No wonder agency drivers get bad names!

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

The main pont I have been trying to make here is that it was the Driver who is giving agency drivers a bad name. As I have stated, I have worked for about 3 out of the last 10 years as an agency driver so I am certainly not tarring them all with the same brush. But with guys like this you can see how an essential resource within our industry gets a bad name. The agency themselves are also to blame in this case as they knew he didnt have the best reputation before they sent him in.

As for the directions, the place he needed to go to is actually on the A21, hence why I gave him the directions I did.

22

Im an agency driver Hurarr…

What I like when I turn up at a firm to drive a truck is a working radio

Beyond that maps of where Im supposed to go to. Written instructions can get complicated and you ae taking them from the viewpoint of another person.

I got a job to deliver some timber to acton got some paper work and that was it. Had to go back to the office to find out acton is in london with much requesting I finally got a map.

I had another job where they didnt even know where the second load was going to I had to ring up the office and give them the address for them to then give me directions. Part of it was over a 7.5 weight limit & it was in totally the wrong place. Had to bell the office up again for them to give me the number of the customer for them to give directions.

All this can be easily rectified if the driver is given information on the drops.

There are good & bad in all professions, human nature tends to remember the bad.

About this bloke, the agency should have checked out his knowledge of finding places, at least have a rudimentary idea of finding places & planing

23

Maps…!!!

24

Well I don’t know about this bloke you had, but I’m really proud of what I do, and try to do my best at all times… 1 months experience or not… :smiley: :smiley:

AND I pose in my big truck… :wink:

Luv
Chrisie… :sunglasses:

25

Agency or otherwise, it makes no difference…what is a lorry driver :question:

A lorry driver is a person that drives a lorry. Goes without saying so far.

If a lorry driver is to drive a lorry, then he has to drive it to places to make collections or deliveries. All pretty straight forward.

What does a lorry driver need to be able to carry out his duties, other than a safe, roadworthy vehicle :question: He needs the required knowledge to enable him to do it. If he hasn’t got that knowledge, and when all’s said and done only he knows if he has, then that lorry driver has to take the necessary steps to provide himself with it. Is it too much to expect any driver to own a map, :question: they don’t cost the earth after all. Go to any of the discount bookstores and you’ll find cheap AA or otherwise, usually for a couple of quid, and usually up to date too. As for detailed instructions on how to find a drop, then fair do’s it’s not too much to expect to be given those details, although having A to Z’s in the cab is always helpful :unamused: . A lot of our drivers keep them in their car and take whichever they need for the run, I personally have about 60. Failing that, there is no shame in stopping and asking, “Excuse me mate, can you tell me how to find… ?”

Liberace said

but when will employers/other drivers learn that for a driver to turn up and get eight drops or something off when they don’t know the route

I just wonder about a route. In our job there is no such thing as a route. We set off to go to an area, lets say for example South Wales. Our South Wales “route” can start anywhere from Redditch to Newport and might have anything from 5 to 20 drops/collections, which are different every time. Yes we do go to drops on a regular basis, but the actual drops we go to differ with each trip.

I do multidrop with a 44 tonner and in four years in this job have only once not been able to find a drop. It may have taken a long time on the odd occasion, but I usually find them, and some of ours are very obscure, including one that was in the middle of a field :exclamation:

However to get back to the original post, the driver in question was obviously a complete muppet and should look for another profession pronto.

PS In my opinion any driver that drives without a shirt is just a poser giving us all a bad name :exclamation: Tin 'at on. :laughing:

PPS Just to be politically correct, he/him/his could just as easily read she/her/hers :exclamation: :laughing: :laughing: