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Rildci Chequer, community manager of TruckNet UK, reports on some of the latest topics to be discussed by professional drivers.
Page 22
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This week's TruckNet UK roundup starts with a topic that comes up regularly on the forums: drivers' medicals.
Prices quoted range from £15 to £165. showing that some people are making a lot of money charging drivers for something that is compulsory.
Some drivers are saying the system of drivers' medicals needs to be 1) regulated, 2) provided free or paid for by the company and 3) consistent across the country.
The tone in the Owner-Drivers forum remains downbeat. Another operator has sold up, saying: "Well guys, I've pulled the plug it just wasn't worth the hassle any more. There was still a bit of profit, but my diesel costs had gone up from 55p/lit in late 2004 to 77p/lit in December 2007.
"At the end of the day I've been very lucky and got out before I had my fingers burned. I put £4.800 into the business in October 2004, and there was just over £20,000 left in the bank this morning after all the bills have been paid, some three years and a couple of months down the line from starting, "I don't think that's too bad for a one-truck operation with no nights out that paid me an hourly rate when I drove it, and paid my driver his wages for 16 months."
He does go on to say that he might start up again in the future but next time, it will be with an eight-wheel tipper bought outright for cash!
High-specced rigids seem to be coming into favour, with a driver spotting what he thought was a unique Renault Magnum 430 rigid running down the Ml. However it appears there are more about than you might think, and a number of forum users have reported spotting curtain-sided and removal-bodied Magnum rigids all over the country.
Finally, another aspiring owner-driver asks the old hands for a A-Z of operating trucks: the full reply (from A to Z) may not be what he was looking for, but it is very amusing Log on to the Owner-Drivers forum to check it out.