ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE

iam thinking off starting my own removal company useing a luton van to start off with,the advice i need is will i need a cpc,what sort off insurance i will require,any other legal requirments. i thought i would post it on here because i would like to hear any bad or good comments from you all.
i know its not directley related with the haulage industry but you never know that it might lead onto bigger things one day,at the moment its in the planning stages so iam researching the idea first so any comments are most welcome,

pps message to the mods
i was not sure what section off truck net this topic should be put in i hope it is in the right bit wayne

i’m sure there will be plenty of info coming your way. most of the members do nights out etc and could be away all week .so you might not get any replies til fri/sat night :wink:

benson 24:

i know its not directley related with the haulage industry but you never know that it might lead onto bigger things one day,at the moment its in the planning stages so iam researching the idea first so any comments are most welcome,

Hiya Wayne…
Of course this is directly connected to the Haulage industry mate. You will be driving for a living, and basically a professional driver, so there no need to worry about it being in the wrong place.

As kitkat has said already, a lot of the experienced guys are out on the road all week, so wait til the weekend, and all your answers I’m sure will be answered.

I am also gonna copy this to the Owner Drivers forum, so you get a better response.

thanks andy for moveing me into the right part off truck net , its a big step to work for your self but i know a lot off the members will give me help and advice
which i shall be loohing forward to read over the weekend but i will keep you all informed how it all goes.
here is another question if some one could answer for me my brother will be the main driver he only has car licence at the moment hes 20. for him to get a 7 and half ton licence does he have to be over 21,with me i can just do my class 2 at the end off the year so iam ok age wise.if any one has any other suggestions about this venture please let me know as iam open to all suggestions
many thanks wayne

benson 24:
here is another question if some one could answer for me my brother will be the main driver he only has car licence at the moment hes 20.

the minimum age for C1 is 18 - so no problems for your brother

however have you thought about him waiting until his 21st birthday and just doing category C :question: is he nearly 21 or only just 20 :question:

No CPC or O Licence is required for vehicles which are rated below 3.5 tons, these are also exempt from Tachos, however, if you were using say a 3.5 ton GVW Movano fully loaded and then put a trailer on the back, this would then bring it under Tacho Regs as it now exceeds the 3.5 ton GVW.

Personally I would say start small with a 3.5 tonner, then once you’ve mastered the business getting decent contracts apply to the Commissioners for an O Licence, to use 7.5 tonners upwards, you will need a CPC holder, however, that can be overcome using a CPC holder agency until you obtain your own, I myself have stood as a TM for a couple of mates to let them get their business up and running until they passed the CPC themselves.

I cant remember the exact amount required in the bank now but believe its around £6,000 per vehicle required to cover maintainance etc, and must have been in the bank for around 3 to 6 months, but I may be wrong there.

A full servicing schedule has to be supplied to them, but this could be just a contract with a local garage carrying out services at no more than 6 weekly intervals, also required is a centre where the vehicles need to be parked, and the premises would need to be covered by Planning Permission to be used as a parking area for HGV’s

Insurance, well you could use 3rd party fire and theft, but it’s your decision, however, Goods in Transit would be required to cover yourself for any theft, or accident involving loss of goods etc, we pay a percentage of the value per year for what we import, I think last years charge was something like £400 to cover £350,000 worth of goods from the far east, but a good insurance broker would be able to come up with a tailor made package for you which includes vehicle property and transit insurance.

Another thing to bear in mind is that most companies dont like paying up within 30 days, so to cover yourself make sure you have sufficient funds to cover wages and fuel and repairs etc for at least 2 months.

If the above has not deterred you then good luck, you are determined :slight_smile:

:laughing: :laughing:

Also be very aware of the payload of a 3.5T van/Luton. It doesn’t take much to be overloaded.

I put a Luton (about half full with general household stuff, and it had a T/Lift) on a weigh bridge and was astounded that it was 4…25T, and that’s with me being careful!

Unless your doing student type removals, I’d go for a 7.5T (minimum) and don’t have a T/Lift cause it ads to much weight on the rear axle.