Hi sorry if this has been asked a thousand times before but I have been out of running vehicles for about 7 years since I sold my last business ( I’ve been part time on the agency since )
Anyway one of my old customers who I trust has offered me a bit of business and I’m going to re start but my man who used to maintain the fleet has got himself a nice number and I can’t get him back ,
I’ve never used contract maintainence and can guess some of the pitfalls but any info anyone can give would help or would I be better renting ■■ ta
if you are mechanically minded, do your own maintenance, if not, there are always local mechanics who charge a hell of a lot less than a main dealer would
don’t really go for the renting thing, you get nothing at the end of the term
There’s no given soultion to this me persanly i go for contract maintenance because i want fixed costs main dealers are not as dear as some people think my mate uses a local garage and bealeve it ord not his hourly labour rate is not much lower than what im paying and very often he has to use the main volvo agant because his local mech hasn’t got the expensive diagnostic computer modern trucks are becoming more and more complex and your normal grease monkey may struggle to repair it as for contract rental its got its advantages if this isjust to test the water and it dosnt work out your not commited financially as you would be if you invested in a vechile the tip is with dealers and labour rates is to haggle i used to use a daf main agant for my maintance and the labour rates they qouted initially were 60 pound an hour i managed to get this cut by half nearly good luck hope its works out for you
Both my local Merc dealers charge me £58+VAT an hour on the rare occasions I use them (only really tacho calibrations these days, and the MOT on my sprinter).
I still prefer doing the maintenance myself though. I actually find it quite relaxing as I’ve always had a thing for tinkering with engines and all things mechanical, and because it is so different to my normal (largely desk based) day job I tend to find it quite enjoyable. The fact that I am £58 an hour cheaper also helps.
Not sure I would be quite so keen if I had been at the wheel all week though.
They qouted me 60. Managed to squeze em to 40in the end mite pay you to relocate to bournmouth. The only thing i would say is the service on nights was spot on but the day shift was ■■■■■ n were never realy interested. If the. Trucks were any good id have gt a nuva daf but iv had to many bad experienced with them and have nw changed aligence to a recycled u boat
They qouted me 60. Managed to squeze em to 40in the end mite pay you to relocate to bournmouth. The only thing i would say is the service on nights was spot on but the day shift was [zb] n were never realy interested. If the. Trucks were any good id have gt a nuva daf but iv had to many bad experienced with them and have nw changed aligence to a recycled u boat
I wont have owt to do with contract maintainance as i have always thought that the dealers will try to make money any way they can which means doing the bare minimum maintainance possible for the most money
they can get away with.
I can see the point of fixed costs but if the truck/trailer is looked after right some months you could save money
so i only use the main dealers (volvo) when i have to, although the parts dpt are v good but i do often wonder why the exact same part can be 100s of pounds different at other depots at times !
the delivery of said parts is always 100% bang on though
Moose:
I wont have owt to do with contract maintainance as i have always thought that the dealers will try to make money any way they can which means doing the bare minimum maintainance possible for the most money
they can get away with.
my experience of vehicles on full R+M, as an employed driver and self employed, are, it is surprising how little they find wrong with the truck whilst it is on the full R+M, and how much they find wrong with it after it has ended
Goatey So even though you were on an R&M the LA went for you not the Dealer ? I know it’s your O liscence but !!! what were you supposed to do they are the “experts”
did the LA see sense??
Moose:
I wont have owt to do with contract maintainance as i have always thought that the dealers will try to make money any way they can which means doing the bare minimum maintainance possible for the most money
they can get away with.
Nope, the blokes on the shopfloor dont care who’s paying, and R and M stuff usually gets more parts etc. as permission is not required.
NB12:
£80 an hour, thats getting into lawyer territory, i hope the technicians hourly rate reflects what his/her employers charge for there time.
Youre joking arent you!
shuttlespanker:
£60 per hour?
i wish my local DAF dealer was that cheap
mine is £80
Thats bloody expensive, we were charging 57.50 + VAT but that was negotiable, certain customers were on sub £35 an hour labour rates (DAF Main dealer)
This’ll sound pedantic, but by LA do you mean TC? (Traffic Commissioner).
Worzel:
Goatey So even though you were on an R&M the LA went for you not the Dealer ? I know it’s your O liscence but !!! what were you supposed to do they are the “experts”
did the LA see sense??
You’re pushing an open door mate! The TC has no powers (afaik) over maintainance providers and according to my solicitor the only governing force are operators voting with their feet.
It’s a ■■■■■■■ disgrace!
shuttlespanker:
and don’t forget the tracking that was half a year out that kept costing more tyres, after the dealer said it was fine
Don’t wish to go into too much detail on here, Sir Spankalot! I’ve a feeling it may go further.
quite right daf man the shop floor dont care as i used to work at a truck centre which was also a daf service dpt and have seen first hand what daf aid is!!!
monarch of the highway:
There’s no given soultion to this me persanly i go for contract maintenance because i want fixed costs main dealers are not as dear as some people think my mate uses a local garage and bealeve it ord not his hourly labour rate is not much lower than what im paying and very often he has to use the main volvo agant because his local mech hasn’t got the expensive diagnostic computer modern trucks are becoming more and more complex and your normal grease monkey may struggle to repair it as for contract rental its got its advantages if this isjust to test the water and it dosnt work out your not commited financially as you would be if you invested in a vechile the tip is with dealers and labour rates is to haggle i used to use a daf main agant for my maintance and the labour rates they qouted initially were 60 pound an hour i managed to get this cut by half nearly good luck hope its works out for you
