Agencys, is it worth quitting a job for?

[italianjob1275]

Hi folks, hopefully there's some agency drivers on here.

Right, my nice cushy southampton trunk ended a few weeks back and I'm now messing about doing whatever general work comes in which at the minute isn't much.

My pay's pretty poor tbh (£7 an hour class 1) but the money's in every week I suppose.

Plenty of agencys around our way are offering £9 plus and give it all "come down and register and we'll get you working" act but I'm just worried that I'll end up working 2 days out of 5 or something and that don't pay the morgage!

So. Agencys liars, or saviour of the under employed truck driver?

[R0G]

Agencies and trust .... thats like putting law and common sense together

Take regulsr and not promises unless you have the funds for the very low hours when you find out the promises are worthless

If the agency is willing to draw up a contract guaranteeing minumum hours each week at a certain rate of pay then go for it - bet that never happens because they will not put their money where their mouth is

[grumpy52]

Stay where you are mate.I do agency+ casual for a company and although the variety is great .the quiet times are a pain and always at the wrong time.
I have little choice in the area i live in as employment is pants and mostly min wage.

[grumpy52]

Stay where you are mate.I do agency+ casual for a company and although the variety is great .the quiet times are a pain and always at the wrong time.
I have little choice in the area i live in as employment is pants and mostly min wage.

[Turn7]

Agency work sucks. You get treated like dirt by the employer, you get the sttiest end of the stick for trucks and routes, and to top it all - 2/3 days a week if you are lucky.

Dont do it. Trust me, its beyond desperate -ask me how I know.

[reckless st]

in general agencys suck for most people however if your experienced with good knowledge of different types of transport ie flats roping an sheeting ,tilts ,euroliners and have a good reputation you will get work but unless your great at what you do stay on a weekly wage where you are
the grass always looks greener onthe other side of the fence???
usually because there is more bullst there!!!!!!

[Humper]

I did agency work for three years, prob had 2 days off I wanted to work. That was a while ago, doubt id do it now. I was registered with 4 different agencies, id reckon working for just one even back then id have been off more than I worked.
As has been said, you need a wide range of experience to get regular work, there are more drivers registered than jobs, you need something more.
Some agency work I did was good, some ste, most was ok. I rarely got a real crap wagon but you just have to suck it up when you do.
At the time I did it my wife had a really good job and we couldve got by on her wage alone, its unlikely I would have done it otherwise.

[italianjob1275]

Ok, seems to be a resounding no then!

I'll stick where I am until something better comes along.

Thanks guys

[R0G]

You could sign up with many agencies and then simply accept what YOU wanted to to fill in any gaps in your general work schedule providing the driving/tacho rules are adhered to - especially the daily and weekly rest ones

[R1 Indy]

Is that right, £7 an hour???

Or is that basic, and you get something else on top?

Just you get paid more than that stacking shelves in a supermarket!

I thought you guys were on around £30k but that can't be possible with your driving hours and hourly rate?

[Turn7]

Class 2 and Hiab gets yuo about 9/10 ph round this way. Its not great pay thats for sure.

[Jimbo.]

To start with, agency work will be sporadic. It'll be short-notice ("Can you get here within the hour?" I used to make those calls to the agency), 3am starts one day, 8pm starts another.

Pay will be so-so: more drivers than work out there means poor hourly rates (£7-9/hour from memory for C1). Weekends and nights* improve things...but that's weekends and nights.

Lots of waiting. Called in at 12pm, not getting out 'til 5pm? Yeah, it happened a lot.

Only fancy an 8hr day? Tough. 12 hours or home.
Want a 12 hr day? Sorry buddy, one run at 8hrs is all we've got.

Stick to the same place, get GOOD and you can become a regular, with maxed hours the norm. Might even find yourself being asked for specifically for the real good jobs. I had a list of names that I could count on, and whom I could phone directly rather than ask the agency to find me a driver. They were never short of 12hr nights if they needed them

(*assuming proper nights: it's funny the amount of firms that class 3am as "days", with day money, and the rate changing at 3am should you start before)

Pack in a FT job for it? Hell no.

[Life Saab Itch]

Pretty much what everyone else has said.

Agencies are scum and will treat you like crap.

But if you go in aware of that, it may not be such a problem.

But I wouldn't ever quit a fulltime job to go on agency...