i no that there is no actual answer for this but i am trying to get or have an idea on maintenance costs i no the hourly rates for servicing repairs 6 weely etc but i dont no how much to set aside or calculate for as reguards things breaking ie engine parts gearbox etc i no parts are dear and the down time involved under estimating and also over estimating the costs can make a huge difference in the money required and your running costs any pointers please
lee i anit wanting to sound funny buddy but you are not getting any where fast with this od lark are you, as i say mate their is been careful and been careful, only the other week you was waiting till this so called reccesion was over and fuel dropped even lower etc, if you are going to step into the o/d stop thinking of doom and gloooooom. got buy a unit and get on with it no one can tell you what price you need to set aside buddy as if we knew what breakdowns we would be going to have?? we sure wouldnt be driving for a living as we would all be to clever and know what was going to happen 
as i say lee i dont want to come across all clever and funny but you wont know till you get going ,stop been scared and try it it will either MAKE YOU OR BUST YOU" will haulage and most are the later daz
over causious yes defo just dont want to end up the later easier to get the figures right now whilst they are figures and not pound notes looked at a wagon last week cost a small sum for a mechanic to tell me to walk away
Although i agree with what Globby has said, some of the costs that COULD be incurred are
clutch, £600 + labour (7 hours),
turbo, well, the one that i had done on my 52 plate cost over £2500, this included the DAFAid call out, recovery into the dealer, parts, labour and having the intercooler removed and thoroughly cleaned out
Air dryer, approx £300, plus labour
foot brake valve, depends on truck, in all the ones i have, they range from £230 to £480 for basically the same part and apparently, it is now 4 hours to fit 
it used to be 2 
then you have various air valves ranging from £20 to £300
but, you can’t dwell on what may go wrong, if you did that, you would never want to start as an O/D
The only way to fix your maintenance costs is to buy a truck from a dealership with a repair and maintenance contract in with the deal…where you pay a fixed amount to the dealer every month on top of your truck payment…basically if something goes wrong,the dealers will repair it as you have this contract…if you are doing it this way always read the small print to see what is and what is not in with the contract…it can work out expensive if the truck proves to be reliable and you only are getting the truck serviced and inspected there with no major parts being replaced…they normally work out how much the service contract is going to cost you per month on how many kilometres per year you will do…if you tell the dealers that you will do 100,000kms a year and you go over it…they will usually charge you for the km’s you have gone over…you will know if you are going to exceed the km’s stated in your maintenance contract after a few month’s and you can ‘tweak’ the annual km’s stated in the contract so that you wont have a bill at the end of the term by paying slightly more per month,usually though the dealers will let you know if this is going to happen.
Most independent servicing firms out there have fairly reasonable rates…dont forget that any work carried out WONT be paid for by you until usually 30days from the date of the invoice from the maintenance firm…once you get into routine it is fairly straightforward…just remember dont let small things escalate as they will turn into big things quickly…always keep on top of the truck mechanically and you shouldn’t have any problems.
Try and use a trailer supplied by the firm that you are going to sub for as you wont have the maintenance costs to find should something go wrong with it…they usually charge for this,but if there is something wrong with the trailer and it has to come off the road for some reason,they will usually supply a replacement…if you have your own trailer and this happens,then you are either parked up until it’s fixed…which is costing you(downtime and repairs) or you go and hire a trailer which is going to cost you.
thanks for that not dwelling just trying to work out a realistic figure to cover costs was reading a r & m deal would cost roughly 140 p/week as shuttle said reguarding the turbo thats a nasty hit in the pocket especially if something like was to go wrong as you just get going
A lot of the magazines do comparison tests with a standard basket of spares. So if the headlight costs 75 quid more for a RedSun LV Rigid than it does for a Polski Rovol but a clutch plate is cheaper in a Romanian RAT.
It may give you some idea, but stop worrying, just sign this agreement on the dotted line and get out earning your fortune.
Good Luck
Just get out there and do it mate…find yourself a decent truck and give it a try…be the master of your own destiny.
