What’s the mileage capped at for the £450?
It seems to low to me though I suppose you think your better off with the 450 than being parked in the yard!
Why oh why do operators pay trailer hire to companies pull THEIR trailers moving THEIR goods. 
Its a ridiculous state of affairs.
(…and yes I was foolish enough to do it once years ago).
Driveroneuk:
Why oh why do operators pay trailer hire to companies pull THEIR trailers moving THEIR goods.Its a ridiculous state of affairs.
(…and yes I was foolish enough to do it once years ago).
The milage cps thing is piece of mind as long as most of the time your we’ll under it if your near enuff on it it’s about as much use as a Scania r620 pullin metal boxes out of the docks all day
Driveroneuk:
Why oh why do operators pay trailer hire to companies pull THEIR trailers moving THEIR goods.
Because it’s cheaper and less hassle than running your own trailer.
Harry Monk:
Driveroneuk:
Why oh why do operators pay trailer hire to companies pull THEIR trailers moving THEIR goods.Because it’s cheaper and less hassle than running your own trailer.
I sort of agree with the less hassle bit but the cheaper bit is debatable maintenance wise trls generally don’t cost to much to maintain I bought my trl over 3 years and is now paid for and worth in the region of ten grand so I now have an asset and no monthly rental ho to pay just servicing and maintaince wich is generally in the region of 2 n half grand a year
Harry Monk:
Driveroneuk:
Why oh why do operators pay trailer hire to companies pull THEIR trailers moving THEIR goods.Because it’s cheaper and less hassle than running your own trailer.
You’ve missed the point Harry. What I’m getting at is why should an operator pay a co. anything in order to get paid to pull their trailers moving their goods. Its a complete con.
As for having your own trailer: different type of work to traction only services and I would hope a bit better ppm.
Driveroneuk:
Harry Monk:
Driveroneuk:
Why oh why do operators pay trailer hire to companies pull THEIR trailers moving THEIR goods.Because it’s cheaper and less hassle than running your own trailer.
You’ve missed the point Harry. What I’m getting at is why should an operator pay a co. anything in order to get paid to pull their trailers moving their goods. Its a complete con.
As for having your own trailer: different type of work to traction only services and I would hope a bit better ppm.
Ppm mile is a lot better yes on other work with your own trl
I think the reason traction rates are low is because all your doin is turning up with your unit and hitching up to a loaded trl with work on it that Somone else had sourced and arranged and yet again it goes back to the supply and demand thing it’s not specialist and anyone can go out buy a 2 nd hand unit and do it traction suits some people and not others Harry’s attitude is right he nows he ain’t gona get rich out of it and runs a sensibley priced truck on the job I think where peoe fail on traction n containers is all down to costings havin a 80 grand truck on a job paying 150 a mike ain’t gona leave a lot left for Tht thing called profit
I can just about decipher that 
You mean there’s 150ppm available for traction only? My Goodness, you’ll have some here having an ■■■■■■ at the thought of such.
Traction is never going to pay as much as “own work”, that’s a given. But there are advantages, such as having an office full of people organising the work, sales people driving around finding the work, plus if one of their customers goes “pop” owing £50,000, then it doesn’t affect me, I will long before have been paid for any work I did for them.
If I did get offered my own work, paying significantly more than traction, then I would put a trailer on the road to do it, but as it is I’m engaged to provide traction only and this often works to my advantage such as this morning, when I picked up a trailer that had been pre-loaded and then shunted to Cullompton for me to collect, just the time saved in being able to do a changeover rather than live load, and the mileage saved (Gregory’s shunt trailers at their own expense) more than paid for the week’s hire.
But as I completely agree, nobody will ever get rich doing traction.
I do traction out of felixstowe and have done for years and i get just a little fed up of people saying how bad the rates are and that it is a waste of time.There will never be a fortune to be made but as an owner driver i can make a decent living for my family and myself but i can see if i employed some one with the extra costs this would entail it would hardly be worth it. Before i get knocked down i will add i run new tackle and pay myself a good wage i do not kid myself and if the sums did not add up i would pack up and get a job as i am not a charity.I still like doing the job most of the time i can take a week off when ever i please the only person i have to answer to is the wife in a nut shell i am fairly pleased with my little lot, there will allways be people who say they earn more than me but all through my working life there allways have been i earn enough for me.One more thing to add its suprizing how many big boys gave traction ago when the recession started and there work dried up
Interesting post Professor. Its interesting to learn that you can make the payments on a newish truck and take a good wage out of the job. Do you have to pay for home parking or do you own your own yard?
Do you stay away all week?
Of course “a good wage” to one man can be meagre to another. I would say “good” is £36 grand a year upwards. (£750 x 48)
I lease a space in an another hauliers yard Driveroneuk,and it varies on how many nights out i have some weeks it can be none others all week i tend to have more nights out then what is needed as i hate early starts so i would rather run my time out and have a layin in the morning.I never run off route and rarely pay parking as i prefer ind ests by choice .As for wages is £750 before tax or after as i do not pay myself that but with what i do pay myself and allowing for diesal for my van and wife’s car phones computers etc i do well enough for me as any one who knows me will tell you i have a reputation of being very prudent with money or just down right tight.I am now in my 12 year of being an o/d i started with a 7 year old daf 95 and now run a 13 month old 105 which i have had from new.
I’d say you’re in the minority though professor & are probably on more than £1.24 per mile.
In 2005 I was on £1.03 per mile trunking , fuel was .73p per ltr,
Cobelfret was 1.34 out of purfleet in 2011. Any runs under 100 miles where on a job rate if you reloaded a trailer i think you got an extra 25 quid on top of mileage.
You could make a living at it with a half decent motor but my opinion was as an owner operator id want to see 40-50% more than a drivers wage carry on doing it but each to there own.
I am on more than £1.24 silver surfer we get a milage rate drop money haz money and job rates for local rates,I have been pulling these trls for a lot of years now so i know what jobs pay the best are the lightest and the best drop and reloads so when we are giving the choice of which job we would like for the next day i know the most profitable to pick and 9 times out of 10 i get it right.
Its not all about top line but what you end up with after diesel has been taken out,my mpg average for last year was 9.5mpg thats not of the computer but by pen and paper i drive steady very steady i sit at 53 when i can but sometimes i have to sit on the limiter you only have to see a lot of people down the dock drive and you can see where all there profit has gone.
A lot of people pick jobs to get them home, i never do, i pick them on profit its nice to get home but during the week is work time and i am there to earn money and always have been i am extreamly lucky that i have an old school wife who can fix most things her self and is very independent and likes her own space and she must take the credit for bringing up our two daughters who are both at university and both them selves are fiercly independent i put this down to the job as i was never at home i am proud of all 3 of them.
As for wages i am sure you will find if you look hard enough some employed driver taking home more tham me but you will not see me working all day sunday at double time to boost the wage packet or starting at stupid o’clock in the morning when you should be sound asleep as said before by people its horses for coures and at the minute this suits me
If we had a “like” button here I’d click it for your last post. You sound like a sensible & steady guy Professor. Fair play to you. How about a pic of your truck?
Driveroneuk:
If we had a “like” button here I’d click it for your last post. You sound like a sensible & steady guy Professor. Fair play to you. How about a pic of your truck?
The Professor is one of the nicest most genuine blokes ive met in all my years on the road, ive never known him in a bad mood, always polite and helpful with time for anyone, and hes got a very nice Daf!
That is nice.