I have been offered a mixer franchise, has anyone any sound advise?
Is there any money in it or am I setting myself up for a load of hard work and stress
Yeah don’t do it. They buy the wagon, insurance and fuel and then you pay it back out of your earnings, probably at an overinflated price. When works busy things may be ok. Then comes a lull in the building trade and your laid off with a cement mixer you’re not allowed to use for any other work as its in their livery e.g Cemex. Then you’ll be told sorry, you’re an owner driver that’s just the risk you take.
Don’t know a great deal about it myself but there’s a dedicated thread about it here which might help viewtopic.php?f=4&t=66198
Cheers xf I’ve been offered one of their used vehicles. I guess if these franchises were so good they wouldn’t be offering them out?
Which company is the franchise with and where?
My mate has a fleet of them but he is on spot hire to a number of different firms. He is doingwell at the moment but has struggled.
He started as a franchise owner driver and recons never again.
The franchise is with Bardons, various sites Kidderminster, Redditch, Brum
I had a mixer with Hanson a few years back. Never again. If there was money in operating mixers they would do it themselves !
Fair comment, if these franchises were that wonderful there wouldn’t be any for grabs…
Used to be an owner driver with RMC(now Cemex). All depends where your based. You can make a living sometimes a good one. But be very careful. If building trade on the up should be ok.easy work when its there. City location better than small town.
don’t bother mate,always been a waste of time and money.when its quiet they always offer franchises to save on wages.when its busy they re-hire drivers who they give all the best jobs to and owner drivers get all the long run slow pour jobs.i know a few lads who have tried it.your best bet is to offer just to drive for them on an hourly basis or by the load,or just do yourself a favour and walk away. 
nightstar:
Used to be an owner driver with RMC(now Cemex). All depends where your based. You can make a living sometimes a good one. But be very careful. If building trade on the up should be ok.easy work when its there. City location better than small town.
Exactly this,I know guys who are 30/40 years at the job in London area plants,its not a get rich quick thing(no Range Rovers or holiday homes in Barbados) but in a plant with consistent work you can earn quite well.The firm you mention seem to be advertising for O/Ds frequently that may tell you something!,many years back it was a word of mouth recruitment thing,only relatives & mates of existing O/Ds got a look in,but not anymore in fact I am told some firms are recruiting from outside the UK or looking to increase the company vehicle fleet(that will come as a very unpleasant surprise when they find out the true costs involved).
splitshift:
nightstar:
Used to be an owner driver with RMC(now Cemex). All depends where your based. You can make a living sometimes a good one. But be very careful. If building trade on the up should be ok.easy work when its there. City location better than small town.Exactly this,I know guys who are 30/40 years at the job in London area plants,its not a get rich quick thing(no Range Rovers or holiday homes in Barbados) but in a plant with consistent work you can earn quite well.The firm you mention seem to be advertising for O/Ds frequently that may tell you something!,many years back it was a word of mouth recruitment thing,only relatives & mates of existing O/Ds got a look in,but not anymore in fact I am told some firms are recruiting from outside the UK or looking to increase the company vehicle fleet(that will come as a very unpleasant surprise when they find out the true costs involved).
Hi. As all the rest of the people say LEAVE WELL ALONE you pay for the truck, you have to maintain it, but the tumbler on the back is never yours. If you are successful and you finish your contract you only keep the cab and chassis, which isn’t worth a carrot after all that hard graft.
Big Ben:
splitshift:
nightstar:
Used to be an owner driver with RMC(now Cemex). All depends where your based. You can make a living sometimes a good one. But be very careful. If building trade on the up should be ok.easy work when its there. City location better than small town.Exactly this,I know guys who are 30/40 years at the job in London area plants,its not a get rich quick thing(no Range Rovers or holiday homes in Barbados) but in a plant with consistent work you can earn quite well.The firm you mention seem to be advertising for O/Ds frequently that may tell you something!,many years back it was a word of mouth recruitment thing,only relatives & mates of existing O/Ds got a look in,but not anymore in fact I am told some firms are recruiting from outside the UK or looking to increase the company vehicle fleet(that will come as a very unpleasant surprise when they find out the true costs involved).
Hi. As all the rest of the people say LEAVE WELL ALONE you pay for the truck, you have to maintain it, but the tumbler on the back is never yours. If you are successful and you finish your contract you only keep the cab and chassis, which isn’t worth a carrot after all that hard graft.
“The Tumbler” PMSL…Never heard a drum called that before…!! What you described there was Hanson only…When you finishing paying for your truck, its YOURS
Tumbler WTF ? are we talking “white goods” here Candy,Indesit,Beko or whatever make takes your fancy? 
,anyway on Hanson now you also purchase the mixer unit and are paid a monthly fee to cover the cost around £3,500/annum plus VAT(these firms always juggle with terms & conditions to avoid HMRC looking into “false self employed” conditions of contract but I doubt they(HMRC) would pursue this as they prefer to deal with small fry such as cab drivers & hairdressers tips as it is too costly to pursue the “big boys” through the courts ie multinational co gets a “sweetheart” deal Joey Hunt gets nailed to the floor)The mixer game depends on a number of factors to turn a profit, plant location,good shipper,good batcher/mixer man, good sales man, good area manager, these firms (no names no pack drill) all seem to employ the same sort of middle managers though,lack of empathy&people skills,they are confrontational & aggressive but have an innate capacity for monumental ■■■■ ups but seem to be able to brown nose a way out of it!!,Any way nuff said on that subject, my mixer business has turned over a decent profit in the past, the sort of percentages that Eddie,Nobby D etc would kill for! the money is paid direct into the bank on time every time, the tipper business 60/90 days settlement so not as good!,but construction haulage lacks the “wow” factor no V8 pimpmobiles with frilly curtains, no furry clogs or wallets on chains!! just muddy boots 
Just had a look at the accounts for the mixer,over 4 years(including the downturn 2008/2009) have averaged 34.15% profit the haulage industry norm is 2/3%,5% is seen as good!,I’m not saying it’s all a bed of roses and the aggregate/asphalt/concrete firms are wonderful people to work for just making the point that in the right plant in the right place you can make a living!country plants are a different matter though a lot of O/Ds just walk away or go bankrupt etc>