Rob K:
Where’s Routier when you need him
He’s been there, done it and has the experience and debts to match. Listen to this guy’s advice; he knows what he’s on about but I think you’ll find when it comes down to it, his advice will be just the same as mine - FORGET IT!
Here I am!!! Rob K advice is sound advice to you fella, and I will repeat it to you DONT DO IT. If you want to blow your ten grand then donate it to me!!! this will help pay off the debt I got into running trucks because you will end up with the same result Zero back unless you are one of the lucky few, and yes you need a lot of it plus lot and lots of dosh!
I like you 5 years ago had the same drive , to set up a decent business which I eventually did, getting my own contracts but this was after getting ripped off (£13000),engine seizure ( 5yr old topline,£9000 to repair) truck stolen (£62000), smashed up (£15000), trucks trashed (£massive!), loads lost/damaged( £lost count). You will have to run/work 24/7 to get anything like a wage out of it. and when I mean a wage I dont mean £200! That in my book is not a wage
I’ve ran another business for the last 7 yrs which ended up supporting the trucks because the revenue going out far outweighed what was coming in
and the trucks were on the road 6 days a week! and Yes I did my homework, just never had the crystal ball, had very little on Finance but still ended up in debt.
I know there are some who make it and others that dont. But the ones that dont far outweigh the ones that do. You may make it as an O/D, you wages wont be great and you wont be rich pretty much of likeness to being employed but you will have the headaches to go with it free of charge and you will have to work ■■■■ hard even when your not driving you will still be working
(doing your paperwork/finances/accounts/vat,sorting your vehicle out)
You will have to subcontract to another company unless you are really really lucky getting a contract of your own but would struggle with one truck, so that would mean you will not earn more than £1.10 per mile and thats good for today. Your average monthly turnover will be approx £6000, £1500 per week, you may have good weeks but then they are swallowed up by your bad ( lack of work, public holidays, breakdowns, etc etc)
Irlam and all the other business alike started way back and have managed to build their business successfully when rates were probably decent enough.
Coffee Holic has been in the game yrs and again started off 15 yrs ago when rates were probably the same as now but overheads less! And hes got in with a good crowd
Fuel , Insurance and Liability have all increased yrly, liablity has more than doubled even trippled since 9/11
All the other posts on this thread who dont agree with Rob K really do want take their heads out of the sand and have a good look at the industry , you really are living in “an Ideal world” and Yes you will have to run illegal at some stage to get the job done even tipping off the card counts as illegal! Remember Customer comes first , you dont.
Good luck in whatever you decide , and if you do it I do hope you make it if not PM me if you want to send me your dosh