Van Driver Agency in Epping

Epping draws on a labour market with genuine container and customs experience in it, which is worth something — and which every operator along the corridor is competing for at the same time.

The freight geography around Epping runs on the A14, M11, A12, A11, A47 and A1(M), the Port of Felixstowe with its North, Central and South rail terminals, Harwich International and the airfreight operations at London Stansted. Operators draw on the A1(M) and A14 sites around Huntingdon, Alconbury Weald and Peterborough and the employers booking temporary staff here are typically e-commerce and retail fulfilment sites along the A1 and M11.

Poultry, brassica and root-crop processing run to hard seasonal windows, so goods-in, yard and chilled picking work appears in blocks measured in weeks.

Early starts in the packhouses and cold stores, typically from 04:00, with the day ending when the order is out rather than when the clock says.

Sortation and load-out start before dawn, with routes out by mid-morning. Grocery and evening delivery slots run through to late evening, including weekends.

Start times on parcel work are set against the sort, not the route. A driver booked an hour before the load is ready stands in a yard being paid to wait and a driver booked an hour after it is ready leaves late and loses the first window. Setting the start against when the cages are actually built is worth more than any amount of chasing later.

A route rate does not remove the National Minimum Wage floor. Hours are recorded on every assignment whether the shift is priced by the hour or by the route, so when a round takes far longer than the route was built for, the arithmetic is visible instead of being absorbed quietly by the driver.

Equal treatment on pay and basic conditions applies after 12 weeks in the same role under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010. We hold the count per worker per role and raise it with you before the threshold rather than on the invoice that follows it.