I’ve been working for every man and his dog using just every type of truck out there for about 10yrs (i’m c+e) and cos the truck i’ve been handed the keys to (yet another 71/2 tonner getting work in anything else is scarce here) is a mess (again) - not my fault - I’ve decided to take the plunge and want to go it alone, I’ve not told anyone I work with yet about this and am not going to till iI hand in my notice.
I’ve sorted a rig and a trailer and a whole heap of work for said rig (it’s a scania 144 470 6x2 TAG topline t cab) but everyone I talk to says I got to get an O license to even think about running my set up.
I know the rules regarding tacho and the rules of the road and i’ve always done my own accounts and hmrc have never had a problem with them.
I spoke to a nice lady that says i gotta have transport managers qualifications as well as an operators cpc to go with my own dcpc — I don’t understand what’s going on or why I need to have these things as it’s going to be me and my dog in my rig hauling a trailer and that’s it. It’s not like I’m Eddie Stobarts running lots of trucks and trailers and stuff.
I registered my new company (“snoball haulage” - why snoball cos everything in my life ends up snoballing out of all proportion) with hmrc through an accountants, I keep a log of every job that I choose to go to and have never had any problems till now.
The guys at the insurance company can’t understand it either and the level of cover I got (fully comp £3775p/a) is amazing considering this is my first and probably only rig that i’ll ever have.
Any advice for me would be more than welcome
Is this just about taxing the heck out of solo operators to make sure that only the big boys can play ?
the packages that i’ve been offered are ones where you partner with another company ie: they add you to their O license and basically offer help if you need it.
i know a hell of a lot about the O license - I’ve read so much material and spoken to sooooo many people that i understand it almost as well as they do and meet the criteria for most of it. The CPC part of things only came to light after some really lengthy discussions where it got blurted out - now i find it’s like a grand plus to get one. the only other option is the partner scheme that is being offered.
the transport managers qualifications - what am i going to need these for ■■? am i supposed to do an indepth run down on myself ■■?
the other criteria - i got my own fully serviced and covered yard for storage etc… i got a fair bit in the bank, i meet hmrc’s own criteria, can afford everything else that i need right off the bat
this is the one thing that i’ve always stayed away from and am sort of understanding why…
Get your operators Cpc then apply for an o licence then you’re good to go.
You can employ a 3rd party transport manager to by pass the need for a Cpc but you still need to get your own o licence, it is illegal to run on someone else’s o licence and you will get your truck confiscated.
if the people that i work for actually gave me decent kit to use instead of the clapped out disgusting *&^% that they seem to think is acceptable then i wouldn’t be even thinking about any of this.
fact is I want my own truck clean, shiny, tidy and comfy aesthetically pleasing environment to do the same duties that i’m doing now but there is no way that anyone in the company is going to do it.
i got a home study course with ocpc exams in march — might even consider booking second set of ocpc exam for june — i saw what’s invovled and quite frankly there is no way that i’m guna pass first hit…
i may not be the sharpest knife in the block and exams scare the hell outta me and i’ve only found out as much as i currently know by speaking to people - if i hadn’t found them to talk to then i’d prolly have just got a rig and hired a trailer got some insurance just in case of oooops and carried on - so i guess the real question should be why are transport companies still running &^%$ equipment ?
What you’re saying is like me saying I’m fed up with people getting grease caked on the spanners and not cleaning it off I’m going to jack in being a mechanic and be a brain surgeon I’II just need to buy a scalpel.
Buying a truck is not really the hurdle for most people going it alone although buying a sensible truck is a different matter.
Someone working on commission selling insurance is telling you what you want to hear - and the quote does sound cheap for no track record so I would guess it will be missing some element of cover you’d need.
i thought that it was cheap too but the paperwork that the insurance brokers sent through is for a fully comp policy.
i’m going to have at craic at the exams though not expecting too much. the date for going it alone is roughly the end of may i just wasn’t sure what was involved and am glad it is that far away might even have half a shot at an o license but not counting sheep yet… i’m just trying to put everything in place so that when the day arrives everything will be in place and i can make the final decision.
the decision over the rig is one that i would’ve made anyways cos i loved going to the shows last year and was going to get a rig as a project - the rig i’m looking at is in the strip down, bead blast, repaint and ground up rebuild stage.
if i pass the ocpc exams then all well and good - if i don’t pass the ocpc exams then i’ll move house and try and find summat better cos what i got isn’t worth hanging onto for too much longer.
you don’t need an operators cpc, you can nominate a transport manager from the company you’re subbing the work off if you want. you’ll need an o’licence in your trading name or your company name though.
the system is stupid. a driver with 10,20, or 30 years experience isn’t qualified to run a single truck, but an 18 year old spotty git can run a fleet, as long as he has a piece of paper to say he can.
You cannot operate legally without an O-Licence and that is minimum 9 weeks assuming they are satisfied with every aspect and there are lots of them. This is your’e main issue not the OCPC as you can hire a part time cpc holder until you get your own.
It would probably be worth getting some proper advice so you know exactly what’s required for your situation.
Hope this helps and good luck.
