When you see lots of driving positions advertised by agencies, do you think that the jobs are genuinely there, or do you think that they may be trying to get a few more drivers on their books? Which is it usually? Any other opinions on agencies also welcome.
Please be aware that I am trying to gather this information for a specific reason, and that responses may be printed out and presented in a Tribunal case. I don’t want to be any more specific as I don’t want anyone to be swayed. I would really appreciate genuine, unbiased opinions.
Thank you!!! 
PS This has been cleared with Rikki
i see it as the job being available u
but the agency over emphasises to the employer that he has more than adequate drivers to cover the job.
therefore the need to have more drivers than actuallly reaquired to meet the needs of the employer
grumpybum:
When you see lots of driving positions advertised by agencies, do you think that the jobs are genuinely there, or do you think that they may be trying to get a few more drivers on their books? Which is it usually? Any other opinions on agencies also welcome.
Depends on the wording of the advert, if it mentioned a specific contract or gave the impression that there was a specific contract or job in mind then I would at least expect that contract to exist, though to be honest I wouldn’t necessarily assume that the agency had the sole rights of fulfilling the vacancies.
Generally where agencies are concerned I keep an open mind unless the advert is worded in such a way as to suggest that they can definitely put people into the advertised jobs.
My experience is that my agency has a contract for a multi drop company where the are more than one agency in there to cover the work load.
As this work is very hard they tend to burn through the agency pool of drivers very quickly and the ad’s stay up almost permanently.
The other contract is with a company that needs a small but versatile agency pool of about 10 drivers. According to the TM, the company uses four agencies.
He likes it when he picks the phone up ( or is contacted by the rep ) he can book all his drivers in one go and don’t like the hassle of phoning other agencies to make up the numbers.
So the ad’s go up asking for 10 drivers even if they already have six or even if there is no chance placing them all just to maintain the pool of ready drivers.
This happened to me while I was placed in this company and I noticed the advertisement in the local paper. I pointed it out to the TM who then told me the above.
A fast and ready head count revealed only four drivers from my agency the rest a mix of two others.
Each of these agencies also posted ad’s asking for 10 drivers…
So it could mean 30 drivers going for only 10 placements…
From my experience an agency advertises what “appears” to be a job. This is not the case and many so called jobs do not exist. I responded to one of these adverts in January 2006 and to date have not been offered any work. They are just a means of adding names to their list potential drivers. Looks good to any company wishing to hire drivers.
Agencies also advertise these “non-jobs” through Job Centre Plus, which appears to make them look genuine.
Personally I do not bother with agencies, but work as a casual driver for one employer.
it depends on time of year & what has recently happened locally regarding firms closin ect
im registered with several but only 1 has offered my some work 1 even said they would not take me as had enough drivers in this area
They’re bogus as far as I can see but I think that the Jobcentres are happy to treat them as genuine to manipulate their statistics.You could list all the Jobcentre jobs on one page if they filtered out all the Agency fantasies.
I’ve been doing agency work for years and in my experience the vast majority of these “jobs” don’t exist. It’s a ploy to get you into their office to register you on their books. I understand the practice is actually illegal so if you’re doing something to tackle this I wish you luck! Keep us posted… 
I contacted Job Centre Plus about their practice of advertising an employment agencies vacancies when they were themselves an employment agency. Their response was that they were legally obliged to adverise what they believed were genuine vacancies.
They obviously didn’t do any research to confirm that they were bona fide jobs. As has been stated, it looked good on their statistics.
It probably explains why we have so many unemployed people in this country, they are all looking for non-existent jobs.
Trust me, it is not only driving agencies that do this, they are all at it. My wife is a highly qualified accountant, she has an honours degree in finance and economics, and an honours degree in art and history. recently she has been trying to find a job in the UK and we have visited every agency we could. They all have lots of jobs advertised whether on the web, or in the window etc, strange then that when we ask about a specific job we always get the same answer. “Oh we have filled that post now, just we haven’t got around to tasking the advert out of the window”
As a recruitment agency, how much business would you hope to get, if you don’t advertise jobs? New business wants to see a successful agency at work, and by advertising lots of “jobs” it makes them look like they have a lot of clients depending on them.
Also, by having a lot of clients on thier books, they stand more chance of filling every job offered to them. Remember, they make money out of you working, if they don’t have someone to put into a job, they don’t get paid.
most of the time its agencies trawling the pool of drivers, i found during these clouded 18months agencies didnt have any work at all, but advertised jobs they hoped to land, personally i think agencies should be closely controlled and limited seems they spring up everywere offering jobs to desperate people, i was made redundant then the next thing i new they opened there own agency up and was hiring, i should of taken them to tribunal but unions are just as bad, if you were one of the unlucky ones that lost your job recently then the chances of similar employment was slim together with the high ammount of unemployment you had to also compete with workers from overseas, without starting a debate on foreign workers it all results in less work for able men.
agencies are luck of the draw ,
you could apply for a job as a skip driver ,
then get a phone call n be on the road for two weeks,
depends on youre experience.
an what youre willing to do.
an how desperate the mercenary zbs are.
i have seen ads recently just stating how many placememnts
the agency did during given period
then just asking you to register
also seen the ads saying you could earn 900 quid a week
highly unrealistic in my opinion
Deathstar:
They’re bogus as far as I can see but I think that the Jobcentres are happy to treat them as genuine to manipulate their statistics.You could list all the Jobcentre jobs on one page if they filtered out all the Agency fantasies.
I’m with Deathstar on this one. Most people on here know my feelings about agencies though.
grumpybum:
When you see lots of driving positions advertised by agencies, do you think that the jobs are genuinely there, or do you think that they may be trying to get a few more drivers on their books? Which is it usually? Any other opinions on agencies also welcome.
Please be aware that I am trying to gather this information for a specific reason, and that responses may be printed out and presented in a Tribunal case. I don’t want to be any more specific as I don’t want anyone to be swayed. I would really appreciate genuine, unbiased opinions.
Thank you!!!
PS This has been cleared with Rikki
I see that you have quite a lot post up about diffferent matters for a tribunal case, realise that the same evidence you gather can be used against you.
E.G. if you stated 20 drivers think is that way, it can backfire to you if they have the evidence that actualy 50 drivers on the same forum don’t think it’s that way. 
Be very carefull when you build a case, but good luck anyway 
I was looking to join agencies in Coventry. Id joined two in one morning and found another, it had a list of all the different types of work they cover and said HGV as plain as day outside the shop. I rang them from outside the shop and asked them about vacancies, the guy I spoke to said they dont do HGV Driving !!!
I`m glad to be away from the world of using agencies now, Driver Hire were quite good to start with but they began to wranggle things and lie to get their own way. I caught them out a number of times
Is it any wonder that the agencies advertise for drivers constantly? most agency drivers who have commented say they are signed up with 2,3 or more agencies. So, if one agency calls you with a job, and you already have a job from another, they need to have more people ready to call. It;s a viscious circle! If you are lucky enough to find one good agecncy swho will give you enough work, then stick with them, even if it gioes a bit quiet from time to time.