Guys as some of you know i have stopped driving now and now work for a agency.
I work for one of if not the biggest agency in the country in the driving and logistics sector. Now as a X driver from Euro to uk tramping i get to see the other side of the story, i also worked as a agency driver at a few points in my career. I did i suppose to some move over to the bad side and i am now considered “scum”, but i thought i would share my experience and advice with you guys.
While i cant name the company i work for, see my posting about Brian Yeardley Transport i can however asnswer any questions you may have abuot how the agency works from the inside. The day to day life of a consultant, the problems caused by drivers and clients and the never ending issue of not enough work during the slow periods.
So I’m kind of leaving it upto you to ask me anything that winds you up about your agency or any worries about the work, or for new drivers the problems you get with starting to get your experience through an agency.
For a point to note the reason i changed my job is because i am only 29 and have had now two wives leave me because i was never at home. So needed a job where i would be home at a good time every evenng and not have to get up at the middle of the night to do an “early”. I get to spend the weekends at home knowing that i won’t be starting at 3-4am on Monday morning. I enjoy the role as i try to help as much as i can the guys that come through my door. The role is stressfull, in a different way to driving but just as much pressure. so the door is open for you slating.
P.S
If you are a cab happy fella who does not wish to make a constructive or useful comment please don’t bother. Also if your agency does not find work for you it aint my fault lol
Excellent idea and thanks for the opportunity for us to perhaps get some answers on the seemingly infathomable ways an agency works
My question would be:
Say a new driver has just joined an agency, not much experience but willing to do anything asked of them to get a foot in the door. Has a digitacho card, always well presented and will always try to do a good job.
If he just walks into the agency, signs up, then leaves it at that they are not likely to get many jobs.
My question then is this:
What is the best way for that driver to get the agency working for them, and get them some work asap?
Its not a question for myself, but its a situation we’ve seen many a time here on Trucknet, so I’m sure there’ll be many interested in the answer.
I’ve always been of the “Ring them every morning asking if there’s any work for the day” camp, and its always seemed to work for me, although doubtlessly it has had a few agents getting annoyed at me for ringing at the same time every morning.
I have a saying which I have put on this site many times…
Agencies are USUALLY staffed by salespeople and their job is to find drivers for their clients when their clients need them.
The main role of the agency is not to find work for the driver.
What is the best way for that driver to get the agency working for them, and get them some work asap?
OK in this situation the ideal driver is one who has all and to a certain extent new drivers in my opinion are the better because they are happy willing and eager to work and please. The issues arrive on the old insurance situation, there are companies that will not accept under any circumstances someone with no experience, or with soeone who has not had there license for less than two years. One of the major problem when attempting to get into a company is the quality of your drivers, some pure muppets are driving for agencies as they are often job drifters or are pushed out of there current jobs.
The best thing for a newly qualified drivers as they are restricted to the amount of clients that they can be placed into is to pester the agency every morning and again just after lunch. The drivers that call in everyday are then at the top of your mind, they annouy you but there name is there at the front of your mind and if you can place them then you do.
Agencies are USUALLY staffed by salespeople and their job is to find drivers for their clients when their clients need them.
The main role of the agency is not to find work for the driver.
This unfortunatly is true MOST of the people i have found both from a drivers point of view and now from a consultants point of view are firstly sales people. Recruitment is a sales role, if however you get a good driver that is worth their weight in gold then you sell them in as fast as you can.
I understand the domment and the frustration, but most agencies use consultants from any background in recruitment. Some use them with industry experience but a lot of companies think a consultant over industry experience is better. This is because the role is a sales role, at the end of the day you have to sell your drivers into a company against a very hard market with more than one competitor on every street/ind est. At the end of the day we need to be able to sell to get you the work so it’s a necessary evil.
What is the best way for that driver to get the agency working for them, and get them some work asap?
OK in this situation the ideal driver is one who has all and to a certain extent new drivers in my opinion are the better because they are happy willing and eager to work and please. The issues arrive on the old insurance situation, there are companies that will not accept under any circumstances someone with no experience, or with soeone who has not had there license for less than two years. One of the major problem when attempting to get into a company is the quality of your drivers, some pure muppets are driving for agencies as they are often job drifters or are pushed out of there current jobs.
