With what seems a shortage of work ( though I’m personally not seeing that ) , crazy numbers of new passes , what seems like floods of Romanians / Bulgarians / Africans etc , I’m surprised to find the agency I was with offering the same pay rate as before Xmas , I was sure it would drop , it seems to looking at agency rates in my area ,
But my agency upto Xmas ( offered odd week / ad - hoc since Xmas ) said the rate is the same , seemed genuine , but obviously you’ll only believe it when you see it in pay packet
So what’s changed , have all the agency gone full time like me , creating a shortage , or has worked picked up , what ?
Shortage in the EU, How come those eastern European drivers are not filling those vacancies over there? Stellantis & Renault are short of car transporter drivers, Thousands of new finished vehicles are ready for customers but cant be delivered because of a shortage of truck drivers. europe.autonews.com/automakers/ … 4-readmore
lancpudn:
Shortage in the EU, How come those eastern European drivers are not filling those vacancies over there? Stellantis & Renault are short of car transporter drivers, Thousands of new finished vehicles are ready for customers but cant be delivered because of a shortage of truck drivers. europe.autonews.com/automakers/ … 4-readmore
Thank lancupn , still short of drivers , explains rate not dropped , ta
I suggest you giving the agency a call, ask, then please do share.
I just did yesterday and today with a couple of them, I posted results as an update in the due thread
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Since agencies supply drivers into firms that are short of cover for the more awkward shift patterns, there are two blocks of “awkward shifts” to get covered, pretty much at all times, 24/7:
(1) last-minute sick cover
(2) Pre-known cover, say for Full Timer’s holidays, spot days off for hospital appointments, etc.
“Pre known cover” is also at a high demand level - when the holiday season begins in earnest, but also when people are forced to take time off, “or lose the holiday” because the end of the firm’s holiday year is at hand (not the same month for everyone, btw!)
Any agency driver can be used to cover (1), often giving a brand new driver on the books their debut at any particular client yard.
CORE drivers (those who’ve been on the agency books a while…) are more likely to be planned into the planned absence cover.
If a whole bunch of agency have recently been taken on full time (as one of the above posts suggests…) then might I suggest that this has now led to a dearth of CORE drivers (the yard is more likely to offer a FT job to someone who’s already been there a while “temp to perm” - yes?) and the less experienced drivers both get to move up a notch, AND any established hourly rates - are maintained since there is effectively a shortage, regardless of what time of the year it is - for the core cover requirement, which is 365 days a year - yes?
So the bigger question as to “Are agencies short of drivers” - depends on IF that particular agency supplies drivers into what would likely be the main employer in the area, Eg. Corr down at Sainsbury’s Basingstoke, Staffline at Waitrose Aylesford, Mainstream at Tescos Snodland, TRG at Thurrock, Pertemps at Royal Mail South England, or even more so supplies the many larger yards in the “Golden Triangle” area.
Should you be a prospecting driver looking for work - I’d strongly suggest you ask the agency “whom their main client is” BEFORE you bother to sign up with them.
IF they are reluctant to tell you - then they are likely to be only SUBBING to the larger yards, rather than their main supplier of drivers.
Hinton Harvey, Berry Recruitment, Bayside etc - are examples of what I would call “Subbing” agencies, Don’t bother.
“Subbing” for those unfamilliar with the term - are those agencies who get offered a second-hand “last minute, last resort” shift by a client yard who’ve already exhausted the larger pool of regular drivers from their regular supplying agency, such as what might happen around Christmas time… Each driver can only be booked solid into one place, after all.
At quiet times of the year like January-March - there’s hardly any work at all for subbing agencies, other than the real-awful stuff, at distance, at last-minute due to high staff turnover, rather than “plenty of work available” as such.
