IN Graham Gillespie runs GMC Transport based in Ashton-underLyne. He
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has been self-employed for two years now and has been In the transport industry for 25 years. He holds a CPC and has just passed the Hazchem course. Late last year he was offered work by Jon Reyner of Geoffrey Reyner as a subcontractor—if he could get an 0-licence for a 17 timer.
"So I got the details from the DOT for a Standard National Licence and I had to have 25,200 in the bank before I even got together my three-month's advance for hiring the vehicle," says Gillespie "So I looked into purchasing one and that worked out cheaper, but then again I would have had to put a big deposit down and it got to the stage where I would have needed about £16,000. I went back to Jon and said 'there's no way I can do it, I just can't afford to have that kind of money made available'."
Gillespie still hopes to get into haulage on a bigger scale In the future, but for now he's sticking with his two vans.
"I have worked for a lot of people and have always gone out and given value for money and they have come back to me on a regular basis so they must be happy with what I am doing. I get on, do the job and do it correctly," he says.
If the entry requirement had remained at its previous level of £2,500 Gillespie reckons he might have been able to afford the licence. "I am aiming to increase," he says. "Work for small vans is vary scarce, so I'll have to get a licence eventually."