Ha5ham:
Hello again everyone,
I feel like the last few weeks have been way too long for me and some of it has been painful.
In this month one of the trucks turned over the least amount of cash ever! despite working full week -certainly an eye opener - local jobs are really good but the moment you do 1 a day for a full week you may soon be packing it in…(note to self- lesson learnt!)
We are now thankfully fully staffed on all trucks with permanent drivers, 2 of our colleagues are ex army blokes and I am way proud of these young guys resilience and willingness to lead a normal civilian life and also work hard in building their lives considering some of the most harrowing things they have gone through already.
UK fuels started playing ball with us so thats encouraging to see credit term extended from them.
Third truck finally got sign written last week -only took them 4 weeks to get right timings to come out and do it…
Into planning next years movements and giving a serious look into what else we can tap into.
We had our Christmas dinner last night me with our team of 3 drivers and spouses was a good laugh no thanks to the rubbish one liners from the crackers on the table!
Finally we at the company would like to wish all of you on here a very merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous new year.
Thank you all for the support this year and sharing my journey this far, See you all God willing in 2016.
Cheers mate for taking the time to give the update. Real pleased things seem to be going pretty well on the whole. Have you got any pics of your liveried gear? Cheers, Dan
Again from me thanks for posting all your adventures. I would never buy a truck myself but it’s really interesting hearing about people starting out. Harry Monk is another one that posts some interesting stuff including his boating.
Anyway a prosperous new year to you.
Interesting read. Running a haulage co. can be likened to driving along the motorway. Most of it is quite flat & level = average fuel usage = some profit if you’ve got your sums right. Some is downhill = little or no fuel usage = more profit. Then there are the up hill sections = using lot of fuel = little or no profit. Unfortunately sometimes there are a lot of hills close together. The good side is that after the hills it usually goes downhill quite a way then levels out. (this scenario not be confused with a co. going downhill).
Great read and wish you all the best OP, as you’ve got balls!
Not sure I could ever deal with the stress, heartache and uncertainty of it all…
I’ve heard again and again that Maritime doesn’t pay as an OD, so I have to wonder when (or if) they will run out of willing applicants?
Also, what percentage of Maritime trucks are OD?
Well done glad its moving forward. The only thing that seems strange is that, most small firms grow from an OD with a fetish for trucks, hard work and heartbreak.
You seem to have sat down at the kitchen table stage and picked the most regulated business with massive running costs and really tight profit margins.
Keep us updated on your adventure
I get the feeling I am not the only one thinking blow your old job out and get behind the wheel of the second truck.
I think its something you need to go into with a passion for trucks, give it your all and get stuck in… A business adventure maybe not so… It’s still something I dream of, even after seeing all the graft my best mate puts in (drive all week and in yard on weekends) I do hope it works for the chap though!..
Sorry for the late update - Jan to date has been very busy.
One of my original trucks cost me £1800 for an engine/exhaust brake assy it apparently got discovered when the dealer was replacing the faulty starter that was being done under warranty I will let you all guess whether the engine brake is covered under warranty or not (dealer first tried charging 800 for the starter saying he couldnt find the warranty cost code?)
I have started trying out some curtain work -while it pays better or lets say consistently its not as busy as I want i think I may be in with the wrong crowd as they may not have that much work… still looking.
I have had our o licence increase approved and I am well chuffed with what I have achieved so far this year and I have already added another 2 units last week and this week.
I am slowly phasing ourselves back from from subbing and starting to look for direct work hopefully that will go to plan and bear fruits.
Well done, keep plugging away. Don’t worry about the occasional big repair bill, in the last two months I’ve had a new compressor (£1200), new radiator (£1200) and new injector sleeves (£2000 because the cylinder head had to come off) so you have got off lightly.
Yep, keep looking for your own work, there’s a living in subbing but not much more. It might work out, it might not but on your deathbed, rich or poor, at least you’ll be able to say you gave it a go.
EDIT Just to add that I wouldn’t spend £1800 getting the exhaust brake repaired on my truck if it wasn’t affecting the performance and safety of the truck other than that the exhaust brake wasn’t working, I wouldn’t consider the exhaust brake to be an essential piece of kit unless you were having to make Mont Blanc types of descent. If not, then the service brakes are more than adequate.
Harry Monk:
Well done, keep plugging away. Don’t worry about the occasional big repair bill, in the last two months I’ve had a new compressor (£1200), new radiator (£1200) and new injector sleeves (£2000 because the cylinder head had to come off) so you have got off lightly.
Yep, keep looking for your own work, there’s a living in subbing but not much more. It might work out, it might not but on your deathbed, rich or poor, at least you’ll be able to say you gave it a go.
EDIT Just to add that I wouldn’t spend £1800 getting the exhaust brake repaired on my truck if it wasn’t affecting the performance and safety of the truck other than that the exhaust brake wasn’t working, I wouldn’t consider the exhaust brake to be an essential piece of kit unless you were having to make Mont Blanc types of descent. If not, then the service brakes are more than adequate.
Sounds like something went a bit badly awry with that injector sleeve job. TBH
Sorry for the late update - Jan to date has been very busy.
One of my original trucks cost me £1800 for an engine/exhaust brake assy it apparently got discovered when the dealer was replacing the faulty starter that was being done under warranty I will let you all guess whether the engine brake is covered under warranty or not (dealer first tried charging 800 for the starter saying he couldnt find the warranty cost code?)
I have started trying out some curtain work -while it pays better or lets say consistently its not as busy as I want i think I may be in with the wrong crowd as they may not have that much work… still looking.
I have had our o licence increase approved and I am well chuffed with what I have achieved so far this year and I have already added another 2 units last week and this week.
I am slowly phasing ourselves back from from subbing and starting to look for direct work hopefully that will go to plan and bear fruits.
Till next time …
Have you jacked your job?
As struggling to see how the TC would accept you could manage what’s a substantially growing fleet.
Hmmmm,
too busy now to reply with numbers up to ten trucks or “lights out”■■!!![emoji54]
I think your right, sounded a right load of ■■■■■■■■ from the start!
The wheels have only been turning just over 6 months and you’ve expanded faster than the famous Orange and white Volvo fridge trucks of a few years back!
