for the last few years i have had no problems when i have been an agency driver,allways well presented [at my own cost,not the agencies]but a few years ago some mouth at wincanton openly insulted agency drivers in front of me not realising i was an agency driver,his actual words were fxxxing agency sxxt,obviously i was not having that,and after establishing i was an agency driver i then asked him outside,typical of mouthy people he declined and apologised saying he did not mean all agency drivers,i replied that he was putting us all in the same boat by saying what he did,i got no time for people like that,i look after the vehicles i drive out of respect for the regular drivers,all rubbish is taken out in a bag,you probably will get one or two that let the side down,if agencies are serious about taking on drivers they should supply uniforms,its better for them in the long run,they are just as much to blame for the way agency drivers turn out and the way they act,if agencies treat drivers like crap it will reflect in the way the driver does the job,
I tell you why they get slated, before anyone starts ■■■■■■■■, I was agency and thats how I started and there are some good drivers out there. But when I come off from a week away and my truck is used overnight by an agency driver , and comes back with damage on rear from being hit with trailer by failing to hook up properly.
Near side mirrors plastic covers cracked and boottom missing.
Visor trim ripped out.
My bed covers and carpet covered in grease,
Ciggerette smoke and crap all over dash
My food and drink taken and all in one night I tend to get a bit peed of.some have no respect and they failed to report the damage. And what happens when I say about it. Nothing and they have the driver back the next night.
What with the unknown quantity that going on holiday from one’s regular cab represents, I often wondered why people don’t clear their stuff out if they know in advance they are going to be gone for a couple of weeks…
Every time I’ve left stuff in my cab to be used by me next day, it ends up getting nicked, or just going walkies for some other reason like gestapo on days decides to bin all my books I left! 
Thus, I learned the lesson. Don’t move into your cab! 
Winseer:
Don’t move into your cab!
my boss would prefer me to do nights out"as and when needed"
suits him coz he can send me home if were slack...suits me coz I dont want to be out all week.but get this…if he thinks Im kipping in a ■■■■ hole...caused by another driver hes gonna be quickly disappointed.
Because at my depot A.most if not all are Scruffy B.most if not all the damage is caused by them and C.1/2 of them cannot speak a word of English.
trubster:
DAF95XF:
trubster:
3) I have the freedom to have a week off when I want, Employed drivers have to ask nicely for a week off and could be told ‘No’On the other hand, employed drivers get holiday pay
Yes… but you could be told you can not have the week you want off, like christmas etc.
The amount I charge is more than enough to cover the price of the holiday as well as the pay for the week I would have worked
Problem is, can you really have a relaxing time, knowing your not getting paid 
.
.
"When the door pocket is full of rubbish,
Drivers please use the passenger foot-well."
There is of course the possibility that there are 2 types. Those who choose to work for agencies and those who don’t choose to work for agencies. The former are employable but prefer to choose not to be. The latter are not employable so they are forced to pick up whatever work they can. Or they could get their act together 
Well I maybe a newbie to class 1 but I have years of experience Class 2 and coaches and the general comments above are flawed because you cannot say that because 1 agency driver smelled or nicked food or drove a truck badly it means all agency drivers are the same. I have said it before and say it again there are no us and them. I am agency now through circumstance, others are agency through choice. The fact is we are all drivers and some are good and some are bad.
My opinion is that “we” as drivers should start finding out the facts before pointing the finger. An example of this is that 3 times last week I went to hook up only to find the trailer far too high, I mean so high that raising the unit suspension could not get the fifth wheel high enough! I had to use the trailer suspension to dip the front! I know a full timer is going around saying it is one of the agency drivers doing this but the agency drivers are also baffled. One of the full timers the other night found the culprit… It was neither the full timers or the agency drivers.
See how people get their facts wrong?
I’ve been an owner driver and worked direct for companies as a full time emplyee. A couple of weeks ago I joined an agency. Best thing I ever did. I know the ■■■■ agency drivers have to put up with. Heard them beind slated many times. But to be fair some are better than full time drivers.
I was talking to a guy in s/Wales last week from the same company. As soon as I said I worked through the agency he was off like a shot… was I bothered? ■■ Not at all. Infact I found it childish, unprofessional and ignorant. But as I see it I get paid much more than him for doing the same job. I slso get 28 days holiday. Overtime and double time for bank holiday’s and best psrt about it I get to pick and choose which days I work. Thursday to Sunday is good enough for me
we have the same 3 or 4 agency drivers,they`re all good blokes.
Agency work is hard graft some of these full timers who do same ■■■■ day in day out giving it mr big I am would have a heart attack, I’ve done some ■■■■ on agency’s tankers , skips , Urbans double decks ,wagon an drag, tippers, recovery flat beds , transporters its endless all in5 years so not all of us are bad lake some say it suits there life style
Full timers believe that the too-easy availability of agency drivers pushes down T&C’s in their jobs. I’d disagree - Personally, I’d say that weak Unions have done the damage there already.
