Workwise 2010 was, on the whole, a productive year. I’ve managed to increase my customer base and stopped working for some of the lower paying firms. I’ve also taken on more general work, tauts and flats, which fits in well with the 2 jobs a day routine, especially when the ports are closed by inclement weather. I replaced the Popemobile with a gas guzling Volvo and accuired a down hill racer which is rented out with the PM to another firm.
Subcontracting has featured a lot in the last 12 months and as long as you get the right people, I think, is the best way to expand. As an aside, if anyone fancies a change PM me as I could do with a couple more.
Fuel is obviously the biggest problem. The ■■■■■■■ price seems to go up a penny a week! So far I’ve been able to pass it on, as I work on a spot hire basis, I agree most prices before doing the work, the rest are on an agreed tariff, with an escalator. Sounds smug, but it is the only way imho.
November was particularly slow, though a manic december has pretty much made up for it and gifted me with a few new customers , fingers crossed they aren’t “december friends”.
January looks set to carry on as per december, with the first 2 weeks booked up already. Again, fingers crossed this isn’t just a hangover from the christmas rush. Longer term I have been talking with a local warehousing firm about taking over their haulage/shunting. This would probably see me come off the road. A scary thought.
I have a date with the TC in Feb, regarding my maintainance issues! See my previous posts on the PopeMobile R+M shenanigans with the Main Iveco dealer! The buck stops here though. ■■■■■. Bizarely though after trying most of the main dealers round here I have settled with a mobile mechanic by the name of Murphy! ■■■■■ or what. Seriously though he is top draw and has the same attitude toward the job as me. A real gem.
2010 was’nt my greatest year, I bought a gas guzzler in February & am still trying to get it to do something like the right MPG, had the re-mappers back in to try something different last week, I’ll have to see how it goes. The last quater has been average to say the least my main customer has been much quieter in this quater so I’ve been doing a bit of general with a flat behind me. The FH is still ■■■■■ on fuel even when its not got a semi with ramps behind it.
I’ve had 3 old customers asking me to quote rates for different places overseas again recently, I’d be loathed to go back to taking a ferry to get everywhere again but I suppose as most of my time in road haulage has been international thats what my old customers do. My main customer asked me to do a european job too a few weeks back too which did’nt happen in the end. I can see me back abroad if it does’nt pick up here I’m just glad I never got a RHD in the end.
Talking to a mate still doing Marroco it makes me wonder where we’ll end up as a nation regarding our EU status & trade especially transport. Most general haulage jobs abroad are utter ■■■■■ & I fail to see how these third world hauliers can do the work for the rates they charge. I never have understood it though & doubt I ever will. I see The EU collapsing well the single currency at least in the next 12 months, this will help us as a nation I think as hauliers anyway.
I’m still wondering about this 2012 LEZ thing too no-one seems to know whats going to happen really. As for fuel I think the peasents will be revolting by March it really cannot continue going up as it is, now the extra VAT & other bits hit joe public the ■■■■ will hit the fan hopefully & something may get done.
Anyhow thats my conclusions I’m off to walk my hang-over off with the dog, good luck to all in 2011 10 10
2010 was my first year as a od,i say year i actually started in april so more like nine months,the works been steady but definitly not as busy as previous years when iwas doing the same job as an employed driver,i dont think this years going to be any bussyer,but i dont think it will be any quiter in the brick and block world,i do think your see a few more ods calling it a day in this line of work ,which will be sad but on the other hand if weve got the same workload and less ods with crane trls it should mean more work coming my way.we do get a fuel rebate every month so in theory the derv increase shouldnt cost me to much,im looking at getting rid of the daf for various reasons as iv stated in another post,and i am 99%sure it will be for the merc,it will put my costs up by 600 quid amonth tho which is a bit worrying but ive done my sums and im pretty confident i havnt overstretched myself,as ive seen so many others do,i wish all ods on here weather there running just one moter or a small fleet all the best for the year ahead,
last year has been a struggle at times, the biggest problem being the price of fuel it really is getting out of hand. i always try to fill the trailers out as much as possible somtimes with light pallets or losse stuff on top of the main load to make every possible penny off every trip. I have only done 7/8 euro jobs last year as the rates are now not worth the bother, so will only be doing about the same again this year. done a few walking floor jobs last year so maybe get into that a bit more this year. all in all not been a bad year and managed to gain a few new contracts and no major breakdowns which is always a bonus. the merc actros is starting to look a bit tired so maybe 2012 it will be time for a newer one if workload permits.
