Danny27404:
i saw the bill for my company it was £400 a week and i think that was a special deal. which i do believe is still cheaper than buying one in a way
It’s only cheaper if you compare it to buying a new unit. £20k will get you a pretty good second hand truck and financed over 2 years at (for example) 10% APR that comes to about £210/month and doing that after two years the thing is yours. Unless you are the least lucky person in the world your repairs and servicing on something bought for that sort of money will come in well under the £190/month difference between your figure and that repayment.
I was using web sites as a example for loads but yes the loads are best set in stone before you go for the truck. Once when my truck set on fire i had a super space for a few days and i saw the bill for my company it was £400 a week and i think that was a special deal. which i do believe is still cheaper than buying one in a way but then you dont need a £100k truck to start with but a half decent truck is needed to show your company image.
The bloke you work for now with all the work would be the best man to give you advice and probably work. After all he has 60 trailers standing around in his 4 depots.
But just before you give up £500 quid a week wages, think about what you have posted so far. £400 per week truck hire, add £800 / £900 to that for diesel and a little bit more for parking, and insurance. There wont be much left over to save up for a deposit, let alone a wage.
If you are that determined to do this in the future then you will , but the main thing as in any business is you have to get your costs right .
Its obviously not the best time at the moment to be starting up unless you can get nailed down good paying work but every other Tom,■■■■ and Harry is looking for this as well , in an ideal world we would all be running around for £1-00 per km unfortunately there is more work being offered at £1-00 per mile than that as I found out last week when somebody asked me about doing some work for them.
You need to work out all your fixed costs per week ie Truck , Insurance , VED , maintenance etc to give you an idea of what it will cost you per week whether the truck works or not then you have your running costs on top of this,obviously the main one is fuel…at a rough estimate on a figure of a truck costing you £200 per week lease / HP heres a approx weekly costing on a 4x2 40 tonner doing 600 kms per day for 5 days a week
Truck £200-00
Insurance £ 45-00
VED £ 45-00
Trailer £125-00
Diesel £1035-00 = £1450-00 , so on this figure it is costing you 0.48p per km to run thats about .75 p per mile so if your working for £1-00 a mile it dont need a genius to work out theres not loads of profit there , and there also a host of other costs I havent listed…maintenance and unforseen breakdowns being the main ones , although if you have a R & M contract you can break this down into pence per mile.
Think long and hard about it and dont jump into the pot just because you want a big shiney truck the most important thing is for it to earn you money not look good , if you can manage it to do both but thats a bonus. £500 per week take home for a driver at present aint bad money , remember theres a lot of O/Ds small hauliers out there that are only one big breakdown away from bankruptcy…harsh but true
If you do decide to have a go then good luck to you mate…youll need it
THE FIGURES I HAVE GIVEN ARE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD WITHOUT A CALCULATOR ETC , SO TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE TO COME ON AND SLAG WHAT EVER OTHER PEOPLE SAY…THEY ARE A ROUGH GUIDE FOR THE GUY NOT DEFINITE COSTS
i’v thought about becoming a o/d, i very nearly did become one 2 years ago when another o/d (a family friend) sold up and offerd me his unit and trailer and work and did alot of pencil and number crunching and i did alot of thinking, alot of speaking with other o/d’s and small hauliers i know and even my boss helped me alot, i came to the relaisation that the rates were poor and were actually on a downward scale, there was other bigger established hauliers moving in chopping rates and the future looked uncertain so i decided to decline his offer and stay as an employed driver. yes there are days i wish i had taken the gamble and went for it but from what i see and hear i made the right choice. my advice is think long and hard, do alot of number crunching, talk with others, lisin to what there saying as it just might save you a fortune or make you your fortune
globby 480:
i no expert big e… if i was a expert i wouldnt be running trucks but you realy need to pull your head from up your own crack mate and step into the big wide world but who knows you may be the next eddie wanna be or norbert, good luck with your idea hope it works, just like the rest of us out there with the same big ideas once anyway,
So globby you run trucks of your own for this I admire you, you decided to go it alone and I hope it works out for you, sure its not going to be a bed of roses I’ve had my own company since 2003 (a 7.5 ton and a van) both on with national parcel companies so I no what it’s like, maybe I will make it, maybe I wont but until I try I wont no. Tell me globby do you really regret going it alone?
i would say yes and no in regretting it big e, and the yes side, when you are lay"d under the things in peeing down rain wet thro freezing cold, paper work,tax bills,vat bills,putting your own money in etc and host of other bills and the daily hassle of it yep i regret it, and the no factor well there realy is one apart from you make the decisions in a way, lol
had the same thought in the early 90"s sold up and went to work for brs, and said never again but i guess i forgot to remind myself of that the last time i did the crazy thing and buy trucks again
If you are that determined to do this in the future then you will , but the main thing as in any business is you have to get your costs right .
