Spoke to my mate today also a HGV driver,they had a agency guy in on class 2 he reversed into a wall at one of his drops and destroys the tail lift controls so he is told to come back to the yard and transship the load onto another wagon,he does this then within 30 mins of leaving the yard runs into the back of a bus on the motorway!!!
Agency or not is irrelevant but by God to take out 2 wagons in one morning takes some doing!
Nope quite common amongst agency muppets …
To be fair the company should provide training for agency folk new on the job on how not to reverse into walls / hit buses / wear Hi Viz all the time / limp, and generally make a nuisance of themselves whilst getting paid more than everyone else… 
Top tip for agency folk: Buses on M’ways and D/C’s may be going slower than you, the clue is they keep gettin bigger when in front of you.
Cue the agency bashing 
Ive seen a full time employee - drop a trailer on its nose,reverse into the transport office,reverse into another trailer,drive straight into an exit barrier( 
) and not strap a load down only for it to end up on the road after the second corner (not the same driver obviously!)
Its not being agency that’s the problem,its people behind the wheel who are rushing about and not fully thinking that’s the problem
Dipper_Dave:
Nope quite common amongst agency muppets …To be fair the company should provide training for agency folk new on the job on how not to reverse into walls / hit buses / wear Hi Viz all the time / limp, and generally make a nuisance of themselves whilst getting paid more than everyone else…
Top tip for agency folk: Buses on M’ways and D/C’s may be going slower than you, the clue is they keep gettin bigger when in front of you.
Typical boring reply when you mention agency drivers,no I’m not an agency driver,that agency driver could have been a full time employee somewhere last week and got made redundant so only filling in time waiting for another position,we’ve all had bad days,I actually feel for the bloke.
Oh dear, and to think I used to be an agency driver, boo hoo. (FFS, don’t tell my present employer!)
bestbooties:
Oh dear, and to think I used to be an agency driver, boo hoo. (FFS, don’t tell my present employer!)
Are you allowed the privilege of posting on this full time truckers forum? 
Dipper Dave - clearly the sarcasm of your post didn’t quite ooze off your post onto some people’s screen 
Don’t worry, it did on mine
bobbya:
Dipper_Dave:
Nope quite common amongst agency muppets …To be fair the company should provide training for agency folk new on the job on how not to reverse into walls / hit buses / wear Hi Viz all the time / limp, and generally make a nuisance of themselves whilst getting paid more than everyone else…
Top tip for agency folk: Buses on M’ways and D/C’s may be going slower than you, the clue is they keep gettin bigger when in front of you.
Typical boring reply when you mention agency drivers,no I’m not an agency driver,that agency driver could have been a full time employee somewhere last week and got made redundant so only filling in time waiting for another position,we’ve all had bad days,I actually feel for the bloke.
Fair comment, as I’m also ex agency theres some irony in my original post (the extra pay bit).
To be fairer I agree we have all had bad days, well some nightmares in fact. It happens and we just move on and are thick skinned enough to cope.
An agency bods life in general is a happy one (when theres competing agencies or a regular gig), they are not only better equipped for multiple assigments but have a wide variety of awareness of different operational procedures and vehicle types / combinations.
Its often surprising to me why they get so much flack, perhaps its regular drivers jealous or compensating for something or maybe one bad experience tars them all with the same brush. One thing I know for sure is when i was agency i had to put up with all the other drivers moaning and looking down on me whilst I was earning more than they where. Didn’t bother me much though as I’m the only one feeding my family and I couldn’t give a toss. This mantra I also use in my now full time position - I get the job done, I cover my arse and i feed my family- if I make friends on the way thats great but its not essential.
Course with my agency experience I am confident in my abilities to know i could drive any vehicle presented to me, yes even a non synchro eaton twin spliter / Maggy Deutz / Scammel etc,
Agency drivers do get a rough deal on here and most are more than capable of replacing any regular driver. But there are some real muppets out there that we can all take the ■■■■ out of providing we are self confident enough to take the ■■■■ out of ourselves as well.
