• Home
• Used vehicles
• Product news
• Dealer news
• Compliance
• Buying advice
• Archive

CHANGE OF GEAR

Becoming an owner-driver in the construction sector takes determination and a little luck,

as Geoff Ashcroft found out. Whether it's a career change or a career start that you're looking for, there are plenty of useful business opportunities to be had in the construction sector, particularly as an owner-driver with a tipper.

With the right truck it's possible to haul sand, gravels, or coated roadstone products on behalf of quarry operators. But it's no good just rolling up at your nearest quarry on a Monday morning and expecting a load.There's plenty of legwork to do and pitfalls to be aware of, as new owner-driver Trevor Cartwright found out.

In May this year, at the age of 45, he embarked on a career change and joined the ranks of the self-employed as an ownerdriver with an eight-legger.

So far, he says, he hasn't looked back.

Clearly, it's still early days and the honeymoon period has not ended, but Trevor, from Chesterfield, reckons he's much happier being his own boss."I'm in control of what happens to me, and, importantly, I'm enjoying looking after myself and working sensible, regular hours that allow me quality time at home with my wife," he says.

had worked my way up with Wincanton at Doncaster over 15 years and ended up as transport shift manager looking after 250 employees and overseeing 100 artics. It was a good j ob, well paid, but stressful and very hectic... with shifts, my home life went out of the window."

Trevor knew there was something else out there for him; he just wasn't sure what. Fed up with working shifts, he wanted something that would give regular hours with no need to venture too far from home or work weekends.

"I'd always liked the idea of being on a tipper," he explains."I had a mate who had done it for years and who had enjoyed sensible working hours and a comfortable living, but had packed up through illness a few years ago. Picking his brain was a good place to start."

With the help of this friend and a few contacts,Trevor was introduced to several quarry operators who suggested there could be regular work available. So, convinced that getting work wouldn't be too big an issue, he started to plan his new career.

"While at Wineanton I had managed to gain my CPC to help with running the distribution fleet, which saved me time and money," he says. "But I needed a truck, an 0-licence, somewhere to park my truck at nights and help with a maintenance schedule and vehicle checks."

HGV licence But that wasn't all he needed. Having never been behind the wheel of a truck before, he needed his HGV licence and some driving experience. -There's nothing like going in at the deep end," he says. "But it was something I really wanted to do, and to make it work. So with determination,! set about gaining everything I needed.

Adamant that he would not start his new business venture in debt with borrowed money, he considered selling his house to get established. n the end, with determined saving ind a little help from his family, he nanaged to put enough in the hank to &ow the tipper driving dream to )ecome a reality Having spent £1,500 on a week's -IGV driving course and gained a :lass 2 licence (at the second ittempt) he promptly signed up with local agency to gain some truck lriving experience.

"I thought I might as well make a .ew mistakes with someone else's ruck rather than my own," he smiles.

Trevor then spent a further £180 on getting in 0-licence, which also involved local iewspaper advertising costing a further £250 to inform local residents of his intention to )ark his truck at night in a local secure yard.

"There were loads of things to be aware of," ie says. "The Ministry want to see bank )alances too, to ensure you have at least £6,000 n the bank to help with running and maintaining your truck.

"I had to have somewhere to park and maintain my truck which is through CSG Bodyshop in Chesterfield and that costs me C30 per week for parking and £27.50 per hour For six-weekly maintenance inspections."

Now all he needed was a truck.

"There was no way I'd be signing up for a truck on tick," he says."I wanted to pay Dutright and be debt-free at start-up, so a used wagon was the only way to go. I accepted that there would be a few breakdowns and perhaps higher running costs than if I bought new or ex-demo but, if it was paid for and I fancied a day off, then I wouldn't sweat about the repayments. So I allowed myself a ten-grand budget to buy an eight-wheeler."

Right on budget

Trawling though CM's classified ads he found an ex-RMC 8x4 Daf 300Ati with a lightweight insulated alloy body.The 19951M-plate tipper was relatively tidy, though it had no history so couldn't support its indicated 266,000km, but was stickered at £10,000right on budget.As an ex-quarry operator's truck it had the required flashing beacons, motorway maintenance signage on the tailgate, a split rear door for asphalt work and a reversing camera.

"It was just what! was looking for and with an insulated body! could run coated materials as well as dry aggregates, extending my working opportunities," says Trevor."And it offered a payload of 20.6 tonnes."

