Back in my day, ( yes I know, " Uncle Albert-during the war " and all that 
), DRIVING agencies were virtually unheard of. There were was the odd EMPLOYMENT agency which provided receptionists etc. to cover because " Mavis is off for a bit having a baby ", or some American toff needs a nanny for a month for their visit to London. From my experience, as time went on, companies found it harder to carry " spare " drivers, and started to use agencies to cover holidays and sickness etc.
We have a totally different situation now of course. Iāve lost count of the times someone has posted " whatās it like to drive for xyz company ā, only to be told " oh they wonāt employ you mate, you need to get in touch with ABC agency.ā
I make no judgement on the present situation, and donāt want to fuel the employed v agency debate as there is already plenty of that 
I would be interested to know however what percentage of current HGV are agency, have we reached half way ? and do you think it will continue and employed drivers will eventually become a very small minority ?
Regards. John.
When I was in the army stationed in London many years ago, I had some holiday time I had nothing to go home up north for, so I did an agency driving job for an agency called, London Drivers, work every day, good money, mind you, this was 50 years ago!, but this sort of work in those days was usually as a holiday stand in.
Nowadays, itās easier for a firm to employ an agency driver, and if he doesnāt come up to scratch or work load changes, he can send said man back to the agency without any on the grief of having to sack him.
Some firms may have some justification for using only agency drivers, but at what cost?
Agency drivers can cost up to double the rate of an hourly paid man!
I started on here as an agency driver, who only supplied drivers for ANC as it was then.
As soon as FedEx took over, they bought the agency out, gave all us drivers a P45, then gave us a contract as employed casual drivers, hourly paid, same rate as I was on before.
At least I have the protection of an employed driver.
It is a zero hours contract, but as I only work two shifts a week, which I always get, suits me!
Hard to say what is going to happen. There are new agencies starting up almost every month. Agency drivers are wanted everywhere but a lot of them like me are fed up of the way we are treated. I have just jacked in with mine as they keep trying to push me on class 2 multidrop bad runs for poundworld, bidvest and the like. Some agency drivers are happy doing the part time thing but the money and conditions are getting worse. I am in interviews this week for a full time job just so I know what wage I am getting, the type of work and what I am driving. Done 3 years on agency now and I think that they will consolidate. A big fish like Adecco or someone with money behind will corner the market. Some firms are already avoiding using agencies as much as they can because of the lack of experience and accidents etc. The insurance firms were first to act with clause like 2 years experience and no under 25ās etc. However some have lifted these because of a shortage of drivers. I am hoping that good experienced drivers will be better paid and more sought after soon.
old 67:
Back in my day, ( yes I know, " Uncle Albert-during the war " and all that
When was this? I started on agency in 1993 and one of the companies who I went to back then, Hygena, had been using agency for a good few years before that.
I would be interested to know however what percentage of current HGV are agency, have we reached half way ?
Where Iām at now a large minority are, possibly the majority on nights however theyāre there long term so you see the same faces all the time and some have been there fulltime on agency for several years but I suspect that is going to change as the company have recognised thereās a driver shortage, most of their drivers are in their 50s so are starting to take on more and even opened a training programme. At many Stobby Tesco contracts thereās a hell of a lot of agency.
Conor:
old 67:
Back in my day, ( yes I know, " Uncle Albert-during the war " and all thatWhen was this? I started on agency in 1993 and one of the companies who I went to back then, Hygena, had been using agency for a good few years before that.
I would be interested to know however what percentage of current HGV are agency, have we reached half way ?
Where Iām at now a large minority are, possibly the majority on nights however theyāre there long term so you see the same faces all the time and some have been there fulltime on agency for several years but I suspect that is going to change as the company have recognised thereās a driver shortage, most of their drivers are in their 50s so are starting to take on more and even opened a training programme. At many Stobby Tesco contracts thereās a hell of a lot of agency.
Hi Connor. I started driving wagons in 1968 ( drivers mate for 4 years before that ) , so yes very different times !!
Regards. John.
Iād have to argue that āagency drivingā is ALREADY āthe normā.
Ask yourself the question:
āOf all the drivers that are newbies starting at any random yard this week - How many have just been taken on as full timers, and how many are agency?ā
Iād say as a conservative estimate that itās 90% agency and 10% full timers.
I know only one driver whoās been taken on by a firm full time this year as yet.
I know of a handfull for each of the previous three years since Iāve been doing agency though.
Those statements on the back of Iceland wagons like āVoted best place to work 2014ā mean bugger all therefore. WHO has actually just got a full time job driving artics are Iceland?
Even getting in there on AGENCY involves you having to sign up with one of the āumbrella onlyā agencies - around here at leastā¦
No thanks. Give me PAYE or give me Deaf 
āLah Lah Lahā ā¦ (you watch his receding back as he sings while walking away, a finger in each earā¦)
I have held my license for over 10years, I started the search for some weekend work and approached agencies which either wouldnāt take me due to the 2 year thing, or there ridiculous prices for ārefresherā training which promptly made me back off, I approached the smaller companies but no joy, I then managed to get employment at a relatively large firm in the south east and have since been doing regular weekend work and the odd week here and there, I am on a good pay rate, not the greatest by any stretch but I am on more money than some drivers that have many many years experience over me. So I for one will be staying put, and will be avoiding the agencies even though there is a higher rate of pay, but I like the work I do and do a tidy job, unlike some that shoot loads, cause damage to units trailers etc and generally donāt do a great job!!
