9+ MPG Class 8 5 Axel Trucks with Trailers

why are O/O a "thing of the past"? You'd think the cost of fuel would be a pass through.

 

I myself was an o/o up to a few months ago, quiete literally we can't afford the fuel, even large operators are shutting down here at an alarming rate . Eastern European companies with cheaper labour and cheaper fuel are scooping up all the work .

Unfortunately I don't think it's a pass through, once the price of fuel goes up it doesn't tend to go back down again, in these circumstances large companies tend to be in a better position than the o/o to bargain on fuel price, generally that's what's killing off the o/o here.

To survive into the future you gotta think like Dice, get your costs down today , think of tomorrows prices, be prepared. It ain't gonna get any easier

 

so it's hitting everyone, not just independents.

I am trying to find more information on operating in the UK and Europe in general and not finding much.

I got the initial reaction that the guberment is doing something to shut them down.

 

So what's the blend Dice and what's the bottom line ? ( EG it works and you save ?)

 

this what scania man is talking is true and here all small operators will extinct this will be soon or later everywhere in world here fuel now is 6.68$ for gallon and it will be soon 7.9-8. also our country introduce many things how to take your money.... for example now each truck you have , you will pay 14$ per month if you have radio

21$ per month for truck to company who collect your tacho sheets

there is 245things you have to pay as owner operator in my country

we have 25% tax and 35% tax on net income ( after you pay for all expenses my town take your 35% of earn ...)

not to mentione that you have to wait up to 2years for your money when you finish job ....

big companies here in europe get fuel for 2.2$ per gallon

 

guess I'd want to see some hard evidence of some of this.

how can a big company get fuel for 1/3 the rate?

Been spending two days looking for information on operating a lorry in europe and not finding a whole lot on it at all.

 

sorry i forget to write this is price for big companies for bio diesel

which is pretty inaccessible in europe for everyone

they fill their trucks in their yards not on tank station they have 1500L of fuel capacity (400gallons)

that is enough fuel for 2weeks .....

 

I hope dice ye can turn it around.

I don't know if large companies can get fuel for 1/3 of normal price, I haven't heard of that before but certainly large fleets can get 3 - 10 cents rebate in every litre depending on the quantity of fuel that is ordered every month, this is how big companies here have the advantage over the small operator, it's no good for a small operator to be breaking even on a load whereas if the large fleets can break even they still have the tax free fuel rebate as profit ( not saying that's exactly how they operate but they have a safety net the small guy doesn't have )

Trucking in Europe is very compedetive , we have to compete against eastern European companies with cheaper fuel, cheaper labour and against big companies like lkw Walter, willi betz, cobelfret etc etc who will have cheaper fuel with their rebates and also have a monopoly on shipping, they can ship a truck for half the price I can due to what's called block space bookings , this is where they garuntee shipping companies that they will ship a certain amount of trucks on their vessels and in return they get massive rebates on their shipping costs , in the case of companies like cobelfret who have their own ships , they work by providing a trailer to the customer, use a cut-price haulier to pull it then ship it to Europe where it's taken to it's destination by another cut-price haulier,

Also these big companies get help from truck manufacturers , a company near me for example bought 100 new dafs, in the deal he got 1 for free, some companies order 4-500 at a time so god knows how many they get free, I've heard of massive deals where up to 10 trucks were given with large orders,

So... (1) big companies get up to 10% fuel rebate

(2) they get up to 50% shipping rebates

(3)they get free trucks and trailers with large orders

(4) eastern European companies have much cheaper labour

(5) Irish and English governments are indifferent to the plight of small operators, they pay no attention to foreign competition, they can use our roads for free while we pay tax to use them plus pay massive tolls and taxes on foreign roads (costs me approx 1500 dollars for a trip to northern Italy for example) and have the advantage of cheaper fuel

 

I think US trucking companies will have it easier to adopt to higher fuel prices that European ones if they want to. Most European operators use trucks that are as fuel efficient as possible already, while most US operators have a lot to improve before they are at the same level.