Hi all,
Could someone point me in the right direction for requirements for becoming an owner driver ie: Tax, Insurance, Vehicle, running cost, setting up, work availability and such like !!!
I have had a scout round the forum, but could not find anything in relation to the question.I am curious, as I am due out of the army soon and am contemplating usuing my lump sum when i finish to set myself up, however, i need to do the background work so any help, links etc would be appreciated 
Cheers all 
Try asking on the owners and fleet operators forum.
Grundril:
Hi all,Could someone point me in the right direction for requirements for becoming an owner driver ie: Tax, Insurance, Vehicle, running cost, setting up, work availability and such like !!!
I have had a scout round the forum, but could not find anything in relation to the question.I am curious, as I am due out of the army soon and am contemplating usuing my lump sum when i finish to set myself up, however, i need to do the background work so any help, links etc would be appreciated
Cheers all
First get a CPC because you won’t earn enough to employ a full time transport manager.Is the lump sum enough to cover the money you need to keep in the bank to satisfy reserve capital for the O licence and start up costs.Assuming that after all that you can satisfy all the other O Licencing requirements check out the economics concerning costs versus probable income.Only then think about obtaining,taxing, and insuring a truck.
In short, you need about £15k with some of that being access to funds rather than cash in order to satisfy the minimum requirements for an O licence application.
TBH, unless you’re very lucky the general concensus is you’ll make more being an employee than an O/D.
Grundril, without wanting to come across as negative in any shape or form do yourself a favour & get a job driving 1st you may find you hate it & thats without the stress of being an OD, I’m in my 23rd year of ownerdriverism & somedays wonder why the f**k I got involved, don’t get me wrong I’ve done fairly well for myself out of it but jesus it can be hard at times paticularly starting out, those 1st few years jobbing about in an old knacker are hard going. Plus given the current economic climate I’d say it would be double hard,
Best of luck to you anyway Fella. Just as a hint with full no claims my insurance for this year is just shy of £4500 & my fuel bill around £40000 per annum. I hope these 2 figures shed some light on it for you.
Fly sheet
Thanks for the info folks, like i said, i was more trying to find out a bit of background and am certainly not going to take the plunge just yet but it is a possibility 
I know i have the capital to start up, its just maintaing it
However, i am still looking for the possibility of something that may mean a week or so at a time across the water in Europe working for someone else, depending on how long it takes the wife to get P****D off with me under her feet
But then again, i suppose i am still a bit of a newbie so i will take anything i can get
Grundril Hi , right im not one to say dont do it but having been an o/d for more years than i can remember i have now sold my unit and am on my way to becoming an employed driver for the simple reasons … no sress, if a tyre goes bang its not my worry the same if the motor breaks down. plus i can probably earn more as an employed driver. But if your serious have a go or you will always be wondering what if. good luck, if you need any advice on licencing etc just pm me regards.
motionlotion:
Grundril Hi , right im not one to say dont do it but having been an o/d for more years than i can remember i have now sold my unit and am on my way to becoming an employed driver for the simple reasons … no sress, if a tyre goes bang its not my worry the same if the motor breaks down. plus i can probably earn more as an employed driver. But if your serious have a go or you will always be wondering what if. good luck, if you need any advice on licencing etc just pm me regards.
The ironic thing is I’m hoping to maybe get back into the job as an owner driver after almost 20 years as employed and around 10 in early retirement.Employed may not be as financially stressful but it’s a grind of guvnors, company rules,and a glass ceiling,even after 20 years of uk zb work,which stops you moving onto international work if that’s what you’re looking for unless you’re very lucky and your face fits.Big money employed jobs often pay too much for the guvnor to keep going so it’s good pay one minute dole the next and the overheads for a firm versus owner driver mean that the owner driver should,in theory,be able to take more in wages out of the job than he could as an employee if the comparison is a sustainable wage for both examples ?.The most interesting thing that I found in your post was that it seems to confirm my idea that an unreliable truck is one of the biggest threats and causes of stress to an owner driver operation ?.Having said all that I’ve got no major financial committments so if it’s a case of competing with the East Europeans on wages I’m up for that as well.
There are many, many threads in here on new start ups.
Suggest you get a large sheet of paper & start to list all the costs. Just the descriptions initially, you can fill in the amounts as you glean information.
One that many forget is “out parking.” Can add up to quite a few £ a month.
Very good advice to do some employed driving first.
Carryfast:
motionlotion:
Grundril Hi , right im not one to say dont do it but having been an o/d for more years than i can remember i have now sold my unit and am on my way to becoming an employed driver for the simple reasons … no sress, if a tyre goes bang its not my worry the same if the motor breaks down. plus i can probably earn more as an employed driver. But if your serious have a go or you will always be wondering what if. good luck, if you need any advice on licencing etc just pm me regards.The ironic thing is I’m hoping to maybe get back into the job as an owner driver after almost 20 years as employed and around 10 in early retirement.Employed may not be as financially stressful but it’s a grind of guvnors, company rules,and a glass ceiling,even after 20 years of uk zb work,which stops you moving onto international work if that’s what you’re looking for unless you’re very lucky and your face fits.Big money employed jobs often pay too much for the guvnor to keep going so it’s good pay one minute dole the next and the overheads for a firm versus owner driver mean that the owner driver should,in theory,be able to take more in wages out of the job than he could as an employee if the comparison is a sustainable wage for both examples ?.The most interesting thing that I found in your post was that it seems to confirm my idea that an unreliable truck is one of the biggest threats and causes of stress to an owner driver operation ?.Having said all that I’ve got no major financial committments so if it’s a case of competing with the East Europeans on wages I’m up for that as well.
