I’ve written to the CLO and surrendered NINE56’s operators licence.
We were hit by a couple of companies going bust, then by a 20k non payer which meant that we had no choice but to throw in the towel.
Thank you to all of you who have provided help, support, advice, lively debate, etc over the years. I’m out of the industry now, selling software and support for employers. I’ll still slink around the forums though, I spent too much time with my card in to completely abandon the industry.
I’m really sorry to hear that Nick, funny I was only wondering how you were getting on a few days back.
When I give advice I always say its half harder work than you can imagine and half luck. I’ve had plenty of bad luck, but never quite enough to finish me, that’s the way the cards fell. It must be a kicker to know you did everything you could right but no payment would finish the best of us.
Yes, I would do it again. If I can find the money.
My problem was I committed to heavily to one smaller customer so when he became a problem it crippled us.
I would either go whole hog with a big one, ala Post Kogeko or someone like that, or spread the load a lot more so that if one fails, it doesn’t take me with it.
The problem is, once you lose £20k, you can limp on, but the repayments on supporting someone else’s debt knocked cash flow. We carried on for 7 months after this bloke stopped paying but a combination of the interest on supporting his debt and the legal fees chasing it meant that when the next thing went wrong I was screwed.
I’d still go new on lease, but I’d probably try to double shift rather than have trampers. It was much better for us when we switched the wagons to four on four off but getting 14 working short working days a week out of a truck seems much more profitable than getting 7 long days, even with the extra fuel costs and staffing.
Now I’m helping my new employer with getting a FORS accreditation service set up and we are trying to develop a software package for operators to handle maintenance, training, etc with employment law advice built in. So I’m using what I’ve learned.
The final thing I would change, if I go again, I’ll start off with more than one, and I’ll have someone else driving so I can earn my own wage separately. The biggest problem for me towards the end was that I could pay my guys but couldn’t pay myself. Personal finances are a mess right now!
nsmith1180:
I’d still go new on lease, but I’d probably try to double shift rather than have trampers.
Where it all went wrong was not a customer not paying, but an OD trying to compete with the big boys while playing on their premises.
New trucks on lease, tyre contracts etc.
Incorrect. We were profitable and growing until this customer stopped paying. Then we lost £20k in cash flow and it was a downward spiral. Between Eddie, WS, Great Bear and Wincanton, we could have run two wagons 24h a day. New is the only way to go in my opinion. The Renault was was a E6B and was 3% more efficient than the Merc it replaced on the same work. The Scania was E6C and was 16% more efficient than the Frenchie on the same work. So keeping current with trucks offest 19% of the 23.5% increase in diesel cost over 2 years.
nsmith1180:
Incorrect. We were profitable and growing until this customer stopped paying. Then we lost £20k in cash flow and it was a downward spiral. Between Eddie, WS, Great Bear and Wincanton, we could have run two wagons 24h a day. New is the only way to go in my opinion. The Renault was was a E6B and was 3% more efficient than the Merc it replaced on the same work. The Scania was E6C and was 16% more efficient than the Frenchie on the same work. So keeping current with trucks offest 19% of the 23.5% increase in diesel cost
over 2 years.
How were you profitable? You closed the doors when a £20k minus arose. You don’t calculate profitability on a day-to-day basis.
I’m sure you could run a hundred wagons 24/7 and still be in the red, leasing the newest greatest trucks won’t help you with competing with the companies who buy trucks for a third off and satisfied to make a profit of one tenth per truck of what you need just to survive.
Milodon - we had stripped out the fat while dealing with the issue. For example, the vans were a mistake so they went, but we were left with the legacy of this big debt and the slightly loss making van operation. When you loose 9% of annual turn over in an industry where margins are fixed somewhere around 8% you are on a hiding to nothing. We could have made it through if the little things didn’t crop up, 250 for a minor bump here, a missed delivery slot there which stood the vehicle for a day etc.
Any 1, 2, or even 3 of the things we could have survived, but all of them at the same time broke the back of us.
But, on the basis of how much I spent in Week 10 compared to how much I earned in week 10, we were on the right side, it was just the past which tripped us up.
Own Account Driver - We had credit insurance through our factoring company but at the time the defaulter defaulted, we were both factored by the same company and they refused to do any thing about it. They claimed conflict of interest meant they couldn’t pursue legal action against another of their clients, which meant that the insurance didn’t mean a thing.
Truckman1000 - I’ve received you PM but your settings mean I cant reply.
I apologise for asking ’ if you’d do it all again’.
Just out of interest for myself & for anyone thinking of becoming an OD.
Was genuinely just interested. It’s a shame some folk have made you feel the need to explain yourself.
DF40:
I apologise for asking ’ if you’d do it all again’.
Just out of interest for myself & for anyone thinking of becoming an OD.
Was genuinely just interested. It’s a shame some folk have made you feel the need to explain yourself.
Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk
Thats fine. I always knew there would be some who decided that I was silly to try and others who would pick over the carcass. When you embrace the transparency I have, there are always some back seat drivers.
Fair play to you Nick it’s been quite a journey. Not sure I have the constitution for the ups and downs of general haulage, interesting to see you still consider it worth a go.
^^^^^^^^^
I have never commented on Nick’s posts before, but I followed every bit of his “journey” and I can echo that sentiment made above. Fair play to Nick for coming back on TN to report his difficulties; most people in his situation would have slunk away with their tail between their legs.
At the present time most sectors of road transport are experiencing a noticeable downturn in business volumes. It’s virtually unheard of in any mid-summer to have agency drivers readily available, drivers 'phoning asking about vacancies, and numerous subbies looking for work. All this is happening now and is a recession on the way? Possibly.
Two (former) owner drivers I know, both of them highly experienced transport men, have recently thrown in the towel. No money in the job they say… Both are now employed, PAYE drivers working for me.
Sorry to hear you’re closing up, I’ve seen cash flow and bad debts close far bigger and well established companies than yours and not only in haulage. so I doubt you stood a chance really.
yes I’ve got to agree with a lot that has been posted because I had my concerns with your growth rate, but you had the ball’s to go for it …
ok you caught a cold but every day is a school day. I wish you well for your future…
. Up to the last day, I still could never tell you an mpg for any vehicle 
.