Punchy Dan:
The thing with threads like these is that there are so many variations of so called owner drivers although most amount to the same thing ,I prefer the phrase owner operator ,I own the lorry ,the yard ,do all my own repairs ect ,have a garage full of kit ,various size fork lifts ,do mostly direct work other than sub con jobs that fill in or suit me from others that I share work with ,I’ve also done storage,I don’t do any work where the customer tells me the rate it’s either i send the bill they pay or a mutual rate agreed after the jobs been done ,may be I fall in to Robk’s 2% catorgory ? So my point of view on these subjects dosent always match that of the man who leases a lorry and parks it in another’s yard and subs solely to another transport firm for pittance per mile .
You’ve answered your own question Dan. Did you start your business by first measuring up what size light bars and what length curtains you’d need for your truck, followed by asking questions on the internet such as “I’ve just bought a brand new FH, does anyone know of any good paying work? Is Maritime/Tarmac/Hanson/Rosewood any good?”, or did you first start with the ‘Old John’ method of finding a niche of work that no-one was doing in your area, bought yourself a cheap reliable truck and built up the foundations of a new business from there, charging a fair price for the service provided?
The latter is absolutely fine and you won’t see me knocking any person that goes down that route, but how often do you see a new thread posted here by someone of that mindset? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in 15 years. It’s always the “I’ve always wanted to own my own truck since I was 5 so I’m going to become an OD. Does anyone know any good paying work?” type, who inevitably end up dragging shipping containers or blocks & blocks around the country for a quid a mile serving no purpose other than to hold haulage rates at a rock-bottom level and make the shipping/aggregate company CEOs very rich. The shipping and aggregate companies have got it down to a tee, knowing that all they have to offer the OD is just enough to leave him with around £500 a week as a “wage” and the ODs will lap it up because they’re able to swan around with their name on the door and twiddle their curtain tassles. They also know that they’re all debted up to the eyeballs and need the work 6 days a week to pay the bills hence why they give you a good weeks work every so often to keep the carrot dangling in front of you so you don’t go elsewhere. Maritime are masters of it.
Whilst there’s an oversupply of ODs queued up outside haulage yards all around the country willing to do traction for a quid a mile the rates will never improve and that obviously impacts of driver’s wages as well as the two are interlinked. Sure you could argue that the Stobrats and Wincantons of the world have a bigger impact with their constant race to the bottom on rates for blue chip contracts, but ODs play just as big a role when they’re happy to do London to Scotland for £400 at 44 tonne.