SD
i knew that i couldn’t operate without an O license - what i was surprised by the fact i needed to do the ocpc course (i knew nothing of this until i spoke to someone about O licensing and the requirements for it) as i’ve already got a dcpc.
general consensus both in these boards and elsewhere is that ocpc is the only way to go.
as for employing someone to stand on an O license application - what happens after it’s granted and that person decides that it’s not what they want ? wouldn’t the O license be returned to the rtc till such times as i get an ocpc ? so i’d have to do an ocpc anyways - this is going to get real expensive real quick… watch this space…
foxy stars:
as for employing someone to stand on an O license application - what happens after it’s granted and that person decides that it’s not what they want ? wouldn’t the O license be returned to the rtc till such times as i get an ocpc.
No, you would have 18 months to appoint a new CPC holder as TM.
sorry for this but am getting confused by it all cos on the one hand i’m being told that i need an ocpc to get o lic. etc…
then now am being told i can get a person to stand on an o lic. who’s ocpc qual. but if that person goes elsewhere then i wouldn’t need the ocpc for 18 months therefore i actually only need the person for about 20 minutes to fill out some forms surely this can’t be right…
i know that i said am not the sharpest blade in the block but this seems to contradict itself…
the o license times for this area are around 12weeks… but i’ve been told that i can get it fast tracked if needed and everyone is pretty sure that it will just “fly” through and that’s that… which i thought was really funny…bit like me taking and passing a ocpc course…i’ll prolly still be trying to pass it in 10yrs time…
Own Account Driver:
Someone working on commission selling insurance is telling you what you want to hear - and the quote does sound cheap for no track record so I would guess it will be missing some element of cover you’d need.
I wouldn’t agree with that, mine was only just over 3k with no track record for fully comp any driver over 25, ELI, PLI and GIT.
foxy stars:
sorry for this but am getting confused by it all cos on the one hand i’m being told that i need an ocpc to get o lic. etc…
then now am being told i can get a person to stand on an o lic. who’s ocpc qual. but if that person goes elsewhere then i wouldn’t need the ocpc for 18 months therefore i actually only need the person for about 20 minutes to fill out some forms surely this can’t be right…
No, the exact wording is this. (My bold lettering).
12.6 Changes in Professional Personnel.
If the professionally competent person specified on a standard O licence leaves or can no longer carry out his duties due to physical disability or mental disorder, then the Traffic Commissioner must be informed, via the CLO using form GV80A. The Traffic Commissioner need not revoke the licence and may allow a reasonable period of time for the operator to find a replacement person who is professionally competent. The maximum time which may be allowed by the Traffic Commissioner is 18 months.
In other words, if the TC thought you had nominated a TM and intended to part company with him the moment your O licence was granted and intended to operate without one then you wouldn’t be given this time. It is for operators working in good faith only.
i apologise for being totally dense with regards to these matters but am trying very hard to understand them — bit like the ocpc course books (i read some passages on the web that were taken from them last night) hell only knows why i will need to know half the stuff that’s in them.
IF the TM of the firm holding the contract of works that i’m looking at carrying out stands on my o lic. application (and it’s a big if cos there’s no guarantee that that’s going to happen) and then for whatever reason that contract becomes null and void then the rtc MIGHT give me a second shot at finding someone else who can stand on an o lic…
this seems to be very hit and miss especially when you’re talking rig, trailer and bank manager in the same sentence — it isn’t a game and to have a grey area the size of an ocean doesn’t bear thinking about — am more convinced now that the ocpc is the way to go…
Best advice I could give to anybody starting out is to get your own CPC. Firstly you become more self sufficient, secondly I believe an external TM will charge about £3,000 a year to be named on your O licence, which is all just money out of your pocket, and thirdly you’ll learn a lot on the course anyway.
i’ve got a meeting next week with a firm running 8 leg tippers which should be fun - not driven one for some time and i loved it last time like i said earlier if i can’t have what i really want then i’ll move house and for this job it’s gotta be worth it - the way everything is structured and sorted out is just soooo much better…
as for the ocpc - i got the books in the post this morning but my test for it won’t be anytime soon…i read the first chapter and to be frank i got scared…
harry - as for what they’re going to want for it, i have no ideas but either way it would as you rightly say take money out of an all dwindling pot…
i’ll keep you all posted as to whether or not i make the grade at ocpc level…
as for going it alone — i thought that it would be a darn sight easier than this but hell i keep finding that more stuff gets added to an already long list of things that need to be done…before o lic application…
what a nightmare…hate this government - always taking and giving nothing back - i mean the roads should be a hell of a lot better than they are…
foxy stars:
the decision over the rig is one that i would’ve made anyways cos i loved going to the shows last year and was going to get a rig as a project - the rig i’m looking at is in the strip down, bead blast, repaint and ground up rebuild stage.
foxy stars:
(it’s a scania 144 470 6x2 TAG topline t cab)
There isnt such a motor as a 144 470, do you know that?.
Why would you buy a T cab 6x2 when it restricts what work you can do? surely you would want to be able to do any work with it if what you have planned doesnt work. Especially as a new start up.
What kind of work have you got planned for it? Bulk? containers? ferry trailers? general haulage? etc etc?
Im not having a pop, im just curious!
I wish you good luck with your venture.
