A piece taken from the jobs section in Thursday’s Mirror
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A qualified driver can walk into a recruitment agency anywhere in the UK today and get a shift right now
That’s almost true if you’re prepared to work for nothing 
Agencies as usual trying to get more and more drivers on the books. Bigger the waiting list for work - more they can get away with extracting the urine.
It might be useful if the papers did some research and printed what a newly qualified driver walking into an agency actually stands to earn more often than not. Then people can make their own mind up about forking out £2k+ for their stripes.
Agencies rely heavily on new drivers entering the industry, of course they will ‘big up’ the prospects for those stupid enough to pay out £1500 to achieve a £1ph pay rise. Especially if it’s to be printed in the knuckle draggers comic of choice.
There are 100’s of 1000’s of LGV drivers working in a driving capacity. How many of these are solely reliant on agencies?
On the basis that 78.2% of statistics are made up to suit an agenda, I bet it’s less than 5%.
How many LGV drivers enjoy stable, long term & full time employment? I bet it’s more than 75%.
How many LGV drivers have never used the services of an agency? I bet it’s more than 50%.
How many LGV drivers that have used an agency in the past, would be reluctant to use one again in the future? I bet it’s in the 90% region.
Agencies rely heavily on a steady & constant flow of drivers who are unfamiliar & perhaps a little bit naive about how the system works.
Of course there is a shortage of agency drivers, no one in their right mind would work for one. What better way to keep the agency system working than to publish a load of codswallop in a comic read by braindeads.
All over the country there are minimum wage earners reading this tripe & dreaming about what they’re going to spend their £30k+ wages on after they’ve borrowed £1500 off the loan sharks.
The reality, as most of us know, is somewhat different.
tachograph:
A qualified driver can walk into a recruitment agency anywhere in the UK today and get a shift right now:
Yes,and pigs might fly!!!
Chas:
Agencies rely heavily on new drivers entering the industry, of course they will ‘big up’ the prospects for those stupid enough to pay out £1500 to achieve a £1ph pay rise. Especially if it’s to be printed in the knuckle draggers comic of choice.There are 100’s of 1000’s of LGV drivers working in a driving capacity. How many of these are solely reliant on agencies?
On the basis that 78.2% of statistics are made up to suit an agenda, I bet it’s less than 5%.
How many LGV drivers enjoy stable, long term & full time employment? I bet it’s more than 75%.
How many LGV drivers have never used the services of an agency? I bet it’s more than 50%.
How many LGV drivers that have used an agency in the past, would be reluctant to use one again in the future? I bet it’s in the 90% region.
Agencies rely heavily on a steady & constant flow of drivers who are unfamiliar & perhaps a little bit naive about how the system works.
Of course there is a shortage of agency drivers, no one in their right mind would work for one. What better way to keep the agency system working than to publish a load of codswallop in a comic read by braindeads.
All over the country there are minimum wage earners reading this tripe & dreaming about what they’re going to spend their £30k+ wages on after they’ve borrowed £1500 off the loan sharks.
The reality, as most of us know, is somewhat different.
Heard it from a friend of ours that works in the local job centre,that agencies do get a bung from the government for how many people they have on the books,that’s why they offer you anything,and have nothing,they just want you as a number.
hey bestbooties, im on loads of agencies and if this is true that they get a bung, how can i tell them to take me off books and do they have to oblige and how would i know if they have or not thanks
rob22888:
Agencies as usual trying to get more and more drivers on the books. Bigger the waiting list for work - more they can get away with extracting the urine.
True. This report is a load of BS. If there was a genuine need for drivers then companies themselves would seek & recruit…
bestbooties:
Heard it from a friend of ours that works in the local job centre,that agencies do get a bung from the government for how many people they have on the books,that’s why they offer you anything,and have nothing,they just want you as a number.
Was your friend in an RDC canteen with chalk marks round his rig, after paying VOSA £300 'cos his legs weren’t wound up due to his fridge not working?
Chas:
bestbooties:
Heard it from a friend of ours that works in the local job centre,that agencies do get a bung from the government for how many people they have on the books,that’s why they offer you anything,and have nothing,they just want you as a number.Was your friend in an RDC canteen with chalk marks round his rig, after paying VOSA £300 'cos his legs weren’t wound up due to his fridge not working?
there’s a small element of truth: I think some agencies (who deal specifically with ‘difficult’ clients like ex-prisoners or long term unemployed) do get a bonus if they get people into paid employment. But I don’t think this applies to driver agencies just getting licence holders on their books.
Don’t forget on the other hand, that in this day of “no new actual real jobs from hauliers” that although there’ll be fewer full week blocks of work (representing cover for a full timer on leave) there WILL be more “odd shifts” for when the firm is unusually busy, or a shift has been dropped by someone going sick… 
Trouble there is that there will then be around two dozen agencies all trying to fill the same shift in the next ten minutes… 
"Hey guy, would you like this shift that starts in 40 minutes about 30 miles away from you? Hiab £8.50ph - that’s an extra 50p ph to you for having that oh-so-useful ticket!" 
