Hello guys,
I’m new here and looking for some help and advice. I have applied for O licence last week and hopefully I’ll get it within next 10 weeks.
At the moment I’m based in London, Heathrow but I really interested to move to Felixstowe area. Maybe somebody could recommend me where I could find decent sub contractor job? I would like to start it from here and then move to the Felixstowe. I would be grateful for any information or advice.
Many thanks, Alex
Waller transport sub out loads to most areas.
UKI express.
Or Barrow wood.
Gregory distribution.
TNT parcels.
Youngs transport.
ATI transport.
surely, you should have thought of this before applying for the O Licence?
Good luck getting a licence within 10 weeks!
Waller pay 1.40 per mile, running fully freight ed with timber or stone slabs from Felixstowe or Ipswhich docks.
If you can get a waste carriers licence, that pays 600 quid from Tilbury to Westbury Wiltshire, about 130 miles which ain’t bad.
Or if you want Euro work try Heritage Dover, Secure Cargo at Yate, they run to Italy and back, with Adr loads or non Adr.
Or Dsv at Avonmouth for Benelux,Germany,Italy and Spain.
They do Austria and Switzerland.
Davies Turner for Europe and North Africa.
Lkw Walters in Austria use subbies to cover Europe and TIR countries.
Alex EastTrans:
Hello guys,I’m new here and looking for some help and advice. I have applied for O licence last week and hopefully I’ll get it within next 10 weeks.
At the moment I’m based in London, Heathrow but I really interested to move to Felixstowe area. Maybe somebody could recommend me where I could find decent sub contractor job? I would like to start it from here and then move to the Felixstowe. I would be grateful for any information or advice.Many thanks, Alex
Stay around heathrow and start knocking on doors and hitting the phone. Plenty of work for those who want to work.
m1cks:
Good luck getting a licence within 10 weeks!
we got ours well under 10 weeks
I am always on the look out for decent long term subbies
toby1234abc:
Or Dsv at Avonmouth for Benelux,Germany,Italy and Spain.
They do Austria and Switzerland.
do they really have any british subbies? last I heard it was estonians doing germany and benelux and poles doing the longer runs
If your based around London why bother with a lorry, my mate is on the agency doing sainsburys and earning more than I could with one lorry without the hassle…
Lrm
LRM:
If your based around London why bother with a lorry, my mate is on the agency doing sainsburys and earning more than I could with one lorry without the hassle…
I agree with this. I run a truck not because I am looking to maximise my earnings but because I appreciate the freedom to come and go as I want, to work when I want and take time off when I want. I visit plenty of places where holiday rotas are pinned to the wall and drivers are told that if they want a week off, they can have it in November or February, but definitely not any time when their kids are off school.
The Gregory drivers often talk to me about running a truck, I always say “Stick with what you’ve got, go home on a Friday evening and forget about trucks, you probably earn as much as I do”.
For me, I don’t regret putting a truck on the road, never for a New York minute. But for anybody chasing the maximum buck then I agree, go on the agency for a supermarket rather than setting up on your own.
Harry have you ever worked out what you actually earn per hour on an average day after you take out your expenses ? i coincided the od route and when i done the maths i was actually surprised at how better off i was employed
Slightly different in that I started out with vans before working my way up to adding a 7.5 ( whoa, the big time 
), then onto artics. Took me 9 years not to be the most poorly paid person in the firm, but as Harry says, you have more freedom, and for me it was/is important to have some control over my life. True, you still have a boss, the people you haul for, but at least I get to negotiate and I’m now lucky that I won’t necessarily work for someone if they are a pain. It took me about 15 years to be the best paid, though it’s still only just.
Don’t regret it though.
milodon:
toby1234abc:
Or Dsv at Avonmouth for Benelux,Germany,Italy and Spain.
They do Austria and Switzerland.do they really have any british subbies? last I heard it was estonians doing germany and benelux and poles doing the longer runs
Don’t believe everything that Toby googles from his padded cell 
I have to agree with both Harry & LRM … Having been in the business for many years employing sub-contractors…My first question would be Why are you doing this ?
Their is little or no chance of making anything other than a wage…and that’s if your lucky.
Costs are so high now… and revenues never seem to increase for the sub-contractor…with one breakdown or delay and your whole week / month is stuffed.
A well paid job for a decent company is by far the best way to go.
Alex EastTrans:
Hello guys,I’m new here and looking for some help and advice. I have applied for O licence last week and hopefully I’ll get it within next 10 weeks.
At the moment I’m based in London, Heathrow but I really interested to move to Felixstowe area. Maybe somebody could recommend me where I could find decent sub contractor job? I would like to start it from here and then move to the Felixstowe. I would be grateful for any information or advice.Many thanks, Alex
Where are you keeping your lorry? I’m looking to set up as an OD and barely know where to start looking, other than “an industrial unit somewhere”.
bjd:
Harry have you ever worked out what you actually earn per hour on an average day after you take out your expenses ? i coincided the od route and when i done the maths i was actually surprised at how better off i was employed
I’m an employee of my own limited company, I pay myself £100 per day, £26.18 night-out money and £2 per day meal allowance, so I earn slightly more than the average wage in my local area, but I only work about 10 hours a day on average so I guess it works out at about £10 per hour.
Of course, there are many, many things that a transport company legitimately needs to buy and which are tax-deductible which also come in very handy on my narrowboat. 
Different job (tools) but the average of drawings, ie cash taken out of the business, as S/E over the last 3 years works out at £5.72 hr. There are so many non-chargeable hours incurred. I would be much better off employed, but there are many benefits. After all these years I don’t think I could stomach some spotty faced oick telling me how long a job will take before it has even arrived and how I am going to go about doing it.
Neville 1:
I have to agree with both Harry & LRM … Having been in the business for many years employing sub-contractors…My first question would be Why are you doing this ?
Their is little or no chance of making anything other than a wage…and that’s if your lucky.
Costs are so high now… and revenues never seem to increase for the sub-contractor…with one breakdown or delay and your whole week / month is stuffed.
A well paid job for a decent company is by far the best way to go.
From a man that knows , he can’t be wrong.
Don’t Do It
If you decide to sub-contract…Make a full credit check on that company and be clear
what your payment terms are going to be. Do not accept cheque payments. Insist on direct to your
bank account.
Happy to accept a PM if you want to ask specific questions.
Overall advice… DONT DO IT !!!