In a few years I am thinking of going down the OD route when I finally leave the forces and have a wedge of money to either
a) Blow on a fast car and a decent wardrobe fiull of clobber for me and the wife,
b) Have a whacking great holiday and a decent bank balance to look at or
c) Have a moment of madness and set up my own business as an OD and make a go of something I have dreamed of doing since I was a kid.
Right then, this might seem like a bit of a stupid kinda ‘how long is a piece of string question’ as each one is different but here goes anyway.
Can you folks advise me on the known problems that occur with certain manufacturers of trucks ie daf and the head gasket and so on.
To start with I was thinking about a Volvo 420 gobstopper as I haven’t heard many bad things about these and I do like the ovlov’s but what is the servicing like on these and the reliability, I could ask all the main dealers but I wouldn’t get a true reflection of as they aint going to try to sell me a truck and say oh by the way they are prone to this and that going ■■■■ on it, you know what I mean.
The main units I would be seriously looking at are the
DAF xf (would consider a CF but slightly too small to be away all week in one)
Man TGA or TGX
Volvo (obviously as I like them)
Merc Actros
What are your finding on the prices of repairs, reliability and servicing of these?
Any pointers are appreciated…….
I know a lot of people will say dont bother but this wont be for about 4 years now so hopefully it will be picking up quite a bit by then.
carpboy:
you may want to have a look at maritime transport they do a scheme called buy with work.
cheers for that carpboy, i have already enquired about this, which is an option, but you never know what might land in your lap in the next 4 years, or even before if a little adventure i might be embarking on does come off, i might even be able to do it before the 4 years with a driver to break even (as long as he/she is willing to put the hours in) and then when the time comes to leave the forces run 2 wagons, one with a driver (truck already paid for) and one on finance (like the maritime setup).
at the moment i need to work out the costing of it all (down to the pennies to see if its worth while) and dont want to buy a pig in a poke that is going to spend more time in the garage with hefty repair bills than on the road, plus the fuel economy on a wagon, is it worth the extra for a euro 4 unit against the savings on fuel you will make over a certain amount of time (ie 4 years), that sort of thing.
carpboy:
you may want to have a look at maritime transport they do a scheme called buy with work.
cheers for that carpboy, i have already enquired about this, which is an option, but you never know what might land in your lap in the next 4 years, or even before if a little adventure i might be embarking on does come off, i might even be able to do it before the 4 years with a driver to break even (as long as he/she is willing to put the hours in) and then when the time comes to leave the forces run 2 wagons, one with a driver (truck already paid for) and one on finance (like the maritime setup).
at the moment i need to work out the costing of it all (down to the pennies to see if its worth while) and dont want to buy a pig in a poke that is going to spend more time in the garage with hefty repair bills than on the road, plus the fuel economy on a wagon, is it worth the extra for a euro 4 unit against the savings on fuel you will make over a certain amount of time (ie 4 years), that sort of thing.
If this adventure involves tights, swagbags, shotguns and your local branch of HSBC, then count me in aslong as no body gets hurt and you buy me a milkshake with your ‘earnings’ then I’ll be a happy bunny.
Sorry I completely went off topic you have permission to be owed a coffee when I see you next to make it up to you
Just doing a few sums and does this look about right for figures (very roughly)
£4,000.00 fuel per month
£1,000.00 cost of wagon per month
£250.00 insurance per month
£400.00 operating centre per month (corner of someones yard@ £100 a week)
£100.00 tax per month (ved at £1200 for 12 months)
£2,160.00 drivers gross wages (is this realistic for working a 45 hour week) per month at £9 ph straight through
£400.00 parking per month (£25 a day 4 days a week)
£400.00 overnight allowance (£25 a night 4 nights a week)
£400.00 incidentals per month (very variable)
£500.00 servicing (per month put aside for when needed)
£480.00 trailer rental
£10,090.00 per month running costs
do these figures look about right or have i forgotten a major thing (or even a small thing)
yes you have forgotten one major big thing the bank job to pay for it all yer seems about right you may get away with a bit here a bit there im in the same position as you just getting started. my figures tally with yours or there about anyway its all money,money,money
Giblsa:
£2,160.00 drivers gross wages (is this realistic for working a 45 hour week) per month at £9 ph straight through
Remember if you’re paying £2160 as drivers wages you’ll also need to factor in £215/month for the employer’s national insurance contributions and you’ll need to employ a second driver for one month of the year when your normal one is on holiday, so spread over the year that’s another (£2160+£215)/12 = £198/month.
Giblsa:
£480.00 trailer rental
Sounds a bit steep! Surely you’re better off just buying one for a few grand, it would be paid back in less than a year. I suppose it depends on what type of trailer you’re talking about.
carpboy:
and just to add the guy im dealing with at maritime said i will be looking at 6-700 pound a week in fuel.
It’ll be more than that I’m sure. 2000 miles at 8mpg at 90ppl works out to £1023 per week, and at the sort of rates that Maritime pay, if you’re doing less than 2000 miles a week you aren’t going to be making any money.
