What would be a realistic hourly rate, for a driver who is Ltd to go direct into haulers, rather than via a agency…?
How long is a piece of string? It all depends on a lot of factors imo; are you known (in a favourable light) to the prospective haulier? Do you have a good reputation locally? If the answer to those is yes and given your location I’d say a fair rate Mon to Fri would be around the £13 p/h mark. If you are an unknown quantity then I’d say you’d struggle to get £10 p/h. No offence to you mate, but why would any co shell out premium money for what may be a driver who barely can and has a bad attitude? (Not aiming that at you btw)
If you are going to pitch yourself to prospective hauliers I’d stress to them that whilst the rate may at first glance seem a tad high, they have the flexibility with you of no holiday/sick/pension contributions, no income tax and no NI to pay. Plus of course they can pick you up and put you down at will.
Non taken…good input thanks…Am looking at door knocking firms n leaving my details, as opposed to using agency’s…I,ve been Ltd for 14yrs as a contractor (groundworks),would be a shame to let it go altogether… 
We had guys on at £120 + vat per shift normal shift between 8 and 12 hrs
Hiya one job I was doing payed £10.20p per hour, i was jacking it in (we couldn’t get a replacement)
so we got a chap off the agency, he then took over from me. He was not best pleased as he got £12 off the
agency. His new rate would be £10 20. He did get holiday and sick pay which makes a big difference.
John