Suppose I better put my tar and brush away. The last decent limper we had got a full time job with us 
Not too hard to turn up on time and to the right address.
Having been on the receiving end of both types of phone call, the arrogance tends to loose. However the polite version maybe a little OTT but reassuring enough to bolster the confidence of a newbie who maybe flapping a little
Juddian:
icing on the cake is it makes the dwindling rest us look good and more indispensable than ever.
Agree with most things you post Juddian, but don’t get carried away. The graveyard is full of men who thought they were indispensable.
Honked:
After calling him 4 times and a text he didn’t reply to, it only pointed to him giving up.It meant he was over an hour late starting work and that puts us in a bad light as he is late to the customer. We then have to hold a container back as we need his load.
Case stands - lazy limper.
The question that nobody asked is why you needed to hire an agency driver in the first place. Is it because one of yours was off work? If thats the case then surely its a case of lazy employed driver.
Honked:
The second option on the call stakes but without coffee or induction. He was told night before where to meet, along with a text of instructions and address.Can’t someone at least think of the children?
You’re assuming the agency gave him the right details or that the person in your firm who phoned the agency gave him the right depot to go to. In my experience either your firm or them getting it wrong and him going to where he was told by them is more likely the case.
Aye one of ours is on holiday but to be fair if the limper only does one job it will be double what the full timer usually does.
Conor:
Honked:
The second option on the call stakes but without coffee or induction. He was told night before where to meet, along with a text of instructions and address.Can’t someone at least think of the children?
You’re assuming the agency gave him the right details or that the person in your firm who phoned the agency gave him the right depot to go to. In my experience either your firm or them getting it wrong and him going to where he was told by them is more likely the case.
I was in the office when we called him.
Why has it not been considered that this is the agents fault…
Whats betting the Lazy Limper is getting paid peanuts by the agency who is skimming most of what you are paying off the top. Agent should be providing a brief of what the job entails, start time, directions and map, and who to report to as a minimum. Don’t sound like that is happening here.
If you are getting an un motivated idiot who doesn’t want to be there he aint getting paid enough. Might be you fault for being tight, but i would suspect the agent…
Solve it by insisting all your agency bods take an assessment. Get them in for two hours (paid) and get them to hook up and go for a drive. All the big boys do this now to keep the dross off there accident stats.
Honked:
I was in the office when we called him.
You didn’t call him, you called his agency.
isaac hunt:
Juddian:
icing on the cake is it makes the dwindling rest us look good and more indispensable than ever.Agree with most things you post Juddian, but don’t get carried away. The graveyard is full of men who thought they were indispensable.
Yep, and i’ll (we’ll) be joining 'em in due course… 
but not till we’re good and ready with any luck… 
Conor:
Honked:
I was in the office when we called him.You didn’t call him, you called his agency.
I have been called by clients in the past, or called clients myself before an assignment. Often better to talk to the client direct, then to rely on some of the muppets that work for agencies. … 
Conor:
Honked:
I was in the office when we called him.You didn’t call him, you called his agency.
We always call the driver. We have 3 sites so leaving it to the agency is foolish.
We call the driver, we text the driver with his details and I meet the driver to ease him in gently (ooer) and make sure he can fill out our notes.
Honked:
Conor:
Honked:
I was in the office when we called him.You didn’t call him, you called his agency.
We always call the driver. We have 3 sites so leaving it to the agency is foolish.
We call the driver, we text the driver with his details and I meet the driver to ease him in gently (ooer) and make sure he can fill out our notes.
So if everything is done right it only leaves two explanations;
1 - Money is poor - so driver gets better offer elsewhere or simply cant be arsed to turn up for peanuts.
2 - Work is crap and limper cant face it.
