That’s why it doesn’t pay to commute long distances to work either full time, or on agency.
A much higher hourly rate is required, along with enough actual paid hours to make it worth while.
I’ve commuted 50 miles for “right through time and a third” rate for example, but even that doesn’t seem to pay any more with fuel costs up here for as long as they have been, refusing to back off significantly.
…And to think that doing agency in the summer holidays in the late 90’s, I was commuting to places like Hovis, Dagenham (two way tunnel toll to be paid) - because the rate “minimum 8 hours paid” was £16ph - back then!.. I actually finished the job in 6 hours, which was just a drop at milton keynes, and backload with empty bread baskets. With inflation, that job should be £29ph by this point 2014, but of course it’s not.
Perhaps the debt mountain we’re always warned off will finally implode when the public realise that their wages won’t ever get them out of debt - only defaulting, and starting with a clean sheet will. At this point, you won’t get credit any more, and thus wages will HAVE to be enough to keep the wolf from the door - else staff turnover will be so high, the firm will go under because of all the money spent on inductions, uniforms, sick pay, maternity, etc.
This, briefly, might make agencies reach the zenith of their popularity (to the client) - Pride before the fall in the overall labour market…?
I’ve had the email from Nova telling me I need to be a Ltd company, be an employee of it. Can somebody please explain what the pitfalls to this are. I’m struggling to understand the ins and outs of this. Cheers.
demonbiker:
I was PAYE on agency, using multiple agencies was a pain with tax codes so went Umbrella with 2 main agencies, couple of weeks in and ive gone LTD Co, the fees went up the more i earned! So hopefully going LTD will work out better, i like the variety with agency work and rates arent too shabby, got a long term contract to a local pallet firm ( they pay £7.21ph to full time drivers!! , agency offered me £7.50ph - told them i wouldnt get out of bed for less than £9- stood my ground and now get a good rate plus overtime , doing about 55 hrs a week.
Claim my mileage and food back every day usually about 22 miles,£10 food -( leave home before 6am and out over 10 hrs)so about £20 a day extra in my pocket
Did my first run to Hamburg at weekend for agency - got £15ph flat rate for a 7.5t!! £50 night out( no sleeper) dropped truck and they flew me back, got picked up in chauffer merc to take me back to collect my car from yard after! ( was a one off for now)
Stand your ground with agencies, demand more as a GOOD driver, there is work out there if you look, they might get a european driver to do it for less but will soon call you back when they smash the truck up!
Hows it going you ex-gist driver, Glad to see your doing ok…
Always did get through drivers As the job is crap!even agency don’t want to do it! Only just got paid from sub contract firm I did 1 night for - 3 weeks later!! Joke
When you consider the work and hassle involve for a company using agencies, with new drivers not knowing the routine, the runs etc then surely it must costs the company more in time and money in the long run.
If unpopular jobs were subject to supply and demand like a proper market should, then you’d have things like multidrop 3663/brakes/P&H and all that other hassle-loaded work seeing significant “retainer” pay rises.
It’s not the driving or dropping - it’s the paperwork/cash handling/get mugged risk/stress encounters etc that go with it.
Anyone can take a pile of food to some places down a side street ok - But what happens when the customer says “I’m not paying” or you delivered a pallet to the wrong place - and they said nowt of course, or they say there’s something wrong with the paperwork… Would you know? or you get a parking ticket, because there’s nowhere to unload… Or you’ve got to run upstairs with boxes of grub under your arm, no one so much as even holds a door open for you FFS or, perhaps worst of all, you’ve finished your round, collected around £3k in cash, and then get mugged by someone who’s been carefully watching you for the past shift, knowing you’re new and everything, just waiting for their opportunity…
All this for £8-9ph… “because it’s class 2” you’re told.
In my mind, if you can’t fill vancancies at a price, you should up that price until the masses come a-knocking.
Me? - I’m quite happy to wait until the rate for this job exceeds £20ph before showing any further interest in doing it again.
Others might just say “If I ever do this job again, it’ll be too soon” - but there you go…
A bloke I know who has had all kinds of jobs (not just truck driving) reckons the most stressful was multidrop for Grants of St James in an 18-tonner around South London.
In and out of off-licences in very rough areas with crates of sprits. Unsympathetic parking wardens and the risk of being banged on the head or worse.
I think we should have parking wardens like they have in Morocco. You park at the roadside, they turn up and demand a parking fee.
Fantastic, because you are paying them to patrol the street where you are parked. They have a Police warrant card and a baseball bat…nothing gets nicked!
Interesting topic… Anyone herd of Maps? Is this an umbrella scheme. ? My agency use it under the promise of being able to claim back some traveling expenses and meals… I was under the impression this was a inland revenue approved system… am I wrong?
peter s:
When you consider the work and hassle involve for a company using agencies, with new drivers not knowing the routine, the runs etc then surely it must costs the company more in time and money in the long run.
