GasGas: If I ran an agency, I’d be inclined to up the rates anyway and get all the competent drivers.
A bit like Henry Ford putting half the car manufacturers in Detroit out of business by advertising higher wages than he knew they could afford to pay.
But where will you put all those drivers? No client will ring you because your rates are too high so they ring Button Drivers Ltd instead who can supply them with 10 muppets for £3/hr less than you because they’re only paying their muppets 7.5 buttons per hour straight through. Vicious circle I’m afraid…
,…but what happens when the insurance says “We’re not covering you, because you’ve aided and abetted the smashing up of your wagons in the name of saving less than a big mac per hour each”
Insurance comanies won’t pay out if you leave windows open, the car unlocked, the keys in the flowerpot/ignition etc etc so it’s only a matter of time until they get wise to paying out for “muppet damage”.
It’s a vicious circle: the agencies have an ‘own fault’ insurance so they claim on that to pay for the damage that their less-than-perfect drivers do.
So for the haulier, hiring the less-skilled driver though an agency is less of a risk than hiring a good one direct (not that all agency drivers are less-skilled, but you know what I mean).
The (unintended) consequence of this is a general lowering of wages and employment security, making driving a less-than-attractive career.
There’s a certain kind of haulier who never has a driver shortage, just a waiting list.
They tend to be at the smaller end of the scale, run reasonable to nice trucks and, above all, treat their drivers with a bit of humanity. They probably don’t pay any better than the big fleets, but they are just a nicer place to work.
Silver_Surfer:
Gas gas on the money again, I’d rather say to an agency, I’ll pay you £1 per hour above the going rate and send the cream to me who ain’t going to crash my motor, upset my customer or be late in to work, send the muppets elsewhere.
I thought cream was dearer than that?
Notice we don’t hear much from the £18ph+ self employed lot who are so happy with their lot that they’d rather not talk about it, in case there are in fact a few other decent drivers out there who want a piece of THAT action, for example, - me!
Perhaps someone would take up the counter-argument here, and categorically state that "no such drivers exist on more than £12ph anywhere" to which I’d obviously reply “Your talking ■■■■■■■■ man denis!”
Silver_Surfer:
Gas gas on the money again, I’d rather say to an agency, I’ll pay you £1 per hour above the going rate and send the cream to me who ain’t going to crash my motor, upset my customer or be late in to work, send the muppets elsewhere.
I thought cream was dearer than that?
Notice we don’t hear much from the £18ph+ self employed lot who are so happy with their lot that they’d rather not talk about it, in case there are in fact a few other decent drivers out there who want a piece of THAT action, for example, - me!
Perhaps someone would take up the counter-argument here, and categorically state that "no such drivers exist on more than £12ph anywhere" to which I’d obviously reply “Your talking ■■■■■■■■ man denis!”
I think you’ll find that most s/e truckers on a good £craic have since learnt to keep their gobs shut when asked the inevitable “who you on for and how much you getting?” questions by other agency drivers…
Vicious circle I’m afraid…