If moneys right and works clean and easy you will have a line forming outside, especially at the moment when there’s not much around. I’d say its that slow at the moment you should have a good choice of limper, if you are struggling in Feb you have no chance come October…
maybe work on other side is ok but not on your side. (just thinkin)
Amazes me the hate for agency staff…
I’ve had the misfortune to be agency…(non hgv)…yet I were in 30mins before full timer’s, normally an hour after and had their work done in 3hrs compared to their 9, 8 of which includes the obligatory ’ I’m union so booo hooooo winge whine moan speech, whilst stood next to tea machine frapping over the ‘boss they hate’ while frapping off too their facebook friendship with said ■■■■■■ of a boss…
It does of course work BOTH ways in this type of situation, where the agency limpet is about as much use as a bullet ridden Jonny and needs directions given to help him differentiate between his arse an elbow, but generally most I’ve worked with have been 99% of time more capable than the pie muncher they are filling in for…
It can work both ways, in the example from the op, my experience is that normally management at both ends couldn’t link a daisy chain together and I BET in this case he were given the info by two separate specials trying in vain to even find the daisy’s let alone make a chain.
Anyway Sincereapologies for my outburst, I shall try navigate back t’ nooob pit using me map bought from a Tesco ooop north, hence I’m in here, posting coz I’m lost…
Its tut maps fault…if I had reeeeeet map I’d be back ooop reeeeet section coz rections was proper when read from a saaaaarrrrfffff printed map Gov…
Benjie83:
Amazes me the hate for agency staff…I’ve had the misfortune to be agency…(non hgv)…yet I were in 30mins before full timer’s, normally an hour after and had their work done in 3hrs compared to their 9, 8 of which includes the obligatory ’ I’m union so booo hooooo winge whine moan speech, whilst stood next to tea machine frapping over the ‘boss they hate’ while frapping off too their facebook friendship with said ■■■■■■ of a boss…
It does of course work BOTH ways in this type of situation, where the agency limpet is about as much use as a bullet ridden Jonny and needs directions given to help him differentiate between his arse an elbow, but generally most I’ve worked with have been 99% of time more capable than the pie muncher they are filling in for…
It can work both ways, in the example from the op, my experience is that normally management at both ends couldn’t link a daisy chain together and I BET in this case he were given the info by two separate specials trying in vain to even find the daisy’s let alone make a chain.
Anyway Sincereapologies for my outburst, I shall try navigate back t’ nooob pit using me map bought from a Tesco ooop north, hence I’m in here, posting coz I’m lost…
Its tut maps fault…if I had reeeeeet map I’d be back ooop reeeeet section coz rections was proper when read from a saaaaarrrrfffff printed map Gov…
If you could do the job in half the time why did you need to be there 1.5hrs longer than everyone else everyday?
What’s that I smell…limp along there is nothing to see here!
Simple.
Want a job ,get given a job and a start time.
Turn up on time. Do a!located job.
Go home get paid
So so simple
I’ve never been 1minute late for work
We couldn’t run my depot without “limpers” as you call them most of them are good guys who have regular work with us.
Idiotic behavior is the preserve of the full timers, things like “I’m not driving that unit the door opens to wide” i could go on the list is endless.
The problem is lots of the larger operators have procedures in place regarding health and safety and supporting people with medical issues, we have a name for them “sick lame and lazy” they moan and groan and those who have genuine issues and who deserve support look like layabouts.
We had one who was taken of his support plan and put on to regular work had his little hissy fit, and then went for a cardiograph at the local A&E, moans that his second run is to far but is perfectly capable of towing a caravan to Croatia, I kid you not.
[Zb] on a stick! What’s going on with the world? WTF are all these namby pamby excuses?
This is how the deal goes down; Nobody forces you to approach an agency and ASK them for work.
The agency tells you the who the client is, gives you the postcode/address and tells you the amount of pay and your start time.
You then say " oui " or " non ". ( Thought I would go all European on you all). Assuming you agree to do the shift, you do the following.
- Reach down and check they are in place. If not, [zb]ing grow a pair.
- Have some intelligence and check on Google where you are going.
- Decide to utilise some basic manners, and carry out the task that is expected of you.
All that happens when limpers don’t turn up, is that apart from the company and/or their customer being inconvenienced and potentially out of pocket, they simply reinforce the accurate viewpoint of agency workers in the whole, being crap.
war1974:
well I come into the wont go to London category - why would you its full of southerners and [zb].anywhere else I have no problem with uk or over the water I just have a hatred of London and driving there - even when it was my own truck.
if I had to go I would but there are plenty of other runs about which mean you don’t have to go into that poxy city.
+1, and I am a southerner, and I fxxxxxg hate London,i wish the thames would flood London,thats how much I hate it