I’ve been stood down for 6 days now in the last 4 weeks.
How 'bout you, fellas? Busy as usual, less busy or busier than last year? Still for me it’s better than last year (for now), last December I got all in all 2 days of work in the 2nd half of the month
Waiting for 6 months ‘experience’ on my class 1 license as 90% of companies/agencies around here won’t even let me apply without it and the rest are happy to take 9 pts so that’s a no-no for me 
%
I work full time for a smallish company and I’ve noticed compared to last 2 years I’ve been there this Xmas does seen quiet.
Had days last week where there really struggling to find d work of any kind
I’ve been stood down 6 days in the past three weeks as well. It’s called weekly rest. 
ETS:
I’ve been stood down for 6 days now in the last 4 weeks.How 'bout you, fellas? Busy as usual, less busy or busier than last year? Still for me it’s better than last year (for now), last December I got all in all 2 days of work in the 2nd half of the month:
Still working every day, texts now landing on a daily basis asking if anyone is available to drive for Stobbies at the local Tesco RDC as they can’t find enough people. Won’t be long now before the weekend shifts start being advertised with the £100-£150 bonus per day on the run up to Xmas.
It hasn’t seemed particularly busy to me this year, my agency have kept me going but I’ve found myself doing a fair bit of Class 2 work which they wouldn’t put me on if they had artic work. I don’t think it’s just this year though, I think the flat-out pre-Xmas rush is a relic of the past now. Perhaps online shoppers are less likely to leave it to the last minute like folk did in the days of high street shopping?
I’ve been given shifts when I want them and the agency are offering me more everyday. Pay has gone up a couple of quid an hour as well for the period. Company say this will be the norm until mid January when it will go quiet again.
Conor:
ETS:
I’ve been stood down for 6 days now in the last 4 weeks.How 'bout you, fellas? Busy as usual, less busy or busier than last year? Still for me it’s better than last year (for now), last December I got all in all 2 days of work in the 2nd half of the month:
Still working every day, texts now landing on a daily basis asking if anyone is available to drive for Stobbies at the local Tesco RDC as they can’t find enough people. Won’t be long now before the weekend shifts start being advertised with the £100-£150 bonus per day on the run up to Xmas.
Last summer the agency I used to work for offered me up to £200 for a Sunday at Tesco Goole, I had my kids so I couldn’t and the one time I did go I was turned away as the shift manager couldn’t be arsed to do a site induction so I was sent home with 8 hours
Definitely quiet for the time of year. Blame brexit of course.
Rowley010:
Definitely quiet for the time of year. Blame brexit of course.
Do you not think it may have had an impact?
Back in January/February were stacked out as firms built up their inventories then after the first failed exit everything dropped out.
Same with the following failed deadline.
Same with this last one too.
I’m not saying there have been less goods being moved but I do think a lot of those goods have been moved earlier in anticipation just in case.
Normally I do a couple of runs to Belgium a month. In September/October it was a couple a week as the firm we distribute for over there sent enough stock into the UK just in case.
Since then there has been nothing as they run stock down again ready for the next deadline.
Still it’s a good way to avoid a recession by creating little bubbles of activity in a stagnant market, what with an election having been on the horizon for quite some time, but maybe I’m just being cynical.
For us Christmas is always busy. More work than normal this year with some, but not all, clients doing Brexit stock piling. The cancellation meant a sudden dip from one client, but that has proved short lived and it’s back to the normal busy, busy.
Busy, but more volatile, for us.
I reckon it will be as busy as you are willing to make it.
I’ve always done alright out of the agency malarky. So well in fact that some folks have called me a liar and said I couldn’t earn a certain amount. About a year ago I even resorted to posting wage slips etc - I won’t be doing that again.
But here is the secret. You offer to supply your services when they are in demand. So you do the stuff others might not want to. I’ll drive class 2. I’ll pull cages. I’ll do nights. I’ll even get out of the cab and help load bins if that’s what I’m doing… If you want me to sit in a rubbish drivers room as a spare driver - rather than cry about it I’ll make sure my kindle is loaded with books etc. There is always a way of finding a positive in it all. For the bins I said it was helping me lose weight and I was getting fitter. Pulling cages out of the back of a freezer at 3am for a supermarket isn’t glamorous - but it pays the bills.
If you are struggling then go on indeed each day. Then work the phone rather than applying online. Find the facebook groups for HGV drivers and post asking for advice and jobs in your area (I told Stevie on here when he came back from Spain to do this - now he has landed a cushy 7.5t job from it that pays more than most of the class 1 drivers on here). Earning around 20 quid an hour is more than possible if you are willing to follow the advice I’ve provided.
