Well I sold by last 2 Magnums today, must admit the drive to the dealer had a bit of a tear in my eye a bit like seeing an old friend off!! well sort of.
Good news is on monday I collect my 8x4 Scania with 53t per metre Hiab and a healthy looking book going forwards. So fingers crossed with this venture, I was making a modest profit with the tractors but to be honest rates and fuel have beaten me down over the last year and my heart is not in Euro tramping anymore. Even found myself an ugly wife on the basis that I wouldn’t want to come home would work unfortunately it hasn’t (sorry love only joking )
Thought about going back on the tools as a qualified sparks but after more years than I care to mention doing this it is in the blood, read many a post from others talking about it now realise it is true!!
Will hopefully make a diary post delivering to interesting locations in the near future!! 50p per view got to pay for the bloody thing some how!!
all the best mate and we will be waiting for your first post and hopefuly some photos,itseems that transport is getting harder and to survive and prosper ,
you need to carry out certain types of work that require a higher standard than that which is normaly given ,
you hit the nail on the head Pete I will be delivering generators around the UK for a large manufacturer, I can deliver 90% of their load types and drop on most sites avoiding them booking a crane which they do at the moment. Needless to say rates are good and numbers stack up, going to be strange overnighting in a standard cab again though!
good luck N2N
I am o/o running a 6wheel rigid flat but with no crane,people are always asking me why i dont get an artic but i have a bit of niche hauling concrete products,seed potatoes and hay and straw mostly into places where the big boys cant go,and you get a (little bit)better rate.so hope the new ventre goes from strength to strength.
steve
best of luck - can be very lucrative things on the right work, mind you as you were getting £1500/day to sit around with a box trailer a while back that’ll take some topping!
that’s right M8 but unfortunately with the telco jobs its the same as a ■■■■■■getting £1500 for one shag then taking the rest of the year off
The bugger is had the first load with one of the clients today, ramsgate to chelmsford, 40ft engine container so rented back the bloody unit I had just sold
Never mind onwards and upwards(good news is we are back on the telecoms delivering Masts and cabins for one of the UK operators with the new unit). Kerching!!
best of luck with it mate, think it’ll get to the point very soon that if you don’t find a niche your going to be strugling as an o/d, thought many times about going back on crane work with an artic, but the outlay for the unit and the rates for basic cabin work this end has put me off, looks like you’ve got it nicely sorted though, you reckon rigid was the better option, assume you got a drag as well?
condidered a 40ft extender rigged up for the job, so i could carry two 24ft’s but don’t know the legalities of special types if your carrying two cabins?
paul b:
best of luck with it mate, think it’ll get to the point very soon that if you don’t find a niche your going to be strugling as an o/d, thought many times about going back on crane work with an artic, but the outlay for the unit and the rates for basic cabin work this end has put me off, looks like you’ve got it nicely sorted though, you reckon rigid was the better option, assume you got a drag as well?
condidered a 40ft extender rigged up for the job, so i could carry two 24ft’s but don’t know the legalities of special types if your carrying two cabins?
I’m hoping it’s gonna go a little bit the other way, with Driver and Truck shortages, I think there’s a place for Flexible ODs not on regular work, just fitting in when companies are busy.
That’s what I’m aiming for at the moment, Jury’s still out as yet, but one thing is for sure, my costs are a hell of a lot less, and if it aint worth doing, I stay at home, Lucky I know, but the narking thing is, my position is not a great deal different, to what it was 16 years ago, and If I’d gone this way all that time ago. I would have had a bit more hair, and a few less wrinkle, I think
paul b:
best of luck with it mate, think it’ll get to the point very soon that if you don’t find a niche your going to be strugling as an o/d, thought many times about going back on crane work with an artic, but the outlay for the unit and the rates for basic cabin work this end has put me off, looks like you’ve got it nicely sorted though, you reckon rigid was the better option, assume you got a drag as well?
condidered a 40ft extender rigged up for the job, so i could carry two 24ft’s but don’t know the legalities of special types if your carrying two cabins?
According to your posts on another forum, you are in the process of packing up and moving to Canada. You want to make your mind up.
paul b:
best of luck with it mate, think it’ll get to the point very soon that if you don’t find a niche your going to be strugling as an o/d, thought many times about going back on crane work with an artic, but the outlay for the unit and the rates for basic cabin work this end has put me off, looks like you’ve got it nicely sorted though, you reckon rigid was the better option, assume you got a drag as well?
condidered a 40ft extender rigged up for the job, so i could carry two 24ft’s but don’t know the legalities of special types if your carrying two cabins?
According to your posts on another forum, you are in the process of packing up and moving to Canada. You want to make your mind up.
my minds made but thanks for enquiering all the same, i naturally still have an interest in the job i do but the fact is like many who started out years ago with the hope of one day being confortable financially i’ve become totally disalusioned with the whole setup in this country, 26yrs of self employment hasn’t left me skint but i’m by no means well off either, in my eyes theres no longer a place here for the man who wants to go out and work hard for high rewards, everything is geared up against you doing that, fine if you want to go and work 40 odd hours a week and know what your going to earn for the next twenty years but thats no good to me, weather canada is the answer is yet to be seen but theres something in the fact that i can walk away from what i’ve got here and give it a go without feeling like i’m taking a risk.
theres that much work overthere that it’s more a case of choosing where you want to live rather than finding someone to give you a job but it’s such a vast country that each province is virtually a country in it’s self, climate, house prises, wages etc all vary a fair bit from one place to another so theres a lot to take into consideration as well as the jobs being anything from day shifts to two weeks or more down the road.
am i going? 80% at the mo, would be 100% but an old mate of mine from my days in construction who’s a site engineer has sugested that we join forces and set up a new company doing site excavation, groundwork and plant hire, not something i’d ever considered going back to but potentially the money that can be earnt makes what you can get running a wagon now,look like pocket money!
come christmas i’ll have made a decission either way and i’ll stick to it.
well am sure whatever you decide to do will be right for you, wish you well and eh if you go to Canada make sure you keep the guys on this site posted of your progress if u can!
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