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THE VIEW FROM THE CAB Colin Vale has been an
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agency driver for Manchester and Leeds-based Contact Industrial Recruitment for 15 years. Based near Trafford Park, Manchester, Vale does mainly container work, and he is a dyed-in-the-wool agency worker because he likes the flexibility and variety.
He has noticed the effects of the recession, both in terms of reduced work available and more agency drivers competing for it, although he concedes that things may be getting better.
Vale says: "Things were very difficult earlier in the year. But it has improved, and although rates of pay haven't got any better, they haven't got any worse for me."
One particularly positive thing that Vale has noticed recently is that the queues of trucks waiting to get into container terminals at the ports and railheads are getting longer again.
"A while back it was distressing to see how few vehicles were going in and out. You would get to a port and there was nothing going on. The trucks are starting to queue up again, which suggests that things must be getting better," he says.
One factor that has helped Vale to get through a difficult year is that he aims for three or four days (or rather nights) rather than five shifts.
A guitarist as well as a truck driver, Vale likes to give himself enough time to play in his band as well as drive.