Hi there.
Still ploughing through the O- licence form . It looks like i need a standard licence for one grab lorry, this will run all local all maintaince / inspections already sorted with a local HGV firm, tacho and drivers hours no big deal as all local trips so plenty of chances for statoury breaks etc.
So apart from the fact that we must have a qualified traffic manager for O-licence reasons how much work will they need to do for us especially as we will sort most things out at this end so cant see much for him /her to do really for only one lorry and also what is the costs of employing a transport manager per month /per year??
Thanks for your help.
Tricky Dicky.
There was a guy on eBay (Not The Best Of Places To Find A TM), if you search Scania, Volvo etc, and he was offering his services for £57.50pw. Think his ad stated he’d check tachos, check/sign service intervals etc etc… I dont know how he’d do that if you stayed miles apart? Obviously something not quite right about his setup but gives you a rough price guide.
Have a look at :-
transportweb.com/directory/427
My entry:-
transportweb.com/directory/427/47939/
You need to engage a TM that is fairly local to you so that he can have ‘full and effective control’ as required by the Traffic Comissioner.
Pm me if you want any help or advice.
The price for the guy on ebay is about the going rate (looks like his is £50 plus vat).
Smart Mart:
You need to engage a TM that is fairly local to you so that he can have ‘full and effective control’ as required by the Traffic Comissioner.
Hi Smart Mart, Agreed mate. 
When I assisted with an ‘O’ licence upgrade (restricted [own account] licence changed to Standard National,) the forms had boxes for my address and the firm’s address, so I guess that’s how they check how far away from the firm the TM lives. In the event, the fact that I’m approx 20 miles away didn’t raise any problems with our TC, Ms Bell.
I’m guessing; but if there was a problem, I reckon Ms Bell would have let me know. 
One other point to consider is that the TCs generally don’t like a TM to be managing too many clients at the same time… I think there might be some VOSA guidance on that point too. 
IIRC, the guideline was that a fleet of up to three vehicles needed 8 hours per week of input from the nominated TM, but I’m not 100% sure whether that’s still the case, or whether that guideline has changed.
Your TM must state on your license application form that he works 8 hours for you, that is the minimum, even for one vehicle. I think five or six operators are the maximum a CPC holder can act for, the working time directive is 48 hours, so six is max. I have in the past acted for five at one time.
£25-£30 per week is the norm for one vehicle, agencies charge more.
Dave the Renegade:
Your TM must state on your license application form that he works 8 hours for you, that is the minimum, even for one vehicle. I think five or six operators are the maximum a CPC holder can act for, the working time directive is 48 hours, so six is max. I have in the past acted for five at one time.
£25-£30 per week is the norm for one vehicle, agencies charge more.
£25-£30 per week is in my opinion far too cheap. If you consider as you have said that you have to commit to 8 hours per operator then that works out at a max of £3.75 per hour!
Smart Mart:
Dave the Renegade:
Your TM must state on your license application form that he works 8 hours for you, that is the minimum, even for one vehicle. I think five or six operators are the maximum a CPC holder can act for, the working time directive is 48 hours, so six is max. I have in the past acted for five at one time.
£25-£30 per week is the norm for one vehicle, agencies charge more.
£25-£30 per week is in my opinion far too cheap. If you consider as you have said that you have to commit to 8 hours per operator then that works out at a max of £3.75 per hour!
Smart Mart, with all due respect, what are you going to find to do for 8 hours, its just a figure for the T C. You can’t charge much more, as you can check tacho’s maitenance records etc in far less time than that, you charge per vehicle after the fist one.
Dave, CPC National & International.
Smart Mart:
£25-£30 per week is in my opinion far too cheap. If you consider as you have said that you have to commit to 8 hours per operator then that works out at a max of £3.75 per hour!
Agreed again Smart Mart, cos I wouldn’t fancy that level of responsibility even at the ‘going’ rate of £50 p/w.TBF, the work is pretty straightforward, but it’s what they’re up to on the other four days that makes me wonder.
Maybe the mercenary TM market is suffering saturation and depressed prices too??
It might just be me, but I honestly think that a good TM is maybe worth a bit more than £50 p/w.
dieseldave:
Smart Mart:
£25-£30 per week is in my opinion far too cheap. If you consider as you have said that you have to commit to 8 hours per operator then that works out at a max of £3.75 per hour!
Agreed again Smart Mart, cos I wouldn’t fancy that level of responsibility even at the ‘going’ rate of £50 p/w.TBF, the work is pretty straightforward, but it’s what they’re up to on the other four days that makes me wonder.
Maybe the mercenary TM market is suffering saturation and depressed prices too??
It might just be me, but I honestly think that a good TM is maybe worth a bit more than £50 p/w.
Dieseldave,
You go out and find an owner driver who can pay as much as you state, if I could get more I would certainly charge more and I do the job properly, no phantom TM in my case. I respect the rules and anyone who employs me must do the same, otherwise, I withdraw my CPC, which I have done in one case.
Dave the Renegade:
Dieseldave,
You go out and find an owner driver who can pay as much as you state, if I could get more I would certainly charge more and I do the job properly, no phantom TM in my case. I respect the rules and anyone who employs me must do the same, otherwise, I withdraw my CPC, which I have done in one case.
Fair comment Dave.
I did exactly as you did, no phantom, and everything had to be spot-on etc.
We had the follow-up VOSA visit too, there were a couple of suggestions, but no actual faults found.
I’d also agree with your point about the hours needed Vs. the actual work to be done, but there’s no point arguing with the TC, especially our Ms Bell. 
TBF, I didn’t work for O/Ds and my comments were based on my experience of ‘O’ licence upgrades.
I ought to have made my meaning a bit clearer, sorry
The type of firm I acted for already had a ‘primary’ activity unrelated to transport in the first place, so I do accept your point that the economics would probably be quite different to those of an O/D. The ‘O’ licence upgrades I assisted with were performed so that the trucks would actually generate some revenue and profit in their own right, rather than simply being a no-win cost-base to the owner for serving clients’ convenience.