Just interested to know in these unprecedented times , at least in recent memory, how many have left their secure job for a payrise, and/ or better conditions.
Must admit its quite a nice feeling as an agency Driver that your actually very much wanted and the transport office are extremley grateful to see you turn in for a shift, yes it’s probably fake smiles and niceties but I’ll take it after years of being invisible.
Me personally, despite an extra 3 quid an hour don’t expect to be any better (or worse) off because ive been able to drastically cut hours and no more nights out, negotiation power is firmly with the driver.
I believe there are now bounties being paid for certain shifts on agency, such as being paid for more hours or getting a £100 bonus (or both). If full-timers hear about this, I expect they will a) be rather annoyed b) want a piece of the action themselves or c) resign and move elsewhere out of sheer principle. I do expect there to be a lot more moving around.
I’m not annoyed.Ifhe is earning more,I can always give my job up and go on agency.In fact ,I’m thinking of doing that,especially if the rates go even higher.The usual worry for me would be having no work after Christmas, but I’m not thinking that will be a problem this time
Darkside:
You need to hurry up, looks like a U turn from the Government regarding truck drivers is incoming…
Won’t make any difference:
There’s a shortage in the whole of the EU and in countries like Poland the wage has doubled so those who left aren’t going to be wanting to come back to the UK with all the crap we have compared to over there.
Anyone who does come without a licence is going to have to be paid go through both C and CE and depending what nation they’re from they may even have to take a UK car driving test at a time where there’s a shortage of test capacity and a backlog of thousands.
DVSA have already confirmed more than sufficient licence holders and that it’s a commercial issue, a polite way of saying if your company can’t find drivers you’re the problem, not the fact there’s not enough people with a licence because there are and they just don’t want to work for you so you need to up your game.
And finally if point 2 is addressed how long before those they bring in that Stobarts et al who pay the lowest rates employ figure out they can get more money if they go work for another company so leave the Fowler Welshes, the Stobarts, the Great Bears of this country leaving the RHA members currently complaining the loudest back in the same boat?
I genuinely believe pay is on the up for a long time to come, I’m even perhaps naively optimistic that conditions and attitude from employers will have to improve to , give a trustworthy driver an incentive to stay. foreigners aren’t going to flock here anywhere near the numbers they did 25 years ago, regardless of government u-turns.
Today’s generation are interested in vlogging and blogging, trading bitcoin, where having to wait 0.8 seconds for an internet page to download is a major inconvenience. These sort of people ain’t coming into this Industry.
Atleast now we’re getting the salary which we should have always been getting. If the Agency is paying £16 -20 pounds per hour then the transport company must be paying them £30 - 40 per hour.
I feel no pity for these Multi million pound companies who can’t pay their Drivers the pay they Deserve. The decent companies have increases their wages to retain drivers. Its now the Drivers game. Go where ever treats you good and feeds you better.
I’m predicting the average daily rate to be between 250- 350
Very soon when their plans don’t work to get drivers
I feel quite fortunate at the minute. I have a full time job but also have the flexibility if I want to to take advantage of the rise in agency pay. As long as i stay legal and keep my full time employer as priority it’s all good
Noremac:
I believe there are now bounties being paid for certain shifts on agency, such as being paid for more hours or getting a £100 bonus (or both). If full-timers hear about this, I expect they will a) be rather annoyed b) want a piece of the action themselves or c) resign and move elsewhere out of sheer principle. I do expect there to be a lot more moving around.
Stobarts have been paying there full time drivers a £100 bonus for any extra shift worked for months .
My pay rise when I was agency was received via a txt , that txt clearly stated temporary ( I think it was to see how it works ) , I’ve no doubt that will be reversed once the foreign drivers the goverment are now in talks to allow back in arrive , it’s ok to gloat like some agency are but I believe they will end up with egg on there faces when they return to rates below what regular drivers receive ( it wasn’t long ago that all the ones boasting how they all earn ££££££ more that the regular mugs , were celebrating that due to the Swedish whatever it was we’re now getting pay parity with regular drivers !! )
I’d be keeping quiet as I believe it will be a sight easier to reduce agency pay rates than employed drivers .
What ever your agency ph pay rate may be , you’ll still be paying for your cpc , uniform , no sick pay , joke holiday pay etc etc out of it !!!
I’ve applied for quite a few jobs but when I get the call inviting me an interview
I get cold feet and turn it down. I’m in a secure job and just can’t take the risk
Of leaving. I’m institutionalised. Ahhhhh
2 pay rises, from £14 to 14.50 to £15.50 anything between 6pm to 6am £17.20… Saturday £20 Sunday £22, new bonus scheme every hour you work £1 goes in to bonus pot( conditions apply lol)
Darkside:
You need to hurry up, looks like a U turn from the Government regarding truck drivers is incoming…
EEs who work outside their own country of origin tend to opt for Germany now where wages are the same, rent on a flat or house is half as much and they can be back with their families in half a day’s drive. Of course they could go with Filipinos or Africans but I’m sure the Tories are acutely aware that Brexit (and them being in power) only happened because of how fed up everybody was with being undercut by third world labour.
Just done my last day with my current employer, having a week off then starting with my new employer doing exactly the same work subbing for the same company but for an extra £100 a week in my pocket.
I did ask my current boss about a pay rise but he turned it down flat, he understood when i gave my notice and wished me good luck
Dimlaith:
I’ve applied for quite a few jobs but when I get the call inviting me an interview
I get cold feet and turn it down. I’m in a secure job and just can’t take the risk
Of leaving. I’m institutionalised. Ahhhhh
Can’t blame you, it helps if you have been looking to escape a crap company for 12 MTHS, this would be someone’s golden ticket
Dimlaith:
I’ve applied for quite a few jobs but when I get the call inviting me an interview
I get cold feet and turn it down. I’m in a secure job and just can’t take the risk
Of leaving. I’m institutionalised. Ahhhhh
Look at it this way.
you wouldn’t be applying for other jobs if you had a good job.
Darkside:
You need to hurry up, looks like a U turn from the Government regarding truck drivers is incoming…
I don’t think it will make much difference. Drivers were going home before the EU deadline. I know three guys that said they were going home as soon as IR35 kicked in, and guess what, they left as soon as IR35 kicked in.
IR35 and laughable pay rates even stacking shelves can beat combined with the EU deadline was just the last bit of the puzzle to make a lot of guys decide to move on.
It’ll be interesting to see what firms and the government will do next. I’m guessing they’ll find cheap labour from somewhere in the world.