Not necessarily. Depends how fluid their work is. If it’s really up and down they don’t have to pay an agency driver when it goes quiet, but they would if it was a full-timer. Also I think most places have a pool of regular temps that know the routine and the runs; they certainly do at the places I do work for.
Darktower:
I often read the odd post about umbrella companies and their evil ways, however, as an agency driver (Looking for full time employment to get out of the petty crap I’m always asked to do!) i only pay £9.50 per week for mine. I also get to claim back traveling expense, meals out, plus overnight stays etc. No idea whether this is an unusually honest umbrella company or there something deeper! But my pay ranges from £300-£400 depending on hours etc with the tax, NI, etc sorted out for me. Never had a problem so far in the 1 year i’ve been with them.
But even though that’s probably one of the cheapest brolly schemes it’s still nearly £500/year in fees and they don’t do ■■■■ all for it. Your weekly earnings (assuming on a regular basis) put you well within the scope of it being worth your while to set us as ltd co and register for flat rate VAT. The £500 your currently paying in fees will pay for a decent accountant and the 10% of the VAT you keep pays your personal and company tax bill at the end of the year.
There has been some interesting input into this thread, but the one overlooming fact that never seems to be explained is why an agency workers has to go in via an umbrella scheme, or as a limited company, just to drive a vehicle they don’t own. Most employment agencies operate under an employment agencies license, rather than any brokerage license that may (or not) exist.
All these umbrella schemes and ltd company set ups seem to do, is allow agencies to go in with a more competitive fee, by not having to factor drivers holiday pay and other benefits into their calculations. The agency is not out of pocket and neither is the haulier surely?
Most other ‘trades’ through agencies still seem to be regular PAYE… Is it perhaps just a case that drivers appear to be far more gullible and willing to swallow more of the brown stuff
LIBERTY_GUY:
There has been some interesting input into this thread, but the one overlooming fact that never seems to be explained is why an agency workers has to go in via an umbrella scheme, or as a limited company, just to drive a vehicle they don’t own. Most employment agencies operate under an employment agencies license, rather than any brokerage license that may (or not) exist.
All these umbrella schemes and ltd company set ups seem to do, is allow agencies to go in with a more competitive fee, by not having to factor drivers holiday pay and other benefits into their calculations. The agency is not out of pocket and neither is the haulier surely?
Most other ‘trades’ through agencies still seem to be regular PAYE… Is it perhaps just a case that drivers appear to be far more gullible and willing to swallow more of the brown stuff
It “costs” the agency money to have PAYE staff on their books. Even though brolly companies charge the agency (as well as the driver) it works out cheaper than PAYE, especially if the brolly company is their own in-house one. There are still plenty of agencies that will employ you on the books but the void between the PAYE rates and ltd co rates is so vast that they are able to do it without being out of pocket.
LIBERTY_GUY:
There has been some interesting input into this thread, but the one overlooming fact that never seems to be explained is why an agency workers has to go in via an umbrella scheme, or as a limited company, just to drive a vehicle they don’t own. Most employment agencies operate under an employment agencies license, rather than any brokerage license that may (or not) exist.
All these umbrella schemes and ltd company set ups seem to do, is allow agencies to go in with a more competitive fee, by not having to factor drivers holiday pay and other benefits into their calculations. The agency is not out of pocket and neither is the haulier surely?
Most other ‘trades’ through agencies still seem to be regular PAYE… Is it perhaps just a case that drivers appear to be far more gullible and willing to swallow more of the brown stuff
It “costs” the agency money to have PAYE staff on their books. Even though brolly companies charge the agency (as well as the driver) it works out cheaper than PAYE, especially if the brolly company is their own in-house one. There are still plenty of agencies that will employ you on the books but the void between the PAYE rates and ltd co rates is so vast that they are able to do it without being out of pocket.
I wouldn’t call a quid an hour a vast void
Thats the difference agencies around me are paying extra for umbrella/ltd over PAYE
To be honest its not a con, there’s a demand for it more on the agencies side as they don’t want workers on their book for many reasons.
And the reason you were worse off £40 a week it because the umbrella company charges a weekly fee which can sometimes be around £40 a week, there are plenty cheaper ones
So hopefully going LTD will work out better, i like the variety with agency work and rates arent too shabby, got a long term contract to a local pallet firm ( they pay £7.21ph to full time drivers!! 
or, perhaps worst of all, you’ve finished your round, collected around £3k in cash, and then get mugged by someone who’s been carefully watching you for the past shift, knowing you’re new and everything, just waiting for their opportunity…
