hi all,
yet another post about going it alone i hear you all sigh!!! fact is i’ve been considering it for most of the year and realise that ive got to give it at least 2 years before i can be in a position to start up, i realise that i would need a sensible amount in the bank £15000 to £20000, this would be running cost only, hopefully vat and deposit would already be paid. questions i have for you people who have gone down this route is as follows.
tractor i’m looking at would be second hand stralis 6x2 vehicle would have to be fitted for pet regs as would be pulling bulk liquids, has anybody got any information on the performance of a stralis on bulk work? is truck reliable?
was planning on doing cpc and then advertising my services for someone looking to name me on their o licence, this would give me some experience of the ins and out of running a business i think, is this a good idea or just naive?
insurance, havent reseached this as yet would i be expected to pay a bigger premium for pulling hazardous materials?, and does anyone recommend a company.
company i work for would be willing to take me on as an onwer driver, apparently they pay you on the 15th of every month so after initial start up would only have about 6 weeks before i recieve payment, is their any pitfalls i should be on the look out for during this 6 weeks?
thats all i have for the moment any advice from the people who know would be gratefully recieved especiallly if im barking up the wrong tree!!!
AS regards your vehicle get a new one ,why,
because you can get a minimum of a 3 year
contract as regards the maintenence and
serviceing, also you can get the complete
vehicle with PTO with out haveing to use
a second firm this keeps any difficulties with
the vehicle in ONE house, are you thinking of
just UK work or also going abroad if so this will
effect you set up will a two axle unit you have the
room for the two fuel tanks so that you can carry the
legal amount of fuel also if its 44tn work you may need
to think again,yes your premiums will cost more than
normal due to Nature of your intended work, another
point for the use of a new vehicle is that various countrys
are doing lower road user charges for the modern EURO-
ENGINES and with a euro-5 or 4 engine you can save
your self a lot of money over the time of its use
this is exactly what a friend of mine has been doing
these last five years and has had no problems with the
saftey and maintenence aspect,
wirralsquirrel:
any advice from the people who know would be gratefully recieved
many thanks
QUICK…HIDE, here comes Rob.K.
No Joe. I’m waiting for you, Paul and Robert to come along first to tell him that being an owner driver is the best thing since sliced bread and how many ten of thousands of pounds you earn every week, running around in your 580 Toplines etc. I haven’t had a good laugh in a while so please do reply to this guy and give him your BEST advice.
tractor i’m looking at would be second hand stralis 6x2 vehicle would have to be fitted for pet regs as would be pulling bulk liquids, has anybody got any information on the performance of a stralis on bulk work? is truck reliable?
reliable have a read of Lucy’s posts about her Stralis , temperamental would be a better word , a s/h Daf 85 would be my choice - nothing too fancy just a reliable standard truck without too much computer wizardy controling it - saves a fortune on maintenance by avoiding main dealers
was planning on doing cpc and then advertising my services for someone looking to name me on their o licence, this would give me some experience of the ins and out of running a business i think, is this a good idea or just naive?
unless you are actually going to work for another operator then all you do is make your TC take an interest in you as a dodgy CPC holder whose on several licences they don’t like that much!
insurance, havent reseached this as yet would i be expected to pay a bigger premium for pulling hazardous materials?, and does anyone recommend a company.
shop around, don’t just take the first quote you get , get them to spread the payments over 12 months - no idea if haz would affect the premiums!
company i work for would be willing to take me on as an onwer driver, apparently they pay you on the 15th of every month so after initial start up would only have about 6 weeks before i recieve payment, is their any pitfalls i should be on the look out for during this 6 weeks?
well at least you have half sorted some work, some people post similar on here with no idea what work is available! Have they offered you a good rate for the job ? if they offer you anything near a quid a mile tell them to take a running jump.
as for the first 6 weeks, obviously you won’t have any income, you’ll need to cover your fuel bills etc
lets be honest, they are probably only offering you the work cos it’s cheaper than running their own trucks
many thanks guys,
i realise that o/d is not going to make me thousands, also realise that i wont be running around in topliner, to tell you the truth just want a unit that works for me, thats why i asked about the stralis heard conflicting reports about it so thought i would try to find out more. firm i work for are operating highlines with opticruise which isnt ideal pulling liquids, so any other advice on units would be grateful.
dennis and pete thanks for your posts very good points for me to take in, good point on cpc best not go down that road then . ne question for you both though: would you ever go back to working for someone else again? thanks again all of you for the posts.