I am looking at a decent ERF EC11 Olympic…the reason i want one of these is they have a big enough cab for a few nights out and are made of fibreglass(no rust issues) and as far as the maintenance is concerned…it should’nt be a problem as i am a ■■■■■■■ trained fitter…so most jobs i can do myself saving me a fortune…and that is where it counts…
topboy trucker:
Just get out there and do it mate…find yourself a decent truck and give it a try…be the master of your own destiny.
I got a 52 plate XF SSC for sale with all the jobs that need doing done already, turbo, clutch, air dryer, lots of air valves, new starter motor, heater motor brush pack in alternator.
tis a very good truck, clean tidy, reliable
good price (not as cheap as an ERF though)
PM me if you are interested
destiny alright alright i no i no lol and how the hell has that not sold yet saw it up for sale last time thought you got rid
shuttlespanker:
topboy trucker:
Just get out there and do it mate…find yourself a decent truck and give it a try…be the master of your own destiny.I got a 52 plate XF SSC for sale with all the jobs that need doing done already, turbo, clutch, air dryer, lots of air valves, new starter motor, heater motor brush pack in alternator.
tis a very good truck, clean tidy, reliable
good price (not as cheap as an ERF though)
PM me if you are interested
I saw this advertised before and too be honest i think it sounds like a cracking truck…but the reason i want an ERF is stated above…it all comes down to money at the end of the day m8…if i can save a few pennys by getting my hands dirty i will…i know what it’s like being an o/d as this will be my 2nd go at it…if you can fix the truck yourself…it can save you loads of money…thanks for the offer of the truck,but it isn’t what i am looking for…
Nope, not sold yet, still got it
absolutely cracking truck, don’t really want to sell that particular one, but the one i want to sell, i would still owe the finance co about 7g after it went 
shuttlespanker:
Nope, not sold yet, still got itabsolutely cracking truck, don’t really want to sell that particular one, but the one i want to sell, i would still owe the finance co about 7g after it went
I take it you are talking about big blue here…i saw this when it was on e bay.
topboy trucker:
shuttlespanker:
Nope, not sold yet, still got itabsolutely cracking truck, don’t really want to sell that particular one, but the one i want to sell, i would still owe the finance co about 7g after it went
I take it you are talking about big blue here…i saw this when it was on e bay.
no, it the red one with the lightbars on in my avatar pic.
52 plate, pre face lift model, driver friendly tacho 430Bhp Euro 3, LEZ compliant plated at 44t
the one i would rather sell is an 03 plate 480 SSC in white
not many ec11s about at the mo drove out having a look at one a few weeks ago to get there and find and find it was a detroit diesel ec12 which are supposed to be a pain on parts nice cheap tidy motor for its age the one i walked away from last week was an ecx shuttles daf looks tidy with it been a super space thought it would sell easy
Not the best time to sell anything…but if you are buying then there are some bargains to be had.
I think i have found a decent ERF…I am just waiting for the guy who is selling it to get back to me with a price…the beauty with one of these is i can buy it outright so i dont need to worry about finance…
thats either cheap or you are loaded with way to much money burning a hole in your pocket you are right there are real bargains
lee mat:
thats either cheap or you are loaded with way to much money burning a hole in your pocket you are right there are real bargains
I am a good saver mate…i dont (never)smoked and i have been teetotal for nearly 11 years…i would rather save my money and use it for something i can see as a benefit to me rather then pi$$ing it up the wall or slowly killing myself smoking…just think how much the average drinker and smoker spends in a year…
If it’s any help I always allow 10p per mile for serviceing and repairs.
70,000 miles a year gives you £7,000 to play with.
Some years you will come out on top, then that’s your holiday money.
Bad year you don’t have a holiday, that’s what being on your own is ,a gamble.
Cheers
Tony
thanks fenman thats how i was thinking couldnt get near that figure with just servicing but i needed some kind of figure to roughly take into account for repairs