2010 was better than 2009 which was an utter disaster. However, 2010 turnover was still around 15-20% down on 2008 which was my last good year.
The work has died particularly in the bad weather and Dec 2010 was actually my worst month in 5.5yrs of owner driving. On the positive side I gambled in late 09’ on a cheap Hino to replace my old Daf and its been really good. Super reliable, good offroad and another 100hp ontop of the daf has been a good buy.
I do most of my work for a large aggregate firm who have given us a 1.5% increase as of Feb but it isn’t enough with the price of derv being what it is and where its going. As a subbie, not on contract, I’m at the bottom of the pile when it comes to work but don’t have the headaches and am not beholden to one firm.
However, despite 10’ being better I actually see 11’ as being the worst year of the lot. A large part of the work I’ve been getting has been resurfacing ‘local’ roads where 8x4’s can’t get due to access/low wires. However, the budget for Welsh local roads is being cut from 69million to 6.6million. If I’m affected in a similar way to that cut I won’t make next Christmas…
I started my own small business early last year, I knew it would be a hard slog and 2010 was, but I am finding new customers and 2011 is beginning to look good. I know the odds are against me, its a good job I enjoy a challenge…
well i,m not doing the best paying work of my od career but its certainly the most consistent {thank god people have to buy cheap clothes!} but most importantly i,m at a place overhead wise i,ve been aiming for since starting up, no more trailers to pay for, no parking/yard charges and a couple of biggish loans payed off, so iff i can keep on top of this fuel carry on this year may not be so bad
fly sheet:
2010 was’nt my greatest year, I bought a gas guzzler in February & am still trying to get it to do something like the right MPG, had the re-mappers back in to try something different last week, I’ll have to see how it goes. The last quater has been average to say the least my main customer has been much quieter in this quater so I’ve been doing a bit of general with a flat behind me. The FH is still [zb] on fuel even when its not got a semi with ramps behind it
what ye getin MPG or LTR/KMs ? is it a 520 ye have there ? it looks a heavy truck in fairness. I know its an ex Davey Malcolm, maybe have a word with him an see what he was gettin?
in light of fuel increases, ye need all the help ye can get!
fly sheet:
2010 was’nt my greatest year, I bought a gas guzzler in February & am still trying to get it to do something like the right MPG, had the re-mappers back in to try something different last week, I’ll have to see how it goes. The last quater has been average to say the least my main customer has been much quieter in this quater so I’ve been doing a bit of general with a flat behind me. The FH is still [zb] on fuel even when its not got a semi with ramps behind it
what ye getin MPG or LTR/KMs ? is it a 520 ye have there ? it looks a heavy truck in fairness. I know its an ex Davey Malcolm, maybe have a word with him an see what he was gettin?
in light of fuel increases, ye need all the help ye can get!
Its a 520, when Davie had it it did 8mpg, I’m gettin around 6.5mpg, from new its done 7.96mpg thats kms covered & fuel consumed. Its 20,250kgs empty. I don’t tend to run as heavy as I used to in my old FH & also am only loaded coming back about 20% of the time, I think it should do over 7 but it averaged 6.55mpg last week, I’ve just done Colsterworth to Wetherby part loaded, Wetherby to Wigan grossing 36t then the same to the Isle of White & back empty & it did 6.45mpg which I think is pants.
fly sheet:
Its a 520, when Davie had it it did 8mpg, I’m gettin around 6.5mpg, from new its done 7.96mpg thats kms covered & fuel consumed. Its 20,250kgs empty. I don’t tend to run as heavy as I used to in my old FH & also am only loaded coming back about 20% of the time, I think it should do over 7 but it averaged 6.55mpg last week, I’ve just done Colsterworth to Wetherby part loaded, Wetherby to Wigan grossing 36t then the same to the Isle of White & back empty & it did 6.45mpg which I think is pants.
not good. Brother has the 460 and gets around 8 at 44 tonnes, sometimes hes gettin 11 when not fully loaded.