In fact the McJob I asked about on here came about because of that method. It’s around 20 quid an hour. It’s probably not going to be great. I’m off for an assessment in a couple of hours and if I blag that then I’ll do it until January and then book some flights to Thailand. Each to their own I suppose.
Seems very quiet on containers.
Had a few texts on phone calls from agency’s may even start answering them soon.
sammym:
If you are struggling then go on indeed each day. Then work the phone rather than applying online. Find the facebook groups for HGV drivers and post asking for advice and jobs in your area (I told Stevie on here when he came back from Spain to do this - now he has landed a cushy 7.5t job from it that pays more than most of the class 1 drivers on here). Earning around 20 quid an hour is more than possible if you are willing to follow the advice I’ve provided.In fact the McJob I asked about on here came about because of that method. It’s around 20 quid an hour. It’s probably not going to be great. I’m off for an assessment in a couple of hours and if I blag that then I’ll do it until January and then book some flights to Thailand. Each to their own I suppose.
I’m not really struggling, I’ve been on this current assignment (agency) for 4 months and only 6 shifts cancelled, by agency standards that’s as good as it gets I’m afraid and all that in the late October-November period when it’s supposed to get as good as it’s going to get. I’ve no plans for leaving (unless they completely drop me out of the rotation or w/e they’re using to determine who gets work when), it’s a class 2 with prospects for class 1 after January next year (6 mnths on license required). I’ve looked at indeed and it’s the same crap that was there in the summer and earlier this year (95% fake jobs by agencies), and I don’t use Facebook. You’ve worked for the company I’m at now (the agency’s client) so you might remember your own words that it’s a ‘decent place to start’ (roughly paraphrasing here 
)
Good luck with your assessment
Ive just returned from 10 days holiday (6 days where paid), started the week yesterday with 3 planned shifts, & I’m taking Friday off (unpaid) to go to the motorcycle show at the NEC, then next week I have 5 days work and expect to do the same work till I head off on holiday on the 16th December for two weeks (unpaid) before returning home for NYE.
In fact the McJob I asked about on here came about because of that method. It’s around 20 quid an hour. It’s probably not going to be great. I’m off for an assessment in a couple of hours and if I blag that then I’ll do it until January and then book some flights to Thailand. Each to their own I suppose.
[/quote]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
just a normal day in limper paradise then??
id imagine lying on pattya beach in spring must have certain similarities with moat rdc waiting rooms where its wall to wall crammed with all the agency limpers lying there for a few months at a time rattling on about getting paid for cancelled shifts,having a laugh about being asked to take a truck out for a night trunk with a faulty satnav,how many hundreds of pounds they banked for a xmas shift,how much extra they make compared to the poor sods in direct employment or whatever waffle is more relevant to limpers rather than the ones in a real job.
the big problem must be worrying about tan lines around the hi viz.
even their kids like to copy limper dads. 
dieseldog999:
In fact the McJob I asked about on here came about because of that method. It’s around 20 quid an hour. It’s probably not going to be great. I’m off for an assessment in a couple of hours and if I blag that then I’ll do it until January and then book some flights to Thailand. Each to their own I suppose.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
just a normal day in limper paradise then??
id imagine lying on pattya beach in spring must have certain similarities with moat rdc waiting rooms where its wall to wall crammed with all the agency limpers lying there for a few months at a time rattling on about getting paid for cancelled shifts,having a laugh about being asked to take a truck out for a night trunk with a faulty satnav,how many hundreds of pounds they banked for a xmas shift,how much extra they make compared to the poor sods in direct employment or whatever waffle is more relevant to limpers rather than the ones in a real job.
the big problem must be worrying about tan lines around the hi viz.
even their kids like to copy limper dads.
[/quote]
Classic, brilliant, funny
Got my first phone call yesterday from an agency that I have not heard from in a year, unfortunately I wasn’t able to answer it as I was driving, but rang them back later only for them to hang up on me
peirre:
Got my first phone call yesterday from an agency that I have not heard from in a year, unfortunately I wasn’t able to answer it as I was driving, but rang them back later only for them to hang up on me
Are you hinting that an agency may have had it’s feelings hurt?
No, I don’t believe it.
No agency worker* could possibly have any feelings could they?
Edit agency office worker.
So far its been a cracking year, lost one day in February but apart from that been flat out all year on agency.
