peirre:
drover:
Oh the joys of agency! Make the most and take a 3 month holiday to Thailand like the rest of the limpersI’m just going to drive down to the Algarve in my car in July and park up for a month
Must be a poor man’s limper 
drover:
peirre:
drover:
Oh the joys of agency! Make the most and take a 3 month holiday to Thailand like the rest of the limpersI’m just going to drive down to the Algarve in my car in July and park up for a month
Must be a poor man’s limper
Nah Portugal is my go to place, I’ve forwarned the agency that I want 4 weeks holiday pay.
I’ve been dumping €1000-€2000 a Month into my Portuguese bank to pay for the hotels and steak dinners
I’m actually off tomorrow to go to a funeral, but I was offered a days holiday but declined to take it as I’m saving my holidays for the trip. The double time shift today will make up the pay shortfall for tomorrow
robroy:
I was going to retaliate to your post until I sudenlly realised it was you with your usual belligerent content but , the day I take you or anything you say seriously will be the day I decide it’s time to leave the forum.And the irony of YOU questioning someone’s range of experience in the job, and calling somebody a ‘one trick pony’ is unbelievable,
… the man who sees himself as some kind of superior trucking authority,.who’s vast and varied experience consists of a nightly run from Howden to Lockerbie .
Hardly ‘‘Ice road truckers’’ is it.
Fyi I have had agency experience, but only to get re acclimatised on rhd trucks before starting a new job, about 13 years ago,.and again fyi I was a offered a full time post with them, but the mundane daily trunk bored the arse off me…so Conor me old mate pipe and smoke.
So still can’t believe it btw…ME jealous of YOU…?
Aye right.
Lets not forget this is the same Conor, who 3 or 4 years ago came on here bragging that he was leaving driving and had landed the best office job in the world (almost as if he was trying to convince himself more than anything), then a short time later very subtly and quietly returned to the forum …as a driver, because he failed and could not hack the office job, just as he cant hack anything more than a night trunk!
tmcassett:
robroy:
I was going to retaliate to your post until I sudenlly realised it was you with your usual belligerent content but , the day I take you or anything you say seriously will be the day I decide it’s time to leave the forum.And the irony of YOU questioning someone’s range of experience in the job, and calling somebody a ‘one trick pony’ is unbelievable,
Hardly ‘‘Ice road truckers’’ is it.
Fyi I have had agency experience, but only to get re acclimatised on rhd trucks before starting a new job, about 13 years ago,.and again fyi I was a offered a full time post with them, but the mundane daily trunk bored the arse off me…so Conor me old mate pipe and smoke.
So still can’t believe it btw…ME jealous of YOU…?
Aye right.Lets not forget this is the same Conor, who 3 or 4 years ago came on here bragging that he was leaving driving and had landed the best office job in the world (almost as if he was trying to convince himself more than anything), then a short time later very subtly and quietly returned to the forum …as a driver, because he failed and could not hack the office job, just as he cant hack anything more than a night trunk!
That’s the thing though,.I did forget,… or rather it didn’t even go on my radar.
I just find him an arrogant, patronising and conceited know all, with illusions of superiority …other than that I suppose he’s ok.
ETS:
I’ll let you in on a little secret…If a full timer asks to do overtime, the company will cancel an agency driver to re-book the extra shift for their own driver.
Its no secret to me , I saw it often when I was at Newark , just scribble out the agency drivers name & put in company drivers name , it was encouraged as company drivers were that much cheaper , no brainier
Conor:
I’d love the opportunity but for the last 3 years the post Xmas lull hasn 't happened. Holidays saved for the post Xmas lull end up having to be used in March and sometimes carried over into the next year.
Hmm.
Conor:
…and when it’s sunny like this we can turn around and just decide we don’t want to work that day/week thank you very much.
Same old Conor the internet hard case. These two posts do not tally. Surely if you wanted a month with the ladyboys of Bangkok you would “turn around” and tell the agency so, given that you are easily dispensible?
peirre:
Conor’s response was a little bit blunt, but to a point.
