Hi all, I’ve been with an agency for 16 months , works quiet at the moment with them, I’ve contacted another agency who are advertising for drivers, I’ve had to say not available to them once because my previous agency gave me two days work, now they say can’t use me because I said no. I can’t drive two trucks at the same time! Any suggestions?
chrisv:
Any suggestions?
Find another…
Agency and work with them. When it gets really busy, the agency that just kicked you out will call you. They will act like you’re their star driver and conveniently forget their previous childish behavior.
Any agency who says they won’t use you anymore because you tell them you’re not available once is one you don’t want to be with. Sure if you’re saying no all the time and you’re hardly ever available I could see them doing that but I’ve said no plenty of times with various agencies and the phone has always kept ringing.
I am in the same boat could have been my post, different’s is I only work 3 days max as I am on state pension and hammered by tax. How it came about was regular agency had no work and another local agency was advertising for skip and roll on drivers which I wanted but has no jobs just fishing for who’s about for when silly season starts.
It’s a difficult one to deal with multiple agencies but I find it helps to be upfront with them before you waste each others time signing up.
In your situation I’d of told agency number 2 that they are exactly that, number 2.
Now they might not like it but that’s their tuff ■■■■, no doubt they will come calling again when it suits them & I’d being using that to my advantage to negotiate the rates 
Just make sure you get it in writing 
You have a right to get work whenever and wherever you can, if an agency can’t understand that they’re not worth bothering with.
As has been said they will phone you again when they need you, in the mean time sign up with other agencies.
Edit as was a sherry moment.
Some agencies are okay some not okay, but loyalty seems to be lost on them, so follow your gut, saying they won’t use you, changes when they need drivers, come dry periods, regardless of your loyalty and commitment, they’ll sit you at the side if needs be, agencies are rare to reward loyalty, unlike an actual company, some drivers get looked after, but usually long term ones that have built up a relationship with the agents in the office over the years.
You need to state your aims, and give a bit of a “Mission statement” when signing up to any agency.
If you say you’ll be all things to all clients, work any days of the week or weekened, day or nights etc…
Then guess what? - You’ll only get the stuff everyone else turned down.
If you are more fussy for certain shift patterns, and “not bothered” if you don’t get work for weeks on end during the “quiet times” - then, strangely - there won’t hardly be any weeks where you won’t get offered something, somewhere…
Agencies - talk to each other. Sometimes it is in competition with each other, i.e. “Rivals”, but also it is to find out of any of their bods happens to be well-known as a “pain in the arse” who’s signed up with several agencies, and is always turning down work.
My suggestion to those looking to sign up with an agency for the first time - set the days you’re available, and the days you’re not - stick to them, and then be as flexible as possible during those days you’re “available”. If you say, want 9-5 Monday-Friday work, and get offered Sunday-Thursday 06:00 starts, then you should be dead keen, and not be bleating about “it’s not what I want”…
Thanks for all your replies, very much appreciated, I’ll continue to register with agencies perhaps then I can filter out the bad companies, Cheers everyone.
miketdt:
I am in the same boat could have been my post, different’s is I only work 3 days max as I am on state pension and hammered by tax. How it came about was regular agency had no work and another local agency was advertising for skip and roll on drivers which I wanted but has no jobs just fishing for who’s about for when silly season starts.
Your hammered by tax? I have no sympathy. That’s the way the cookie crumbles when you have multiple sources of income. 
Harsh
Wouldn’t a bit of “Progressive taxation” be the case, if say - “Overtime” wasn’t subject to higher rate tax, but otherwise “salary” - was, as and when crossing over the threshold as it is set at present?