Agency drivers are considered to be “tried to get a full time job, but failed”. This too, isn’t true of those not saddled with a huge mortgage, and otherwise “forced” to do long hours to fuel their debt addiction.
Then there’s all the drivers in between who enjoy their job, don’t mind the variety, like taking days off at the drop of a hat, and are not so insecure that they think they’ll be left on the sidelines all the time. Sure, the start of the year is low season for agency, but what do you do as full timer in mid-January? - Struggle through the snow, go sick at the first sign of black ice? Take a minimalist attitude to your job, because you’re salaried? There’s clearly not many full timers taking their holidays at that time of the year, otherwise there’d be more work for agencies!
Being forced to “not work in January” on the other hand, can be useful if you’ve got a nice pot built up, because you just bugger off somewhere beyond Spain that’s hot for the winter - at dirt cheap prices to boot, because strangely January/February is still considered “out of season” in places that don’t have winters…
All in all, it’s horses for courses - the full timers representing “the flat” and agencies “the jumps” of the driving world. 
[/b]
Winseer:
Full timers believe that the too-easy availability of agency drivers pushes down T&C’s in their jobs. I’d disagree - Personally, I’d say that weak Unions have done the damage there already.
Agency drivers are considered to be “tried to get a full time job, but failed”. This too, isn’t true of those not saddled with a huge mortgage, and otherwise “forced” to do long hours to fuel their debt addiction.Then there’s all the drivers in between who enjoy their job, don’t mind the variety, like taking days off at the drop of a hat, and are not so insecure that they think they’ll be left on the sidelines all the time. Sure, the start of the year is low season for agency, but what do you do as full timer in mid-January? - Struggle through the snow, go sick at the first sign of black ice? Take a minimalist attitude to your job, because you’re salaried? There’s clearly not many full timers taking their holidays at that time of the year, otherwise there’d be more work for agencies!
Being forced to “not work in January” on the other hand, can be useful if you’ve got a nice pot built up, because you just bugger off somewhere beyond Spain that’s hot for the winter - at dirt cheap prices to boot, because strangely January/February is still considered “out of season” in places that don’t have winters…All in all, it’s horses for courses - the full timers representing “the flat” and agencies “the jumps” of the driving world.
I would agree with much of what you say here as an Agency Driver of 22 years - except perhaps the Union thing. I don’t see a lot of animosity nowadays though; and it usually only exists where there is an endemic ‘group mentality’ at one particular company or another. Thankfully much of that too has been washed away on the tide of other prejudices of the past. It does happen though for sure, but not half as bad these days imo.
I couldn’t consider going ‘full time’ or putting a mandatory ‘uniform’ on nowadays (not that I ever really have). I guess I’m far too corrupted by the Bohemian and freespirited lifestyle of agency work. I don’t have kids or a mortgage and like you say, have spent much of my life avoiding debt, so it suits me just fine. I also do a lot of private, direct invoice work, so the agencies are nice to inter-weave into that as well. When January rolls around I am glad of at least a month off, with a 2-3 day week occuring from around end of Feb or before.
Most people who slate agency driver’s; in essence have very little experience of agency work themselves and what it ultimately involves imo. It’s purely down to lifestyle choice (like living on a boat as I do and not wishing to have children). Those choices, amongst a myriad others, have enabled me to be ubberly flexible in my working life and I have no regrets.
There is good and bad everywhere, in any industry or business. Some agency drivers deserve to be slated (heck, I’m no Saint!), but the problem comes when that ‘slating’ leads to a ‘tarred brush’. Twas ever thus in my experience. . . .
I guess that the hatred is caused by jealousy, knowing agency drivers are paid more in most cases.
I would not have been able to ditch full time in favour of agency if it were not for the long term low interest rate environment we live in now. It’s allowed me to wean myself off (other) debt in a way that would have been impossible a decade ago. Needless to say, I would not have even had the choice a decade ago, with most of my full timer’s basic wages going on my mortgage as they were at the time. It was the falling away of available overtime that was perhaps the biggest single thing that made me decide that it was worth taking the “Long walk” into agency life. It seemed stupid to continue working 5x8 hour shifts a day which actually involved being at work 45 hours a week for a take home of around £18k. Back in the good old days of plentiful overtime, I have taking home double that, but the lean times continue, even now 3 years after I left. The big gamble of course was just how long this recession was going to last. If I ditched a full time job with too many years until bottom was reached in the economy, then I was going to be finding myself sitting on the sidelines at agency through no work… Having the IO mortgage went a long way to convincing me that I’d have a safety net there, should the work drop off that badly going on… The daft thing is, once the economy picks up again, I might well choose to stay on agency because by this point, hourly rates should rise strongly, whereas full timer’s rates will respond more slowly upwards, the same as they have responded more slowly downwards during the lean years.