Tbh agency work has changed significantly even before the implementation of pay parity. It’s now possible to make a full time career of it as others on here have made the move to it in recent years. It’s only those who are working irregularly that struggle to find consistent work. This could be because their availability isn’t suited to the client’s requirements,or they’re working for a small agency outfit who inevitably end up doing the crap contracts.
PAYE, holiday pay, guaranteed minimum wages even if you are stood down, and decent sick pay schemes tend to be offered to those full timers like me
Holiday pay ? , sick pay ? I’m on my 3 rd agency , none have paid holiday pay unless you call having to put £100 of your wages away so you’ve got some income when when on holiday , sick pay I got £57 for one week & £70 odd for another
I can’t knock the pay ph £20 , the fact they don’t moan when I’m off sick every 5 mins ( though they don’t pay swfa anyway ) , or the fact I can have as many hols as I like ( I finance them out of my hourly rate so again I doubt there bothered
But other than those 3 things , hourly rate , hols when you want , no return to work investigations , the rest is crap inmho,
Agency is alright for the likes of me , 60 & everything paid off , but if you’ve commitments , young lad / family / mortgage it’s stupid ,
peirre:
Conor’s response was a little bit blunt, but to a point.
Tbh agency work has changed significantly even before the implementation of pay parity. It’s now possible to make a full time career of it as others on here have made the move to it in recent years. It’s only those who are working irregularly that struggle to find consistent work. This could be because their availability isn’t suited to the client’s requirements,or they’re working for a small agency outfit who inevitably end up doing the crap contracts.
PAYE, holiday pay, guaranteed minimum wages even if you are stood down, and decent sick pay schemes tend to be offered to those full timers like me
Quite right.
Lot of drivers on here too busy waving their dicks about to notice.
[emoji85][emoji1787]
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Truckulent:
peirre:
Conor’s response was a little bit blunt, but to a point.
Tbh agency work has changed significantly even before the implementation of pay parity. It’s now possible to make a full time career of it as others on here have made the move to it in recent years. It’s only those who are working irregularly that struggle to find consistent work. This could be because their availability isn’t suited to the client’s requirements,or they’re working for a small agency outfit who inevitably end up doing the crap contracts.
PAYE, holiday pay, guaranteed minimum wages even if you are stood down, and decent sick pay schemes tend to be offered to those full timers like meQuite right.
Lot of drivers on here too busy waving their dicks about to notice.
[emoji85][emoji1787]
Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
Maybe he has got a point, it’s just his attitude on here that ■■■■■■ everybody off. 
If agency drivers are getting treated better than they did, I for one are pleased,.agency or full time we are all drivers together, and if they are getting a better deal than they once did good on them, and a step forward for the industry.
I for one could not give a flying ■■■■ if their pay rate is better, good luck to them, if it did bother me at all, I would go on agency myself.
As I said my own (limited) agency experience goes back a few years now, maybe stuff has changed, but around the same time a mate of mine, who is nothing at all like me, but a quiet inoffensive type lad who would not say boo to the proverbial goose.
He got ■■■■ ed around something rotten,.they would cancel his shifts regularly, but he knew the shifts were going to some blue eyed boy, or a new starter to keep him sweet.
One time they cancelled a Sunday premiunm shift, but the guy let them down, so they rang my mate up half an hour before the truck was due to leave, telling him ‘‘It was back on after all’’, and the daft bugger went and did it rather than either telling them to go and ■■■■ themselves, or blackmail them into a much better (and ridiculous) rate.
So you can only speak as you find.
robroy:
Truckulent:
peirre:
Conor’s response was a little bit blunt, but to a point.
Tbh agency work has changed significantly even before the implementation of pay parity. It’s now possible to make a full time career of it as others on here have made the move to it in recent years. It’s only those who are working irregularly that struggle to find consistent work. This could be because their availability isn’t suited to the client’s requirements,or they’re working for a small agency outfit who inevitably end up doing the crap contracts.
PAYE, holiday pay, guaranteed minimum wages even if you are stood down, and decent sick pay schemes tend to be offered to those full timers like meQuite right.
Lot of drivers on here too busy waving their dicks about to notice.
