Introducing myself.

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS OWNER AND FLEET OPERATORS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi all,

First post on here. I’ve been a driver for 15 years on and off. Done most things bar ADR, started as a young lad in Class 2 and then Class 1 in Agri related haulage, did fridges on continental work for a while but in the last decade have mainly driven for the supermarkets. Worked for big firms and small firms at both ends of the professionalism scale in the UK and Ireland both as PAYE employee and for the last 5 years through my own Ltd Company.

I’ve been a company director of a VAT registered business, unrelated to transport, for the last 6 years and kept driving part time when my main work was quiet but have recently got out. It was profitable but limited as to its scalability which brings me back to transport.

I will continue driving for a 3PL company in the East Midlands for the next while but have started in earnest on the road to applying for an O license.

There’s some good info on this board, if you wade through the bull, hearsay, negativity and abuse given to dreamers :wink:

2

Welcome to the madhouse.

For what it’s worth my advice would be to think about it from your potential customers’ point of view to begin with; absolutely nothing to do with lorries should come into it at first. How can you offer a better tailor made service than they can get at the moment? You need if at all possible to find a niche market. Know your local area, industrial estates and companies thoroughly. I would start off by drawing an imaginary radius of 20 miles from home, your operating base needs to be in this area, from there another 30/40 mile radius to include towns just outside it. Having done that, research the business of every company within your catchment area, what do they make, what are the physical needs to move it, and harder to find out, where does it go? If you can find something a bit out of the ordinary in its requirements and it appears that their existing arrangements are not really tailored to the company’s needs then start thinking how you can do a better job.

If there is no possibility of a niche operation then decrease your radius and look for several companies whose needs don’t seem to be met, but who may not be producing anything unusual. Unlikely because it will already have been snapped up by those companies providing a pallet overnight service, but it may be worthwhile chasing the larger consignments these pallet customers have.

Potential customers sorted out, operating centre found, then start thinking about equipment needed and most important of all whether the work can be done for a profit.

3

Good day, the east midlands is big. There are a good group on here, iv been putting of doing my courses for cpc/tm stuff for the last year due to not getting the numbers and doing well as an employed driver. There are some more people from notts way who have been also going through the o/d route with varying outcomes.

4

Cav, thanks for the sound advice, much appreciated :slight_smile:

The main reason I aim to eventually get out of the cab and behind the laptop is that more than a few acquaintances I met through my last job, which was selling expensive toys to wealthy people and their offspring, were either founders of or directors in some medium and large haulage firms. They all told me the same thing, that although haulage is a tough business (what business isn’t tough??) with high capital costs, tight margins and it’s very heavily regulated, the financial rewards are there. Perhaps not in the large chunks of cash that fantasists and fans of Wolf of Wall Street imagine a successful business brings but in the real world and over time, well managed, growth minded transport businesses can turn some very good profits for their shareholders.

Now, over the last 6 years, since I started my own company, I’ve met similar people who have a can-do and will-do attitude and it’s taught me how to live. Several associates whose business skills I respect, have actually taken the plunge and gone into haulage despite not having had any background whatsoever in trucking and they are making a decent go of it. One close acquaintance (no such thing as friends in business!) is doing his best to get me to do the same. Initially I was sceptical, over the years I’d worked for and known of plenty of small hauliers. I watched them start up, grow very quickly and then make a mistake or I suspect not know their figures then go insolvent as soon as their cashflow had a major hickup, usually because of too many ego stroking purchases of big thirsty bling covered show trucks (Scania V8’s) combined with failure for a major or sole client to pay. Then startup again and often fail again! This put me off more than once, until now.

I’ve been offered the chance to get involved and I feel I’m ready to have a big go at it. I’ve started and managed a profitable business and grown it to near it’s full potential. Early on I also made mistakes and taken it too close to insolvency for comfort but always managed to claw it back on track keeping both the bank and my competitors from taking it all away. I firmly believe that setbacks and then comebacks like that are worth more than any Masters Degree from a University!

I’ve spent enough years in the transport game not to get starry eyed over wagons. They are just machines now meant to have every drop of value extracted from them before they become uneconomic and unreliable to run. I’m certainly not opposed to running a fleet of 7.5 tonners if that’s where the demand and profit is. No room for emotional decisions in this or any game.

Of course there are poorly informed doubters, nay-sayers and green-eyed cLInts everywhere and to be honest, I don’t respect, have zero patience for and couldn’t give a scheisse what they think so I just won’t engage with them on here or in the real world. Sorry kids!

On the other hand, adults who want to have a grown-up, fact based conversation and also some good craic, I’m willing to learn from you :slight_smile:

5

Thanks for that.

In the meantime I think the best thing to do is to take the operator’s CPC exam, it will be money and time well spent.