What he didn't account for, however, was VAT, and he has since registered to account for input and output taxes on all transactions.

"Everything is plus VAT at 17.5%, and not being in business before, I hadn't accounted for spending that extra 17.5% on all my purchases," he says.."I was being given prices that appealed to me, but not realising it was all plus VAT. So my £10,000 truck initially cost me £11,750."

On top of that was the cost of road tax for the truck, which at 32-tonnes GVW comes in at around £1200 a year, plus insurance costs of a further £1,200 a year, though the latter includes Um of public liability cover. "I wasn't sure if !needed public liability," he says. "but you could do a lot of damage with a truck. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Despite trying to start the business without borrowed money,Trevor found having a good bank manager does help. And the support he has had from HSBC has been encouraging.

"Cash flow was a big problem during the first two months and you either need plenty of money behind you or a good hank manager," he says."From the time you turn a wheel to the time you get paid can be six to eight weeks. In that period you still need to put fuel in the truck lean spend up to £1,500 each month on dieselpay for parking, take some wages to live on, and have a bit for unexpected repairs and maintenance, so I needed an overdraft facility until I had money coming back in."

All of which put a bit of extra strain on the start-up costs for Trevor Cartwright Haulage, hut didn't deter him from what he really wanted to do. And on 5 May Trevor rolled into an RMC quarry and collected his first load of dry aggregates.

-Yes, I was nervous, but other drivers were very helpful and supportive, as indeed many quarries have been," he says."I'm still learning now, albeit quickly, but if in doubt about anything I just get on the CB and ask."

He's pleased with his used tipper, but would like a few more horses, -There's more than a few hills around the Peak District and 300hp with an eight-speed Eaton twin-split is not quite good enough for this task," he says. "Though its emissions are good and I'm getting about 8.5mpg from her, you need to be patient on the hills. Even farm tractors try to get past when I'm fully laden.

But we'll see how work goes, although I expect to run this truck for at least two years. It's cost-effective at the moment."

After five months in the job he lists what he'll be looking for on his next tipper; "I need a gearbox with more ratios and at least 380hp. And some form of retarder would be better than an exhaust brake to help get more service life from the brakes."

But running before he can walk is not on Trevor Cartwright's agenda.And continuity of work is something he has only recently found. After a keen start with a few quarry operators, there were times when work would unexpectedly ease off according to quarry production and the construction industry's demands.

Since September, however, he has spent most of his time running out of Tarmac's Darlton Quarry at Stony Middleton in the Peak District, hauling dry aggregates and coated products. Rates are good, there seems to be a steady supply of work and, importantly, I get paid promptly," he says.

Fluctuating workload

Although the workload does fluctuate, he says it's possible some days to get six loads in, though when waiting time takes a grip, that productivity can be halved.As a result, earning potential varies wildly from £200 to1350 a day and there are plenty of costs to be soaked up too, particularly with a used tipper.

"I've had a few oil seals go, changed six tyres in five months three were through punctures from building sites and replaced brake shoes and drums too," he reports."You've got to expect to spend some money on keeping a 10year-old truck on the road, and in the Peak District I'm expecting to spend quite a bit on keeping the brakes in top order."

On the plus side, he does get paid for waiting (after the first hour) with different rates for different products and unloading procedures. When CM went to see Cartwright his first run was a load of aggregates to a housebuilding site. It was an easy drop; just sign the ticket and return to the quarry a round trip of about an hour:The next load was 20mm coated asphalt for a school tennis court. We arrived on site at 1.20pm and did not get tipped until 4pm in all, a round trip of four hours from being given the green light to join the queue to load at the coating plant "It's just your luck when it comes to waiting to tip on an asphalt job," says Trevor."If it's hand unloading asphalt by barrow it'll take longer so you need compensating more for that, or you would simply choose to haul dry aggregates and do more loads in a day."

But an advantage of working for Tarmac is that the firm does pay a 20-tonne rate on eightwheelers regardless of the amount being carried, which means there's no point in cramming extra on the truck and being tempted to run overloaded.

"There's no excuse for over-loading," he says. "The quarry has a weighbridge under its coating plant that we can use to check GVWs and adjust the load before we pull out onto the roads. After all, my 0-licence is my livelihood and! don't want to jeopardise that."

Clearly delighted with his new profession as a self-employed owner-driver, he remains upbeat and enthusiastic about his role as a professional driver. "I only have two regrets," he concludes."Not starting soon enough and not buying a truck with enough power."