I am looking for some info on agencies as I phoned some
companies to day and got I will call you back or we have
not got anything yet try calling us middle of February or
march. I got asked have you got experience and then we
will call you back or they take your details and one companies
that’s going to send me a application out which
will just get filed. So I will keep trying and see if turning
up in person works any better but in the mean time I will
try agencies to get some experiance.
I only know about driver hire agency as I have never looked
in to agency work but I have read on here that some are
with a few agencies so I have a few questions.
Where did you find your agency. Internet, paper or other?
How do agencies work is there a contract to sign or a
fee ect ?
Usually by word of mouth, but one other way, is to think of any big RDC’s or firms in your area that you would like to do work in.
Ring them up and ask them if they need any drivers blah blah if they say no, then ask what agencys they use as your were looking for work, and they will tell you.
Or the yellow pages.
Contracts, some might some not, i dont think ive ever had one to be honest.
You can sign up with as many agencies as you want, but it will get messy for tax reasons, your tax code will be given to one, the rest will tax you at basic rate (emergency tax), so give the one you are going to work for most your P45.
I’m signed up with 2. The first one I went to was Driver Hire in Glasgow. They seem to work as a franchise. I was told about an advert that had been put up by Grangemouth office saying that you could ‘design’ your own jobe, part time, full time, nightshift, number of shifts you wanted etc. When I phoned them they gave me the Glasgow office number although technically it’s a different business. Glasgow started me off almost immediately with no experience and the arrangement is that I’m self employed but they sort out tax and NI deductions. I have no compaints with them but when a quiet spell came along I decided I’d better get on the books of another agency too. I had heard about Manpower and got signed on with them. They give holiday pay etc and also have the contract with Royal Mail which meant plenty of work on the run up to Christmas. There has been no conflict at all being with two agencies. I would personally not sign up with more as the paperwork would get complicated and I only want to do 2-3 shifts/week anyway. although I’m told work gets scarce in January, I’m still getting enough. Hope this helps.
Gordy
I have worked for a variety of agencies some I would go back some I most certainly wouldn’t.
Driver Hire is a franchise business, they can be very good, but that like any agency, franchise or not, that can vary from office to office.
For a list of agencies in your area try yellow pages or this link, courtesy of johnboy on TN’s link page.
Yes you do sign a employment contract, but it will not tie you to them, but it will mean that you cannot legally, without paying them some form of fee, get employment with anyone they place you with.
If you sign for more than 2-3 agencies you will find that you will start having to turn too much work down when things pick up in Feb / March & this will mean that you do not get as many offers of work in the long run.
When you sign on at an agency tell them you are a new driver, ask them how far they expect their drivers to travel for work, some can expect you to do 100 mile round trip, ask them about their clients & where they are, these guys are going to be working as much for you as they are for their clients.
Good luck.
I’d suggest you look up all the local agencies then pay a visit to the one you most fancy, tell them what you’re looking for and see if they can deliver… If they don’t come across move on to the next one.
I tend to find you get a "honeymoon period” which often lasts a few weeks, then they dump all the crap on you, and when you start to refuse the work dries up.
If you want regular work and money is not so much of an issue phone around local firms, be honest about you’re lack of experience, but be enthusiastic, and you might be surprised.
I found my latest agency after searching the web for C2 jobs… They had an impressive website, so I registered online then got a phone call a week later to have a chat… this lead quite quickly to me getting my C1, so was definately worth it… I’m now solely with them and in 4-5 months I’ve only had half a dozen non-working days… Can’t fault them…
Previous agencies HAVEN’T been nearly so good tho… DH just stopped calling cuz I wouldn’t do rubbish collections… (No… not rubbish jobs, but collecting skips etc… ) Even tho they put me thru my C2…
One of the others never contacted me again after the initial ‘form filling’ session in their office… not ONE call… ever… And I must have been there 3hrs…
Must be said tho… There are alot of peeps, me included, who believe that most agencies have their ‘A’ list drivers, etc, and you do have to prove to them that you’re able and willing before they ‘trust’ you… In other words, you usually won’t get a good job out of them until you have done a few really naff ones.
Once you’ve done those, you can really judge how they treat you…
there’s one in sheff that advertises “run by drivers for drivers”
but i can’t remember what it,s called now.
worked for drivers hire before,boy did i get some crap jobs there.
■■■■■■■ beds etc anywhere and everywhere.they also try to get
you to do manual labouring jobs too,like taking old carpet up,
matalan store with a shovel and would you go to such+such
place and run round catching chickens all day
err. no thanks.
probably best to find out which agencies the proper transport firms
use in your area,especially ones which use all classes of truck,
from 7.5 tonne up,then you can work your way up within the same
co. as they get to know you.
