ShropsBri:
Well some may see the problem as if a law abideing haulier has to go to the extra expense then is it fair that that haulier has the bread taken out of his mouth by someone who doesn’t?
One thing that often gets overlooked when this topic comes up is whether a bog-standard 6x2 bulk tipper would be any use on the job; if for instance the farmer or contractor is loading out of a field then I doubt it.
Worth pointing out also that all this extra expense you’d like to commit farmers to will come out of your pocket as a consumer of the food they produce.
gnasty gnome:
ShropsBri:
Well some may see the problem as if a law abideing haulier has to go to the extra expense then is it fair that that haulier has the bread taken out of his mouth by someone who doesn’t?One thing that often gets overlooked when this topic comes up is whether a bog-standard 6x2 bulk tipper would be any use on the job; if for instance the farmer or contractor is loading out of a field then I doubt it.
Worth pointing out also that all this extra expense you’d like to commit farmers to will come out of your pocket as a consumer of the food they produce.
now thats funny 
so you equate the price of food has anything to do with a farmer?
The JCB fastrac first appeared in the early 90’s and I was so glad when it did. Memories of crawling along two lane A roads stuck behind a line of slow moving traffic following a tractor come flooding back … all that went away with the JCB inovation.
In the USA we have JCB but don’t seem to have discovered Fastrac yet, maybe because as with trucks they are 30 - 40 years behind and so travelling up route 22A in Vermont I sometimes sit for miles behind a line of endless cars following a tractor with no lights of any description moving about 5 mph and the local idiots refuse to overtake the thing because Vermont drivers are the worst set of idiots on earth and the farmer refuses to pull off now and then to let the traffic pass and anyway people are so stupid in that state that if the tractor pulled off into a spot the car drivers would follow him 
grumps 1:
now thats funny
Not directly; but they’re a business like anything else and incurred costs get passed on.
'Spose you’re one of these who thinks all food comes from Tescos? 
this one could be faster lol
gnasty gnome:
grumps 1:
now thats funnyNot directly; but they’re a business like anything else and incurred costs get passed on.
'Spose you’re one of these who thinks all food comes from Tescos?
no, tescos tell the farmer what he will get paid for his produce his incurred costs are completly irrelevant to them.for example the farmer is getting £80 a ton for potatoes and tescos sell them at £1000 a ton.thats where the cost of food is the profit margin of the super market.
now here is speed and power
jetemp:
I’ll lay my cards on the table, i am a fastrac driving farm worker, i can legally drive a fastrac on the road at 16 as an agricultural vehicle, at 40 mph, without any drivers hour restrictios (no tachos) so long as i am involved in a agricultural activity related to my employers business as long as wedont exceed 24300ish gvw and we dont need an o license to do this, trust me we have looked into it to the enth degree.However i passed my class 2 last week and as soon as my license is returned i will be taking class 1, and this is because i think that legislation is going to change in near fortune. My problem with fastracs and the way they are used is because they are operated with 20 tonne ish trailer grossing over 40 tonnes in some instances and used for straight haulage over other businesses produce. Some of you should realise though that isnt a cheap option,yeh red diesel is cheaper than white but not to the degree it was, some of our fastracs are doing well if they average 4mpg on a round trip, pricing up new fastracs its going to cost us around £135k to purchase and a trailer is going to cost 20-25ishk depending on spec, so the outfit is going to cost 155-160k on the road, shurely a truck could cost considerably less■■?
Our costing get us to £35-£37 per hour to run are any of the owner drivers on here willing to gve some info on the cost of runing a truck■■?
Please dont shoot me down in flames
James
Good post James.You have told it how it is.A mate of mine runs lorries also tractors for lime spreading etc.He says that running the big tractors on long road journeys cost more than the lorries because of fuel and tyre costs.
grumps 1:
no, tescos tell the farmer what he will get paid for his produce his incurred costs are completly irrelevant to them.for example the farmer is getting £80 a ton for potatoes and tescos sell them at £1000 a ton.thats where the cost of food is the profit margin of the super market.
I think you’re over-simplifying matters. It’s not in the supermarkets interest to pay farmers less than it costs them to produce the stuff, since they’ll either sell it elsewhere or go out of business. Witness the hassles in the dairy industry. They would, however, pass the farmers’ increased costs on to the customer without losing anything themselves, which is what every other business does. Since it only takes, say, a 5 pence increase in the cost of a 2.5kg bag of spuds to cover that, few people are any the wiser.
