Marcus: your signature is so true…but its missing a “do”!
Paul: I wish you the best of luck if you go ahead. I failed after 3 months in '99 mostly due to excessive time sat in RDC’s waiting to tip. (However, I should add I did also have outside pressures pulling me away from being away a lot)
I paid £5k with work for a 84 B Scania 112 (no limiter & a superb motor) Cost just a radiator (£300 ish) & a range-change solenoid, but was ready for 6 x brakes when I got rid. Most importantly, don’t bank on 2000 miles every week, as that = 50 hours driving, which obviously you can’t keep up. Based on average speed of 40, which you find i’m not far wrong.
that’s a good point, maybe 1800 to 1900 on average would be more realistic and still workable money wise if you buy a cheapish wagon with a lump of good luck and your own trailer.i have seen some other work available at considerably better rates but with no gauranteed minimum so it maybe a case of he who dares wins.
as for marcus’s signiture,i thought the same but do do never looks right when you write it!
You will find most days you can do 400 miles and then the odd “nightmare” day you will do less than this, some you will do more, so average about 2000 p/w with some variance plus or minus. 1500 is too low tbh. If you ain’t doing 1750-1800 minimum you have a problem.
I would strongly recommend contract maintenance as you don’t have to worry about spot repair bills and the service agents don’t want to know you if you are not on full R&M. MAN/ERF do 3 year old tractor units with full R&M for £350 per week (I think) which is what I have. If you live in Brum, don’t buy a Merc. MAN/ERF seem keener to help as maybe they are not as “premium” as scania and volvo. www.man.co.uk No matter what the motor, dealer “helpfulness” is top of the list as most don’t give a toss about the small operator.
North Surrey Haulage is buying a £70,000 motor atm and subs for HD, does that answer your question? My main piece of advice is buy a decent motor (maybe not as bling as NSH! who has been going for a while and knows what he is doing) on full R&M and go for it (within the law of course), you can’t do this game half heartedly. You could lease but there’s that feeling of not actually owning something. Leasing is only really worth it if you are on primo money and a millionaire like coffee!
Silver_Surfer:
North Surrey Haulage is buying a £70,000 motor atm and subs for HD, does that answer your question?
NSH’s new truck is actually £80,000 and he is sure the figures can work on HD which must be a good sign.
Silver_Surfer:
Leasing is only really worth it if you are on primo money and a millionaire like coffee!
My colleague who is on exactly the same work as me was running an ‘N’ plate DAF super space cab until two years ago when he went for a new leased vehicle, an MAN TGA XXL, with the full R&M package and his monthly outgoings actually went down so older isn’t always cheaper.
I’m a HD subby on containers. If you can, try and get to work out of Liverpool, most of the work is CP Line and is run from the HD/CP Line office in Ipswich, and coming in from the Americas the loads tend to be already palletised and therefore are quick tips. The boxs are rarely top weight either as the gross weight limits for the states are much lower than ours, (around 34-36 tonnes), despite this I run at 44 tonnes and get paid the full rate. Avoid Medite work if pos, Top weight crap usually handballed out = low MPG, long tips.
CP work also takes you into Thamesport, Isle of Grain near Rochester (reasonably quick turn-a-round like Liverpool ) and Tilbury (varies )
My mileage averages about 1750 per week.
MPG usually runs at about ±8.6
I own my own trailer (cost me £5250), and I have just changed from contract hire back to owning my own S/H unit, bought with a 2 year warranty.
I do most of my own servicing, but safety inspections are to be done by a local commercial workshop at £50 for the unit(6 weeks), and £30 for the trailer(8 weeks).
HD will route you to your base for the W/End, so very little unpaid running, although I manage to get home at least 2 nights a week as I regually pass my home town on the M6
Driveroneuk:
Paul, thought this might be of interest:
(" .–(1) The Secretary of State shall publish an annual guide to the minimum cost per mile of legally operating a variety of goods vehicles.
(2) The Secretary of State shall not include any element of operating profit in the guide.
(3) The Secretary of State shall ensure that all United Kingdom taxes and duties are included in his calculations.
(4) The Secretary of State shall ensure that annual mileages of–
(a) 50,000,
(b) 75,000, and
(c) 100,000,
are included in the guide.
(5) When producing the guide the Secretary of State shall consult any trade association, vehicle manufacturers or vehicle distributors he thinks fit.
(6) The guide for the second and subsequent years shall include the figures for the previous year.")
I would’nt get to excited about HM Gov produced tables, as an owner driver you can knock large chunks from these type of costings, as they are based on company data using employed drivers.