Core agency suppliers, meanwhile - will likely already have enough drivers on hand for the time being, with near optimum “full employment” being the order of the day for drivers already on their books a year or more. Come the next busy uplift time, (Eg. Easter) - they might either take on some more new drivers OR elevate some less-senior drivers already on their books from “Sub” to “Core” status within the agency, and leave the recruitment of new, raw recruits for a later time when the economic recovery - is by that point, imminent, rather than “Distant” as it seems right now… 
Yeah they’re all sat at home claiming JSA! How’s that going by the way dopey? 
How much do the agency get compared to the rate they pay you? The last agency I was at paid me £11.50 an hour while they got £23 an hour.
drover:
Yeah they’re all sat at home claiming JSA! How’s that going by the way dopey?
Is there still such a thing as “JSA” for people actually seeking work, and getting it too?
The worst part of being “unemployed” is not being informed that you’ve already been let go!
If you didn’t know you were currently “jobless” - then how the devil can you know to claim any kind of benefit at all?
I got laid off by Brakes in 2018, dropped in at an agency on my way home from there after leaving the last time, and signed up with an assessment the very next day, and shifts following after that…
That meant I spent about 90 minutes in total without a job… I imagine it would have taken me all day long to sign all the forms to get JSA, assuming thats what you do these days?
JeffA:
How much do the agency get compared to the rate they pay you? The last agency I was at paid me £11.50 an hour while they got £23 an hour.
I think you’ll find the rate the agency gets from the client - is pretty static.
The rate they pay the driver - is subject to negotiation.
If you’ll work for £11.50 an hour - then that is what you’ll get.
If you ask for more, and they really do get £23 an hour, as in your example above - then you could in theory ask for say, £17 an hour, and get it, albeit only for 1-2 shifts per week maybe…
If you absolutely must be employed 40+ hours a week, then your negotiating power to get that higher hourly rate is going to be lower, simply from “Supply and demand” taking it’s course…
Another way of securing higher rates is to only be available at times when such higher rates are the going rate, such as nights and weekends…
Asking for Monday-Friday 9-5 hours - is going to give you the lowest rates of all, of course… I’m sure there will be some drivers on here who’ll tell you that “pay near minimum wage” can be had ANYWHERE in this country, not just in the far north… I’ve heard horror stories from Thanet, Cornwall, Scotland, and even Rural Sussex… If there’s only general haulage yards around, and no RDCs in your locale - you’re going to have to look further afield to get the plumb jobs at the decent rates…
Simple demographics. The baby boomers are the single biggest generation. In 2023 more then half of them will be already retired, and the trend continues until 2030 when their whole generation will be retired. Its not only in trucking and is not only in the UK. And all the younger generations that should replace the boomers retiring are smaller and smaller. The law of supply and demand ensures wage inflation thus overall inflation. Uless supply is increased with immigration of qualified workers that can hit the grond running or the demand diminishes with a recession or depression. Or both.
The US expects a shortage of workers of around 400k/year until 2040 when their demographics balance out again.
JeffA:
How much do the agency get compared to the rate they pay you? The last agency I was at paid me £11.50 an hour while they got £23 an hour.
Don’t forget that on top of the £11.50 they pay you they’ve got 12.07% for your holiday pay, 3% for employers workplace contribution, 13% employers NI and 0.4% apprenticeship levy to pay before they see a profit. I doubt very much that if you were on £11.50 they were charging £23. Might be somewhere close to that if it included VAT but typical agency profit is around £1.50-£2/hr ex-VAT above your rate plus those other expenses of employment they have to pay.
JeffA:
How much do the agency get compared to the rate they pay you? The last agency I was at paid me £11.50 an hour while they got £23 an hour.
I’m not agency , I’m employed Jeff , it was the agency who I was with upto Xmas ringing me saying they now had work ( and apparently a lorry ) at the place I was before Xmas , I was just suorised they were offering the same pay rate as before Xmas , I was expecting it to have dropped
drover:
Yeah they’re all sat at home claiming JSA! How’s that going by the way dopey?
