TEMPING
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PROS & CONS
also given his own vehicle. "But if you temp, nobody knows you and you're given the oldest lorry with the broken heater and bust radio," he says.
This BRS employee is very proud of having his own truck. He keeps it clean and exactly how he likes it. "I know my lorry. Every lorry is different even if they are the same make. I can make my truck feel comfortable and I am confident when driving which makes me safer."
Trade union representation is always on hand if grievances flare up at work, and Dobson also likes meeting the same people regularly, at the depot and on the road.
Knowing your employers also has its benefits, says Dobson. If a personal or family matter crops up, such as a funeral, he will be given time off work. Or if he has a dentist's appointment, he could leave work a little early. For a temp such occasions mean losing money.
And if the worst happens and redundancy were threatened, Dobson says BRS would first try to place him elsewhere, either in its own operation or in a sister company. "Working for a big company means there is more chance of me keep g a job," he says.
If you are thinking about doing some temping work David White says all drivers should shop around for a good agency. If an agency advertises all the time, he thinks drivers should ask themselves why. "And treat every job like a full-time job. Once you are known by other companies you get recommended and asked for."
but the legal complexities were too great.
Recently Devon haulier Ace Tip successfully challenged an agency's terms. The waste firm used an agency for the first time, only to have one driver blow the engine on a hired Mercedes-Benz tractor and another damage a trailer on his first day. Negligence was admitted by both drivers but the agency denied liability. In court Travail tried to recover £4,000 from Ace Tip, which had been held back to cover costs of repairs. The judge ruled against the agency and awarded costs.
Despite the enormous implications of this case, little has changed. Hauliers can still find themselves responsible for temporary drivers' infringements, which could jeopardise a transport operation's 0-Licence.
So what should a transport firm do before taking on an agency driver? First go to a reputable company. Make sure copies are kept of any tachograph charts used on your behalf. Ask to see the temporary driver's HGV licence. Without one he could invalidate a firm's insurance.
Ask for an undertaking by the agency to return tacho charts within 21 days. If this is not given, ask for the charts before the driver leaves and issue him with copies to show to his next employer.
If the relevant charts have not been returned after 21 days, send a letter to the agency (retain a copy), requesting their return.
CI by Tanya Cordrey • It's all very well you saying that our lords and masters at the Department of Transport is "moving on consignor Liability" (CM 23-31 October) but your story doesn't live up to your headline.
All right it has technically done something by sending out forms to its traffic examiners telling them to report back with stories of truckers who try to explain that they were overloaded because a customer has lied about the weight of the load, but that doesn't do much good for the poor old driver does it? Like you say, the company which gets the driver or his boss in trouble for overloading can sit back and watch the trucker who is forced to plead guilty for something that isn't his fault.
You can call that "moving" if you like. I call it one more example of the DTp and the customers dithering while the haulage industry gets the rough end of the stick.
I can't afford on-board weighers and so I have to trust my customers.
I suppose you can't even blame them for trying to get that bit more on a load but it's about time the DTp did something about it instead of just "thinking about it". 1 know the RHA has been doing its best but I bet we'll have to wait a long time yet.
P Roberts, York.
• If the recent reports in Commercial Motor are anything to go by, 1 for one will not be looking forward .to 1992. No sooner do we get French farmers pelting British wagons then the Spaniards start knocking international operators about. Why? All because they've been pampered with subsidies for far too long and they don't want to get off the gravy train.
The sooner these people start to live in the real world
the better. I can't say I'm happy about the rates I'm getting for my work but I'm still in business without hefty Government or EC back-handers. My profits aren't brilliant, as my bank manager is only too quick to let me know, but I haven't started slashing tyres on French and Dutch wagons. What is it with these people?
If Spanish hauliers think that by threatening fellow drivers they'll get better treatment in Europe they've got another think coming. I for one won't be looking to set up any "reciprocal deals" or "strategic mergers" with any of them.
R Williamson, Bristol.