Agency code plea
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is Urgent improvements in driver agency standards must be implemented, say industry figures.
Despite voting almost unanimously against a motion by the University of Huddersfield that "agency drivers are more trouble than they are worth", 150 industry delegates raised concerns that agencies fail to meet desired standards.
United Freight Distribution's Betty McDonald said UFO does not use agency drivers because they do not provide a "safe level of service". Richard Taylor, training officer at Ryder, agreed. He reported that in 1998, 8410iiio of Ryder's reported HGV accidents involved agency drivers.
Taylor told of an exercise carried out by Ryder
where a training officer deliberately failed an agency's tacho test. He was still taken on and was driving the following day.
Despite an acceptance that driver agencies are an economic necessity for the industry, there were several urgent calls for a code of practice between operators and agencies to be introduced. This would include a driver declaration of minimum rest periods, and the need for licences to be checked by agencies every three months.
David Higinbottom of the United Road Transport Union added that licensing was needed to ensure that "Only agencies capable of delivering an appropriate level of service are allowed to operate."