[emoji85][emoji1787]
Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
Maybe he has got a point, it’s just his attitude on here that ■■■■■■ everybody off.
If agency drivers are getting treated better than they did, I for one are pleased,.agency or full time we are all drivers together, and if they are getting a better deal than they once did good on them, and a step forward for the industry.
I for one could not give a flying [zb] if their pay rate is better, good luck to them, if it did bother me at all, I would go on agency myself.As I said my own (limited) agency experience goes back a few years now, maybe stuff has changed, but around the same time a mate of mine, who is nothing at all like me, but a quiet inoffensive type lad who would not say boo to the proverbial goose.
He got [zb] ed around something rotten,.they would cancel his shifts regularly, but he knew the shifts were going to some blue eyed boy, or a new starter to keep him sweet.One time they cancelled a Sunday premiunm shift, but the guy let them down, so they rang my mate up half an hour before the truck was due to leave, telling him ‘‘It was back on after all’’, and the daft bugger went and did it rather than either telling them to go and [zb] themselves, or blackmail them into a much better (and ridiculous) rate.
So you can only speak as you find.
Seriously rob there’s nothing in it pay wise , yes hourly rate is more , but no hol pay , no sick pay , pay for cpc , pay for medical , no enhancement for starting before 6 /after 18.00 , pay for uniform etc etc
That’s my experience of agency , I’m baffled how Pierre / Connor get what they get , hol / sick pay etc , I know a few on agency & they get what I get ,
My mrs , employed has just had a month off with shingles , full sick pay from 1 st day , employed , me agency sick pay for apx a month , £57 one week , £73 ( or £70 something ) the other , after seeing my sick pay she said you can get yourself a proper job , she’s right
dozy:
robroy:
Truckulent:
peirre:
Conor’s response was a little bit blunt, but to a point.
Tbh agency work has changed significantly even before the implementation of pay parity. It’s now possible to make a full time career of it as others on here have made the move to it in recent years. It’s only those who are working irregularly that struggle to find consistent work. This could be because their availability isn’t suited to the client’s requirements,or they’re working for a small agency outfit who inevitably end up doing the crap contracts.
PAYE, holiday pay, guaranteed minimum wages even if you are stood down, and decent sick pay schemes tend to be offered to those full timers like meQuite right.
Lot of drivers on here too busy waving their dicks about to notice.
[emoji85][emoji1787]
Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
Maybe he has got a point, it’s just his attitude on here that ■■■■■■ everybody off.
If agency drivers are getting treated better than they did, I for one are pleased,.agency or full time we are all drivers together, and if they are getting a better deal than they once did good on them, and a step forward for the industry.
I for one could not give a flying [zb] if their pay rate is better, good luck to them, if it did bother me at all, I would go on agency myself.As I said my own (limited) agency experience goes back a few years now, maybe stuff has changed, but around the same time a mate of mine, who is nothing at all like me, but a quiet inoffensive type lad who would not say boo to the proverbial goose.
He got [zb] ed around something rotten,.they would cancel his shifts regularly, but he knew the shifts were going to some blue eyed boy, or a new starter to keep him sweet.One time they cancelled a Sunday premiunm shift, but the guy let them down, so they rang my mate up half an hour before the truck was due to leave, telling him ‘‘It was back on after all’’, and the daft bugger went and did it rather than either telling them to go and [zb] themselves, or blackmail them into a much better (and ridiculous) rate.
So you can only speak as you find.Seriously rob there’s nothing in it pay wise , yes hourly rate is more , but no hol pay , no sick pay , pay for cpc , pay for medical , no enhancement for starting before 6 /after 18.00 , pay for uniform etc etc
That’s my experience of agency , I’m baffled how Pierre / Connor get what they get , hol / sick pay etc , I know a few on agency & they get what I get ,
My mrs , employed has just had a month off with shingles , full sick pay from 1 st day , employed , me agency sick pay for apx a month , £57 one week , £73 ( or £70 something ) the other , after seeing my sick pay she said you can get yourself a proper job , she’s right
I was offered £19.16 per hour last week at a certain company, for a day trunk 5am start.