Its obviously not the best time at the moment to be starting up unless you can get nailed down good paying work but every other Tom,■■■■ and Harry is looking for this as well , in an ideal world we would all be running around for £1-00 per km unfortunately there is more work being offered at £1-00 per mile than that as I found out last week when somebody asked me about doing some work for them.
You need to work out all your fixed costs per week ie Truck , Insurance , VED , maintenance etc to give you an idea of what it will cost you per week whether the truck works or not then you have your running costs on top of this,obviously the main one is fuel…at a rough estimate on a figure of a truck costing you £200 per week lease / HP heres a approx weekly costing on a 4x2 40 tonner doing 600 kms per day for 5 days a week
Truck £200-00
Insurance £ 45-00
VED £ 45-00
Trailer £125-00
Diesel £1035-00 = £1450-00 , so on this figure it is costing you 0.48p per km to run thats about .75 p per mile so if your working for £1-00 a mile it dont need a genius to work out theres not loads of profit there , and there also a host of other costs I havent listed…maintenance and unforseen breakdowns being the main ones , although if you have a R & M contract you can break this down into pence per mile.
Think long and hard about it and dont jump into the pot just because you want a big shiney truck the most important thing is for it to earn you money not look good , if you can manage it to do both but thats a bonus. £500 per week take home for a driver at present aint bad money , remember theres a lot of O/Ds small hauliers out there that are only one big breakdown away from bankruptcy…harsh but true
If you do decide to have a go then good luck to you mate…youll need it
THE FIGURES I HAVE GIVEN ARE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD WITHOUT A CALCULATOR ETC , SO TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE TO COME ON AND SLAG WHAT EVER OTHER PEOPLE SAY…THEY ARE A ROUGH GUIDE FOR THE GUY NOT DEFINITE COSTS
I kind of guessed this well i’m going to give it a go and hopefully things will pick up. If they dont i will not be venturing into it untill it does.
You have all been great and the big picture has been built up and i can see its going to be hard work to get going and stay running.
Danny27404:
I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and have started on my way to my cpc then international cpc maybe. I’m going to comercial motor show but its a good idea to go there with a good idea what i need.
This is my plan and i would apreciate any help from anybody where i could go wrong etc.
I am going to hire a unit to start with untill maybe the 2nd year when i hope to have made enough money to purchase my own. My therory is to get fixed contracts and minimise running empty and use companys trailers. Insurance is one i’ll most probably leave for advice at Comercial Motor Show. But where do i begin to start looking for contracts? I found 1 site on yahoo but it didn’t seem that busy with loads just tons of drivers looking for loads or is that the key? i need to be waiting for people to contact me? But then to me that seems a lazy and slow way of doing it. My other idea is to ring up large companys like Stobart, Tesco, Sainsburys, Malcom Brookfield etc and see what they have to offer? I suppose i sound clueless but i really want to give this a go and i’m not stupid its just haulage to me needs to be a well oiled machine and one running empty or parked up for a day can blow your proffits out the window. Otherwise your best just sticking with your PAYE job? - I currently earn a Take home £500 a week for 5 days so the next question is. Is it worth becoming a Owner driver if i’m earning that kind of cash currently?
Thankyou to anyone/everyone who can assist.
i can hear stobarts now saying"what we going to do when danny starts up in business with his own truck"we might have to wrap up.
yer stobby said the same when old l.hawke had a few on the road as well, stobby was ■■■■■■■■ his self daily , now norberts are the same now he is a reputable int" haulier
Danny27404:
With buying a truck i’m in a finance agreement for years where as renting you can do short contracts so if it goes belly up your not in half as much crap as you would be buying.
I would imagine the shorter and easier the rental agreement, the more they will sting you. Pick a decent 2nd hand one and take a finance deal that allows you to pay it off early without a massive penalty, then if it goes well you can pay it off quick and if it goes badly you can struggle along without being crippled every month by a big repayment.
Danny27404:
I was using web sites as a example for loads but yes the loads are best set in stone before you go for the truck.
you dont need a £100k truck to start with but a half decent truck is needed to show your company image.
I think you’ll be waiting a long time for actual ‘contracts’. Most of the work is pretty ad hoc, you’ll probably just have to take what comes along.
