I’m currently employed, working full time and in a job i enjoy, good pay and conditions, easy work and nice trucks.
I have my own house (Smallish mortgage), a missus and 4 year old.
Now as with most truckers i’ve often thought of running my own motor but am not sure of which way, if any, to go!.. Living where i am, traction (Irish sea) would be the obvious choice, people i know pull for P&O and Norfolk Line. I’ve spoken to one who said don’t do it, but then hes just got a new truck so it cant be that bad!
Assuming i had £30k in cash, which would be the best way to go about things? My dad has a CPC and O liscence so that would be a start…
Buy a £15k motor (A lot can be had for that cash nowdays) and keep £15K aside for running
Get a used motor on a R&M deal at £300(Ish) a month, keeping £25k as cash after deposit.
Buy a new motor? Suicidal for a new venture but then the residual is worth something■■?
To be honest I think you need a reason to want to go out on your own either you want to earn more money than you can get know or are not happy driving for someone else and feel you would be happier driving your own motor. Neither of which seem to apply to you. If you’re happy doing what you do now, why are you thinking about changing? If you are really up for it then your best bet is to spot hire a truck and that way you can get shot of it straight away if things don’t pan out. At least you have mates who can point you in the right direction for work and can recommend you, it’s who you know don’t you know!
if you buy a truck, any damage that occurs to it is irrelevant, although annoying
if you lease a truck, any damage is down to you to put right when the lease comes to an end, such as if you fit a mobile phone holder, you will have to either repair the damage or pay the dealer to repair it for you, at great expense.
also, if you buy, at the end of the finance deal (if it is on finance) the truck belongs to you, if you lease a truck, at the end, it goes back and you are left with nothing
With the current trading issues you’d be crazy to go self employed, every haulage company is suffering at the moment, and what’s the first thing they do when work drops off, they stand subbies.
If I was in your situation and I came into £30K I’d keep my current job and I’d bank the money for a rainy day, maybe in 12 months time the market will have improved and those who’ve gone bump this year won’t wish to try again so there will be a shortage of small operators and you could find yourself with a choice of good paying work
lease = 100% tax deductable.
cash purchase. 20 to 25% deductable. takes years to get your money back.
leaseing is the best option, you are better off as a limited company. if things go ■■■■ up. who cares.
limeyphil:
lease = 100% tax deductable.
cash purchase. 20 to 25% deductable. takes years to get your money back.
leaseing is the best option, you are better off as a limited company. if things go ■■■■ up. who cares.
100% on the 1st 50 grand at the moment I think.
As someone has already said, beware the damage and excess mileage clauses on contract hire schemes.
If I really wanted to start again, and I had money in the bank, I would start to look around for a really good 2nd hand motor, and good secure parking. I wouldn’t rush, there’s loads of good deals about. Then I would buy the best truck I could afford with the money I’ve got, par it up, comtinue to work, amd start up when the job gets better. Personally I reckon you will have at least 8 months before the used truck market starts to rise again, and probably at least a year until work starts to pick up, or the number of hauliers drops to match the amount of wor
Mind you, if I had a good job, I’d probably have the holiday of a lifetime, pay all my bills, then go back to work
Using i-bidder i-bidder.com/index.php - you need to register but its free and you only need an email address.
You can sit at your computer and listen to the trucks being auctioned off - I wouldnt advise buying over the internet in this fashion, but it does give you a good idea of what prices they are getting. They have an auction tomorrow (Tuesday 30th). Its a good tool for getting a ‘feel’ for prices.
oooops!..First post. Maybe I should have said hello first
P.S…I dont work for i-bidder or ProTruck or anything like that. I’m not saying they are good or bad. It was just something I found on that 'tinternet and it looked usful for gauging prices.