I remember when MANPOWER was the best known agency! Are they still going? When he was in his mid fifties my pal packed his own garage business in, took his class one, and signed on with an agency straight away. He got good work with Wincanton on nights running up to Carlisle etc, or brewery work out of Burton, but when it all went down to Hams Hall it was too far to travel so just did local work for them around Nottingham. Some days he was on a hiab for a builders merchant, van driving, he also did a month on the mobile library so got plenty of variety and loved it. He is retired now but he tried to get me interested, however I preferred having āone truck, one driverā and didnāt want a different cab each day so it wouldnāt have suited me.
Pete.
Imo Agency = flexibility. and if its 1Ā£ per h more than full timer then itās a bargain.
I passed my class 1 on the 19th June. I used the Stobart Training Academy which I can only say is fantastic. Ultra professional, top kit and priced really well. I already had my class 2 and have been driving a bin wagon for the past six months. Having gone through the Academy I start tomorrow with Stobarts.
The impression I get is that there are more agencies offering work especially to new passes however whether they have the work is another matter. As the driver shortage gets more acute, more people will settle into full time jobs, in the meantime I know some on here donāt like Stobarts but they will take you on. For the big players they know deep down that they have to look after their workforce or they will be off. You cannot run a large transport business on agency alone, because it is not just about bums on seats itās also about customer service.
Good luck for tomorrow mate
Thanks, really looking forward to it.
it has to be some kind of tax thing when it comes to using agency,how many jobs would be on offer if agencies were not used,companies pay Ā£15 to Ā£20 [royal mail]but cannot give an employed driver nowhere near that[unless you are with royal mail]I am not knocking agencies as up until 4 weeks ago I was an agency driver,but it annoys me that companies are prepared to pay up to Ā£20 per hour but if they ask you to go permanent that comes down to around Ā£9 to Ā£10 per hour or even less,i will never understand it
I suppose John, that one of the main advantages of the agency (Try before you buy), has its place. I would say that IMO, agency work WILL become more prevalent.
I work for a large haulage company and it never ceases to amaze me how unreliable people are becoming. A lot of employers have their hands tied in respect of disciplinary action, so a lot of absence seems to me, to be almost ā planned for '.
Obviously this in itself gives opportunityās for agency work. Another example of a deteriorating society.
It is a strange how agencies are used, my wife has had the councils own carerās coming in twice a day to attend to her but after six weeks the council stop them and employ an agency to supply them instead. The agency girls are on higher pay and the agency charges the council around Ā£250 per week for them but apparently it is more cost effective than using their own staff? 
It is presumably the same with transport?
Pete.
Well it is still beneficial for a company to use agency although it is swing and roundabouts. They may pay more for an agency driver but the extra cost is compensated by
-No wages to process so less admin costs
-No rules to abide by so you can tell the agency you donāt want him again no warnings no union etc.
-you can get a driver very quickly to cover someone off sick/holiday or when you are flush with work and then stop
-you have no checks to do licence past references etc
- if you really like the guy and he is your dream worker you can pay the agency a fee and buy him like a slave
This is how agencies came about, haulage firms hated the admin and agencies fill that need
truckman020:
it has to be some kind of tax thing when it comes to using agency,how many jobs would be on offer if agencies were not used,
Not as many as you think. On nights where I am demand varies. Currently Tuesdays are quiet and Fridays are busy. Come October all nights are busy as hell but by the end of November thereās almost nothing. Companies canāt take on employees on that basis without getting a bad reputation for hiring and firing and then they find it impossible to recruit at all.
but it annoys me that companies are prepared to pay up to Ā£20 per hour but if they ask you to go permanent that comes down to around Ā£9 to Ā£10 per hour or even less,i will never understand it
Agencies allow companies like that a lot of flexibility and therefore cost saving. Whilst it costs more in the short term, overall it saves them money as they donāt have to pay Ā£400 or whatever the basis is week in week out for drivers that they have no work for.
The gap isnāt as big as you think though. If youāre getting paid Ā£10/hr then by the time your employer has paid out Employers NI and statutory holiday pay for you it actually costs him just short of Ā£13/hr to employ you.
I read somewhere that over 80 percent of HGV drivers are in their fifties now, which means they can afford to do odd days with agencies. For new drivers though AND the remaining twenty percent under fifty, theyād be better just leaving the industry if all that is on offer is agency work in the future. More so if they ever want to buy their own homes or have any relative sort of security in their lives.
windrush:
I remember when MANPOWER was the best known agency!
Pete.
yes they are
Iāve just been put on their books 
LIBERTY_GUY:
I read somewhere that over 80 percent of HGV drivers are in their fifties now, which means they can afford to do odd days with agencies. For new drivers though AND the remaining twenty percent under fifty, theyād be better just leaving the industry if all that is on offer is agency work in the future. More so if they ever want to buy their own homes or have any relative sort of security in their lives.
Companies, even those which use agencies a lot, will always have a core amount of drivers that they employ fulltime enough to meet the minimum workload of the business.