MrHappy:
While I see the point about starting out with cheap kit, (and with no offence taken )
I should point out that no offence was meant! My point was simply that starting out with cheap kit only delays the expense by a few years, you still need to take the financial hit at some point if you want to run a ‘better’ truck.
MrHappy:
FH16, you sure your not an accountant in disguise?
Actually, I sort of am (I have a piece of paper that says so anyway!). I didn’t get into haulage by any traditional route. I wasn’t a farmer, drivers son/grandson etc. My dad was an IT consultant, and my step-dad was a cost-accountant! My only connection to haulage was an uncle who was an HGV fitter for the local council!
I studied accounting and business management, before becoming an IT consultant myself, which I still am to this day - haulage is more of a ‘hobby’ if I’m being honest to fill in the times when I’m not playing with computers.
I got into haulage when a local O/D got himself in hot water with what was then the Inland Revenue. I bought his 2 trucks from him (an MP1 megaspace and a Series 1 FH globby, both of which had over a million clicks on at the time), which allowed him to clear some of his debts and I then employed him and the other driver, doing the same work he had been. I got my Class 1 to enable me to fill in the odd days and do some weekend work, then along with my uncle (who had by now retired from his job as an hgv fitter) we brought the maintenance in-house. It’s all a blur after that.
Well its good to know i’m in such educated company! It was a shock to read some of your posts re the accounting side of o/d life, I think you hit the nail on the head in all your previous posts about some o/d’s not knowing if they’re actually “earning” or not. Not to suggest i’m cleverer than anyone else, I think I was just fortunate to have had worked for a guy who had done it for a long time without who’s help and advice i’d still be working for now and unlike some people i’ll always accept that no matter what the subject, there’s always somebody out there that knows more than me, therefore they might be worth listening to.
What i’ve found good about this forum in particular, is that most of the members, apart from being helpful, are not afraid to offer constructive advice/criticism, especially to new o/d’s like me, it’s just that some folks seem to take said advice/criticism the wrong way and the thread degenerates into a slanging match.
Anyway, thanks again for your help, I always appreciate someone who’s prepared to give me some advice.
when we had the good times i would buy a new truck on finance over a period of time when the finance was paid off what ever the cost was i kept transfering the money then into a reserve account so we would have a good deposit to put down on the replacement .
sammy dog:
never managed 9mpg and i havent got lead foot but it is a scania 470.
bigr250:
We have a 2001 470 Scania in pulling a Freuhauf 68yd ‘bathtub’ bulker, it rarely runs more than 100 miles from base (usually closer to 60 miles) and that only does between 6 & 6.8mpg.
Ross.
An therein lies the problem.
But seriously, I do everything I can to reduce fuel consumption, such as:
No needless extra spotlights, bars, LED’s or illuminated michelin men in the airflow, or even mudflaps hanging from the bumpers!
No supersingles on tractor units! I appreciate that they look better on some trucks, but they are just needlessly increasing the rolling resistance! Also, unless you need the midlift/tag to be down, lift it!
Decent tyres! I ran Bridgestones for a while, then tried hankooks and now use nothing but Michelin Energy low rolling resistance. Yes, they might cost a bit more, but the fuel savings are plain to see after only a couple of weeks!
Steam clean the curtains on the trailers when they need it. That grubby coating that gathers on them after a few months will hammer your fuel consumption. Run your hand along it and feel how rough it is and compare it to a smooth clean curtain - which one will the air find easier to pass over?
Use the right trailer for the job - why run around with a 4.5m taut sticking up over the top of the cab when you only carrry pallets which are 5ft high? Stick to a 4m trailer unless you really need something bigger! Mine are 4m euro-spec and I’ve never had to refuse a load yet!
None of this hammering along on the limiter nonsense! I’m quite happy to be on the cruise control at 50 on the motorway, and 40-50 most other times depending on road and conditions - they guys that drive for me need to be as well, if they aren’t I’ll direct them to the nearest Job-Centre and invite them to make full use of the services and facilities on offer there!
Some good tips here, I’m ■■■■■■ though my lorry was from a guy from south west Scotland & hence the lights I’ve a 9t front axle too so no narrow tyres for Fly sheet or curtains to be washed
fly sheet:
Some good tips here, I’m [zb] though my lorry was from a guy from south west Scotland & hence the lights I’ve a 9t front axle too so no narrow tyres for Fly sheet or curtains to be washed
FH16Globetrotter:
You can’t ‘put away’ £85 a week, as the current corporate tax regime only allows you to depreciate a second-hand truck on a 20% reducing balance basis. Therefore, MrHappy’s 8k truck is still worth around £5200 after 2 years according to the tax-man, meaning he can only depreciate it by (on average over the 2 years) around £30 per working week. Any amount in excess of this is still classed as operating profit under accounting rules, and so would attract a tax liability.
You can of course put away £85 per week, the tax man might not let you offset it against corp tax but he certainly can’t stop you nominally allocating any amount you like per week out of your profits to a “new truck” pot to ensure you have the money to spend when you need it.
I’ve a 9 tonne front axle, this doesn’t mean you have to fit super singles though which look Jeremy Beadle if you ask me and make a right mess of the cab if they blow out.
repton:
You can of course put away £85 per week, the tax man might not let you offset it against corp tax but he certainly can’t stop you nominally allocating any amount you like per week out of your profits to a “new truck” pot to ensure you have the money to spend when you need it.
But you’re not going to have £85 for each working week to spend, because HMRC are going to be having 21% of it away from you.
And you are assuming you make a profit each year. There’s a good chance that you might make an operating loss one year, in which case the money no longer exists as you have to fund losses in one financial year from any retained profits you may have from previous years, so where is your nominally allocated “new truck” pot of money then? That’s right, it’s been spent on fuel, tyres or any other manner of things!
Silver_Surfer:
I’ve a 9 tonne front axle, this doesn’t mean you have to fit super singles though which look Jeremy Beadle if you ask me and make a right mess of the cab if they blow out.
What have you got on your 9t axle then , theres nothing in our yard with under an 8t front axle & they’ve all got SS tyres on from new, Volvos, Scanias & MAN’s all come with them fitted from new.
I used to have 315/80’s on years back but would’nt have thought they’d be up to 9t in single format, I may stand to be corrected on this as I’m not an elatsica engineer
I appreciate your concern for the aesthetics of my handicapped FH too Silver Surfer but personally I’ll keep them big boys up front as they don’t look gay like them thin things. I’ve been an OD for 25 years come October & have had 1 front wheel blow out near Frankfurt around 1992 , that incidently was a 12/22.5
QAMAAMB (copyright, Mr. K), or maybe not even that how much are Mars bars going for nowadays?
Fuel is 70 pence per mile roughly now and it’s only going one way and that’s sharply up. Bottom line is at those rates, you’d be better off driving their wagon for them as an employed driver.
No offence, I appreciate times are hard and the competition in the market will be tough for you as well. I wonder what the payment terms are, let me guess, 60 days.
Anyone else noticed the influx of people looking for subbies on here lately, I wonder why…
Fly Sheet, my mistake I have a 7.5 tonne front axle on 315’s. Thought it was more than that though as I did spec the heavier duty axle, think the normal one must only be 6.5 tonnes.
Anybody reads this, you want to give them the biggest swerve of all time. I’m sure that post is not allowed under the rules anyway but they got to be one of the worst firms ever to work for.
)
, theres nothing in our yard with under an 8t front axle & they’ve all got SS tyres on from new, Volvos, Scanias & MAN’s all come with them fitted from new.
, that incidently was a 12/22.5