I was having a look at the price of secondhand Tractor units…
It seems possible for about £10,000 to be able to get a unit and have enough lest over for insurance etc…
I als see in a few Trucker mags and the Truck auto trader that there a quite a few agencies etc who offer return loads.
Please excuse my ignorance, but how does this work. Are these agencies offering loads that are available for collection and delivery that are profitable, is it as easy as that?
Whats the score with owner drivers and how does it work?
No it wasn’t intended as a wind up. I was inquiring into the subject of owner drivers, isn’t that what the forum in there for?
I know things are a bit slow in transport but it is the same in many other areas, construction and manufacturing, so like me many people are looking into other career opportunities. so I was inquiring into how the owner driver thing works.
With a C or C&E class licence it would be possible to buy a vehicle and register with agencys as an owner driver, is this the case? I was inquiring as to how this works, and what the ‘return loads’ means.
There have been threads about becoming an owner driver - just do a search. The main thing is that you would need around 30 to 40 thousand pounds to start up.
You would have to fund the operation for about 90 days before you got money coming in!
wasnt having a go at you, its just that i,ve been in haulage all my life and an o/d for 7 years and this is the worst i can ever remember it being, so when you see a post like yours asking how to become an owner driver because i fancy a change so can i just buy a wagon and go to work, its not really as easy as that you need o license, money in the bank, cpc holder, maintenence contracts, fuel suppliers, a decent reliable vehicle and most of all profitable work, now if i,m finding work hard to come by at the moment with all the contacts i,ve made over the last 20 yrs in the buisness how are you going to get your work? you mentioned return load websites, i,ll give you an idea of what most of them want to pay, i was offered a load last week, 25 ton of bricks from swansea to leeds paying £290 , still fancy doing it?
like i said not having a go and if you go ahead then i wish you all the luck in the world because you will certainly need it
Cheers thats just what I was after, I know you wer’nt having a go, and things are never easy. I was in logistics in the 80’s and remember how cutthroat it was. No offense taken. After 1990 I went into a completely different industry, after a a handful of years of retraining and self funding investment.
I understand from other threads on this web site that transport has never had it so bad, and I guess that pretty much is a good way of measuring the economy as a whole. They just made 90% of the staff redundant from a firm I used to compete with, and the company I worked for, for 10 yeasrs just made 60% redundant, including me.
Its going to take a few years to get back on my feet, but I have got a few quid stashed want to gat back on the road again, and rather than drive other peoples trucks I was thinking of getting my own, not a fleet.
I hope things do pick up, for all …I suppose the only silver lining is that there will be loads of cheap units for sale.
Swansea to Leeds 264 miles, not sure if £290 would cover the fuel!
the actual rate of £290 for 264 miles isnt that bad as a “return load” that was just an example i was giving you, my way of thinking is this , i want £2 a mile on the out trip and a if you can get a load back that pays you over a £1 mile then you will make money
I’m not wishing to rain on your parade but I don’t think anybody is making any money at the moment and owner-driver haulage is so poor I don’t think it can be accurately described as a ‘career’ change.
If you do start up from fairly limited experience, you need to work solely for one company/haulier who will agree to “look after you” and keep you running all the time with all miles paid, i.e. traction. Won’t get you rich but should pay you a reasonable wage. It would be very difficult to start up from scratch and try and get your own one way loads direct and then try and get back loads from the truck mags and HOPE you get paid by Mr. Chancer, Tom, ■■■■ and Harry. Agencies don’t exist for “Owner Drivers”, just freight forwaders who offer loads after taking their cut. Some hauliers use subbies and some don’t. You can make some money if you’re lucky but you can also lose an awful lot of money.
Thank you for you honest and frank answers; and can I wish you all the best of luck in these difficult times. For the time being I will look for work through agencies until the economy picks up a bit.
Silver_Surfer:
If you do start up from fairly limited experience, you need to work solely for one company/haulier who will agree to “look after you” and keep you running all the time with all miles paid, i.e. traction. Won’t get you rich but should pay you a reasonable wage. It would be very difficult to start up from scratch and try and get your own one way loads direct and then try and get back loads from the truck mags and HOPE you get paid by Mr. Chancer, Tom, ■■■■ and Harry. Agencies don’t exist for “Owner Drivers”, just freight forwaders who offer loads after taking their cut. Some hauliers use subbies and some don’t. You can make some money if you’re lucky but you can also lose an awful lot of money.
Not wishing to be picky but putting all your eggs in one basket is rarely a good idea. Having said that, if you can get work for as regular paying multinational like Tesco, Tarmac, Stobarts etc. you would probably be ok. Some companies seem huge and are actually built on very shaky foundations. Look up Bulmers Logistics if you don’t know what I’m talking about or buy last Thursday’s Commercial Motor!
where do you thnk you are going to get £2 per mile■■? you wish…
dont mean to sound a pratt mate but do your home work. you think you can buy a artic unit insure it for less than ten grand.
then go to work and get £2 per mile then over £1 per mile for the back load mmmm
i still think that this post is a wind up
err dont call me a pratt busy fool it was me who mentioned £2 mile on the prime outward journey and for most of the work we do thats what we get!! at least if we have to come back empty its still made a £1 a mile
When I started this thread I was only making enquiries I didnt intent to start a slagging match, most of the comments have been very helpful though, and everyone has to start somewhere. I’ve got places in the past were long-timers have laughed and told me it cant be done, well more than once as a matter of fact.
Anyway If for example I was driving a Luton which is 3.5 ton I think, would I need an operators license if I was picking up the odd pallet or doing a Man and a Van thing? At the moment as you are all aware there is little work from the agencies, so I am looking to do little bits to keep the wolf from the door.
