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Time to be moving on

9th September 2004
Page 66
Page 66, 9th September 2004 — Time to be moving on
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Rob Salter writes his last column for CM and mulls over his firm's achievements in the past year.

1 t's nice to be able to say that a very busy few weeks have just passed, with work coming in steadily. I'm still thinking about expansi OIL The landlord at the current parking area has started to build industrial units on the site, drastically reducing the amount of space available. So I've looked around and found a new site, this time with an office overlooking the parking area. Its in a much better position with good facilities, although a little more expensive, so I've reapplied for my 0-licence, increasing the vehicle margin from three to five. However, even this seemingly straightforward decision has been a little complicated.

A local company offered me international work.The rates weren't fantastic, but it was worth looking at.After spending a few days thinking about it I decided it wouldn't be worth the hassle at the moment, what with the extra insurance costs, employing a suitable driver and finding decent backloads. In the end! gave it a miss.The company understood my concerns and is now offering me more UK work. I guess the Continent can wait.

So we should move towards the end of September. I'm looking forward to having an office;sereaming kids in the background don't enhance your phone manlier.

I recently received a call from a mobile phone sales company offering me its door-to-door phone deliveries. It sounded like a good opportunity: one man; a small van; and revenue of about £5k per month. I lined up the van and the man, but the goods-in-transit insurance proved to be the stumbling block.As soon as the broker mentioned the words 'courier van' and 'multi-drop' the premiums rocketed, and when mobile phones were put into the equation the premium went still higher. My dreams of a nice little earner quickly evaporated and I had to pull out. However, I did begin to wonder how White Van Man makes a decent profit faced with costs like that. Could it be. they are not all adequately insured?

This is, unfortunately, my last article and I have to say that the 12 months since the first one have flown by. In that time, I've learnt a lot and put in a lot of hard work. When I started I was a bit naive and thought because I had a truck the work would just come in. It's taken a lot of graft to get my customer base up from two to 11 in just a year; a lot of it is from people I know,but some has come from building a reputation for reliability and good service.

For anyone thinking of taking the plunge and setting up on their own I would recommend a few things: • Have a good relationship with your bank and try to see the staff at regular intervals. Lloyds TSB has been excellent for me.

• A good CV dealer is a must. Dave Watts and his team have been excellent, not only in sourcing good vehicles but also in the service they provide and a few words of wisdom from Dave.

• Find good drivers who are willing to help and work with you; the last thing you want is someone trying to tell you how to do it.

Get the above three right and J feel you're halfway there, although there's still a lot of work ahead of you.

No goodbye, though, would be complete without a few thank yous: Paul Kavanagh and Adrian Tomlinson at NYK Logistics for getting me involved in the industry many moons ago and helping me on my way in this venture; John Peers Insurance; Central Tyre; Fast Fuel; KI Transport;my drivers; and Fred (told you I'd get you mentioned in Commercial Motor). •


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