does that run in 8 hours" and my response wud be " Yeh he probaly does, because he runs bent and takes it up the arse too "
or
" if your couldnt find the address/drop why didnt you contact us ?" my response wud be " how by carrier pigeon ? , their is no company fone in the wagon and i’ve go no credits on my fone ".
then their is the classic one
" your late you should have been here half an hour ago !" my response wud be " why ? what happened ?"
I think newbies are often pressured to run their socks off , you’ll soon realise they’ll never be satisfied.
Agencys always take the pis, to them your just another number, paid ■■■■ , lied to over the fone about the job/assignment rates, given wrong info for job assignment, sent to jobs/assignments that have been cancelled and then they try to worm out of paying you for it.
Also their so called clients always want you back early because they dont wanna pay the extra hours , dont be taken for a mug. wise up lads , or you wont last long in this game.
I think it would be nice to see a name and shame agencys section posted up here because it would be nice to see which agencys names keep comming up, and what other experiences drivers have had working for them.I know I could think of a few I could mention to start it off.
ukthugz:
I dont understand why you fella’s even care if you complete the run … I know personally i’ve taken back plenty of loads uncompleted …lol… at the end of the day always remember your doing the client a favour by taking his load out i.e bailing him out of the [zb].
… Because there is a likelyhood of not being asked back. And in the current climate most of us can’t afford that unless we know we are safe for another client if this one falls through.
Love the comebacks btw. Should remember them for when a TM or Planner gets cocky with me lol
Obviously you have to be somewhat polite when ya talk to these knobs in Transport, but always fight ya corner and take no bull from the agency’s or their clients.
I’ve taken the ■■■■ at job assignments and yet if the agencys desperate for drivers they’ll always send ya back their …lol… its always interesting seeing the clients reaction when you step back through their doors with a cheery smile.
I know at one company they had a driver in to do 3 local drops in birmingham , he returned back in the yard 3 hours later they all thought he completed the run , but he didnt even manage to get to the first one…lol , he only returned back because he had a phone call saying his budgie was sick so he had to go home .
and if they keep moaning , just mention what ya getting paid, and say what do expect for 7 odd quid an hour ? lol.
And as for current climate = do they think people can afford to go through the ball ache of getting their lgv licences and CPC just to work for crap money, bent transport companys and ■■■■ agencys. hmmm…
First job ,1996 >leave Glasgow on a sunday, to London , 2 spend the wk multi dropping pre fabricated windows at building sites in central london! withan overhight trailer / i can laugh now, stuck it 3 months ,my nerves were shattered ! still, in at the deep end eh .