According to their website, regular employed drivers are on 12.83p/h…
This is wrong as it is unfair - but also increases the chance of the agency guy getting cancelled…
Agency work definitely gives you the opportunity to earn a better hourly rate - and walk away if you don’t like the job.
It isn’t for everyone though. Depends what you want and how easily you find “dropping into” a job short term before going elsewhere.
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dozy:
I’m baffled how Pierre / Connor get what they get
In my case Because I have been working for the same agency for a long time so I’m on an old contract, which has been taken over each time the agency has been bought/absorbed into another agency, and my T&C’s are slightly different from others who have started recently. Much the same as an old full timer who’s been tupe’d several times and inevitably is on a different contract to the new guys he is working alongside. But pay parity has evened up the pay rates between myself and the newbies.
During the pandemic there was only 10 of us with these old contracts so we got furloughed with pay, the rest with newer contracts got nothing, now there’s probably 5-6 of us still on this old contract. So if you keep stopping/starting doing agency work then you’ll never get great T&C’s.
I still have to pay for medicals (@£30), and DCPC but the later was done during lockdown while I was furloughed and I’ve stated before that I doubt that I’ll need to take another round again before I hang up the keys around 2029
peirre:
dozy:
I’m baffled how Pierre / Connor get what they getIn my case Because I have been working for the same agency for a long time so I’m on an old contract, which has been taken over each time the agency has been bought/absorbed into another agency, and my T&C’s are slightly different from others who have started recently. Much the same as an old full timer who’s been tupe’d several times and inevitably is on a different contract to the new guys he is working alongside. But pay parity has evened up the pay rates between myself and the newbies.
During the pandemic there was only 10 of us with these old contracts so we got furloughed with pay, the rest with newer contracts got nothing, now there’s probably 5-6 of us still on this old contract. So if you keep stopping/starting doing agency work then you’ll never get great T&C’s.
I still have to pay for medicals (@£30), and DCPC but the later was done during lockdown while I was furloughed and I’ve stated before that I doubt that I’ll need to take another round again before I hang up the keys around 2029
But I know agency who’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember ( agency ) & from what they tell me there holiday pay is exactly the same as mine , I asked one last night about sick pay & he laughed
If you get it Pierre we’ll done , but from my experience it must be a small minority of agency drivers who get full sick pay , and paid holidays
Doze I know there’s the much talked about climbing up the ladder to get off the bottom rung, but you’ve had more false starts at it than Linford Christy when it comes to stopping and starting agency work, and that’s where you come undone agencies want consistent, people who will turn up when required, do the job without screwing up. In my case I have very little contact with the agency, I do the job, the client books my hours in online, and I get paid. They (the agency) leave me alone, so much so I can go months before speaking to anyone in the office, I flag up my future availability online, and my phone pings a txt telling me that I’m booked up for the next 1,2,3,4 weeks, or however far ahead that the client has planned ahead, then I just confirm online that I’ll be there.
I mentioned ages ago when parity came in that I was offered the option of getting “rolled up” holiday pay that you get, or sticking with the traditional method of putting them in, and getting them paid at the average rate with the regular payroll. The same as any regular worker gets, and I went with the traditional method. As for sick pay, I’ve never had a sick day in my life so far, so I’ve never needed to test the scheme available to me.
Also I don’t get any workwear or boots provided either, but a combination of the local workwear suppliers and Primarni keep me clad in suitable attire without blowing the bank
peirre:
Doze I know there’s the much talked about climbing up the ladder to get off the bottom rung, but you’ve had more false starts at it than Linford Christy when it comes to stopping and starting agency work, and that’s where you come undone agencies want consistent, people who will turn up when required, do the job without screwing up. In my case I have very little contact with the agency, I do the job, the client books my hours in online, and I get paid. They (the agency) leave me alone, so much so I can go months before speaking to anyone in the office, I flag up my future availability online, and my phone pings a txt telling me that I’m booked up for the next 1,2,3,4 weeks, or however far ahead that the client has planned ahead, then I just confirm online that I’ll be there.
