I may be wrong, but I get the impression agencies are pretty hated around these parts, and I was wondering why, some of the ones I spoke to do seem like t₩@ts, but some seem alright, one in particular that seems good, is offering to compensate upto £1500 towards the cost of your license, if you sign up to a 12 month contract, and work a minimum of 230 days for them, the pay seems ok to, willing to take drivers fresh from test centre, send you out with one of their senior drivers for a couple of days and then off you go.
Does that sound ok? or am I seeing it through rose tinted glasses and it’s too good to be true?!?
Agencies get a bad press because of the nature of the industry. They get a request from an operator to supply a driver at a particular time. Agency calls driver and the booking is sorted. Operator calls agency to say run is cancelled (there could be a dozen reasons). Agency calls driver to cancel. And the agency is rubbish.
I have given much thought to operating an agency to help new drivers into work. But it is so fraught with difficulties that I always shy away from it.
Some agencies do a really good job, on the whole, for operator and driver. Some just aren’t organised enough. Another common problem is that they recruit more and more drivers so they can supply the anticipated demand. And then the demand isn’t as expected.
All I ever ask from an agency is honesty and transparency.
A new driver would be foolish to expect a full week of work, week after week from any agency. It can happen. But it might not.
When I started the school in 1984 I was registered with an agency. Between them and a direct contact, I was kept busy around the training work that took ages to get going. But that’s years ago and I was an experienced driver.
I believe most new drivers are better off getting work directly with an employer who will nurture their new skills. The driver will become a useful member of the team and will, eventually, be appreciated for their efforts.
For me it’s better as I can operate as close ltd company and run my weekend business at peak times I’m doing mod 4 at the end of the month then I’m in for work I’m going to try to find a firm ASAP work for them for 6 months then get on the agency
I only worked for one agency and unless I asked for days off during the week, always had weekends off, I was never out of work. Just don’t expect them to tell the truth.
A few times I was asked “can you work at A mon to fri” knowing fine well there was no work there, so I knew to expect a call at like 16:30 on a Sunday “any chance you can work place B instead” eh why not.
In fact, they called me today. Must ring them back tomorrow too see what’s what.