Giblsa:
£2,160.00 drivers gross wages (is this realistic for working a 45 hour week) per month at £9 ph straight through
Remember if you’re paying £2160 as drivers wages you’ll also need to factor in £215/month for the employer’s national insurance contributions and you’ll need to employ a second driver for one month of the year when your normal one is on holiday, so spread over the year that’s another (£2160+£215)/12 = £198/month.
i was thinking about running it 6 days a week from down here, other driver doing 6 days and then 5 with me doing the occasional (every other) saturday so the driver gets thier rests in, and if i was driving those days and it was my wagon and company i probably wouldnt take a wage for those days, plus i could cover the drive when he was on holiday. obvioously i would have to look into this with regard to hours and my day to day job.
repton:
Giblsa:
£480.00 trailer rental
Sounds a bit steep! Surely you’re better off just buying one for a few grand, it would be paid back in less than a year. I suppose it depends on what type of trailer you’re talking about.
Paul
i was going to see how it pans out for a few months (3-6) and if the work is good then buy one, obviously this would increase the repair/servicing bill but save money on the rental.
carpboy:
and just to add the guy im dealing with at maritime said i will be looking at 6-700 pound a week in fuel.
It’ll be more than that I’m sure. 2000 miles at 8mpg at 90ppl works out to £1023 per week, and at the sort of rates that Maritime pay, if you’re doing less than 2000 miles a week you aren’t going to be making any money.
Paul
2000 miles per week
i’m on Maritime and i can barely do 1400 miles per week at the moment
Giblsa:
plus i could cover the drive when he was on holiday.
You still need to factor in the wages for that when doing your calculations though, even if you would have no intention of ever actually drawing the wage. There’s no point running the wagon if the only way to make it pay is to have someone working for free for 4 weeks every year. Bear in mind that in your case once you have the planned wagon for yourself as well you’re not going to be able to cover it any more, so you need to either factor the money in for a relief driver or bank on parking the thing up for those 4 weeks.
From my ‘chats’ with Maritime, seems you need to be doing a minimum of 1400 miles per week to make anything, plus working every hour you legally can…
I found it more benificial to me to park the truck up when I went on holiday, only time I put a driver on was when I was in OZ for 3 weeks, OK I made money, but not a vast amount more, as had to pay his wages, plus replace the bumper that he buggered up…
Coddy:
From my ‘chats’ with Maritime, seems you need to be doing a minimum of 1400 miles per week to make anything, plus working every hour you legally can…
if it gets me on the road to my fortune (yeah right )i’m willing to work all the hours i legally can. then maybe havce a trusted mate drive when i need the breaks
The only thing that really seemed un realistic there is the wages mate. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and that ain’t it. You’ve got some serious earning to do at those costs. I’m not peeing on yr plans, just saying, keep goin, some of us might learn something!
Giblsa:
In a few years I am thinking of going down the OD route when I finally leave the forces and have a wedge of money to either
a) Blow on a fast car and a decent wardrobe fiull of clobber for me and the wife,
b) Have a whacking great holiday and a decent bank balance to look at or
c) Have a moment of madness and set up my own business as an OD and make a go of something I have dreamed of doing since I was a kid.
Right then, this might seem like a bit of a stupid kinda ‘how long is a piece of string question’ as each one is different but here goes anyway.
Can you folks advise me on the known problems that occur with certain manufacturers of trucks ie daf and the head gasket and so on.
To start with I was thinking about a Volvo 420 gobstopper as I haven’t heard many bad things about these and I do like the ovlov’s but what is the servicing like on these and the reliability, I could ask all the main dealers but I wouldn’t get a true reflection of as they aint going to try to sell me a truck and say oh by the way they are prone to this and that going ■■■■ on it, you know what I mean.
The main units I would be seriously looking at are the
DAF xf (would consider a CF but slightly too small to be away all week in one)
Man TGA or TGX
Volvo (obviously as I like them)
Merc Actros
What are your finding on the prices of repairs, reliability and servicing of these?
Any pointers are appreciated…….
I know a lot of people will say dont bother but this wont be for about 4 years now so hopefully it will be picking up quite a bit by then.
well hopefully in four years you may have grown up!!! and maybe left school
carpboy:
and just to add the guy im dealing with at maritime said i will be looking at 6-700 pound a week in fuel.
It’ll be more than that I’m sure. 2000 miles at 8mpg at 90ppl works out to £1023 per week, and at the sort of rates that Maritime pay, if you’re doing less than 2000 miles a week you aren’t going to be making any money.
Paul
2000 miles per week
i’m on Maritime and i can barely do 1400 miles per week at the moment
Carpboy, who are you dealing with at Maritime?
take note this is why you dont want a daf!!! 1400 , mpw, as they are alway on the hard shoulder!!!
aslong as no body gets hurt and you buy me a milkshake with your ‘earnings’ then I’ll be a happy bunny.
yer seems about right you may get away with a bit here a bit there im in the same position as you just getting started. 
my figures tally with yours or there about anyway its all money,money,money 