Thus endeth the lesson… 
Oh and cheers F-reds
[bear with me I’m multi editing my spelling / grama misstokes due to excessive vodka and red bull, omg the cat is going to get a right shafting tonight]
On the other hand, one particular top geezer agency lad used my regular tractor/trailer last night, the only reason i knew it had been used is that my hammer and ‘sickle’ (tanker spanner) were in the box in the wrong order, and it was parked in a different spot to where i left it Friday otherwise perfect.
One of our full timers is going to use it next, God knows what state the bloody thing will be in two days time.
Juddian:
On the other hand, one particular top geezer agency lad used my regular tractor/trailer last night, the only reason i knew it had been used is that my hammer and ‘sickle’ (tanker spanner) were in the box in the wrong order, and it was parked in a different spot to where i left it Friday otherwise perfect.
One of our full timers is going to use it next, God knows what state the bloody thing will be in two days time.
Name wasn’t Conor was it?
The advantage of being agency in that situation is that you don’t have to live under a cloud for the next six months or be extra careful with every move you make, you just go and work somewhere else, happy days
And guys don’t take the bait from the Dipper, cant you recognise a hook and line when you see one
He sits in front of his laptop with a big rod in his hands 
Big Roy:
He sits in front of his laptop with a big rod in his hands
So do I when the wife’s out
The-Snowman:
Big Roy:
He sits in front of his laptop with a big rod in his handsSo do I when the wife’s out
Ha Ha love it
Am not one for agency bashing because really anyone can end up doing it, I did it for a month while I was inbetween jobs but the agency driver I seen this morning was terrible. I thought he was steaming drunk turns out he wasn’t he just couldn’t reverse. Shunter had to put it in for him. Begs the question how he got past the assessment 
Maybe the assessments went out the window just trying to get bums on seats I don’t know.
merc0447:
Am not one for agency bashing because really anyone can end up doing it, I did it for a month while I was inbetween jobs but the agency driver I seen this morning was terrible. I thought he was steaming drunk turns out he wasn’t he just couldn’t reverse. Shunter had to put it in for him. Begs the question how he got past the assessment
Agency guys don’t get assessments, agency guys don’t get training. All they get is a set of keys and told to get lost.
Radar19:
merc0447:
Am not one for agency bashing because really anyone can end up doing it, I did it for a month while I was inbetween jobs but the agency driver I seen this morning was terrible. I thought he was steaming drunk turns out he wasn’t he just couldn’t reverse. Shunter had to put it in for him. Begs the question how he got past the assessmentAgency guys don’t get assessments, agency guys don’t get training. All they get is a set of keys and told to get lost.
Right who’s going to say it
Careful sensitive people could be reading
Big Roy:
Radar19:
merc0447:
Am not one for agency bashing because really anyone can end up doing it, I did it for a month while I was inbetween jobs but the agency driver I seen this morning was terrible. I thought he was steaming drunk turns out he wasn’t he just couldn’t reverse. Shunter had to put it in for him. Begs the question how he got past the assessmentAgency guys don’t get assessments, agency guys don’t get training. All they get is a set of keys and told to get lost.
Right who’s going to say it
Hope its not me but when on agency I was instructed where to say i had been assesed if asked, course I lied a lot.
Radar19:
agency guys don’t get training. All they get is a set of keys and told to get lost.
I always found that asking if I didn’t know solved most issues before they became problems.
Always had a dim view of agencies in the past but the firm I worked for wanted to pay the minimum possible. Where I am now pay a good rate and its shows with the quality of drivers we get through the doors.
F-reds:
Dipper Dave - clearly the sarcasm of your post didn’t quite ooze off your post onto some people’s screen
+1
Why is it always the agency drivers that end up spitting their dummies out and crying into their milk? They’re a sensitive bunch, aren’t they?
You never see us proper lorry drivers with proper jobs getting our knickers in a twist when it’s the other way around.