Carryfast, you seem to spend all your time on this site knocking any OD doubters and telling everyone how much money there is to be made at it and how you’re going to take on Eastern Europe and put all those Polish ODs out of business, but I’ve yet to see you put any of this into action. I get the distinct impression that you’re all talk and no trousers (apologies for that rather blunt analysis) but I wonder if the real reason is that deep down you know business plan is pie in the sky and you wouldn’t last 2 minutes at it before being eaten alive… If you reckon it’s such a good earner and life of luxury being your own boss then what exactly are you waiting for?
Grundril:
Hi all,Could someone point me in the right direction for requirements for becoming an owner driver ie: Tax, Insurance, Vehicle, running cost, setting up, work availability and such like !!!
I have had a scout round the forum, but could not find anything in relation to the question.I am curious, as I am due out of the army soon and am contemplating usuing my lump sum when i finish to set myself up, however, i need to do the background work so any help, links etc would be appreciated
Cheers all
No offence Grundri, but you’ve been on this site for four years, and yet you couldn’t find anything on these forums in relation to your question!
No offence again, but that surely tells anyone how completely ill-equipped you are to starting up any form of self-employment, let alone “contemplating” Owner Driving in the haulage business!
Please, for your own sake, resist putting any of your precious money into this idea any time soon and; (1) as someone further up said, go and get a few years experience driving and see how you feel after said period, (2) also, wait till the economy is in far healthier shape - and that could take a few years yet anyway!
The rest is all down to proper research - within this forum by all means - but make sure you do a lot of question asking outwith this forum as well.
G,
Did you get my PM?
Rob K:
Carryfast:
motionlotion:
Grundril Hi , right im not one to say dont do it but having been an o/d for more years than i can remember i have now sold my unit and am on my way to becoming an employed driver for the simple reasons … no sress, if a tyre goes bang its not my worry the same if the motor breaks down. plus i can probably earn more as an employed driver. But if your serious have a go or you will always be wondering what if. good luck, if you need any advice on licencing etc just pm me regards.The ironic thing is I’m hoping to maybe get back into the job as an owner driver after almost 20 years as employed and around 10 in early retirement.Employed may not be as financially stressful but it’s a grind of guvnors, company rules,and a glass ceiling,even after 20 years of uk zb work,which stops you moving onto international work if that’s what you’re looking for unless you’re very lucky and your face fits.Big money employed jobs often pay too much for the guvnor to keep going so it’s good pay one minute dole the next and the overheads for a firm versus owner driver mean that the owner driver should,in theory,be able to take more in wages out of the job than he could as an employee if the comparison is a sustainable wage for both examples ?.The most interesting thing that I found in your post was that it seems to confirm my idea that an unreliable truck is one of the biggest threats and causes of stress to an owner driver operation ?.Having said all that I’ve got no major financial committments so if it’s a case of competing with the East Europeans on wages I’m up for that as well.
Carryfast, you seem to spend all your time on this site knocking any OD doubters and telling everyone how much money there is to be made at it and how you’re going to take on Eastern Europe and put all those Polish ODs out of business, but I’ve yet to see you put any of this into action. I get the distinct impression that you’re all talk and no trousers (apologies for that rather blunt analysis) but I wonder if the real reason is that deep down you know business plan is pie in the sky and you wouldn’t last 2 minutes at it before being eaten alive… If you reckon it’s such a good earner and life of luxury being your own boss then what exactly are you waiting for?
If you’d read everything which you say I’ve been ‘telling’ everyone you’d have seen that I’ve actually been ‘telling’ everyone how much money there ‘is’nt’ to be made in the road transport industry as a driver wether it’s employed or Owner Driver but everything is relative and in almost 20 years working as an employed driver I never once saw any owner drivers who’d jumped ship to be employed.As for my ‘business plan’ the only reason that I’d need one of those would be if I needed (and was stupid enough) to try to borrow the start up capital from a bank etc in which case,assuming that they’d be prepared to lend any money at all to a new start in this industry, the ‘plan’ would be sunk before it started by having to add the interest charges to the already (almost) impossible overheads bill 
.If I was looking for a job which provided a good earner and a life of luxury I would’nt have chosen this industry from day 1 and that applies wether it be employed or owner driver.The reason that you’ve ‘yet’ to see me put any possible future plans into action is simply that I’m in no rush to dive back into what’s always been a difficult way to make a living and when/if I do I’ll do it when/if I feel like it and when/if I need to which is’nt just yet and that’s probably just as well in the present climate.Which is probably no different to the type of cautious approach which the OP seems to be (rightly) taking to being a new start.But for some reason you seem to think that it’s only me who should get branded as being all talk and no trousers.
No offence Grundri, but you’ve been on this site for four years, and yet you couldn’t find anything on these forums in relation to your question!
No offence again, but that surely tells anyone how completely ill-equipped you are to starting up any form of self-employment, let alone “contemplating” Owner Driving in the haulage business!
Andy, thats a little harsh about being ill equipped, if you had taken the time to read my post properly, you would have seen that i said i was LOOKING INTO IT !!!, and as it stands i am still employed by the Army.