The best thing for a newly qualified drivers as they are restricted to the amount of clients that they can be placed into is to pester the agency every morning and again just after lunch. The drivers that call in everyday are then at the top of your mind, they annouy you but there name is there at the front of your mind and if you can place them then you do.
:
Thanks Phil, I appreciate you clarifying what I thought to be true
I’ll carry on ringing them every morning.
Would never have thought of ringing them after lunch ASWELL, I reckon they’d get pretty ■■■■■■ off very quickly with me like that, I’ll leave it to just once a day I think!
WHY DO AGENCIES NOT HONOUR THEIR LEGAL OBLIGATIONS IN REGARDS TO STATUTORY HOLIDAY PAY AND STATUTORY SICK PAY?
I am sick to death of having to fight to get my holiday pay. The worst I had was having to tell the Wages Manager at Protemp how to calculate holiday pay because she didn’t have a clue. Also many drivers who have left an agency ( YES PROTEMP, I DO MEAN YOU ) have never got their outstanding holiday pay which should have been included in their last wages.
Why do agencies phone you up at 9am in the morning after you’ve just finished a night shift 3 hours earlier WHICH THEY SENT YOU TO and expect you to be fit to work that night?
Why can’t they accept that no means no? Are TNT’s who work in them honestly so stupid that they believe that we haven’t heard all the tricks and “you’re doing me a favour” routines before?
Why do agencies even bother doing driver tests when they sign drivers up? I’ve lost count of the number of agency drivers who don’t know how to fill in a tacho chart and have no clue about drivers hours law.
I’ll stop there. I’ve got a lot of experience of agencies over the last 15 years so could bang on forever. Don’t feel you need to reply, I know the answers…
OK, so I wasnt a driver, but I was a drivers mate with an angency and I found the best way is to take all the crap jobs everybody else didnt want to do ie the removals jobs, and the agency I was with appreciated that and said I’d be at the top of the list for the best jobs, especially if you do the crap jobs with less than an hours notice
The best I had at the agency was Harveys the furniture people before I got offered a bus driving job and had to leave
The agency I have worked for in the past has messed me about a hell of a lot. I have done probably over 75 jobs for them and I have been late twice, once when I was a bit ill the night before a 0530 start (up most of the night with diarrhoea) but ok to drive come the morning and I was 45 minutes late and the company got another driver in. the other time was last weekend it was a 0500 start and I woke up at 0445, luckily I only live 10 minutes away so I got there at 0530 and the wagon wasn’t even loaded so no drama’s there. When I first started I did about 4 weekends for comet and then went onto Palmer & Harvey (both crap jobs but a way in).
About 7 weeks ago I said I wasn’t available for the next three weekends as I wanted to spend a bit of time with my family and have a couple of lazy weekends. Now I am available again, and have been for 4 weeks, but I am not getting any work.
I have always been a very good worker and only let them down twice (I know it is 2 times too many), most companies I do work for have asked for me back but I’m not always given the chance by the agency. Why is this?
Do they think I am not worth ringing anymore or is it that they are giving the new boys a chance. I know of at least three people that have worked for them in the last 2 weeks but have only had their licence about a month and never gone through the proving ground of comet and P&H. there is one particular run that nobody would do on a Sunday morning (0300 start) and I seemed to get this every weekend for about 12 weeks then it just stopped. (I liked it because I could take my dog with me and have a chilled out run)
Why do they do this? Is it not better to have someone on a run that they are happy with and nobody else likes doing than to get someone to do it that is just going to moan about it and probably never do it again?
I got tests off all the agencies I worked for, but they were usually out of date.
But the sick pay situation is horrible, and holiday likewise. They seem often to have very little clue about the sleep requirements of night workers, calling up at odd times.
Scarab the reson i sawy twice a day is because jobs or work come in in the afternoon for the following days planning and it keeps your name at the forefront of there mind. We are only human and tend to pickthe first name in our heads, or one who has been in before and the client likes.
