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Time to make a move
Page 66
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After the birth of his son, Rob Salter turns his attention back to business and decides there's potentially more work out there for him.
The baby was finally born in the early hours of 22 July. It's been difficult in the run-up to the birth as I needed to be close by and as a result turned down a number of jobs and may not have worked as hard as I could. Now, with the arrival of young James, I can try to get back to normal and further develop the business.
Signing up to the Courier Exchange was a good move; with plenty of work coming in I've now paid for my six-month subscription with three weeks' work.The company I am working for runs vans only and has a lot of opportunities for 7.5-tonne work.
We've done a lot of runs for it so far and it pays direct into my bank by the end of the following week! Although the rates aren't the best in the world, the work is straightforward and it's regular money.! have also gone onto self billing, so that cuts out a bit of the paperwork.We sat down and had a chat last week and the company is now starting to approach its customers with regard to possible 7.5-tonne work.
Toll saves time
We've recently been doing a lot of deliveries into the Land Rover production plant at Solihull.The deliveries are urgent,so a number of trips have been diverted via the M6 toll road —the customer paid the tollit's an excellent road and you wonder why all car drivers aren't using it.The £5 charge for the 7.5-tonner is a bit steep, but providing we can pass the cost on, I'll use it.With the current roadworks on the M6, a Friday afternoon trip would have been murder, but via the toll road the Telford to Solihull trip was completed in just under an hour.
Now the holiday period is in full swing things have gone quiet, although I have managed to keep two of the three trucks busy most days. It is time to get out and about and drum up more work; I've got a few leads from people! knows° it should make it easier than my last efforts at cold-calling.
I'm now starting to think about extending the fleet again. I know it's a gamble, but I think you need to keep pushing that bit harder. This time last year! had one truck and very little work;now I have three vehicles and enough work for all of them. I don't think I should say "three will do" while there are occasions when I turn down a lot of work. I'm not going to rush into anything though, and I plan to expand towards the end of September, which will give me time to gain more customers and go over the figures more closely. It may be a case of short-term rental rather than buying — which gives me more flexibility if things do become quiet.
Future move
There are a lot of decisions to be made over the next couple of months with regard to vehicles, extending the 0-licence (I may need to move) and the best way forward. One important question I need to address is whether I just keep subbing or try to get more of my own customers. Decisions, decisions...