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Taking the ups with the downs
Page 66
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Business is still a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Rob
Salter Money's
coming in at last, but there's a setback with his 7.5-tonner.
After the first few weeks of the new year searching for work for my vehicles, things had finally settled down. Both trucks had been working for at least four days out of five,the drivers were happier and, with cheques coming in for work completed in November and December, the bank account was starting to look a lot healthier.
But, as usual, when things are going smoothly somethingcomes along to upset the apple cart — in this case the 7.5-tonner! Mike came into the yard followed by a trail of thick black smoke."I think the truck's broke!" he said. After several expletives from yours truly a phone call was made to Dave Watts at Staffs CV to explain. as best I could, what was wrong and within 15 minutes I got a call hack from the service manager, and arrangements were made to get it into the workshop.
Half an hour later the diagnosis was given:a new turbo was required."Great." I thought." I've just managed to get the vehicles busy and now I'm going to be without one of them for a week." I was told to phone in the morning to see how things were going.The rest of the day was spent rearranging work and subcontracting, at a loss,a couple of pallets that were urgent as I couldn't afford to let the customer down.
Monday night was spent, as usual, doing paperwork and printing off invoices as well as worrying about my first major crisis.
I suppose I hadn't done badly really—the only thing I'd had to repair in the first six months was a broken mirror. I think you have to expect things like this, although you can't plan for them, but having newer trucks as opposed to cheaper, older vehicles should keep them to a minimum.
The next morning I received a call from Renault saying the truck would he ready to collect on Wednesday morning. Only one full day off the road —better than expected. I phoned Dave Watts to thank him for his excellent response and service. My driver Mike collected the vehicle the following morning and things picked up as before.
New trucks get noticed
The. depot lain running in .1 elford for NYK Logistics is starting to gel busier.The number of drivers has doubled since Christmas and they have replaced the vehicles with Volvo FM Globetrotters, This has attracted a lot of attention from local drivers three or four a week are calling in for application forms. The hourly rate is better than most in the area and with the newtrucks it's a winning combination.
Ready to sell
Because! have a couple of weeks away from the NYK job at the end of February I have started to prepare for my fortnight of hard selling, spending a lot of time on the internet and searching through local papers to target potential customers.! have prepared a presentation/ information pack and am revisiting my rates. I also hope to meet with my bank manager in those two weeks to find out how he thinks things are going and to see if there is any help he can offer.
I have now started to take a regular wage out of the business. It's not as much as I would like, but it's enough to pay the bills. I'm still owed money from December but that's due to be paid at the end of February, which will keep the bank balance in a good state. I can't get carried away yet, though, as April and May could be lean months depending on how my selling goes.
Better get my best suit out and have a haircut!