WHY DO AGENCIES NOT HONOUR THEIR LEGAL OBLIGATIONS IN REGARDS TO STATUTORY HOLIDAY PAY AND STATUTORY SICK PAY?
I cannot qoute on this because the agency i work for have a different contract in comparrison to the majority of agencies. With a “normal” agency you do not sign a employment contract you sign a contract of services. Its best to research this on the internet rather than me going into length about it here. Some agencies pay a little extra on the hourly rate to compensate for your holiday entitlement. The best thing about this is it makes you think you earn more money, when infact you don’t. Your hourly rate is the same only you loose your holiday entitlement, or its saved in a kitty. ProTemp have lost a lot of business recently to our agency on a national level (point to note).
Why do agencies phone you up at 9am in the morning after you’ve just finished a night shift 3 hours earlier WHICH THEY SENT YOU TO and expect you to be fit to work that night?
Why can’t they accept that no means no? Are TNT’s who work in them honestly so stupid that they believe that we haven’t heard all the tricks and “you’re doing me a favour” routines before?
Why do agencies even bother doing driver tests when they sign drivers up? I’ve lost count of the number of agency drivers who don’t know how to fill in a tacho chart and have no clue about drivers hours law.
Wow ok where shall i start.
The agents that call you when you have just finished a shift are eaither a p*ss poor agency or have no clue on how to run their office. All drivers should have there hours and places of work recorded on a central system. This is essential to govern the RTR/WTD. So in theory there should be a form of order where you can see which driver is which client. Also what if you had a accident for example and they don’t even know where you are or who you are working for! I would get out and get out of those types of firms as soon as possible as its a sign of a shoddy operation.
OK, so I wasnt a driver, but I was a drivers mate with an angency and I found the best way is to take all the crap jobs everybody else didnt want to do ie the removals jobs, and the agency I was with appreciated that and said I’d be at the top of the list for the best jobs, especially if you do the crap jobs with less than an hours notice
The best I had at the agency was Harveys the furniture people before I got offered a bus driving job and had to leave
When you are versatile you become a favourite and very useful so you will get call’s more. It happens in our office we use a guy who we know will go here there and everywhere and anytime, and hence he gets a lot of work and offers for roles.
Yesterday as an example one of my drivers was again late for a duty he was given, now this lad has been late before and even some times not turned up at all with the old “my phone had no signal” “sorry but my left leg was rushed into hospital” or similar such useless and brain dead excuses.
Now i am not tarring you with the brush, however there are times when you get so fed up with people that either cannot or will not turn up to do there duty. I aeffect removing the chance for other lads and lassies who are chopping at the bit to either get a start or get some work.
While i cant answer for your agency i can say that rightly or wrongly and as is with every transport office up and down the country, drivers get a rep. Either for the right or for the wrong reasons. At my agency as i have said before we have a different contract system so therefore we do not part time employ our drivers and as such we cannot employ people for weekend work only, this is if they have a fulltime job elsewhere.
Alikat.
Hows the job with Robbies dad going? I read your diary the other week, and in all honesty as much as i enjoy being home now i still miss roaming around G,B,L,F,I,S, and all the others.
In respect of the test that drivers have to do about tacho laws and such each agency is different. We have a computer based test which you must pass before we can register you, and if you fail this then you cannot be placed out on and duty until you have. There is also a limit on the amount of times you an take it and i think it’s 3
I Just thought i’d add a note that i will do a diary next week to kind of give everyone an example of what goes on and what we kind of get upto.
after nearly 30yrs on the road,20 on european i got fed up being away from home,so i thought i would try out agency work as i’d seen all the adverts and heard all the bumpf from uk drivers.agencies say they NEED experienced drivers when you go see them and you are just what they need,bull,why do they take on east european drivers with little or no experience■■? .the agency i work for just advertised for 5 drivers on a new contract that pays better than the 1 i am on,but i havent got a look in even though i’ve got them out of sticky situations a few times,so its true they are only after filling drivers seats and stuff the driver,just goes to prove unlike in europe we dont give a dam about good drivers just get truck out the door as long as somebody can steer it and has a license.
Are agencies obliged to declare so on Job Centre Plus ?