I predict 5-6 years more for this recession, with interest rates continuing below 1% to match the cycle. If the interest rates go up before full time jobs become plentiful again and/or the recession-led lack of hours keeps hourly rates stagnant beyond my other cushion expiring, then things might get ugly around here. Sometimes though, you’ve gotta gamble because “doing nothing” actually represents more risk than doing something, and being wrong!
There will of course be a natural distillation process (not happening yet it seems) where the decent agencies will eventually mop up all the decent drivers, leaving the other agencies to gradually go out of business, because they’ve mopped up the second-raters who are the only ones prepared to put up with the contrived bullcrap that some ill-reputed agencies have come up with, tarring the whole industry. Cancelling a filled shift is probably the main one of these. If A has just been given a shift @ £11ph, then you don’t cancel it to give it to (b) at £9.50ph FFS!
Fortunately, I’ve found the distillation process to be alive and well in that I find myself working hardly at all for the ■■■■-taking agencies these days (I signed up with several originally) and more of my time is spent working for just the “main” one that doesn’t ■■■■ me about. Sure, I still get some cancelled shifts, but often get another replacement job at the same rate - so no harm done.
It’s a bit like a marriage - a bit of give and take on both sides. I could get higher rates elsewhere, but I don’t fancy the longer commute to the jobs in question, and I don’t like the manner of the “consultants” that are always putting me under pressure to carry a switched-on phone in my car on the way to shifts - wot? - So I can be cancelled in transit? - I think it’s worth taking a second-best hourly rate in exchange for not being ■■■■■■ about for sure…
trubster:
I guess that the hatred is caused by jealousy, knowing agency drivers are paid more in most cases.
Yet, in most cases it’s balanced by the ‘Jan, Feb, March’ rule as I like to call it. Most agencies (unless you REALLY want to work at the likes of Wincanton Swan Valley et al), will be quiet(ish) the first three(ish) months of the year - exacerbated by the cruel economic climate.
A lot of full-timers just refuse to look at the bigger picture and think that because you don’t have a full-time position, you can’t get one. Nowadays, a company like Wincanton, Stobart’s, DHL etc, would take one look at my CV and say - categorically - in so many words, nope, your uncontrolable, not for us. . . . I’m quite happy with that meantime.
because a fair few are total ■■■■■
Quote Winseer: (I have answered in bold italics to some of your points below)
I would not have been able to ditch full time in favour of agency if it were not for the long term low interest rate environment we live in now. It’s allowed me to wean myself off (other) debt in a way that would have been impossible a decade ago.
Don’t get me started on that one, but hat’s off to you!
but the lean times continue, even now 3 years after I left. The big gamble of course was just how long this recession was going to last. If I ditched a full time job with too many years until bottom was reached in the economy, then I was going to be finding myself sitting on the sidelines at agency through no work…
I personally reckon the worst is now firmly behind us for a few years. BUT; the short term boom and bust cycle is getting ever narrower, to the point of stagnation
Having the IO mortgage went a long way to convincing me that I’d have a safety net there, should the work drop off that badly going on… The daft thing is, once the economy picks up again, I might well choose to stay on agency because by this point, hourly rates should rise strongly, whereas full timer’s rates will respond more slowly upwards, the same as they have responded more slowly downwards during the lean years.
Again, it’s very dependant on where you are. Good Driver’s with significant agency experience and flexibility, who can go anywhere and do anything are now starting to see rates increase back to 2007 levels imo (and they were pretty good then); though of course it does take a GOOD AGENCY to recognise this, or even want to
I predict 5-6 years more for this recession, with interest rates continuing below 1% to match the cycle. If the interest rates go up before full time jobs become plentiful again and/or the recession-led lack of hours keeps hourly rates stagnant beyond my other cushion expiring, then things might get ugly around here. Sometimes though, you’ve gotta gamble because “doing nothing” actually represents more risk than doing something, and being wrong!
Unfortunately yes, agency work is nearly always a gamble, in this type of economic climate; though I don’t agree on the 5-6 year thing. Perhaps we will be back to bust by then with a mini boom in the middle; though the housing market needs more regulation to refrain the greed of the past.
Yeah, ok sdg, whatever!
There will of course be a natural distillation process (not happening yet it seems) where the decent agencies will eventually mop up all the decent drivers, leaving the other agencies to gradually go out of business, because they’ve mopped up the second-raters who are the only ones prepared to put up with the contrived bullcrap that some ill-reputed agencies have come up with,
What goes around, comes around as the saying goes. That process is cyclic and was alive and well in the late 90’s/early 00’s. A myriad agencies I worked for then, are long gone and all were fairly good to middle of their day. Some may have been mopped up to make some of the bigger ones today, but not many. Believe me, it is cyclic. Manpower was the only real player when I started agency work in early 1992. I wouldn’t work for them now though. . .
It’s a bit like a marriage - a bit of give and take on both sides.
kudos on the analogy - I’ve only been married two years, agency work is a cakewalk in comparison…
[/quote]
nick2008:
because a fair few are total ■■■■■
Nice and balanced there.