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HOW TO CHOOSE AN AGENCY Choosing the right agency rests
Page 44
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on the same principles as most purchasing decisions — balancing cost against level of service and good working practices.
In its forthcoming guide on driver agencies, the FTA advises rigorous enquiries on any agency a haulier is proposing to use. This means, for instance, not just asking whether an agency checks driving licences (any agency will almost certainly reply yes), but asking for details of how they perform the checks. This is more likely to give a haulier some idea of the sort of organisation they are about to do business with.
The FTA says questions hauliers should ask include driver identity; status; address; history; driver competency checks; how drivers are matched to the jobs they are being sent to do; health and safety risk management; and drivers' hours records management.
Last, but not least, hauliers should ensure that any contract with a driver agency is in a font size they can read. Then, of course, they should make sure they actually read it.