Why do so many insist on stuff they think is fact but is most likely not so. Like you need passport, bill with address etc etc to sign up to them. From what I’ve read only immigrants have to prove their legal, not natives… BTW the licence is a form of ID and proof of address, so why don’t you lot think so ?
DAFMAD:
Why do so many insist on stuff they think is fact but is most likely not so. Like you need passport, bill with address etc etc to sign up to them. From what I’ve read only immigrants have to prove their legal, not natives…
I run a different kind of business to an agency, but I can say that it’s been laid on pretty thick to employers in the UK that it’s up to them to make sure that their employees are legally entitled to work in the UK. As so often with this kind of stuff, the gov passes the law and then they pass the problem onto employers.
If you’d been in receipt of the big scary pile of bumpf the HMG sent to everyone a couple of years back, you might ask all potential employees for their passports too, particularly if you were involved in short-term employment in the kind of field that illegals like to work in.
Of course, if you send your employees abroad, you might also want to keep track of things like passport expiry dates too.
So I know what you mean about people inventing stupid bureaucracy and then blaming the law (or the EU), but in this case it might be worth cutting the agencies a bit of slack.
Don’t forget that it’s very dangerous to come up with intelligent policies that say, for instance, that you wouldn’t ask a 70th generation Yorkshire man for his passport. It wouldn’t be a week before some grievance-monger from the race-hate industry would be trying to shake you down over something like that.
With regards to Eastern European drivers, this comment is besides my personal view.
They are not safe when they cannot speak or understand the English language. As such if they are not completely conversant with it they are not considered. I personaly have one Eastern European driver registered with me and he is a very good all round worker. He will work more or less anywhere and more or less at any time, which is an asset to me and my agency because he is so versatile.
Many agencies use them for cheap easy yes men, as do many transport companies around the UK and Europe.
Are agencies obliged to declare so on Job Centre Plus ?
YES
BTW the licence is a form of ID and proof of address, so why don’t you lot think so ?
WRONG proof of address yes of ID no not on its own.
Why do so many insist on stuff they think is fact but is most likely not so. Like you need passport, bill with address etc etc to sign up to them. From what I’ve read only immigrants have to prove their legal, not natives…
Have you been watching the imigration program recently on SKy1?
Without a passport (with permit if required) or full Brith, certificate or EU identity card you cannot employ a person, if you do and they are illeagal the consultant faces a £10k fine
Spacemonkeypg:
I read your diary the other week, and in all honesty as much as i enjoy being home now i still miss roaming around G,B,L,F,I,S, and all the others.
then you said
They are not safe when they cannot speak or understand the English language
are you trying to tell us you weren’t safe when driving abroad or can you speak and understand all the languages of the countries you worked in?
are you trying to tell us you weren’t safe when driving abroad or can you speak and understand all the languages of the countries you worked in?
I can speak fluent German, Fluent English and conversational French.
However in these countries they are not subject to the same H+S regs as we are What i am attempting to point out is that it’s common sense. Also using logic there is a difference between visiting and residing in a country
also are you a consultant or a desk jockey?
What’s that comment supposed to mean? As stated before i am a consultant
And i did state
P.S
If you are a cab happy fella who does not wish to make a constructive or useful comment please don’t bother. Also if your agency does not find work for you it aint my fault lol
Also using logic there is a difference between visiting and residing in a country
sorry but i beg to differ, driving a lorry is driving a lorry wether you live there or are just visiting
just by the countries you quoted, you would’ve probably struggled in greece, would that make you unsafe?.
i only asked about the consultant bit, because being a consultant usually means you’re at the top of the tree in your given subject,
i would normally find it hard to believe you’ve got that far in such a short period of time, maybe it’s different in the agency game.
for what its worth, i think its good that you’re willing to come on here to show the other side, don’t be so defensive.
And i did state
Quote:
P.S
If you are a cab happy fella who does not wish to make a constructive or useful comment please don’t bother. Also if your agency does not find work for you it aint my fault lol
indeed you did, please tell me where i’ve intimated i’m cab happy or a disgruntled agency worker and i’ll endeavour not to repeat it.
What i am attempting to point out is that it’s common sense. Also using logic there is a difference between visiting and residing in a country