Wheel Nut:
So did they actually convince more drivers to remortgage their granny?Wheel Nut:
Cor! look what dropped through my letterbox this morning. I have used quote marks just to separate the advert from my own comments.Eddie Stobart is requiring 50 Owner Drivers to be working from October 2011.
What we require from you:
Be a tramper, ideally based in Yorkshire, North West or Midlands.
A certificate of Professional Competence (“CPC”) held by yourself.
A course has been arranged for late August/early September 2011 at Widnes to gain a CPC
Exam date is 9th September 2011. Results are expected 2/3 weeks after the exam.
Have an O licence.
Around £5000 for initial start up costs.
Eddie Stobart will provide:
Guaranteed regular work.
A fully maintained BRAND NEW tractor unit including R&M (service costs), Isotrak costs for a fixed monthly cost.
Tyres charged on a usage, (pence per mile) basis.
Trailers.
Insurance.
Toll tags.
Fuel.
Parking.
Your responsibilities include:
Your current driver duties.
Manning of the vehicle including your rest days when required.
Booking and delivering of vehicle for servicing and MOT
Eddie Stobart will also provide assistance (via an independent third party) at a fixed start up cost with:
Accounting/book keeping services.
Tax Services.
Cashflow planning services.
TO APPLY. Please pick up an application form from your Operations Manager
OPEN TO ESL EMPLOYEES ONLY
Wheel Nuts stick in spokes mode:
CPC Result. 8 to 10 weeks after exam
Operator Licence Application. Allow up to 9 weeks. Do not acquire vehicle until licence is granted
Financial Requirements £8100
Sufficient cash to pay spare driver or drivers for rest periods
No excuses for I cannot get a driver tonight
Are they really an owner driver, they cannot plan their own work, I doubt they can go and pull for Wincantons, DHL or Norbert Dentressangle tomorrow evening.
I think this is enough to start with.
Just remember the GAR
Oh dear 
There are a number of companies in the USA that operate this kind of lease deal, except over there they don’t have to worry about the O Licence part, the rest of it is the same though, they buy a brand new motor at an inflated price (especially when you consider the discounted price a big fleet pays for lorries) they have to maintain the lorry as the lease specifies, usually at a cost per mile rate.
Over there the work usually dries up towards the end of the lease and they get starved out of the lorry. If they do complete the lease there’s a huge balloon payment to buy out the lorry that they’ve already paid for a few times over. the companies that do this make more from their leasing programmes than they make out of moving freight around the country
The three biggest things wrong with this kind of lease are 1, No owner driver should ever start with a brand new lorry. 2, Letting the people that control how much you pay out control how much you earn is madness and 3, Becoming an owner driver just because you can is not the way to do it at all, if you can’t save enough for O licence requirements and the deposit on a lorry (at least) then making money as an owner driver is going to be nigh on impossible, you will not be a millionaire this time next year Rodders 
Now having said that, there are people that could be successful at this, particularly if they have a good relationship and history with the planners, a sure fire way to make it pay would be to find a day/night/weekend driver and work the lorry 24/7, personally I would ask if I could have an older and therefore cheaper lorry to lease and I would do the sums on the tyre deal and maintainence side of things and see if I could get it cheaper elsewhere, you never know, if you don’t ask, you don’t get 
.
Anyone considering this Stobart lease should get the lease agreement looked at by a Solicitor to find out exactly what their letting themselves in for