AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

Go profitable... or go home

22nd January 2004
Page 66
Page 66, 22nd January 2004 — Go profitable... or go home
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Does 'Happy New Year' mean much in haulage? Rob Salter is determined that it

Nearly all the Christmas cards I got wished me a"Prosperous New Year". Either my friends know something! don't or they're far too polite to say how worried they are. Either way, I'll just stick with the basic sentiment and give it a damn good go to ensure it happens. .

I have a special reason to hope this:just before Christmas. after several weeks of agonised indecision,1 finally grasped the nettle and decided to buy my second truck —another excellent Renault Midlum from Staffordshire CV. I collected the vehicle on New Year's Eve, so it seems that! now have a fleet!

As predicted. the regular work finished abruptly on Christmas Eve so I promptly de-hired the rental vehicle to save costs over the Christmas period.

The work I was doing with UCI Logistics (now re-branded NYK Logistics) was starting to build up, which is great. But the Ilipside is that this had given me very little time to drum up 7.5-tonne work for the New Year.

Christmas came and went — and on 5 January both vehicles were parked up without work. I had expected January to be quiet. but not this quiet.! have already made a note in this year's diary: 'Get out and see people in November for work in January."Thankfully. after I had spent a couple of frantic hours on the phone,I had both trucks out by mid-morning and working for the rest of the week.

suppose I am in a fortunate position at the moment. Running the NYK depot means! can afford to stand the trucks for the odd day and still cover my costs. The only concern I have is that if don't start to get more regular work my drivers may start to look elsewhere. We've had a chat and they understand the situation and are prepared to work with me — even to the extent of helping me look around for work!

This has put my mind at ease, and 1"m planning two weeks away from the N YK job in February to visit as many potential customers as possible.

The second vehicle I bought is a box van with a tail-lift.! made the decision to buy based on the work I had done from September to Christmas Eve, which is better suited to a box and which will he available again this September. Although it does restrict certain types of jobs, I have managed to get work most days.

My accountant has now taken over my VAT returns, which take. some of the paperwork pressure away. All I have to do is e-mail my figures to him each month and he does the rest.That's not bad for £40, especially when you consider the time it frees up.

Even though the vehicles aren't as busy as I'd like, I'm still turningover enough and the bank manager appears to be happy... he hasn't written tome for a while anyway.

The self-employed routine is a lot better for my home life and I seem to be seeing a lot more of my family than lever did before.! suppose I must have been around a bit more as my wife is now expecting our third child in July. And with an extra mouth to feed I'll have yet another reason to hope those wishes for a prosperous New Year come true! •

Tags

People: Rob Salter

comments powered by Disqus