You won’t have a ‘company image’ to start with. You need to cut all the ■■■■■■■■ to the very minimum when starting out. Don’t worry about all the firms interviewed in Commercial Motor or Trucking banging on about light bars helping their ‘brand awareness’ and all that rubbish. Most customers only care about one thing, the bottom line. They don’t care if you carry the load with a 59-reg Scania Topliner or a ERF EC11, as long as it gets there and as cheap as poss.
Danny27404:
There is definately money in it with the right or “lucky” contracts otherwise every haulage firm would go bust. Who i work for now started as a 1 man band now 20 years later 100 trucks in the fleet and 160 trailers 3 warehouse’s and 4 yards spread across UK.
There is money if you are in it in a big enough way. There are some massive firms out there operating on 0.5% profit margins. Fine if you’re turning over 80mil a year, less appealing if you’re earning 80,000 a year. Many of the big boys also do haulage as virtually a loss leader, with warehousing etc providing much of their profits.
Your’e boss has done well but there is far more regulations now. Even stupid things like having to take 45hrs off every couple of weeks, basically stops you working Saturdays. Might not sound much but all adds up.
Overall, you have much to think about. Good luck cos you are gonna need it.
Danny.At the risk of sounding patronising read the posts mate, there is a higher ratio of negative comments from those who are speaking from experience.(including me) The fact is that the small profit (if you are lucky) does not justify the large outlay, the worry, pressure, hassle. and general BS you face being an OD. You have a good income now so for Christs sake DONT DO IT , or if you do let me know so I can apply for your present job
I dont care what anyone says, I took advice from here, some good, some not so good. Reality kicks in, the biggest mistake I made was buying a 4 wheeler, disaster from day 1, Next was the credit question, then payment terms, then a big upfront payment for insurance, then testing the truck, then taxing it, then tyres, not to mention conditions of O license, then to fill 1100 ltr tanks isnt cheap, and then general running costs. I bought the Scania outright, and the trailer, but I know a guy, a good friend, who hocked himself up to the eyeballs for a daf 105 and folded 2 months later. Its not easy mate but go for it, you will always regret not doin it. there are other jobs out there if it doesnt work, at least you can say you gave it a go. I really wish you all the best and keep me updated m8.
go for it mate lifes all about taking risks if you dont try youll never know just be prepared to work for it! by the way who do you work for cos im looking for a new job and your job sounds like good money…
i have just read this post and i am actually quite taken back with how rude some people have been , all this guy wanted to know is if it was worth his while in been an owner driver , admitting he knew nothing about what to do as it was his first time in looking into this side of the business , a bit of encouragement or an explanation on why it would be a better idea to wait or stay put in the business he is in would have been better than silly remarks asking if it is a joke post , remember you where once in his shoes!
you need alot of money to start with (the only way to make a small fortune in haulage is to start with a large one) Once you have got the rig and tax insurance ect together you will then have to buy fuel and pay all the bills long before you will paid. If you get into the borrowing situation you are just working for a bank and going slowly bust.
Many of us old timers started with an old grod and struggled on doggedly doing most of the repairs and maint.
I think we would have made more money working for some one else buy i must admit there is more pridein working for yourself .
try some of the container companies Some pay weekley after 30 days
those who are encouraging this fella to do it are actually O/D themselves ?
Can you advise as reading your posts you are all talking thru ye bullet !!
Dont be encouragin somebody else only to see them fail.
To survive today you need to keep that wagon goin 7/7 and plenty of spare cash. Unless you can get that all “Exclusive Lucrative Contract” then ye wont earn much more than a wage, but jeez would ye have to put the hrs in…
Theres hauliers who have been goin yrs packin in, what makes you think you can do it ?
kage5001:
go for it mate lifes all about taking risks if you dont try youll never know just be prepared to work for it! by the way who do you work for cos im looking for a new job and your job sounds like good money…
Sorry, whats your experience in running a truck(s) ■■?
Hi my only advise is go for it i have leased my truck through mercedes at barnsley i have done my first year very scarey at times got some good work with grove freight who then went bust last week owing me 24k kinda makes your 500 a week take home look good
My boss started as an O/D in 1992, big gamble to take, Now we have 20 trucks 30 trailers With Our Own Contracts Covering Export & Import all over Western Europe.
I think you need a few things to start,
1, Common Sense
2, Understanding Wife
3, Understanding Bank Manager
4, Reliable Customers Who will pay a good rate for a good service and PAY ON TIME
5, 2nd Driver who can work when you need to have weekend rest.
6, Reliable Kit, (a recent breakdown for me in Denmark cost me nearly £5000 to sort)
7, Luck & lots of it !!!
, now norberts are the same now he is a reputable int" haulier 
