Ok having read through numerous similar posts I know some of my questions have cropped up before, however I’m starting a new one so as not to hijack others.
Firstly a bit about me. I started with 1 sprinter van about 10years ago and sub contracted from odd courier and haulage companies doing express work across the UK and Europe. I also set about trying to find my own customers, this was hard going though as end users I found stopped ringing after telling them I was unavailable on occasions. Eventually I put another vehicle on the road and this made it easier to expand further by finding end user customers due to the extra resources I had. I completed my CPC course a couple of years ago and applied for a operators licence which was granted for 3 vehicles. Initially it was my intention to do this to operate 7.5t vehicles. At present day we now have 10 vehicles mostly LWB vans, curtainside vans, lutons and 1 x 7.5t.
I now want to move into more haulage type work, and initially want to put 1x artic on the road with the hope of increasing this in the future.
My main hurdle of this is how to price work for the larger vehicles. I would hope to be subcontracting to larger haulage companies in my area to start with, however I don’t want to outprice myself from the start. When I price jobs for our vans or 7.5t even when we’re sub contracting for haulage companies I always price them with the expectation that we are coming back empty, so I charge them per loaded mile, for example I would be charging £2 per loaded mile for our 7.5t. However from my calculations if this was done on an artic I’d need to be charging about £3.50 per loaded mile but from what I’ve been reading I would be laughed out from most places!!! So would the scenario be more like you sub for a haulage company for round trip miles and they source you a return load to make it viable? Or is it more expected that you take a load out at a discounted rate and look for your own return loads?
I’m guessing that the more specialised work you do that requires different trailers for example flatbeds or low loaders then return loads are going to be a lot trickier to come by making it more reasonable to quote by the loaded mile, would this be correct?
With a budget of about £20,000 what would you say is the best and most economical truck?
Are there UK haulage companies subbing out European work (e.g Brian Yeardleys etc) or is all the work subbed going on return loads by foreign hauliers?
Any help on the above and any advice on the subject would be much appreciated.
Thanks
James
Hi James, welcome along.
The short answer is that if you sub-contract to larger firms, then they tell you what the rate is, not the other way around. 
Harry Monk:
Hi James, welcome along.
The short answer is that if you sub-contract to larger firms, then they tell you what the rate is, not the other way around.
Correct. And another short answer, stick to your vans and 7.5 tonner. If you can get £2.00 per mile for a 7.5 tonner then you’re doing better than most artic operators.
That was as I read it, £2.00 per loaded mile, not all miles.
Similar to you, I started out with vans and went to a 7.5, now have four artics, plus 7.5s and vans and the work is priced to run empty. The move up from 7.5 to artics was due to increased workload from existing customers and adding a depot elsewhere.
As Harry siad, if you sub for someone else, they will tell you the rate - which is basically theirs less 10%.
Best way to keep margins up is to source your own customer as you have already found with the vans.
albion:
That was as I read it, £2.00 per loaded mile, not all miles.
Similar to you, I started out with vans and went to a 7.5, now have four artics, plus 7.5s and vans and the work is priced to run empty. The move up from 7.5 to artics was due to increased workload from existing customers and adding a depot elsewhere.
As Harry siad, if you sub for someone else, they will tell you the rate - which is basically theirs less 10%.
Best way to keep margins up is to source your own customer as you have already found with the vans.
Thanks, that’s helpful. Yes my 7.5t is £2 per loaded mile so only £1 round trip. Want to move to larger vehicles due to the express work been so all or nothing. It’s quite nerve racking some weeks how empty my diary can be at the start of the week. I basically just wanted confirmation that people are quoting rates that enable the truck to come back empty.
Haha, you are me! But then again I guess most small hauliers are the same, some weeks you think your phone lines have been disconnected, other times you need another 5 drivers.
If you do sub for another haulier, chances are they are going to ask you to cover when they are flat out, then they go quiet and you are the first in line not to get work, so in other words, artics are the same as vans in that respect.
Although we work direct for manufacturers, again it doesn’t preclude quiet spells. In Feb, our artics were mainly decorative, last couple of months I haven’t seen them. We are fortunate to factor in a higher ppm than yours to cover for that fluctuation.
The much heralded economic recovery seems to be very patchy still, and it depends on where you are in the country. Even 'fridge work went quiet last week and this should be the peak season for salads and soft fruits etc.