In other worlds, a person working 80 hours for £60,000 would pay less tax than a manager paid a salary of £60,000 for a 40 hour flat working week…
Why? - Because the ordinary worker has done 40 hours overtime to get their £60,000 - and currently gets hammered for tax on it to such an extent - that soon “fully taxed overtime” - simply won’t be bothered with.
trevorking1964:
Harsh
Not really, we have about a dozen pensioners working at our place, many of them full time, one is even the wrong side of 85, the full timers do nothing but moan about how much tax they are paying because of their pension. I can well understand someone doing this if they still need an income, but most of these dinosaurs are also financially secure by some distance.
shullbit:
trevorking1964:
HarshNot really, we have about a dozen pensioners working at our place, many of them full time, one is even the wrong side of 85, the full timers do nothing but moan about how much tax they are paying because of their pension. I can well understand someone doing this if they still need an income, but most of these dinosaurs are also financially secure by some distance.
I can see…
Why people feel this way. Mortgage paid, pensions paying out, car paid off and savings doing well. What right do you have to come here and cherry pick the creamiest jobs that a younger driver with family and mortgage responsibilities could really do with?
Alternatively, why shouldn’t people be able to work as they choose? The demand is there because the younger generation don’t want to work as lorry drivers.
Conundrum.
Out of interest, how does taxation work when working for 2 agencies?
At the moment, I work 5 days a week non-driving, with 1 day per fortnight driving on a Sunday. I pay basic rate 20% on that Sunday work, but still earn more for that day than I do for a day of non-driving work so it works for me at the moment, whilst I’m being paid to gain Class 1 experience at the same time.
I just wonder whether it works the same for agencies, so would I pay basic rate on my lower earning agency income, if I were to start working for a couple of agencies instead?
I’ve been FT nightshift with Pertemps@ Tesco since Sept21.
Can’t really complain at all how I’ve been treated.
If the shifts are there the 3 of us on FT nightshift get them,
holidays etc no problem and pay rise EVERY year beginning of July EXACTLY the same as the Tesco drivers themselves.
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Goff118:
Out of interest, how does taxation work when working for 2 agencies?At the moment, I work 5 days a week non-driving, with 1 day per fortnight driving on a Sunday. I pay basic rate 20% on that Sunday work, but still earn more for that day than I do for a day of non-driving work so it works for me at the moment, whilst I’m being paid to gain Class 1 experience at the same time.
I just wonder whether it works the same for agencies, so would I pay basic rate on my lower earning agency income, if I were to start working for a couple of agencies instead?
HMRC will sort it@ end of tax year via a rebate if you’ve paid too much tax via PAYE.
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Big Truck:
I’ve been FT nightshift with Pertemps@ Tesco since Sept21.
Can’t really complain at all how I’ve been treated.
If the shifts are there the 3 of us on FT nightshift get them,
holidays etc no problem and pay rise EVERY year beginning of July EXACTLY the same as the Tesco drivers themselves.Sent from my SM-A125F using Tapatalk
Same experience for me working for Tesco via their agency. Great place to work and learn so far!
shullbit:
trevorking1964:
HarshNot really, we have about a dozen pensioners working at our place, many of them full time, one is even the wrong side of 85, the full timers do nothing but moan about how much tax they are paying because of their pension. I can well understand someone doing this if they still need an income, but most of these dinosaurs are also financially secure by some distance.
Poor guys have been doing it so long they forgot how to live 
shullbit:
trevorking1964:
HarshNot really, we have about a dozen pensioners working at our place, many of them full time, one is even the wrong side of 85, the full timers do nothing but moan about how much tax they are paying because of their pension. I can well understand someone doing this if they still need an income, but most of these dinosaurs are also financially secure by some distance.
Well this dinosaurs at 66 lost a year, my 65th year through illness so just trying to recover my lost pension pot, but by cycling 16 miles a day to work and back and doing 30 hours a week on pallet delivery is keeping me fit and alive to enjoy travelling around in my motorhome as much as i like and also help with the £2200 council tax bill plus increased water rates and house insurance, car tax and insurance, motorhome tax and insurance and don’t get me started on gas and electric bills. No matter how big your saving pot is, it just keeps draining away so it pays whilst you are fit and able to top the pot up.