The wife and I are planning on moving to her home country Czech republic next year. I was a truck driving in the UK and we are planning on buying a Mercedes Actros tractor unit (for fuel efficiency) probably a euro 5 1844 4x2 for around 15 - 20,000 Euros and a solid body trailer. I was thinking of purchasing car ramps as well for any jobs requiring car transportation. I thought a solid body trailer would be better then a curtainsider as its more secure and harder to break into.
I guess i would like some advice off experienced owner operators in europe. How do you go about getting work? How much do you charge per km? What do you think of my overall idea on equipment (actros/hard body trailer)?
The European haulage game is now dominated by much cheaper companies from Eastern Europe, some hire two drivers for one lorry, that can do a long distance by sharing the driving.
For car transportation, that is a hard one to answer, i can only suggest Polish firms that pick up MOT failures and wrecked cars , that they do up and sell on again , i have no idea on the contacts for that .
Another option is concert and exhibition sub contract work that covers all of Europe and TIR countries, some concerts can last a few months , if not longer .
Or orchestral tour work and musicals, of which the UK firm Paul Matthew specialize in.
The rates you may get are very low, at a guess 90 cents to 1,25 euros per kilometer, for firms such as LK Walter in Austria.
Waberers , in Hungary have several thousand trucks all over Europe, but i am not sure if they use subbies .
For Czech, i would get a cheap flight there, and ask around some big and small players in the market .
A solid body trailer or box van trailer is more secure, as you can place a strong Bulldog lock on the rear doors, which will prevent illegal immigrants trying to break in , to get in to the UK .
The last few years, the Calais area of France has had a lot of problems with drivers being attacked in their cabs, roads being blocked by trees and boulders, on the way to the ferry port and channel tunnel train .
A freight forwarder would prefer a curtain sider trailer , for ease of loading and unloading.
Do not forget to factor in goods in transit insurance, which is so much per ton.
Break down back, such as DKV cards, and tire call out, all these need to be 24/7 to keep you moving.
If hauling ADR dangerous goods loads, a DGSA needs to appointed for your operation .
An other option is furniture removals , but a crew is needed for heavy lifting .
I’d say go for a curtainsider, you’ve got more options on what you load. First time you get some long freight, you are in trouble with a box.
No point you having my ppm, simply because we are specialist and anyway your costs in Czech are not going to be comparable to those in the UK.
I would respectfully suggest that you reasearch this a lot more - you’ll be doing a lot of work for not a lot of money; rates in Europe are on the floor.
You guys may be right it might not be worth doing. My wifes father drove for an Austria mob because they are close to the border but what they consider good money and what I do are two very different things. Ear to the ground I have heard the EU is finally doing something right and are going to be implementing rules against eastern european companies swiping work cheaply. In saying that I will do a little more research and see what I come up with, so far ive found freight boards paying anywhere from 70 odd cents a km to a euro 20 but tolls and any ferry crossings need to be taken into consideration as well as insurances and so on.
probably better off ■■■■■■■ off back to Australia and getting a driving job god know the pay rates are great.
So why would you want to get into this? If your plan is an income comparable to what you make down under, well it’s not going to happen. If you’d be satisfied doing, say, mon-fri tramping from cz to poland, germany and so on for a living wage (a czech one), it wouldn’t be that hard. Although speaking the local lingo is a prequisite there as much as it is in, say, Switzerland or Norway.
if your post is genuine then the only relevant aspect of sensibiity is this quote from it…“”" probably better off ■■■■■■■ off back to Australia and getting a driving job god know the pay rates are great.“”“” as for the rest,with all the taliban competition then its ludicrous and your dreaming.
How do you go about getting work?
How much do you charge per km?
What do you think of my overall idea on equipment (actros/hard body trailer)?
