switchlogic:
It is literally because there’s no money in it. And the stress. The dream of riding round Europe in my top of the range lorry with my name on the front is still there, I just know the reality would be a lot more down to earth and for the work involved I’d earn more as an employed driver.
If you have contacts for European work then you could make a decent enough living at it, probably a little more than working as an employed driver although certainly not a fortune. The point is though that if running your own truck is a long-held ambition then when you are on your death bed you will regret not having done it far more than you will regret having done it, even if it doesn’t work out as well as you had hoped.
I sometimes feel like tearing my hair out with the stress of it- in the space of six weeks recently I needed a new compressor, radiator and a cylinder head rebuild and although I am thinking of packing it in that is purely and simply because I want to spend more time narrowboating, I don’t regret putting my own truck on the road for a New York minute. If it’s what you want to do then do it.
Unless those contacts were made during the Virginia days, then that is not only unethical, but it could land you in hot water, I’d tread very carefully in that respect.
I agree with the rest of it though, if you can ever live your dream then do everything you can to make it happen.
You’ve lost me…What’s unethical about getting work from contacts you’ve accumulated over the years?
To be honest it’s a dream I long ago have up on. My main childhood dream revolved around tramping all across Europe and I’ve done that. My ownership dream was more a dream of owning a fleet! I’ve still got the drawings of my big fleet that I drew as a child!
newmercman:
If your contact with those people was as a direct result of your work at Virginia, that is poaching and is unethical.
When did ethics ever go hand in hand with transport/haulage exactly ? I can never remember it being so.
Some might say big firms putting small firms out of business by slashing rates to the bone to gain their contracts is unethical, but we all know of a famous co that thrived on that.
Ok that is business however unethically perceived.
newmercman:
If your contact with those people was as a direct result of your work at Virginia, that is poaching and is unethical.
Id call it business. Please dont tell me you think hauliers dont try and get new work even though its already contracted out.
I know of someone(not haulage) who specificly went after his old employers contracts after they had him over, and his main aim was to put his old employers out of business.
Sometimes there is stuff in contracts of employment about that kind of thing, preventing you setting up on your own after leaving for a certain amount of years using contacts gained through them etc etc. But otherwise can’t see how you’d get in legal troubles for it.
quote … ‘Some might say big firms putting small firms out of business by slashing rates to the bone to gain their contracts is unethical, but we all know of a famous co that thrived on that’.
Now I wonder what scumbag low-lives would do that ■■
I’m not saying you can’t go after another company’s work, of course you can, that is business, but if you poach work from somebody you were working for last week then that is unethical if the work is a direct customer of, in this case, Virginia. If it is work that any Tom, ■■■■ or Harry can get, then that’s a different story. If one of those customers approached you, again that is different.
newmercman:
I’m not saying you can’t go after another company’s work, of course you can, that is business, but if you poach work from somebody you were working for last week then that is unethical if the work is a direct customer of, in this case, Virginia. If it is work that any Tom, ■■■■ or Harry can get, then that’s a different story. If one of those customers approached you, again that is different.
The only answer I can give to that NM, is to repeat the first couple of lines of my last post.
raymundo:
quote … ‘Some might say big firms putting small firms out of business by slashing rates to the bone to gain their contracts is unethical, but we all know of a famous co that thrived on that’.
Now I wonder what scumbag low-lives would do that ■■
raymundo:
quote … ‘Some might say big firms putting small firms out of business by slashing rates to the bone to gain their contracts is unethical, but we all know of a famous co that thrived on that’.
Now I wonder what scumbag low-lives would do that ■■
130simon:
Sometimes there is stuff in contracts of employment about that kind of thing, preventing you setting up on your own after leaving for a certain amount of years using contacts gained through them etc etc. But otherwise can’t see how you’d get in legal troubles for it.
130simon:
Sometimes there is stuff in contracts of employment about that kind of thing, preventing you setting up on your own after leaving for a certain amount of years using contacts gained through them etc etc. But otherwise can’t see how you’d get in legal troubles for it.
That’s exactly what I’m talking about!
Those clauses have been proved to not be worth the paper they’re written on. But it’s all fairly academic as I’m a freelance driver and that’s what I’m remaining for the time being. Besides, I don’t have any contacts acquired from working for those who shall not be named. I have lots of contacts, but they mostly came via my online activities
That may be the case, but the distraction wouldn’t be good to a new start up. As you say it’s academic anyway. It’s also a personal choice, I wouldn’t go after the work of a former employer for my own reasons, mainly to prove that I was more than capable of success without anything to do with them whatsoever. The old point to prove thing.
Good luck with all new challenges ahead Luke. I enjoyed your informative videos of the Euro trip, the ADR trip via Calais.
Hey Luke, as a person who drove on both sides, what is your opinion, how long time will take for a driver to get use to right hand drive if all he has driven is left hand side?
we have people come and go they try to take contracts with them it very rarely works unless its you 100% they need to help them.
all these clauses tend to get kicked out at court - not the same but a recruiter down in London moved from one to another his contract had a clause in it stopping him from working with clients within a square mile or something like that - I got kicked out.
we went for a contract years ago up north went in competitive but lost to a well known firm from ■■■■■■■ who basically run it as a break even run. so transport and ethics don’t make me laugh, maybe some of the old boys running but its a dog eat dog industry.
