I've finally taken the plunge!

Well folks I’ve gone and given myself sleepless nights for the next 2 or 3 years and taken the plunge to go O/D (well sort of!!!).
This past week I’ve bought a unit and insulated trailer for blacktop/dry stone quarry work.
The unit is a 2001 (51 plate) Foden Alpha XL with 440 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ tanks,pto,stack exhaust,jake,16sp box and best of all just off 3 years maintenance with Reid Transport, Ayr, Scotland (Truck is in the Foden contracts advert in this weeks CM) I got it for £16800+VAT which I don’t think is a bad deal
Also got myself a Feb 2004 Kel-Berg fully insulated 36cube tipping trailer from a haulier up in Hull who lost a tarmac contract after 2 weeks and its been on bulk work ever since until he decided to sell it because he wants to add to his fleet of four 8 wheelers on muckaway. He paid £27000 for the trailer new in Feb and he’s now lost 26% in 8 months as I’ve got it for £20000+VAT I also have got all my insurances,truck/trailer fully comp,public/employers liability (because I’m taking on a part-time driver) and GIT for £5898 which isn’t bad for a new start.

So now I have a 30 ton payload outfit on the road for £36800+VAT and I’m in the lucky position to have two large local Quarry companies viying for my services because they are both about to start major road surfacing contracts on new dual carriageways which involve a long haul from the quarries.
I’ve even lined up a load from Immingham up to Newcastle,tip+load and then back home to N.Ireland with that load to earn a few pounds to get me home Only slight problem is that I’m still in the process of setting up my business bank account and I’ still not registered for VAT but hopefully because I’m just starting up the vatman will not mind me working out of my personel account for the first week or two.Does anybody know if this will be a problem?

Nice one Big Truck and good luck. I don’t think the bank account thing will be a problem short term. As long as you are accounting for the VAT and they get their money I really don’t think they will care which account it comes from.

Welcome to the madhouse! If I can be of any assistance, just ask. Good luck, regards, Tramper.

Welcome to the club Andy

Glad to see you have got yourself some work and a nice unit (I take it ,it is the green & red one?) if it’s the one I’m thinking of it came with the pto which was handy eh

Good luck mate I hope you do well & you have my email if you’ve any questions

Cheers guy’s,
Yes Sean,the unit is red,brown and yellow and its not really my ideal colour scheme but beggars can’t be chosers in the used truck game especially a new start O/D like me!!
I’ll maybe get her colour changed once a bit of dough starts coming in and I get the time to take her off the road for a day or two. I looked at two sister trucks from Reid Transport at Birmingham truck centre,they where x and y plates and not in as good condition as the 51 plate I’ve bought.The rep at BTC said he paid Foden contracts £18 grand each for them so I reckon I’ve made a steal with my purchase.
I’m also chuffed with the trailer purchase as its finished in very shiny chrome and looks like one of those shiny tankers from the USA!! I’ve even had a long in the tooth local haulier whose Volvo F89 (he now runs two artic’s and four 8 wheelers) I used to admire when I had my pushbike with stabilisers, belling me up to ask about the trailer as there is none like it overhere,as I’ve been told its a rare insulated trailer that can haul tarmac and bulk haul as well.

well done big truck, hope it goes well for you.
as for the vat thing if memory serves me right you can include the vat in with your invoices with a notification that vat has been added and as soon as you are issued a vat registration number you will forward a new invoice.
when you get a vat registration number you then invoice again with the vat added in a separate column.
so first invoice has a total which is the rate for the job and vat added to the total then when you have vat registration number you re-invoice with rate for the job as sub total + vat then total in the final column.

Good luck BT

Big Truck:
So now I have a 30 ton payload outfit on the road for £36800+VAT and I’m in the lucky position to have two large local Quarry companies viying for my services because they are both about to start major road surfacing contracts on new dual carriageways which involve a long haul from the quarries.

Congrats Bigtruck, don’t worry about sleepless nights, you’ll be to knackered to care by the sounds of it

Hi Big Truck, hows things, have you got your Foden home yet? I’ve been keeping my peeps open but I have’nt eyeballed you yet. Best of luck.

Splinters,
Hauling blacktop on Mon for the next two weeks or so from Edentrillick quarry in Dromore to Warrenpoint, shes done up in “AMF Truckin’” stickers and I’m really pleased the way she looks even though I wasn’t sure of keeping the original colour scheme You definitely wont miss the trailer because you’ll think I’m “Rubber Duck” coming down the road because it looks so much like an American fuel tanker because of the half pipe shape
Still have to a get CB in her so I can shout at everybody