Id get shut m8! ye fuel consumption is not good!
Everyone I speak to with the version 2 FH regardless of engine size seem to get half decent fuel consumption, I was expecting 7.5’s at least, I’m going to get it re-mapped to a 480 I think. Bad time of year for fuel consumption too winds, icey roads & winter additives in the diesel don’t help things but hey ho its still not an excuse.
bad luck with the fuel my 460 fh v2 gets between 7/8 loaded both ways,give it some boot and it will be 7 or lower…
drive it like a vicar and you might get 8,a mate of mine drives a 520 and said how good it is thats on powder tank work for lomas from buxton.
has it been chipped before you bought it,once had a 380 fm tweeked by nevile from mkts it went v well
but was no better on fuel but only realy had it done for power.
Thought these 520s were good for power and fuel is it a bad one?
think some folk talk crap at times about fuel mpg at 44 ton (think it makes them feel better when you know what rate there on)!!
always been a volvo man myself
Moose:
think some folk talk crap at times about fuel mpg at 44 ton (think it makes them feel better when you know what rate there on)!!
always been a volvo man myself
dont know what rate your brothers on so no!
back to fuel my fh is 460 on a 52 plate with 845000 ks on when run alongside my mates 460 on a 55 plate
with 555000 ks on with the same load same weight and same step frame trailer there’s never more than
3 to 4 litres in it, on a long run which ever trucks at the back gets the best fuel his has an air kit mine has not this also makes little difference due to the nature of the load.
to get 11 mpg i would need to be on the motorway at 50 mph with sod all weight on a flat trailer in good weather and have time to waste, lifes to short for that
I did a St-Helens to Grangemouth late last year, pulling a 40’ flat on singles loaded with 4 welder gen-sets that weighed 1.5t each, I got 8.01mpg fill to fill including running home empty
I far prefered my version 1 460 A-Ride it was far less complex a truck & even with a hub-reduction drive it was no worse on fuel than this lorry, in fact it was better at times.
I’ll maybe just put a 5 pot Gardener in place of the 13 litre Volvo & just run to Norfolk & back empty
Paul, couldn’t find your original thread about your broken truck, but a random thought - have you looked to see what temp the engine is running at? It sounds like it’s over-fueling quite badly to me and this is often due a knackered thermostat that thinks the engine is colder than it actually is. Trying to remap the problem away isn’t the answer, you need to get to the source of the problem (although I realise I’m stating the obvious here ).
How does it pull overall? Does it feel really down on power? Not sure which truck models have EGR these days but if it does there’s a possibility it could be coked up to [zb] which prevents it from breathing properly.
The other possibility is that the previous owner tried running it on bio diesel and your injectors are gunged up to ■■■■, or they may just be gunged up from normal diesel if it’s spent a lot of time doing short runs/lots of idling. There’s a company that advertises on Ebay doing injector cleaning for fairly cheap monies and they have a ton of good feedback. Only trouble is that it’s only a cleaning service so you have to send/take the injectors to them on their own, rather than still attached to the truck.
There isn’t that much to diesel engines. Poor mpg usually is down to a knackered thermostat in my experience or blocked EGR. Do trucks have MAF and cam sensors on them like cars do? These are often the cause of bad mpg problems as well. If it were me I’d be looking at all those ^ in that order, leaving the injector cleaning til last if none of the other stuff fixes it.
fly sheet
along the same lines what about having the top end set up, valves injectors and also turbo boost sensor?
had mine done a while ago it did seem to keep it on song as it still pulls well along side other 460s as stated in another post it performs better on shell derv power/mpg
just a thought moose
, fingers crossed they aren’t “december friends”.
Bizarely though after trying most of the main dealers round here I have settled with a mobile mechanic by the name of Murphy! 
■■■■■ or what. 
Seriously though he is top draw and has the same attitude toward the job as me. A real gem.
