I drove past Maritime at Thamesport today and they had the board out, ODs and hauliers wanted. Anyone do it or done it? Or containers for anyone else? Any opinions at all about it?
I know a couple of people on for Maritime, been there for years and earn well out of it, they’re part of the furniture and that makes a big difference 
You can earn on the boxes, but you need to be a bit cute, work direct for a shipping line and some forwarders and then you can tip for one and reload the same box for another and get a very decent rate for the miles/time, but you need to have a big list of contacts and speak to all of them on a daily basis to make this work 
newmercman:
you need to have a big list of contacts and speak to all of them on a daily basis
which is the reason i have today parted company with container work and gone back on general, 20+ phone calls a day was getting beyond a joke
i was more knackered from organising the work for a day than i was doing it, then 5 or more different invoices to do every week, decent money to be made but it was becoming tiresome
What they said.
The boxes aren’t very busy at the moment (still 
), but then i won’t touch a lot of the stuff on offer at the minute. As usual, when the work goes quiet the clearing houses undercut everyone to get work in and once they have too much they’ll email/phone and try to palm it off on you after they’ve had their “drink”. ■■■■■.
I personally find that when things are ticking along i make a nice living plus, shock horror, the elusive profit everyone talks about, without too much heart ache. It’s all down to your attitude towards the job and how well you treat your customers, imo.
As for the main question re Maritime, don’t know. 
They’re the Eddie Stobart of Boxes, so they have all of the myth, rumour and legend that go hand in hand with a large/successful firm with a thick layer of middle management.
I’m told the gaffers’ a diamond but below him, ■■■■■. 
Goaty:
I’m told the gaffers’ a diamond but below him, [zb].
that is a very fair assessment of the top man and the management below him
shuttlespanker:
Goaty:
I’m told the gaffers’ a diamond but below him, [zb].that is a very fair assessment of the top man and the management below him
My mate works for them and would concur with that.
Ken.
Harry, i had two trucks, bought and paid for, tried maritime for a month, then goldstar for a month, then laid the drivers off and sold the trucks… enough said i should think…
Quite a big investment with such a small amount of research 
Dont be a pillock, i had a contract finish and had two good men with nothing to do, i said to the lads, we will give this a go rather than just finish you, as you have not worked for me long enough to get any redundancy, if it dont work out at least we gave it a try, done a month on each,didnt work, you have to give it a month as we can all have bad weeks in my opinion.
richmond:
Dont be a pillock, i had a contract finish and had two good men with nothing to do, i said to the lads, we will give this a go rather than just finish you, as you have not worked for me long enough to get any redundancy, if it dont work out at least we gave it a try, done a month on each,didnt work, you have to give it a month as we can all have bad weeks in my opinion.
people in glass houses…
where in your original post does it say that you had a contract just finished?
Where in the posting did it ask for my history? i was just pointing out that with a truck owned outright the job was pants, harry asked for an opinon onthe work, not my lifes history… 
Beat me to it. Bit of back ground would’ve been useful maybe.
Wtf did you expect, subbing “full time” for another haulier on boxes?
I do occasional spot hire work for Goldstar, making up pairs or locals to get in 2 a day.
Never had any involvement with Maritime.
Again !harrys post reads opinions on working for maritime, not for several container companys, putting a box on for one, then a box on for another… 
richmond:
Where in the posting did it ask for my history? i was just pointing out that with a truck owned outright the job was pants, harry asked for an opinon onthe work, not my lifes history…
Fair point. But how easy was it for others to take your point out of context without a smidgen more background.
No worries, im in bed ill with man flu, and im not taking being ill very well… .
Calm down, eh?
Is it as easy getting the work direct from the shipping lines as it is working as a subby for maitime goldstar etc
richmond:
Dont be a pillock, i had a contract finish and had two good men with nothing to do, i said to the lads, we will give this a go rather than just finish you, as you have not worked for me long enough to get any redundancy, if it dont work out at least we gave it a try, done a month on each,didnt work, you have to give it a month as we can all have bad weeks in my opinion.
What kind of money does a truck earn for a week on containers? Do the container companies give a guaranteed minimum?
What about subbing for freightliner? Some of the subbies at Coatbridge been there years. 
I know one happy fella there brought a daf for 20k paid it off within the year he claimed, doing alright for himself so it seems. Five years plus he’s been there same old daf doing him proud.
Harry Monk:
richmond:
Dont be a pillock, i had a contract finish and had two good men with nothing to do, i said to the lads, we will give this a go rather than just finish you, as you have not worked for me long enough to get any redundancy, if it dont work out at least we gave it a try, done a month on each,didnt work, you have to give it a month as we can all have bad weeks in my opinion.What kind of money does a truck earn for a week on containers? Do the container companies give a guaranteed minimum?
Harry, generally, the big container companies will only provide you with a guarantee if you purchase one of their overpriced trucks
and even then, the guarantee isn’t worth a quick one off the wrist
it is there for the sole purpose of satisfying the finance company that you have a regular earnings each week going into the bank
also, one company in particular, have been known to take jobs off week one invoice and pay them on week two invoice so that they don’t have to fork out free cash to meet the guarantee
example
weekly guaranteed earnings £1600
actual week 1 earnings £1800
actual week 2 earnings £1400
they will take £200 off week 1 and pay it on week 2 and tell you that the average is still £1600 per week 
when what they should be paying is £1800 and £1600