I have been offered work from both maritime and Barron wood, both paying roughly the same, has any owner drivers had experience with either?
Maritime cannot keep owner drivers. Search for recent threads to see why. I would recommend you look elsewhere. No info on ‘Barron wood’…are you sure it shouldn’t be ‘Barren’? sounds more apt for some of these companies. There is a reason why they have to constantly advertise for drivers and hauliers.
Maritime are always advertising for subbies
i subbed for them before, i left 5 1/2 years ago, best thing i did
last year, Maritime bought out RCL, which was the company i had moved on to, so, now, i am back on subbing for Maritime
not for much longer though
i have only stayed on for them, as i park in the yard that Maritime took over when they bought RCL, and if i pull off from them, they will make me leave the yard
that, however, is in hand 
Barron Wood…
a few years ago, i had a vehicle on for them, didn’t earn the promised amount, but, it transpires that the driver that i had doing the work, was a lazy git 
i know of quite a number of people who make good money working for them, BUT, you have to keep on at them for the better paying work!!!
get the rate for the job BEFORE you take the job
that is an honest appraisal of both companies mentioned
given the choice of the two of them, Barron Wood would be my choice
I’ve heard a few people saying the same of maritime.
As for lazy… Not a chance, ill work until I drop, cant stand bone idle individuals!!
I know my running costs and have made it clear what ill need to be earning, Barron Wood did seem the more straightforward.
I appreciate the honesty.
Cheers fellas, time to crack on with tonight’s runs!
Drive safe, cheers again.
I read on your other post " starting out need advice" that you already had contracts with a quite a few decent companies, Why are you looking at the likes of Maritime and Barronwood for work, you will be better off sticking with you decent contracts.
Pm send
Hello Mate
I have worked for both companys . Called it a day with Maritime today after 3 weeks the takens for the 3 weeks were terrible . It is one of those firms where your face has to fit . Did here a few rumors that they have lost work lately. As for barron wood make sure to tell them your an owner driver your’ll get paid the following week no charges . Found it better with them doing day work rather tramping, bare it mind day work is not all the time with them. You looking for day work or tramping ? what area you from may be able to help with some companys. Good luck.
shuttlespanker:
Maritime are always advertising for subbiesi subbed for them before, i left 5 1/2 years ago, best thing i did
last year, Maritime bought out RCL, which was the company i had moved on to, so, now, i am back on subbing for Maritime
not for much longer though
i have only stayed on for them, as i park in the yard that Maritime took over when they bought RCL, and if i pull off from them, they will make me leave the yard
that, however, is in hand
SS, same scenario in Manchester. Felt sorry for some of the guys there who had to change their operating centre at short notice, and all the hassle that entails.
Obviously you can’t say too much at the moment but would be very interested to hear what your thoughts about working for Maritime are if you move on. They are a strange company. There was a lot of o/drivers and small hauliers who used the secure parking in Manchester at £200 per mth per vehicle, that is a considerable amount of revenue to lose. I was talking to the Roadways manager there, Jerry, not sure if you know him, and he just could not believe they were turning away such a large amount of easy money.
I would never recommend working for Maritime as a sub-contractor to anybody. The rates are cut to the bone, and they withhold all the best work for their own trucks, They grade the work. If you happen to get a job that is palletised and get a quick turnaround, it is most unlikely you will get it again. They grade the jobs, and as a sub-contractor your default day on local work is a HC job in the morning and same in the afternoon. They will drop you like a stone when the job goes quiet too. In comparison, Roadways strived to maximise your earnings and treated their contractors with respect. The offices were full of old OCL/P&O staff, who were decent guys. Maritime staff are renowned for their rudeness to drivers. You need a thick skin and very little self-respect to enjoy working there in my view.
Cheers fellas,
As I thought, stay clear of maritime!!
I have other contracts for heavy haulage with the 66 tonnes, but was looking to put a couple on general haulage with a firm like Barron Wood, ill give it a go with them and see how it goes, can always pull them if needs be.
Roadways? Are they still operating? May if miss read but seemed you were speaking in past terms? (Or could be I’m hanging out my ■■■ tired and read it wrong!!)
Maritime took over Roadways late last year. Before they did, Manchester Roadways Depot had about 50 owner drivers and small hauliers working for them on a regular basis, possibly more, and obviously their employee drivers too… Maritime had two owner drivers I believe. I spoke to one of their drivers three months after Maritime takeover and thirty employee drivers had already left, and they were down to to less than ten regular owner drivers. No better at other depots I believe.
Only work for Maritime if you can get some sort of guarantee regarding earnings. That must also be tied to expected mileage and hours. Any fool can turn the money over, you want profit. A dirty word as far as sub-contract work for Maritime goes.
Yeah maritime seem to have a really bad reputation, you’d think they would understand people talk! I’ll stay away from them totally!!
Looks like they ruined a good thing for a lot of people!!
Profit is my main aim!! Lol I figure the bigger companies find a way for decent profit so there is no reason us owner drivers cant do the same!!
