The new starting point
Nothing here is live and no price has moved. Every figure was produced by running the pricing engine — the live one for today, the rebuilt one for the new ladder.
The ladder, in your order
- The driver's base rate, exactly as it is on the rate card. Untouched — I checked every van against the live figures and they are identical.
- The multipliers the job genuinely needs. Also untouched: weight, handling, stops, waiting, urgency.
- HAF's margin on top. This is the only thing that moves. It is the starting point of the customer's price.
- Then the deduction the account has earned comes off: 30% of the margin for a free account, 40% Plus, 50% Pro, 60% for a founding member on a Pro account.
Where the starting point lands, and why
I did not pick these numbers. Each job type's own floor and the deepest possible deduction decide them: the margin has to start high enough that 60% coming off still lands on the floor and never under it.
Job typeWasStarts atFloor
Scheduled / Flexible / Co-load20.0%37.5%15.0%
Same-Day20.0%37.5%15.0%
Timed Delivery25.0%45.0%18.0%
Urgent / Time-Critical30.0%55.0%22.0%
The floor is structural, not a habit. The engine measures 15% on what HAF is actually left with and clamps the deduction itself, so no stack of account status, founding membership and a what-if adjustment can get under it.
A 60-mile LWB same-day, by account type
Who is postingCustomer paysWhat HAF is left with
Free account30% off the margin£134.24was £118.13HAF keeps 26.3% was 16.2%
Plus account40% off the margin£127.74was £114.55HAF keeps 22.5% was 13.6%
Pro account50% off the margin£121.85was £111.18HAF keeps 18.8% was 11.0%
Pro + founding member60% off the margin£116.47was £111.18HAF keeps 15.0% was 11.0%
Upgrading is now worth £17.77 on this one job — the gap between a free account and a founding member on a Pro account. Today that gap is £6.95, because the floor swallows most of it before it reaches anyone. The driver is paid £99.00 either way.
What HAF keeps, by job type
Job typeFreePlusProFounder
Scheduled / Flexible / Co-load26.3%22.5%18.8%15.0%
Same-Day26.3%22.5%18.8%15.0%
Timed Delivery31.5%27.0%22.5%18.0%
Urgent / Time-Critical38.5%33.0%27.5%22.0%
The whole sweep
- 3072 quotes run — every van, every active job type, six distances, four account types, three driver rungs, heavy and standard loads, kerbside and difficult handling.
- HAF's worst share of any job goes from 10.9% to 15.0%.
- Quotes leaving HAF under the 15% floor: 672 today, 0 on the new ladder.
The cost, plainly. 2688 of the 3072 quotes get dearer for the customer, 384 do not move and none get cheaper. The average rise is
8.8% and the worst is
19.3%, on a small van urgent job. By account type, the average change to what the customer pays:
- Free account +12.7%
- Plus account +9.4%
- Pro account +6.4%
- Pro + founding member +2.4%
A founding member still pays a little more than today, because the price is now set at the top driver rung. What their membership buys is the gap to everyone else, not a cut against last week.
When pooling starts
Pooling is off and nothing is being taken. The share is recorded and ready: a third of HAF's profit funds pooling and fees, so at the 15% floor HAF keeps 10 points and 5 points go to the pools. HAF earns while pooling, which is the point.