thetastytrucker:
Every topic seems to have the general opinion of agencies and the job
So how can we as drivers become less dependent upon them and make employers realize there is an alternative ?
Maybe a website like ebay with drivers in set areas with customer feedback and a rating system and advertised rate etc etc
Good idea, it would like a place employers could go to find drivers when they need them, an agency of drivers.
thetastytrucker:
I cant see how a agency can charge £15 a hour for our services yet only pay us £10 as they are only advertising and then supplying our skills
It’s called business and it’s the way if the world.
When someone sells their house they normally use an estate agent. They pay a percentage of the sale price +VAT to the estate agent for the work they do.
That work from personal experience, involves advertising your property on their premises, not necessarily in their window and sending prospective buyers round for you to show them round and you to sell the house.
It is the same with most agents, they get a cut for doing as little as possible.
thetastytrucker:
Every topic seems to have the general opinion of agencies and the job
So how can we as drivers become less dependent upon them and make employers realize there is an alternative ?
Maybe a website like ebay with drivers in set areas with customer feedback and a rating system and advertised rate etc etc
I cant see how a agency can charge £15 a hour for our services yet only pay us £10 as they are only advertising and then supplying our skills
A website like the above would also weed bad drivers out as reviews left by employers would state if they was good accident prone etc etc
Getting rid of Agencies won`t happen simply because Companies can get the work covered without employing a Driver full time, especially when he is only needed on say a Monday or Friday,just common sense.
thetastytrucker:
Every topic seems to have the general opinion of agencies and the job
So how can we as drivers become less dependent upon them and make employers realize there is an alternative ?
Maybe a website like ebay with drivers in set areas with customer feedback and a rating system and advertised rate etc etc
I cant see how a agency can charge £15 a hour for our services yet only pay us £10 as they are only advertising and then supplying our skills
A website like the above would also weed bad drivers out as reviews left by employers would state if they was good accident prone etc etc
Getting rid of Agencies won`t happen simply because Companies can get the work covered without employing a Driver full time, especially when he is only needed on say a Monday or Friday,just common sense.
What even if an employer could bypass the agency and save £5 per hour ?
thetastytrucker:
Every topic seems to have the general opinion of agencies and the job
So how can we as drivers become less dependent upon them and make employers realize there is an alternative ?
Maybe a website like ebay with drivers in set areas with customer feedback and a rating system and advertised rate etc etc
I cant see how a agency can charge £15 a hour for our services yet only pay us £10 as they are only advertising and then supplying our skills
A website like the above would also weed bad drivers out as reviews left by employers would state if they was good accident prone etc etc
Getting rid of Agencies won`t happen simply because Companies can get the work covered without employing a Driver full time, especially when he is only needed on say a Monday or Friday,just common sense.
What even if an employer could bypass the agency and save £5 per hour ?
I worked for a company as a casual driver, working a couple of days a week. Most of the time I was there they used agency drivers and would employ them in preference to using their own staff. I would get one day’s work, say on a Friday, and find that they had used agency drivers all week.
Agencies, or rather their insurers, take on board responsibilities for much of if not all damage caused by their driver’s incompetence.
Just another sub contract basis really, most manufacturers/importers are using contract hauliers, thereby passing on the headaches of the whole transport operation including staff, those contract hauliers are just passing the buck on down the line by using agencies, who in turn are urging ever more into self employed basis.
Up to a point you can see the advantages from their points of view, fewer permanent staff to worry about and risk factor gets passed on down the line, all for less cost per bum on seat, win win all round for them, no insurance worries and far less risk to the big cheeses to get dragged into the frame when something really serious (especially a fatality) goes wrong.
I don’t see an end to agencies anytime soon, the job has never been easier, you only have to read posts here to see how many drivers desire and welcome the simplest easiest of jobs, lorry pre loaded, close doors, drive (steer) to destination, open doors if we must, sit on arse for several hours whilst others deal with load, drive on.
Its a chauffers job now and anyone can do it, nothing wrong with that as such but the ease of the job has made it easier to just get any passing driver with the correct licence to be used on a day or even hourly basis.
Those jobs that require specialist training/expertise/hard graft will i think continue to be full time positions, or very well paid semi permanent temping positions, especially in the few remaining own account operations.
Back in the 80s most could get full time perm jobs and agency drivers were rare - companies would take a hit in the lull periods but financially prepared for that - these days companies want every possible penny profit
Employment agencies: used to supply temporary staff to cover peaks in demand, holidays, sickness.
Recruitment agencies: used to select and screen candidates for permanent posts with an employer.