It’s not all profit either; that £80 per tonne would be the bulk price collected, whereas the £1000 you quote would factor in the transport, grading, packing,storage and distribution costs.
gnasty gnome:
grumps 1:
no, tescos tell the farmer what he will get paid for his produce his incurred costs are completly irrelevant to them.for example the farmer is getting £80 a ton for potatoes and tescos sell them at £1000 a ton.thats where the cost of food is the profit margin of the super market.I think you’re over-simplifying matters. It’s not in the supermarkets interest to pay farmers less than it costs them to produce the stuff, since they’ll either sell it elsewhere or go out of business. Witness the hassles in the dairy industry. They would, however, pass the farmers’ increased costs on to the customer without losing anything themselves, which is what every other business does. Since it only takes, say, a 5 pence increase in the cost of a 2.5kg bag of spuds to cover that, few people are any the wiser.
It’s not all profit either; that £80 per tonne would be the bulk price collected, whereas the £1000 you quote would factor in the transport, grading, packing,storage and distribution costs.
the farmer cant sell any where else as the super markets have a monopoly its take it or leave it and £80 a ton is the cost of production of potatoes,the super market rely on the fact most famers are prepared to live from hand to mouth as its a life style choice not a business one.they trade on the next year will be the good year and farmers keep plugging away and use there sfp to keep afloat.
BIGRIG:
mutley:
The one 50 seconds in would do for meYouve never gone that fast in yer wagon av yer
Where’s Runcorn truckstop?
James a few running costs for you
44 ton Max weight 80% of the time our figures are roughly,
7.5-8.5 MPG
170-220 Pence per mile earnings
£1200 a year road tax
£350-£550 for each tyre
£2500 a year Insurance
Then thes drivers wages and a lot of other things to add one but you get the idea.
grumps 1:
the farmer cant sell any where else as the super markets have a monopoly its take it or leave it and £80 a ton is the cost of production of potatoes,the super market rely on the fact most famers are prepared to live from hand to mouth as its a life style choice not a business one.they trade on the next year will be the good year and farmers keep plugging away and use there sfp to keep afloat.
Supply and demand still comes into it, if a Farmer feels he’s not getting the right money for his potato crop then he grows something else, and if enough of them do it then there becomes a shortage, so its in the interests of Tesco to make sure their suppliers businesses are sustainable to garuntee stable continuation of supply.
the only time i would like to see tractors on the road is if they are on the back of joes low loader.
I didn’t realise Case were part of New Holland. Hope there’s not much New Holland to their diggers; Ive spoken to some ops who had them on demo…absolute crap. Just like the awful Ford digger loaders. I drove one at the CITB College…an aborted foetus of a machine.
Anyone remember Halla? Welsh built junk.
Big Joe:
grumps 1:
the farmer cant sell any where else as the super markets have a monopoly its take it or leave it and £80 a ton is the cost of production of potatoes,the super market rely on the fact most famers are prepared to live from hand to mouth as its a life style choice not a business one.they trade on the next year will be the good year and farmers keep plugging away and use there sfp to keep afloat.Supply and demand still comes into it, if a Farmer feels he’s not getting the right money for his potato crop then he grows something else, and if enough of them do it then there becomes a shortage, so its in the interests of Tesco to make sure their suppliers businesses are sustainable to garuntee stable continuation of supply.
not so as whats the alternative as all his produce has to so through the super markets and they control the market,also they can bring potatoes in from europe quite easily and use this to keep uk farmers knowing there place,re the whipping boys of the super markets.
Big Joe:
Supply and demand still comes into it, if a Farmer feels he’s not getting the right money for his potato crop then he grows something else, and if enough of them do it then there becomes a shortage, so its in the interests of Tesco to make sure their suppliers businesses are sustainable to garuntee stable continuation of supply.
Most farming is a lottery for profit over costs, you either lock yourself into a low margin contract at planting or take a punt and market nothing and wait and see what world weather patterns occur to influence possible foriegn imports or exports. You need to remember Joe that a supermarket is loyal to its profit chasing, most are unintrested in the profit/loss margins of their suppliers as they can import from anywhere they want when the home supply market rises too much for their liking. Just take a look at Tescos bacon and pork counter to gauge their caring to support British pig farmers.
Dont moan about farmers when your mouth is full