Hi all, it’s been a long while since I’ve been able to get on here but I have a question or two if anyone can advise? (I realise this sort of thing has probably been asked a million times, apologies folks!).
Ok, so after one thing and another I’ve had to revert to agency driving until I can find a full time job … wherever! The problem/s I have found is as follows:
- If I know that ‘company X’ is either bent or runs a poorly maintained fleet and I refuse to work for them when the agency asks, I am doing the right thing surely? Reason being is that ‘Agency Y and Agency Z’ have asked me several times to work for certain hauliers and I am very reluctant after having some experience with them. Now, the agencies have threatened to strike me from their books if I don’t start working where they tell me to work.
Can anyone advise here?
Apologies in advance if I have asked something that I could have found if I searched longer. Also, I hope this doesn’t cross any lines set down in the rules.
Thanks in advance!
Theres not a lot you can do . If they don’t want you because you won’t work for certain companies then they’re quite entitled not to use you. I’ve never had that problem, when i said i won’t go into Home and Bargains no one every asked me to go again 
Stand your ground & if necessary switch agencies.
However be careful of declining work at several other hauliers & leaving yourself stranded, labelled a trouble causer without work.
The agencies are only interested in bums on seats
I always have the right of refusal. when I signed on I was asked the minimum wage I would work for and the type of work I could/would do.
The only penalty I could suffer would be if I refused a job and that was the only one offered that week I would then lose out on my minimum guaranteed week, which is not worth bothering about anyway, and which has never happened.
Be honest and consistent with who you refuse, the agencies hold all the cards as they decide who to call but if they don’t give you any work you won’t earn THEM any money
I’ve told agencies not to send me to particular companies again on a couple of occasions, it’s never been a problem.
I think it probably would be a problem if you made a habit of refusing to work at companies no-one else has problems with, I imagine the agency would then think it was you rather than the company.
Anyway, if for whatever reason an agency chooses not to give you work, I don’t see there’s anything you can do about it apart from going to another agency.
I’ve told agencies when signing up for them that there are certain companies I will not work for, usually because I had been before. It didn’t seem to bother them as I got plenty work. The trouble is, sometimes, they don’t/won’t tell you who they do regular work for until they ring you.
Mike-C:
i said i won’t go into Home and Bargains no one every asked me to go again
Why what’s wrong with home bargain…?:lol:
Old lorries, even poorly maintained don’t bother me, if its defective i’ll get it fixed before i leave, i’m on the clock anyway.
You can’t be forced to run bent.
The only time i’ve refused certain companies is for a large palletline operator, of who’s certain office staff speak to drivers with contempt, and that communication problem is the reason why i refused to go back.
Thanks for the response there folks, it’s much appreciated.
The problem is, the agencies I’m registered with all supply the same 2 companies with a bad reputation. Now me personally, I can deal with a dirty unit, I can deal with dents, rust and scratches … but when the units are covered in rust, dings, dents, bits missing etc. When they actually look like they’ll fall apart at any moment, that’s when I say “excuse me Mr, but I’m not turning a wheel in that thing”.
These 2 companies are the main guys at the minute by the looks of things, which some drivers are happy to work for. Ok, it sounds like I’m just having a moan to some people I imagine, but at the end of the day I am safety conscious.
Can anyone (out of curiosity here) give me some indication of what agencies are good, and who to avoid? Bare in mind I’m in Teesside here… 
I’ve had this problem with so-called large agencies that had a certain client firm with whom I now won’t have much to do with…
I asked them to "not give me work with them, but by all means shove me over to your other substantial client base instead.
This means that if they then give me the heave-ho, they are freely admitting that they HAVE no other major clients on their books, hence no work “Unless you work for bent company X” or whatever.
As it happens, they let me waste everyone’s time continuing to sign up, only to never give me a single shift.
