Ive been driving for 4 years now on a CLASS 1 ticket and have done 2 years general haulage plus 2 years working for an agency, Im giving due consideration to going freelance. Is there anybody on here who could give me some guidance regarding this subject■■? Also any info on agency rates would proove to be very useful knowledge [/b]
One way I can think of getting agency rates is phone them as JBloggs Haulage or sommat, and ask what they charge!
Mal.
forget the agency rates, you won’t get work that way.
you have to remember that agencies have a number of drivers to supply therefore have to ensure that they can meet the demands of their clients, most agencies have insurance to cover damage by drivers supplied to customers and a lot of transport companies will only give work to agencies that have this.
agencies also have overheads that a transport company takes into consideration when paying the bills, some have payment terms and conditions that you could not meet, payment on 30 days or 60 days or 90 days from reciept of invoice accompanied by relevant tacho charts.
the first thing you have to do is find the work, you must have several customers to be able to do this legally, having one is not good enough, you have to have evidence that you are in control of your business and are not tied to an employer but free to move between them as you wish.
you also need to ensure that you can manage financially over the weeks that you may only get 3 days work.
most importantly you need to be reliable and trustworthy, presentable and hard working with a very yes attitude, when you are an employee there are things that you can say no to, no i am not handballing that, it isn’t my job.
no i am not driving that truck, it smells and doesn’t look good.
when you work for yourself you have to bite your tongue and nothing is ever too much trouble as long as it’s legal.
think about it, it isn’t easy but it is enjoyable.
I am again working self employed, having done so in the past & finding the right work is the hardest part.
Forget the odd few day week, can you cope with less than 9 days work in a month ?, two of the drivers I currently work with were in this situation last December.
Its a good life if its your kind of life, but like any other kind of big change think & plan before you jump.
hi all.
as freelancing is the subject, this thread is perfectly timed.
today i was offered the chance to freelance to one company long term.
(seems they like me)
as dave asked, any information possible would be of great help on this subject.
where to get the insurance from and other things which are required.
thanks
made
The Tax man will jump & hard if you only work for one employer. You must work for several, 3+ I think it is, for the Inland revenue not to regard you as employed but self employed.
The Inland Revenue have a booklet on this subject & just about every other subject you could need advice on.
During my last employment in the UK i had 12 weeks holiday in a row every year. One year I went as freelance and charged agencies 10 quid an hour, I also contacted a few companies within a 30 mile radius. i got quite a lot of work and had the advantage of refusing any I did not want.
All you need is a small reciept book or invoice book, keep a copy of everything just in case.
you need a little more than that today.
firstly a lot of companies have already been bitten by bogus self employed drivers and have had their knuckles rapped for using them, when you become self employed you can obtain a self employment reference number from the tax office, this can be used to confirm your status as self employed.
the best thing to do is to start a small business, perhaps market trade or something and work as a driver too.
I have been doing part time freelance for the last 16 years+ and always seem to be offered lots of weekend work.
I now pick and choose what I want to do but around our area there seems to be a lot of work available.
Make sure you are set with the tax man and the NI people. Because I am partime I have an exemption from paying NI but pay tax and claim back all my expenses (clothing, mileage, postage and phone charges).