Dave the Renegade:
There is plenty of work for lorries.Its the rates for 60% of the work that is crap.Can’t see it picking up for ten years at least.
Where I work for part of the week had 66 of their own trucks and 6 hire units on the road pre-Christmas. Updating the Ops licence yesterday it now stands at 49 owned trucks - the balance have all been sold to raise revenue and no hired.
This is because they are now being particular about which work they take on and have dropped work that doesn’t pay a decent rate. Obviously that doesn’t help those that might not have a job anymore but … that’s business. This particular company had been operating some contracts at a loss for to long. It was actually quite a sensible decision to turn work away.
personally I don’t see it getting better for quite a while
tallyman:
Agency golden boys will always be busy, which always makes me laugh as they give their reason for being on agency that they like the flexibility, even though they are always available 24/7 for 365 days a year. They would have more flexibility by being employed by the company’s they are working for, at least they’d get holidays (one ‘golden boy’ at my main agency is very proud of the fact that he hasn’t had a break in over 2 years…).
You can always tell when things start to pick up around here by looking at the job ads in the paper, there’s been no more than one or two a week since Christmas, but today there are actually six, so I’d say things are getting a bit busier.
I work agency for a few reasons but one of those reasons is certainly flexibility. I can take days off whenever I want and at short notice. I work the hours that suit me on the whole. Obviously if things are a bit quiet then choice might be limited but for 9 months of the year at least that’s not a problem. The place I worked in last night insists their drivers book holidays months in advance and if they don’t it gets allocated by the management. That’s just bollox IMHO!
turnip:
Seems to me agency drivers are the worst hit. Should the discussion be " are agency days over ?" .
Well our firm are trying to cut back on agency and we have just taken on 10 drivers to cut the the agency bill
For many firms now it’s cheaper to use agency than take on perm drivers since the credit crunch started and agency rates were slashed. Morrisons in Bellshill has’nt recruited perm drivers in over 3 years and Sainsburys in East Kilbride the same despite opening many new shops. The new coop rdc at Newhouse is also not bothering with taking on perm drivers.
So in the future agencys will be even more so the only work around it seems.
Sainsburys nice folk that they are prefer to put warehouse staff through there HGV licence than take on there eager beaver/loyal/dedicated agency drivers.
tallyman:
Agency golden boys will always be busy, which always makes me laugh as they give their reason for being on agency that they like the flexibility, even though they are always available 24/7 for 365 days a year. They would have more flexibility by being employed by the company’s they are working for, at least they’d get holidays (one ‘golden boy’ at my main agency is very proud of the fact that he hasn’t had a break in over 2 years…).
You can always tell when things start to pick up around here by looking at the job ads in the paper, there’s been no more than one or two a week since Christmas, but today there are actually six, so I’d say things are getting a bit busier.
Very true as i knew too well. To scared to say no in case you lose golden boy status, scared to take a holiday cos thats you forgotten with someone else getting your shifts.
Hi all.I’ve been snowed in since November,don’t suppose thats quite the same .On a more serious note another of the mining companies has just applied to open another mine in Svappasvaara and they talk about needing 500 people.It’s getting like swiss cheese up here.Mike
Hullo all,
I’ve just seen that Pavarotti mentioned Morrisons. What is the job like on there ? I’ve just had a phone call from an Agency bloke asking if I would be interested in some work at the Morrison depot at Knaresborough. This would be the first time that I’ve ever worked for an Agency. When I get back from Brasil in April, I intend to give this bloke a call. If anybody has any ideas, then I should be glad to hear them.
Cheers, Archie.
Archie Paice:
Hullo all,
I’ve just seen that Pavarotti mentioned Morrisons. What is the job like on there ? I’ve just had a phone call from an Agency bloke asking if I would be interested in some work at the Morrison depot at Knaresborough. This would be the first time that I’ve ever worked for an Agency. When I get back from Brasil in April, I intend to give this bloke a call. If anybody has any ideas, then I should be glad to hear them.
Cheers, Archie.
Easy, you drive around at 35mph with your hi-viz jacket and fog lights on, when someone overtakes you at night you keep your main beam on for an extra 30 seconds, when you get to the store you smash up whatever you can with your lorry and then stand around watching someone unload your truck.
.On a more serious note another of the mining companies has just applied to open another mine in Svappasvaara and they talk about needing 500 people.It’s getting like swiss cheese up here.Mike