There is enough work out there, like you say, its a case of setting the standard for pay / pricing right from the get go!!
If I hear of any decent contracts / contacts, ill let you know.
Thing to remember is people will always give you different opinions. Alot of work in this job is horses for course. People bleat on how great roadways was no it wasn’t. There tackle was very poor which maritime are now replacing. There yards and drivers facility’s were awful, maritime flattening the lot and building new. The truth is roadways was just keeping it’s head above water and probably a matter of time till it went under. The company was kept going with agency staff and there was no reinvestment in the company. I know a operator on with maritime he has two wagons on turnover last year was 200k dosnt take a genius to work out that he’s earning good money. They don’t get the bad jobs either they get some good short distance fixed rate jobs. Maritime are now paying a yearly bonus of 1% to subbies so my mate got a 2000 bonus this year. The rate is never going to be great on traction the company you work for has done all the leg work taking all the risk of 60-90 day payments of the shipping lines and got all the company over heads that’s why the rates are rubbish.
A genius would know that turnover is vanity, and profit is sanity.
Most of the previous posts are from people who speak from real experience. Maritime pay £123 for a local job. Try running a 44t truck on two of those a day.
The turnover figures you quote are not exceptional, and will include a lot of middle distance running. Expect to deduct as much as 40% for fuel, 20%VAT etc.
The bonus is to try and retain some of the flood of o/drivers who are leaving. The same o/drivers who worked and enjoyed healthy profitability whilst working for Roadways, but who cannot work for.a company like Maritime and make it pay.
There will always be some who may of come to some sort of ‘arrangement’ to secure better work and treatment…but like most decent o/drivers I can only work for firms where a meritocracy exists.
would hope it was Net of Vat.
Janos:
A genius would know that turnover is vanity, and profit is sanity.
Most of the previous posts are from people who speak from real experience. Maritime pay £123 for a local job. Try running a 44t truck on two of those a day.
The turnover figures you quote are not exceptional, and will include a lot of middle distance running. Expect to deduct as much as 40% for fuel, 20%VAT etc.
The bonus is to try and retain some of the flood of o/drivers who are leaving. The same o/drivers who worked and enjoyed healthy profitability whilst working for Roadways, but who cannot work for.a company like Maritime and make it pay.
There will always be some who may of come to some sort of ‘arrangement’ to secure better work and treatment…but like most decent o/drivers I can only work for firms where a meritocracy exists.
pretty much what ^^^^^^ said, apart from the rate, the lowest rate out of BIFT is £120 +VAT
i have never heard of the bonus scheme, and i was on Maritime for a few years before i left, and after they bought out RCL, i have still never heard of it either
the comment about RCL not being all that, yes, a lot of the kit was old, yes, some of the depots were a little run down, BUT, the staff were polite and friendly (well, most of them anyway), and treated you with a bit of respect, unlike most Maritime staff, who treat you with contempt
at least the RCL rates for the subbies were better than Maritime
i have had numerous ‘conversations’ with MTL about the rates and the money, the usual replies are…
you are earning more now than you was on RCL
errrr, NO
you are doing more work than you was on RCL
errrr, NO
the truth is, the only thing we are getting more of, is hours done, to do the work they are giving us
this is from someone who has done work for Barronwood, Maritime AND Roadways
i left Maritime to go on Roadways, best move i ever made was leaving that shower of ■■■■■■ now, unfortunately, because of the buy out, i am now back on for them
BUT, there is not a single day goes by where i wish it could go back to how it was before the buy out
also, as i posted earlier, i won’t be on for Maritime for much longer anyway, unless of course, they plan on buying out another big company
I continue to be amazed at the negative feedback when talking about owner drivers, There is nothing wrong at all in becoming an owner driver in fact if you a good at the job and really can run a business, then you can make a living as an owner driver regardless of what all the armchair experts will have you believe, I am not saying its easy but on the other hand if you know and understand transport then you can make a good living. The golden rule is DO NOT take on jobs that will not pay the bills,.,.
yoyo5:
I continue to be amazed at the negative feedback when talking about owner drivers, There is nothing wrong at all in becoming an owner driver in fact if you a good at the job and really can run a business, then you can make a living as an owner driver regardless of what all the armchair experts will have you believe, I am not saying its easy but on the other hand if you know and understand transport then you can make a good living. The golden rule is DO NOT take on jobs that will not pay the bills,.,.
+1.
Nobody holds a gun against my head and forces me to carry on doing it.
yoyo5, who on this thread has said anything against being an owner driver?
as far as i can see, the replies to this thread have all stayed on the subject from the OP, asking about Maritime and Barronwood
both pay
yoyo5:
I continue to be amazed at the negative feedback when talking about owner drivers, There is nothing wrong at all in becoming an owner driver in fact if you a good at the job and really can run a business, then you can make a living as an owner driver regardless of what all the armchair experts will have you believe, I am not saying its easy but on the other hand if you know and understand transport then you can make a good living. The golden rule is DO NOT take on jobs that will not pay the bills,.,.
+2