If I’d been that agency gaffer with that intent, I’d have just told me to shove off, and saved the £3-£5 on the DVLA phone call to do the licence check… If someone is bent, they are best off showing me the door staight away, because I AM a whistleblower when it comes to criminal activity going on. 
I dunno why they go through all the pretence, honestly… 
Even working on agy with the best/worst companies, I’d like to point out that the Xmas rush is almost over, and the bleak season is ahead of us, and the knobs sat in the agency office are soon going to start cherry picking drivers who will do the crappy jobs & leaving others sat at home.
Sometimes there are times you have to bite your tongue and drive the (albeit legal) rust buckets as the big shiney fleets start cutting back on how many agy drivers they use.
The favourite at Duncan Adams was to go in and ‘forget’ to pull the red line. One snapped red line equals one banned driver. Or do what i did and politely request that they banned me. They refused then banned me the following day for being cheeky by asking
do what some drivers that i have met do,go freelance, cut out the agencies,hard at first till you prove yourself to them,try it you never know
Diesel-truckin:
Thanks for the response there folks, it’s much appreciated.
The problem is, the agencies I’m registered with all supply the same 2 companies with a bad reputation. Now me personally, I can deal with a dirty unit, I can deal with dents, rust and scratches … but when the units are covered in rust, dings, dents, bits missing etc.
Still doesn’t make them unroadworthy unless its a testable item.
truckman20:
do what some drivers that i have met do,go freelance, cut out the agencies,hard at first till you prove yourself to them,try it you never know
If you’re the kind of person who refuses to drive wagons cos they’ve got a bit of rust and a few dings you’ll not be getting a lot of work. The companies that’ll use you are more likely to be ones who can’t afford agencies when you first start.
Rust doesn’t bother me, maybe I should have worded that statement a little better.
What I meant was, if a unit looks to me to be on the verge of falling to bits, then I’m sorry but I’m not taking it down the road. Maybe that is just me, but I’m not prepared to drive something that I believe belongs on a heap. Hope that makes more sense at least anyway! 
Diesel-truckin:
Hi all, it’s been a long while since I’ve been able to get on here but I have a question or two if anyone can advise? (I realise this sort of thing has probably been asked a million times, apologies folks!).
Ok, so after one thing and another I’ve had to revert to agency driving until I can find a full time job … wherever! The problem/s I have found is as follows:
- If I know that ‘company X’ is either bent or runs a poorly maintained fleet and I refuse to work for them when the agency asks, I am doing the right thing surely? Reason being is that ‘Agency Y and Agency Z’ have asked me several times to work for certain hauliers and I am very reluctant after having some experience with them. Now, the agencies have threatened to strike me from their books if I don’t start working where they tell me to work.
Can anyone advise here?
Apologies in advance if I have asked something that I could have found if I searched longer. Also, I hope this doesn’t cross any lines set down in the rules.
Thanks in advance!
I worked for a leading agency ‘years ago’ they had the best contracts, we had the best trucks and runs. Why?
Because they were expensive, I remember a transport manager saying to me…
We use the leading agency when we are desperate mostly because they charge an arm and a leg…BUT we get drivers turning up when they are supposed to and they’re generally better than our own’
I took that as a compliment.
Conor:
If you’re the kind of person who refuses to drive wagons cos they’ve got a bit of rust and a few dings you’ll not be getting a lot of work.
I learned that lesion many years ago
Diesel-truckin:
Rust doesn’t bother me, maybe I should have worded that statement a little better.
What I meant was, if a unit looks to me to be on the verge of falling to bits, then I’m sorry but I’m not taking it down the road. Maybe that is just me, but I’m not prepared to drive something that I believe belongs on a heap. Hope that makes more sense at least anyway!
You’re within your rights to take that view of course, as nobody can force you to do anything when you’re on agency. However there is often a big difference between a truck that merely looks like it “belongs on a heap” and one which genuinely is unroadworthy.
My advice would be not to expect much in the way of work if you knock back units because you think they look like they should be scrapped…
A580 Manchester! 