Hi Wirralsquirrel, being an owner driver is the best thing since sliced bread! You’ll earn many ten of thousands of pounds every week, running around in a 580 Topline.
wirralsquirrel:
i realise that o/d is not going to make me thousands
Why not? It can!
wirralsquirrel:
I also realise that i wont be running around in topliner.
Why not? You can!
wirralsquirrel:
The firm i work for are operating highlines with opticruise which isnt ideal pulling liquids, so any other advice on units would be grateful.
Avoid Automatic boxes & as much computer wizardry as poss, it all costs money when it goes wrong, and it does go wrong!
wirralsquirrel:
would you ever go back to working for someone else again?
Not on you life, if I can’t turn a shilling doing something for myself, theres something very wrong.
You have a go, maybe you’ll be lucky and make it, as some do, ( it often turns out that the harder you work, the luckier you get), maybe you’ll crash and burn, as some do. Either way, you’ll have had the guts to give it a go, unlike some who are maybe? to afraid to have a go.
You’ll get all sorts of contradictory advice, especially here. If you know your job, go with your gut feeling, its usually a good call.
Best of luck, and don’t let the doom mongers like RobK get you down, you can make a tidy living out of Road haulage, if your a bit savy, and above all willing to take the risks.
thanks tramper,
dont mind the difference of opinion with o/ds on here no ones the same depending on who you work for, o/ds i have talked to who work for us have said its a crap life but then again so did the drivers i asked when i was taking my class c . like i said its not my abition to be running around in a 580 topline pulling for norfolk or tays doing 70 on the m6!!! just want the chance to have a crack at it, if it works out great if not, back to work for the big man with more debt, pooh
Have a look at www.walkermovements.co.uk
They have a stack of decent used Foden Alphas and ERF EC/ECX’s with wet kits which in my humble opinion are the best trucks for a new start because the are cheap to buy, cheap to maintain and cheap to run .
If I were to give any advice, don’t get into too much debt too early. Reliable and cheap are not words which go together all that often in the second hand market, but they are out there. If you were to spend £3-4K on a unit, and not like the life, your not to deep in to get out. Sign up for a 3 year operationg lease on a new motor and your stuffed. Run the cheap kit until you’ve sussed it out, then if your happy it all works as expected, take the plunge. Thneres a lot to be said for an Operating lease, with R&M thrown in, as you know your monthly outgoings on the kit, although thats possibly higher than an outright purchase.
I am not a O/D just a normal everyday driver,but i
have been lucky enough to work with various
people who have taught me but although yes
even now at 54 if i had enough readys i would
go down the route as a O/D and it does not matter
what those looking in say if YOU AND YOURS
are happy and determined then do it yes the road is
rocky and never smooth ,what i have learnt is all
ways put a set sum to one side for the times when
it is needed and belive me EVEN the big firms do this
because with out a sum on the side when a account
is not being payed by those who owe you this can
mean hardship, try to get yourbuisness plan laid out
so that you can cater for this problem,I stated a new wagon
because then witha R&M contract you have no worrys about
mantinence, and this is how i would go WHY because you
must keep your free time for you and your family ,and with
a second hand vehicle you may have problems which use up
this time,one last point it is your life so do what you wish to do
and forget those who preach otherwise,one point here take a
look back at the oldposts from the forums and try to take points
out that you think will be of use to you as there is a lot of useful
information been placed here by various members which can
and will help you when used,
Tramper:
If I were to give any advice, don’t get into too much debt too early. Reliable and cheap are not words which go together all that often in the second hand market, but they are out there. If you were to spend £3-4K on a unit, and not like the life, your not to deep in to get out. Sign up for a 3 year operationg lease on a new motor and your stuffed. Run the cheap kit until you’ve sussed it out, then if your happy it all works as expected, take the plunge. Thneres a lot to be said for an Operating lease, with R&M thrown in, as you know your monthly outgoings on the kit, although thats possibly higher than an outright purchase.
hi all,
many thanks for your posts, have read through the posts of past and the main consensus is its worth a try if you do your homework, dont work for any people who advertise in mags, (just like looking for a job if they are advertising all the time why cant they keep drivers), suppose in some repsects o/d is just like driving for someone, theres some good people out there and theirs some who will take you for a ride, hopefully i will get it right when the time comes!!
. ne question for you both though: would you ever go back to working for someone else again? thanks again all of you for the posts. 