We now have a blurring of the two. Many big companies have gone as ‘asset-free’ as possible…vehicles leased or contract-hired, premises rented etc. ‘Outsourcing’ staff, not just drivers, is the logical next step on this path. Let the agency recruit them, engage them, and pay them. If the agency can con them into going self-employed and signing away their holiday/sickness entitlements, so much the better.
BUT, this only works were the supply (whether it be of vehicles or drivers) exceeds demand. And HMRC is now looking hard at bogus self-employment, which many agencies depend upon to stay in business.
I suspect we are already beginning to see a situation where agencies will not be telling their drivers what the hourly rate is, rather drivers will be getting a guaranteed wage from the agency with the driver dictating the terms. This will lead to a steep rise in agency costs, some will go out of business and many employers will realise that the remaining pool of drivers represent a asset which is to be retained, not a pool to be dipped into when required.
The pre-Christmas rush should be very interesting this year, and the time and money spent on DCPC acquisition will, I believe, turn out to have been very well spent, irrespective of whether you actually learned anything.
thetastytrucker:
Every topic seems to have the general opinion of agencies and the job
So how can we as drivers become less dependent upon them and make employers realize there is an alternative ?
Maybe a website like ebay with drivers in set areas with customer feedback and a rating system and advertised rate etc etc
I cant see how a agency can charge £15 a hour for our services yet only pay us £10 as they are only advertising and then supplying our skills
A website like the above would also weed bad drivers out as reviews left by employers would state if they was good accident prone etc etc
Getting rid of Agencies won`t happen simply because Companies can get the work covered without employing a Driver full time, especially when he is only needed on say a Monday or Friday,just common sense.
What even if an employer could bypass the agency and save £5 per hour ?
Use an agency and you can have someone at your door within an hour theoretically, if you’re an employer then you’d have to find a driver, check their qualifications, trust them with your equipment etc etc. With an agency at least they’re all checked for licences etc and the agency takes the heat should something happen.
(1) Become a haulage employer, and then employ everyone in sight full time
(2) Offer as basic pay more than what agencies pay
(3) Successfully compete for a bigger market share, and keep chipping away at the “non-full time employed driver pool” by taking ever more on full time.
The moment any yard starts trying to save money in the quiet months (by being understaffed, so you need agencies everytime the work picks up just a bit…) there will be this constant need for agencies.
If you arbitrarily closed down agencies right now, everyone currently working for them would find themselves scrambling for the few crap jobs there are around, and rates for full timers would stagnate for another 20 years. Those who can’t or are not prepared to race to the bottom will find themselves training for a different career altogether. Take myself for example - Do you really think a “career change” here only leaves me with the option of Dustman, Toilet attendent or Traffic warden for example? We’re not all one-trick ponies in this business that’s for sure - especially the ones below the “average age for a driver” (53) who’ve still got decades in front of them in any line of work they might switch to…
The net result of all this? A MASSIVE shortage that starts seeing yards headhunting drivers directly from other yards… This would be a lot more expensive than dealing with agencies for the yards - but it might induce more staff loyalty to the business if one yard is prepared to say “Look, we’ll pay you more than anyone else ever can - because we’re big enough to do so, and dropping our annual profit from £1.2bn to £1.1bn to afford this is small beer to us… Come on down!”
Dream on… If that was going to happen, then Nobbies would have ■■■■■■ all over British yards by now, but have never shown any interest whatsoever in recruiting premium drivers… Thus, agencies are as extanct as the large employers.
Boycie2013:
I understand what you are saying but a measure could be put in place.
I.e drivers have to register with said website upload proof of license cpc so on.
Always a way around problems.
Bottom line is agy are scum and us as professional drivers need to get this idea it to action. Que the negative comments…
The problem is that no matter what system you put in place it will be open to abuse by someone somewhere.
I gave up lorry driving as a career in 1978 for the reason, that the few will always get looked after whilst the many wait for the crumbs from the table.
The brown envelope is very very prevalent. There is a lot of leeway. If an agency has just ten drivers doing 40 hours a week that generates probably about 1600 profit less expenses V lucrative
There are brokers and agents in every business area. Actually when times are good, there a good thing if you are prepared to stand up for yourself. You can play them off against each other and just keep telling them that it’s not enough money and XYZ is paying more. If you did the same to the end user you would never get a call again.
The problem comes in the bad times, just as you have pushed them up they will try to beat you down. Sadly that is the way of the world and until someone abolishes the economic cycle thats the way it is.
midlifetrucker:
The brown envelope is very very prevalent. There is a lot of leeway. If an agency has just ten drivers doing 40 hours a week that generates probably about 1600 profit less expenses V lucrative
Thanks for the support, I didn’t think I was paranoid, rather a realist.
