Rob K:
Sorry, I misinterpreted Alix’s post before. What you both say does happen, I agree - and I’ve even experienced it myself - but there are also plenty of cases where agencies lie and telling you that x client “will only pay x so that’s all we can pay you” which I’ve known in at least one situation to be complete bollox.
Round these parts, Haulfast and Stobbard’s are 2 such companies which use the shift rate thing and as a result neither of them can get decent drivers because for the £105/shift the agencies offer (Haulfast) they make sure you do 3x 15s and 3x 13s, which works out not far above the national minimum wage. Plenty of newbies in there happy to do it though. 
Don’t disagree with this in the slightest. There is a lot of dishonesty and ill-practice, probably moreso than a lot of other industries. Just thought I’d provide some insight to demonstrate that quite frequently there are ridiculous client demands that an agency has to cut-rate to meet, often due to an alternative agency supplying at a lesser rate already.
Just trying to avoid generalisation, in the same way I would the North / South debate and with respect to your original topic of foreigners not being the sole problem in the driving industry.
3 wheeler:
And here is the problem.
The End user will PAY £120 per day…So if the driver worked for them direct as a subbie he would be on a respectable rate…But theres YOU in the middle leeching off a big percentage if you can leaving him less than £77 , (you are just making your honest crust !!!). You are not NEEDED in the equation, But the world has become convinced by successive Govts. and political lobbyists etc etc that you are needed. YOU ARE OUR PROBLEM, you have convinced the bigger players in the industry that you can supply the labour force and they dont have to do anything. Hence you get to steal a portion of the wage pie !!!
With rose tinted glasses on …In the good old day in a transport office a young employee would phone around ex retired employees to fill shifts if desperate…now they call you …and you steal a percentage of the money.
Give me strength it is not rocket science…You are the problem.
But Personally …Well done …you make a living out of the middle because we are stupid enough to give you the oportunity. Thats OUR fault.
Serves us right !
I hope this doesn’t take the thread OT - you’re more than welcome to bash what I do for a living in another thread if you wish. Apologies in advance Rob.
The likelihood is that the end-user (excuse me if I refer to them as ‘client’) will pay £120 to a subbie / self-employed driver in the same way they would an agency. They certainly wouldn’t pay their own drivers that rate however as it would cost them somewhere in the region of £150 given the working time directive & National Insurance payments. Therefore they would need an existing ‘bank’ of self-employed drivers at their disposal.
Whilst I agree that a young lad could spend ~30-60 mins ringing the aforementioned list, just how many self-employed drivers (in some instances, retired), are going to pick up a phone at short-notice and go to work on demand? Theoretically, those like-minded drivers will have approached multiple companies across the county in the interest of working as a self-employed driver. Chances of them being available so frequently should really, be rather slim.
The client I referred to fluctuates from using no agency whatsoever, up to almost 20 in a given day. They also don’t know their requirements for the following day until late in the afternoon. I don’t think practicality serves for a young employee to ring a list of self-employed drivers at 4pm with speculative knowledge regarding their availability, especially when those drivers are consistently looking for work themselves. After all, that is the type of person that was in question - someone that knows their rate, demands it, and walks away if their rate isn’t met.
Objectively, I would always encourage people (industry is irrelevant) to approach employers direct. Infact the other night I posted on the newbies forum offering advice to a new-pass and don’t even think I mentioned agencies. Perhaps if drivers formed a union, presented themselves to employers and were all like-minded, you’d have some success in your ideology. Don’t allow just one person to represent it though; you might end up sounding like an agency. 
But personally, thank you. I got fed up of the boring repetition that is retail and was offered a role in recruitment when interviewing for a different role within retail still. My landlord certainly appreciates my full time employment status. Next time I plan on changing careers I’ll ask him if he can allow me to live there free of charge because I’ve taken to volunteering full time.
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