RUSSELL HOLMES
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CONTAINER HAULAGE RAINHAM, ESSEX Russell Holmes is at the unglamorous end of haulage. Not for him the ripsnorting, fire-breathing, 500hp-plus flagship tractor with a custom paint job.
Instead he pilots a 10-year-old, third-hand Daf 2800 on container work around the Home Counties. Trading as Holmes Haulage, he's been hauling containers for a couple of years or so; before that he did two years on Continental runs.
Nowadays Holmes rarely ventures more than 100 miles from his home base of Rainham, Essex, covering about 1,200 miles a week. Most of his trips take him into and around London, with an occasional run to Liverpool or Newport in South Wales.
He's not slow to point out that his old truck—bought for him for just £2,850 by his dad earns him just as much money as a brand-new £70,000 rig without the worry of a crippling bank loan.
So what prompted him to become an owner-driver? "My grandad drove lorries, so does my dad, so I suppose it's just following the family tradition," he says. After 21 years with Brain Haulage, dad now works for Maritime Haulage. Russell is one of Maritime's subcontractors and he's reasonably happy with the way he is treated by the company's Grays, Essex depot.
Being dependent on one customer is always a risk, but is one he feels is justified: "I get work every day, and even if it's just a £100 job it gets me out on the road," he reflects. "And I know that if I've got to, say tax the truck, and I need my cheque early I've only to pick up the phone and Maritime will help me if they can."
Almost all the containers come out of Tilbury or Felixstowe: "Sitting there for two hours waiting to be loaded can be a real pain when you're not getting paid for it," he says. "It's then that I wonder why I became an owner-driver."
Despite the fact that diesel has gone up in price over the past couple of years Russell hasn't had a rate increase. That said, he can buy diesel on Maritime's account, and benefits from the rates the company negotiates with its suppliers.
Despite its advancing years, the exRobson's Distribution 4x2 Daf is reliable: in the two years that Russell has owned it it has had one head gasket problem, which he managed to get sorted out.
Maintenance extends to a minor service once a month, a major service every other month and a wash once a fortnight. The Daf returns 8.9mpg on the motorway which drops to 5.6mpg in urban areas. Russell is careful never to exceed 55mph paying for your own fuel encourages you to keep your speed down.
When he does take the occasional week's holiday the truck is parked up for the duration: Russell won't hire another driver to cover for him in case his temporary employee doesn't do the job to the standard Russell sets himself.
But what if Russell himself is injured, or off sick for an extended period? He's covered that risk with an insurance policy arranged
through his hank that will pay him a percentage of his income once he's been of sick for several weeks.
"You don't get the package of benefits that you get if you're working for a company," he says. "You have to arrange it all yourself...and if you're selfemployed, and you've got a cold, you still have to go to work."
Russell would like to expand, and perhaps acquire another truck, but he's cautious: "There's work out there, but how would I set about getting it?" he asks. "I'd need to find the right driver for the other truck too. It's a very big step, and it won't be one that I'll be taking right now Maybe in a year or two," El by Steve Banner