"Umm… Err…" (working out if one will lose money taking on such a shift!)
“Sorry bud, it’s been filled in-house.” 
GasGas:
Chas:
Was your friend in an RDC canteen with chalk marks round his rig, after paying VOSA £300 'cos his legs weren’t wound up due to his fridge not working?there’s a small element of truth: I think some agencies (who deal specifically with ‘difficult’ clients like ex-prisoners or long term unemployed) do get a bonus if they get people into paid employment. But I don’t think this applies to driver agencies just getting licence holders on their books.
& you’d be quite right in thinking that the agencies working the Guv’mints ‘Back to Work’ scam are totally different to the agencies working similar scams that aren’t funded by the taxpayer.
The “Back to Work” scam is just another part of the race to the bottom, all it can ever achieve is lower wages for those of us who choose to & want to work.
My experience as a newly qualified driver and as per a previous post is I walked into an agency on the Thursday at 14h00. Filled in form and had a chat.
At 16h30 I got a call to start on Friday as a tipper driver.
It’s just getting the right agency. I suppose location and demand for drivers counts too.
Saturday I worked on Jetpatcher at overtime rates to supplement my income.
My current contract came to a end on Wednesday and I called the agency. Next week back onto tippers and have done my HIAB today and they have already secured me work for the following 2 weeks on HIAB.
I’m not sure if I can promote the agencies however if you are in the East Midlands and inbox me I will gladly pass this information on as well as the reputable company I did my HIAB training with for £160 excl. A hands on 6 hours course, all remote training.
I must also thank the members of this site for the information and tips I have picked up on how to enter the industry. I too have received the “for insurance purposes” we don’t take on. Try another agency and what is suggested so many times is “Knock on doors”!
around the leeds area none off the big employers set on nowadays they all use agency drivers… asda, Sainsbury, next, argos, dhl…the list is endless I could name at least another 5.
@pekemon101
I smell bs…(no offence)lol
agency’s are ok if you live at home with ya mam with no commitments or outgoings,but as a family man you can’t exactly sign on for a week or two when there’s nowt then sign off for a week then sign on again because all that red tape takes weeks to sort out each time and you would end up living on beans and toast 
Pimpdaddy:
@pokemon151
I smell bs…(no offence)lol
There is so much wrong with that post I just don’t know where to start.
jessicas dad:
around the leeds area none off the big employers set on nowadays they all use agency drivers… asda, Sainsbury, next, argos, dhl…the list is endless I could name at least another 5.
What puzzles me is why these companies are denying themselves access to the best drivers by not recruiting from the whole market?
Lets face it, the vast majority of us are good at our jobs and we wouldn’t touch agency work with a bargepole.
Even if they recruit the good ones from off the agency payroll, that still equates to a very small driver pool.
Chas:
There is so much wrong with that post I just don’t know where to start.
Glad I’m not the only one…
stobarttrucker:
agency’s are ok if you live at home with ya mam with no commitments or outgoings,but as a family man you can’t exactly sign on for a week or two when there’s nowt then sign off for a week then sign on again because all that red tape takes weeks to sort out each time and you would end up living on beans and toast
I pay a mortgage, have a young family, and rarely get a full week’s worth of work. I make up for that by cramming when I do get something. Supermarkets are no flavour of the month for most, myself included, but they are good for a cram when otherwise on a quiet week. 3x15 hour shifts at the supermarket more than makes up for not getting a 5x8 hours pretty much anywhere else. 40% less commuting time and expense too!
For those weeks were you might get bugger all 2 or 3 weeks on the spin - that’s what your holiday pot is for. Don’t have one? Find another agency.
Last year, I did have a go at signing on for a few weeks - because I had not built up a decent holiday pot as yet, having only just started with agency in late 2011.
As for the DSS though - Sheesh! What a load of ■■■■■■■■ THAT was! They look after those that are happy to lie about “looking for work” and then strangely don’t do any for YEARS, but constantly harass the newbies like me to such an extent that I signed up with lots more agencies just so I could have an excuse to sign off again! The main hassle was being asked about “what full time jobs I’d applied for that week” bearing in mind they are like Rocking Horse Crap around here as it is. They don’t seem to understand at the dss that one chases around for shifts at agencies nowdays rather than the pitiful few FT jobs around…
Now I’ve got some holiday pot built up, I’ll just draw that down on “down” weeks instead. No more of the dss ■■■■■■■■ for yours truly if I can help it…
Besides, you don’t know you’ll not have any work in a particular week until the END of it, by which point the dss will pump you as to why you didn’t sign on at the BEGINNING of the same week…
FFS - Expect you to have a crystal ball too eh?
I won’t be arsed with the whole thing at all next time around - assuming they’ll be a future long spell of layoff in this recession I’m not convinced is done yet.
If you draw your holiday pot down at around the £180pw mark, you’ll not pay deductions which is better than drawing a big wedge and losing nearly a third of it, because you can’t handle taking home less than £500 per week.