New to the site so hello all.
I,ve been a o/d for many years with one of the large heavy building material companys,over the years its had its ups and downs but nothing like this?
I find myself in a lose/lose situation,stay and end up going bankrupt or leave and owe thousands of £s in finance and have no job both are not a option.
your thoughts would be welcome
Welcome to the forum mac i am new here to…Things are not good at all right now,i am just about to start as o/d i am in the process of buying a grab 8x4…Would you be able to trade in your mixer for another type of vehicle a tipper or a grab perhaps…chances are you might lose on your vehicle…but sometimes you have to take a step back to take two steps forward…
Hope things work out for you mate…
it,s a bit more complicated than just putting another body type on,but thanks anyway mate.
did you manage to find yourself a good truck/grab? hope things go well for you mate.
mac.uk:
New to the site so hello all.
I,ve been a o/d for many years with one of the large heavy building material companies,over the years its had its ups and downs but nothing like this?I find myself in a lose/lose situation,stay and end up going bankrupt or leave and owe thousands of £s in finance and have no job both are not a option.
your thoughts would be welcome
Are you a “contract haulier” can’t you just throw the keys back at them or did you go independent 
If you are on BIG hp payments and no work the bankrupt route may be the only option for the sake of your sanity.
What actually would happen in the real world if your mixer was repossessed by your finance company 
Yes I am a contract haulier,but NO you cant just throw the keys back and walkaway!
The vehicle would be valued by a independent (in todays market not good)the deficit owing on the finance would then be still outstanding.
My best hope is that things pick up and can work my way out of this mess 
mac.uk:
Yes I am a contract haulier,but NO you cant just throw the keys back and walkaway!The vehicle would be valued by a independent (in todays market not good)the deficit owing on the finance would then be still outstanding.
My best hope is that things pick up and can work my way out of this mess
You are in the same situation as myself and many others. I operate a mixer for a large company and although my situation is slightly easier, no huge mortgage, kids, even I’m now desperately looking for things to sell/cash in in the hope of keeping my head above water.
The main problem I see however is not the recession, it’s purely down to these large ‘bully boy’ organisations that are filled with managers upon managers who are not living in the real world and as long as you wear your hard hat and hi-viz, they don’t care if you can’t afford to live because as your franchise agreement states ‘you are self employed’ ie’ your problem not ours!
Independant, family run firms are running rings around us (and doing plenty of work!)(check out my other comments), because they realise the importance of competition in order to survive, hense they will lower the price of concrete.
I’m lucky enough to have been offered a new franchise with a smaller independant who will be locally based covering a wider area with one plant and be able to compete due to the lower overheads, but as you say that leaves me with a truck valued at £28000 that I owe £38000 in HP, my only way around this is to sell the truck through the company to another franchisee and come to some arrangement regarding the deficit, this being the truck will be supplied with a new MOT and the firm in question can keep my reserve fund just so I can get out.
I don’t see why any of us should put up with the crap we are dealt with like new slashed rates halfway through a contract, and out of contract trucks doing a good days work when we are parked up etc.
A bit of a rant I know, but this is the general feeling amongst all of us franchisees/contract hauliers
and I really hope you mange to sort your situation out
I totally agree with what your saying mate your right on the money.If you,ve found an existing o/d to take your truck you,ve done well.
At least a small independent should have a batcher willing to get his mixer dirty after 3pm and not run out of materials eh.
And I dont think we should put up with the crap we do sometimes,but we,ve all been the same for years . If we all stood together we would have half a chance but it never happens mate.
mac.uk:
I totally agree with what your saying mate your right on the money.If you,ve found an existing o/d to take your truck you,ve done well.
At least a small independent should have a batcher willing to get his mixer dirty after 3pm and not run out of materials eh.And I dont think we should put up with the crap we do sometimes,but we,ve all been the same for years . If we all stood together we would have half a chance but it never happens mate.
You don’t haul for the Germans aswell do you?
mac.uk:
New to the site so hello all.
I,ve been a o/d for many years with one of the large heavy building material companys,over the years its had its ups and downs but nothing like this?I find myself in a lose/lose situation,stay and end up going bankrupt or leave and owe thousands of £s in finance and have no job both are not a option.
your thoughts would be welcome
did you take out gap insurance on your finance. if so you need a fire so insurance pays bulk and gap pays whats left. desperate times desperate measures!
I am really glad I sold my Mixer last year, reading these posts, though I was with a smallish firm, we covered mainly Essex/Kent/Sussex and Croydon and Bow in London…
In the boom as I have put elsewhere, we made a mint, with things like the Sheppey Crossing, Ebbsfleet, Ashford Int and the Channel Tunnel Rail link, not to mention windfarms, waterworks, and of course the crazy boom in house building 
BUT, the contracts these mixers are on aint worth a toss, they (The Companies) have you by the short and curlies, ie Its thier drum and pump, until it goes wrong then you are expected to repair it, we used to keep the trucks all the time they were reliable, ie 7 years, thus giving 2 years total profit, now you change every 5 years, or you are out…
We reloated from Kent to Wales, knew it was pointless taking the truck, so sold it, just before the recesion hit, I was lucky, very…
Really feel for you guys, but most of you had good times, this is why you need to build a good bank balance up to get you through the bad times…
yorkshireborn:
did you take out gap insurance on your finance. if so you need a fire so insurance pays bulk and gap pays whats left. desperate times desperate measures!
As much as I agree with your comments the first thing the Insurance Co would look at would be Mr Mixers books - and that would set the alarm bells ringing.
Superb if you get away with it - big problems if you don’t.
Stan
