Advice Please Guys

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS OWNER AND FLEET OPERATORS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

To put it bluntly, I think you’re (and anyone else thinking about it) off your head starting up as an OD now :exclamation: :laughing:

What with diesel nearing a quid a litre and ever rising and the rates staying the same quid a mile then I just don’t see the logic in becoming an OD anymore. Years ago I could, when things were much better but now it’s just not worth all the hassle of fuel expense, CPC expense, parking expenses, O-licence expense, tax expense, MoT expense, maintenance expenses, breakdown expenses, own accounting expenses, traffic jams, speed cams, idiot drivers, dock closures for the rest of the day when the wind exceeds 0.5mph, tipping and loading delays and then the ever familiar ‘yes Richie, the cheque is DEFINITELY in the post’ as you pull your hair out wondering where the months £500 mortgage repayment money is going to come from etc etc etc - it’s just never ending and all for what? An extra £50 in your hand each week after ALL your expenses (if you’re lucky) and all the hassle ?

Nope :confused: . You’re mad ! :smiley:

22

the logics the same as it’s always been,i.e the rates you work for have got to reflect the running costs of the wagon! if your on the right work there’ll be a surcharge to cover fuel price rises during the period of the fixed millage rate.
theres no fortunes to be had in running one wagon thats obviouse but you should always make more than a wage out of it, if not why bother.
but it’s not all about money, theres a lot to be said for being your own boss.

23

Blimey laybybob, what can i say!! there are many reasons why poeple consider becoming an o/d and as paul says it’s not all about the money, you would be mad indeed if you thought it would make you rich, especially with just 1 truck.

For me it’s a life long ambition, my uncles ran trucks to europe during the seventies and indeed one of them still does and that is where and why i got interested in truck driving, so much so that at 16 years old i joined the junior leaders regiment of the Royal corps of transport.

I have two uncles and three cousins in Australia who own their own trucks, so you see it’s in my blood if you like.

I also think that with the introduction of the WTD o/d’s will benefit with extra work and hopefully rates will increase with the competition to secure the services of decent o/d’s, it may not but then again it just might!!

There have always been traffic jams, delays at docks, ports, loading, unloading etc. etc. unfortunately it goes with the job, trust me i have tried other industry’s i am a fully qualified network engineer(Microsoft, Lucent and Cisco, it cost me a lot of money and the most i can earn on salary is around the £30k and you are expected to work all the hours necessary to get the job done with no overtime and guess what? you get treated just the same by your bosses, like [zb].

My aim is to earn enough money to pay for the truck and cover all costs involved, pay the household bills and be able to afford a holiday abroad once a year, not too much to ask and i don’t think it’s unachievable even with the price of fuel.

Life is what you make of it mate, you can either spend your life working for someone else and watching them get rich off your back or give it a go yourself, it’s not everyones cup of tea but if you don’t go for ‘it’ sometimes you will always be wondering…what if.

24

couldn,t of put it better myself! well said richie

25

Thank you cleversdad

26

Richie,
Think outside of the box (or boxes!). Buy yourself a PSK then go down Tilbury, Ipswich, Harwich, Sheerness etc etc. They are always crying out for flats to shift timber,steel,bricks etc. Loads back (not backloads) are always available from brick & block manufacturers etc. Knock on doors, argue a rate, and you will soon have more work than you can handle because you are doing the work nobody else wants so the rates are better. Stick within the home counties, try to avoid London - no backloads there! - and you will be home most nights on 2K a week! And with the PSK you can always do the odd box for the fun of it!
Good luck, Rob.

27

Rob, why didn’t i think of that, what a great idea.

Thank god i haven’t sent off my o’licence application yet, i will add a trailer to it straight away.

I was going to hire a tralier and stick to doing boxes, but you’re absolutely right, with a psk trailer it opens many more doors and work options and as i do brick re-loads already where i work now i also know some of the guys by name at a couple of agents too, so well done mate and thanks