At the end of the day an agency might give a newbee a start when a haulage firm comes over all 2 years blah,blah and blah.
The positive side to working the agencies is that it’s a lifestyle that suits with being able to take time out every 17 weeks as I can earn more in 3 or 4 days work with no nights way than what a fully employed driver earns in 5/6 days.
I get paid more now with benefits working direct for an outfit than iv ever done with Agy…#fact
Harry Kyng:
Rikki-UK:
Its been a few years, but when I did agency it was Best Connection, had a great rapport with the office, took the odd crap job to help them out , but most of the shifts were a doddle and well paid- didn’t take long to get the cream work, (Bakery)- collect loaded truck /trailer @Thornaby- tip Morrisons Wakefield - run back empty- shift over- 10 hours paid, thank you- do an extra over to Middlesbrough Riverside load and back to Thornaby ( 90 minutes work max) theres another 5 hours as counted as half a shift- do that 4 days a week and you were quids in, me and another lad did that 4 on 4 off between us for months, OK so you had to work weekends at the normal rate but when you were banging out £500 a week take home for a lot less than 50 hours at that time you were on a good numberSame here. I’ve worked with their offices in Taunton, Coventry, B’ham and W’Brom. Never had a problem and the W’Brom lads have always seen me right over the years. I’m full time now with a company they originally put me in to but I still recommend them to folk looking for a decent agency.
I was offered endless unpaid assessments, despite already working at the client depot via other agencies. I’ve yet to have a paid shift from them that stood up. 
The office was full of fit birds though - I remember that. 
took my class 2 in 2003 and walked out of my job as a docker on the thursday. come sunday i was doing a shift for woolworths via an agency my dad had been on for. that was september time, stayed on woolies contract till middle of november then went to work for edwards out of middlewhich as i wanted to be away, done that up to christmas and besides a week on for boughey over christmas the work dried up. understandable i guess as i only had a c licence. after crimbo i went round local firms looking for a job and besides doing a day on a bin wagon got no work till march time when i took a job in crew, then 3 weeks later to a firm in ellesmere port.
the agency had given me a chance and im grateful for that. couldnt see me working for one now days though
wirralpete:
…the agency had given me a chance and im grateful for that…
That’s exactly how I got my first rung on the ladder.
They were willing to give me a chance and gave me a reference for employers since.
I’m glad they gave me the chance where others wouldn’t.
I know there are some total scumbag agencies and its hard to sift them from the good ones on first meeting as they are very good at feeding you the lines you want to hear.
Not calling peope liars, but I don’t get all this “I can earn the same on agency doing 3 days as an employed driver doing 5 days…”
I couldn’t and was glad when my current job came along.
Wha annoyed me was when a client asked “are you free to work here next week?” and I was, then my agency would give me only 2 or 3 days work there. I’m sure they were giving some of my days to other drivers to keep them going. It might sound fair whe there’s no work, but if I’ve built up trust with a company, then why should someone else make money of it at my expense?
whats all this crap about,“i can earn more in 3 days than a regular driver can earn in 5”? maybe ten yr back when agencies payed good rates yes but not now.
theres that many of them fighting for the work and undercutting one another the rates are crap, there must be at least 50 agencies advertisin constantly for fulltime drivers pick your shift bla bla in my area. lies lies and more lies they must think lorry drivers are as green as the ■■■■■■ hills 
1asp:
whats all this crap about,“i can earn more in 3 days than a regular driver can earn in 5”? maybe ten yr back when agencies payed good rates yes but not now.
theres that many of them fighting for the work and undercutting one another the rates are crap, there must be at least 50 agencies advertisin constantly for fulltime drivers pick your shift bla bla in my area. lies lies and more lies they must think lorry drivers are as green as the [zb] hills
If I suggested to you the possibility that some of the trolling on TNUK is by folk with an interest in promoting only the good & sweet things about the transport agency industry, would you be able to look again at the whole picture & maybe think, “yeah! that makes sense”?
Read duncan banntynes book for a good view on employment agencys, he despises them. I cant remember the quote i’ll check it later, but i think he called them a cancer that is destroying a secure work life.
merc0447:
Read duncan banntynes book for a good view on employment agencys, he despises them. I cant remember the quote i’ll check it later, but i think he called them a cancer that is destroying a secure work life.
The day that Duncan Bannatyne champions the cause of the average working man is the day that I’ll cut my truck up into bite size pieces & eat the whole lot without any salt or pepper.
There is a very significant amount of Duncan’s previous history that Duncan chooses not to publicise in his vanity biographies.
The mainstream press wouldn’t dare to criticise the bloke, he has slightly more than several notch’s carved into the handle of his Jib !
But he is right. Employment agencies are a cancer in our society, they account for a large part of the economic strategy of ‘the race for the bottom’ . . . along with other things.
1asp:
whats all this crap about,“i can earn more in 3 days than a regular driver can earn in 5”? maybe ten yr back when agencies payed good rates yes but not now.
theres that many of them fighting for the work and undercutting one another the rates are crap, there must be at least 50 agencies advertisin constantly for fulltime drivers pick your shift bla bla in my area. lies lies and more lies they must think lorry drivers are as green as the [zb] hills
You CAN earn more in 3x15 hour shifts at Tescos than you can doing 5x8 hour shifts at Sainsburys on which you’ve paid Umbrella fees and are losing more on the commute doing as well. - This is even if the hourly rates are identical, so the pay rates have nowt to do with it. 
Personally, I like to (1) make a profit from going to work and (2) go to work as few days a week as possible which improves that profit no end.
Consider “being at work 45 hours a week” as a benchmark:
A 5 day week might see you at work 9 hours (1 hr mealbreak unpaid) and a £10 commute cost each day. (45 hours at work, 40 paid)
A 3 day week like I describe will have you paid 14 hours a day, (45 hours at work, 42 paid)
… so you’re losing £20 less in meal break deductions and £20 less in commute costs, going on the base hourly rate of £10ph. You can insert any hourly rate you like of course, the savings multiples are still going to be proportionate.
At the end of the week, you’ve even got an extra 2 paid hours in for the same number of hours at work, so you’re streets ahead on every level. 
This means the 3 shifts across the weekend lifestyle works well for me.
I understand some people prefer working more days with less hours for reasons that might be to do with evening socialising, but this has never been my thing, having worked perm lates/nights for over 20 years even as a full timer.
any agency is just a name. its the client you need to keep happy cos they are the ones who can ask for you or ban you. most agencys are pretty much the same. look after them and they look after you. until the arse lickers take your shifts of course 
i cut my teeth working for beavers agency my first ever solo run was into central london at 7 in the morning delivering to woolworths stores i can tell you i lost a few pounds that day
Would that be “gainful exercise” like running up stairs with catering baskets, or “lose a few pounds” spending 4+ hours in traffic to earn less for the shift than what you’ve spent in fuel and wasted time?
