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In defence of agency drivers
Page 22
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lAGREETHAT there is a requirement for some form of code of practice for agency drivers, as highlighted numeroustimes in recent editions of CM. However, there is another side to the story.
Jam currently (by choice) 'between' jobs as a transport manager. Having never been afraid of getting my hands dirty and having come through the ranks. I decided to take the opportunity to briefly sample life from the other side — ie as an agency driver.
I managed to secure a couple of weeks' work, most of which was with one of the largest supermarket RDCs based at Normanton,Wakefield. the remainder being at a national logistics company nearby.
The first thing that struck me was that there is definitely a kind of stigma attached to agency drivers.
From my point of view the worrying thing was that most of this stigma came from behind the transport office deskThe shift would start with all the agency drivers having to hand in their licence for photocopying, no matter how many times they had previously worked for this company.
The theory behind this was that they could be banned, have accumulated excessive points,be using a false licence etc. However, so could any of the full-time employees, especially seeing as their licences are checked only every 12 weeks!
The second thing that stood out was the training, or lack of it.
At all the places I have worked or managed there has been a policy — or I have implemented one — whereby all new drivers, including agency, are given familiarisation training that covers the vehicles we use, the trailers including tail-lifts, parking brakes. raise-lower controls and settings.
They would then be familiarised on the workinp practices and system employed in the yard/ warehouse, along with our paperwork and so on.
At the supermarket RDC the only info available was from any of the regular drivers that were in the area.The national logistics company showed a 10minute video that basically reminded you to climb down and not jump out of the cab and how to fill in the centre field of a tacho chart. all of which should he second nature to a vocational driver.
My observations were that once out on the road actually doing the job of driving, the agency drivers were as good as any of the full-timers.The time that the agency drivers looked like they were either newbies or less efficient (or even liabilities!) was in the yard or depot where that particular company's systems of work had not been explained.
In summary. there may be bad eggs among agency drivers, but not necessarily more so than the full-timers.
Before too many of the larger companies complain about agency drivers or produce statistics that 'prove' they are more of a risk, perhaps they should first look inwardly with a critical eye and ensure that they are not sat in glass houses, throwing stones.
Agency driver York