I mentioned ages ago when parity came in that I was offered the option of getting “rolled up” holiday pay that you get, or sticking with the traditional method of putting them in, and getting them paid at the average rate with the regular payroll. The same as any regular worker gets, and I went with the traditional method. As for sick pay, I’ve never had a sick day in my life so far, so I’ve never needed to test the scheme available to me.
Also I don’t get any workwear or boots provided either, but a combination of the local workwear suppliers and Primarni keep me clad in suitable attire without blowing the bank
Ladders , who’d of guessed you and Connor would be on the top rung & id be on the bottom , well that me done , what with all my ailments I’ll never climb this bloody ladder you speak off , my old teacher at school said I’d never amount to anything , I guess she was right
I got a feeling I work for the same agency as Peirre, I’m the same I get booked week or 2 in advance and all I do is confirm it online.
I am guaranteed 5 days a week, only catch you have to work every weekend. That isn’t a problem for me because kids are grown up and my wife doesn’t work so I have a couple of days off in the week. Suits us but probably wouldn’t suit most.
Pay at the moment is parity with the full-timers but the 2nd half of the year we usually get a couple pound more per hour.
As for holiday pay you got a choice of either take the time off and get paid or get roughly £2hr on top off your wages. Choice is yours, I know a lot on here says it’s illegal but that’s the agency problem not mine. Most do that and put the money to one side, then take the time off when you want.
I do agency work because you can get a better standard of living and have more control when you want time off.
Like Peirre I never been off sick but we get the usual basic sick money.
lucky I moved to a area where there is no problem finding work, so agencies tend to look after you if you reliable.
The variables in your post inc weekend work are probably down to the clients requirements, every site is different. It also sounds like you have a newer style contract with the way you describe the holiday pay etc
peirre:
The variables in your post inc weekend work are probably down to the clients requirements, every site is different. It also sounds like you have a newer style contract with the way you describe the holiday pay etc
Yes each site is different, weekends are more busy than week days here so there is more pressure on the agency to fill the shifts.
Nearly all drivers were Ltd until last April so we all got a new contract when we went over to PAYE
I suppose if I was like you lads, day or night men,.I’d be on agency myself to maximise my income.
However I’ve spent most of my life tramping,.I still after all these years, have this owner driver mentality where I like my ‘‘own’’ truck,.with all my stuff in it,.a kind of home from home, …Hey! maybe my ancestors were saddle tramps,.a bit like Clint Eastwood characters, yeh I like that. 
…or maybe more like gypsies.
It probably sounds a bit sad to some of you non trampers, but that is what I chose to do, tramping was and is my only choice,.and tbf over the years I’ve on the whole enjoyed it, the thought of tearing through a 13hour, or worse a 15 hour day, to rush back home, to start the whole thing again the next day after minimal rest and a commute, fills me with horror.
But hey,.everyone s different.
Cue Conor in his inimitable way coming out with the ‘‘work to live’’ ■■■■■■■■, and an assortment of personal insults.
robroy:
I suppose if I was like you lads, day or night men,.I’d be on agency myself to maximise my income.
However I’ve spent most of my life tramping,.I still after all these years, have this owner driver mentality where I like my ‘‘own’’ truck,.with all my stuff in it,.a kind of home from home, …Hey! maybe my ancestors were saddle tramps,.a bit like Clint Eastwood characters, yeh I like that.It probably sounds a bit sad to some of you non trampers,
But hey,.everyone s different.Cue Conor in his inimitable way coming out with the ‘‘work to live’’ ■■■■■■■■, and an assortment of personal insults.
Yes I know what you mean, I was a owner driver for 10 years and no one touched my things and everything had it’s place. It took a lot of adjusting to have a different lorry everyday which is dirty poverty spec truck and if you really unlucky you get the keys off a big fat stinker who just finished using the truck and the seat will reek.
Yes I do 10-12hrs shifts but I’m only 20 mins from home so I spend some time there. When I was a ownerdriver I did anything going so one week I could be back every night next week I could be away. I expected that as part of the job but never liked nights out, I like to be away from the truck at the end of the day.
Every job has it’s drawbacks but I’m happy doing high street brain dead work as I now in my late 50’s it’s easy money for what we do.