Now then Mr Monk we’re starting to worry now, you’ve not posted since the weekend… how did it go? did you make it to Brighton on time? was the new toolbox big enough to get all the Mars Bars in?
If he is working for himself he won’t have time to be posting here. 
Didn’t you hear 
He made it to Brighton ok, stopped for the night for a pint. Went into the Blue Oyster Club and was last seen walking towards Hove hand in hand with a 6’ 4" Bulgarian transvestite called Natalia. HTH
newmercman:
Didn’t you hearHe made it to Brighton ok, stopped for the night for a pint. Went into the Blue Oyster Club and was last seen walking towards Hove(walking like john wayne) hand in hand with a 6’ 4" Bulgarian transvestite called Natalia. HTH
Fixed that for you 
Just finished the first week’s work, don’t have a laptop at the mo so I haven’t been online but I’ll sort one out tomorrow. All went pretty much to plan with no nasty surprises- I’m sure I’ve got those to come- I took a trailer from Newcastle to Shoreham, then did two loads from East Anglia to the south-west and back.
Truck seems to be running fine, didn’t use any oil or water, on the dashboard I was averaging 7.2 mpg which is what I was expecting because it’s heavy work. It’ll be a while before I can do enough number-crunching to get a true idea of what I’m earning but just on a back-of-the-envelope calculation it seems like it will pay a decent wage with enough left over to replace the truck as and when and some profit.
Still early days yet though.
I’ll post a few pics later when I’ve sorted everything else out.
Good man 
glad to know the first week went ok and the bright lights of Brighton did’nt lead you astray
Take a pic somewhere there’s a load of trucks like Lymm and we can have a Where’s Wally? Where’s Harry?
Here’s a quick pic, give me a flash if you see me, my usual haunts will be the M4, M5 and the A303, until my International Operator’s Licence comes through, then I hope to go a bit further afield…
Sweet ride Harry! Really nice.
I asked for lots of advice on TruckNet about all sorts of vehicles, and everybody spoke highly of these. It’s pretty perfectly specced for the heavy work I’ll be doing with the 500bhp engine, fully freighted I got to the top of Detling Hill at 23mph yesterday, in my old FH12 I would be doing 15mph. It’s also well-specced for the international work I hope to pick up from time to time, it carries nearly 1000 litres of diesel which is a lot for a 6x2.
It’s been fairly heavily modified inside too, which is a bonus as I will be away for months if I pick up some roadshow work, which is what I’ll be looking to do. In any event, I’ll be doing 4-5 nights out even on a normal week.
The seller tells me that the heaviest load it ever used to pull was 15 tonnes so I’m hoping the clutch and turbo still have plenty of life in them.
I really don’t know if it will work out or not, but I think I’m being fairly realistic about my chances. I hope to earn a reasonable living, with enough left over to replace the truck as and when needed. Once I have been trading a few months I may put a second vehicle on the road, but for now I’m happy running as an owner-operator.
Harry Monk:
Just finished the first week’s work, don’t have a laptop at the mo so I haven’t been online but I’ll sort one out tomorrow. All went pretty much to plan with no nasty surprises- I’m sure I’ve got those to come- I took a trailer from Newcastle to Shoreham, then did two loads from East Anglia to the south-west and back.Truck seems to be running fine, didn’t use any oil or water, on the dashboard I was averaging 7.2 mpg which is what I was expecting because it’s heavy work. It’ll be a while before I can do enough number-crunching to get a true idea of what I’m earning but just on a back-of-the-envelope calculation it seems like it will pay a decent wage with enough left over to replace the truck as and when and some profit.
Still early days yet though.
I’ll post a few pics later when I’ve sorted everything else out.
now work it out with a calculator, you may be very surprised at the difference
at least the previous owner had the foresight to overcome one of the main problems with the Magnum, by fitting the rear lockers
best of luck with it Harry
Harry Monk:
It’ll be a while before I can do enough number-crunching to get a true idea of what I’m earning but just on a back-of-the-envelope calculation it seems like it will pay a decent wage with enough left over to replace the truck as and when and some profit.
I’ve mentioned this before on here but I find the easiest way to work out roughly how well each week has gone is to work out how much I have earned “After Fuel”. If you take your earnings for a given week and deduct what you have spent on fuel that week then you get a pretty good idea of how the week is going as pretty much all of your other costs are fixed (or nearly fixed) with fuel being the main variable. My target is £1500AF but yours might be a bit lower as I have my own trailer and the work I do is particularly heavy on the vehicle and the tyres. I would think on traction work I could probably make it pay at more like £1200AF to £1300AF.
I’m not expecting you to post your numbers on here but I find it’s a good quick way of working out how profitable a week has been.
Paul
shuttlespanker:
Harry Monk:
on the dashboard I was averaging 7.2 mpgnow work it out with a calculator, you may be very surprised at the difference
Yes.
I have just worked out full tank to full tank on my employer’s XF95 over 964.5 miles,
a quiet week.
The dashboard says 8.4 mpg, not bad, but the calculator says 8.1 
Regards,
Nick.
After fuel costs I would say that I was pretty much bang on your target of £1,500. I will be able to do more in-depth calculations next week, one of the important things I need to calculate is the cost of running London-Exeter via the A303 or the M4/M5 as I will be doing that run a fair bit. I suspect the longer route will be cheaper though, and will definitely be easier on the truck.
Harry Monk:
After fuel costs I would say that I was pretty much bang on your target of £1,500.
Obviously I don’t know what all your other costs are but if you can do that consistently then you should be on to a winner, especially if that figure is after having deducted any trailer hire costs you are being charged. Just doing my paperwork for the week and I’ve had the best week I’ve had in a long time, not got the rates through for all the jobs yet but it’s looking like it’ll work out just over £1700AF so I’m a happy bunny. Home every night too.
Paul
Good to know you’re ok Harry! Had this vision of a Magnum being driven off Beachy Head Quadrophenia style after you had realized what you had done 
. Good luck with it and will be interested how you get on with this haulier as I was going to go on there last month.
Good luck to you Harry nice motor
Your certainly starting off well most people would of just had to run solo down from the north taking the loss.
Hope it all continues to go well for you and then perhaps you might silence a few of the naysayers on here.
460MC:
Hope it all continues to go well for you and then perhaps you might silence a few of the naysayers on here.
No chance! There are loads of owner drivers on here from the newcomers like myself and Harry to others who have been going decades and are happily making money but the naysayers will never let the facts get in the way of their views…
At the end of the day it’s not an easy game but with the right work and the right attitude to the job there is money to be made.
Paul
Harry Monk:
It’s also well-specced for the international work I hope to pick up from time to time, it carries nearly 1000 litres of diesel which is a lot for a 6x2.
Could have done with a bigger Ad-Blue tank though to go with the 1000l of DERV…
The interior looks good, I assume there’s a big inverter somewhere to power all the kitchen kit in the lockers.
Paul
It doesn’t use a great deal of AdBlue, a fill-up should easily last the week, and yes, the electrical stuff is powered by a 3kw inverter. And yes, I do run the engine when boiling the kettle or heating up a meal!