One example is Insurance, I opt for one driver only which slices £800 quid off my policy. Should I need to insure another driver to cover for me (which I don’t, when I go on holiday I park the truck) its £25 quid per day extra.
5% reduction for 2 named drivers, 10% reduction for 1 named driver is what I get. I think he means £250 for 2 weeks holiday cover.
Another thing to bear in mind is that it is beneficial to have a deal that you can walk away from without being severley stung if the need arises. I lean on the side of driving a decent motor but saw a chap in a B reg scania tag axle (yuk) the other day who was on the same money as me. Yet another point is that if you ain’t spending it on the truck you’ll be giving more of the excess to the taxman!
Paul, you seem to be missing the point on this Minimum Garuantee.
Long tips and short distances are the best thing you can be given. If you can do the least mileage in a week as possible then your quids in! The companies arn’t stupid and will try to run you up to the 1500 miles but some you win, some you lose. In my experience, regular 2000 miles a week is wishfull thinking. You’ve seen the figures, maybe you could push these up a little, as I’m sure my drivers don’t push as hard as I would, but legally your not going to be looking at much more. Oh, and by the way, the ■■■■■■■ 380 can be uprated to 410bhp according to the local ERF Dealer, and although drivers don’t tend to like them, they are bloomin’ good trucks from both a purchace price/resale value, and a mechanically simple point of veiw.
not exactly, but whilst your tipping your not burning fuel, causing wear and tear, or rackin up the miles, so at the end of the week you’ve done lets say 1000 miles and been paid for 1500, making the rate some what better ( mileage figures given only as an example)
think you’re being done there. £150 to add a driver (clean, over 25) more realistic.
Thats the deal I’ve got, Me as the one and only driver takes £800 pounds of the premium. £25 per day to insure an occasional driver.
My premiun is £3200 per year for RHA 1998/CMR £250,000
Quite a good deal I think , and the reason why I park the truck when I’m not working
Tramper:
not exactly, but whilst your tipping your not burning fuel, causing wear and tear, or rackin up the miles, so at the end of the week you’ve done lets say 1000 miles and been paid for 1500, making the rate some what better ( mileage figures given only as an example)
I think those kind of cushy jobs are more likely to be saved for the companies own vehicles. Cynical, me?
If a company has taken the time to evaluate a guarantee, you can bet it will be in their favour. Sorry but I have been in this game too long.
One of the complaints I often heard was that “They only let you earn so much” If you have 3 good weeks , you will get the crap on the last week.
This was true when i worked for Bailee Freight Services, each truck had a ceiling figure, just enough to eat, but not enough to get lary with the traffic manager
Tramper:
not exactly, but whilst your tipping your not burning fuel, causing wear and tear, or rackin up the miles, so at the end of the week you’ve done lets say 1000 miles and been paid for 1500, making the rate some what better ( mileage figures given only as an example)
I think those kind of cushy jobs are more likely to be saved for the companies own vehicles. Cynical, me?
If a company has taken the time to evaluate a guarantee, you can bet it will be in their favour. Sorry but I have been in this game too long.
I would expect so. They’re not going to offer you 1500 guaranteed if they can only actually give you 1000 most weeks as it doesn’t make financial sense for them…
I realise that on PaulB’s number that 1000/week would save you over 11k/year in fuel over 1500/week but to work your numbers out assuming that this would happen would be asking for trouble. I guess you either want to be doing a lot less than 1500 or a lot more than 1500 then to make it pay, based on those numbers. Actually doing 1500 is the point of least profit.
paul b:
HD are also offering traction only pulling their trailers at a slightly lower rate, if i could work out of dony which is just up the road then that might be the better bet,we will see.
How much less for traction only? Doing the maths, at 5720/year for trailer hire, the cost per mile works out as follows:
1500miles/week = 7.9p per mile
1750 miles/week = 6.8p per mile
2000 miles/week = 6.0p per mile
So assuming the minimum mileage every week, it needs to be more than a quid a mile to make traction only cost effective. If you manage to do 2000 miles a week then they need to pay 1.02 or better. If they don’t you would be better off paying the trailer hire and taking the higher mileage rate.
Unfortunately (sp?) they also charge trailer rental on the traction work @ £65 p/w x 48 weeks = £3120
From what I hear it is a mute point anyway as they’ve stopped the traction work.
& a superb motor) Cost just a radiator (£300 ish) & a range-change solenoid, but was ready for 6 x brakes when I got rid. Most importantly, don’t bank on 2000 miles every week, as that = 50 hours driving, which obviously you can’t keep up. Based on average speed of 40, which you find i’m not far wrong.
) and Tilbury (varies 
)
Cynical, me?