No idea , not sure what day of the week it is never mind anything else , imagine enforcing o/t on a sun - thurs driver , who gets out of bed at midnight / 1 am , does 70 hrs , ■■■■■■■ sat morn at Leicester forest srvs , no idea how these bosses sleep at night
JeffA:
How much do the agency get compared to the rate they pay you? The last agency I was at paid me £11.50 an hour while they got £23 an hour.
Conor:
Don’t forget that on top of the £11.50 they pay you they’ve got 12.07% for your holiday pay, 3% for employers workplace contribution, 13% employers NI and 0.4% apprenticeship levy to pay before they see a profit. I doubt very much that if you were on £11.50 they were charging £23. Might be somewhere close to that if it included VAT but typical agency profit is around £1.50-£2/hr ex-VAT above your rate plus those other expenses of employment they have to pay.
Don’t forget the cost of office staff wages for the people who are sat in the agency office organising the work for you and sorting payroll.
But non of those costs are relevant if JeffA is self employed or Ltd Co
Winseer:
drover:
Yeah they’re all sat at home claiming JSA! How’s that going by the way dopey?Is there still such a thing as “JSA” for people actually seeking work, and getting it too?
The worst part of being “unemployed” is not being informed that you’ve already been let go!
If you didn’t know you were currently “jobless” - then how the devil can you know to claim any kind of benefit at all?I got laid off by Brakes in 2018, dropped in at an agency on my way home from there after leaving the last time, and signed up with an assessment the very next day, and shifts following after that…
That meant I spent about 90 minutes in total without a job… I imagine it would have taken me all day long to sign all the forms to get JSA, assuming thats what you do these days?
Its such a pittance its hardly worth claiming
JeffA:
Its such a pittance its hardly worth claiming
It may be a pittance but it also keeps you NI contributions going which will affect how much state pension you get. It’s also a gateway benefit so it opens up access to other things such as free prescriptions, free dental, social tariffs for broadband and gas/electricity and for many they’d also be eligible for housing benefit which could pay more per week than the JSA is.
Conor:
JeffA:
How much do the agency get compared to the rate they pay you? The last agency I was at paid me £11.50 an hour while they got £23 an hour.Don’t forget that on top of the £11.50 they pay you they’ve got 12.07% for your holiday pay, 3% for employers workplace contribution, 13% employers NI and 0.4% apprenticeship levy to pay before they see a profit. I doubt very much that if you were on £11.50 they were charging £23. Might be somewhere close to that if it included VAT but typical agency profit is around £1.50-£2/hr ex-VAT above your rate plus those other expenses of employment they have to pay.
Maybe in haulage but it’s DEFO not true ref a nursing home because I’ve personally seen the agency invoices compared to what they actually pay the Auxiliaries/Nurses!!!
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Big Truck:
Conor:
JeffA:
How much do the agency get compared to the rate they pay you? The last agency I was at paid me £11.50 an hour while they got £23 an hour.Don’t forget that on top of the £11.50 they pay you they’ve got 12.07% for your holiday pay, 3% for employers workplace contribution, 13% employers NI and 0.4% apprenticeship levy to pay before they see a profit. I doubt very much that if you were on £11.50 they were charging £23. Might be somewhere close to that if it included VAT but typical agency profit is around £1.50-£2/hr ex-VAT above your rate plus those other expenses of employment they have to pay.
Maybe in haulage but it’s DEFO not true ref a nursing home because I’ve personally seen the agency invoices compared to what they actually pay the Auxiliaries/Nurses!!!
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Is it not possible for Medical staff to negotiate for higher rates - in the form of a supply/demand curve against shifts they have to cover vs the staff willing to cover them?
I’d imagine you get paid a lot more for working across weekends/nights than the standard 9-5 monday-friday fayre?
Conor:
JeffA:
Its such a pittance its hardly worth claimingIt may be a pittance but it also keeps you NI contributions going which will affect how much state pension you get. It’s also a gateway benefit so it opens up access to other things such as free prescriptions, free dental, social tariffs for broadband and gas/electricity and for many they’d also be eligible for housing benefit which could pay more per week than the JSA is.
I got 73 quid.