Thinking of going into self employed courier driving, has anyone done this before, any advice would be grateful as new to the courier business, but i have been self employed before so ok with that side of it.
hope you all had a good christmas, and safe driving in 2006.
cheers.
The rates are rubbish. Most of the decent stuff is already ■■■■■■■ by the big boys. Even on sites like CourierExchange, the best work is sewn up by the “club”.
robin hood, I was a self employed courier up until I passed my class 2 last december. The main thing newbies going into will struggle with is the invoice cycles of some places. You could have to wait upto 90 days to get paid for a job. 
Also, the insurance will be a killer for someone of your age. Im 23 & couldnt find anything cheaper than £2500!(This was for a berlingo 1.9D)
There is money to be made, but it will be very long hours, and getting work is usually difficult to start off with. As Conor said, the rates arent exactly brilliant, and with the rising cost of running a van, especially fuel you will need alot of money behind you to start off with. (I recommend at least 3 months worth of wages. Then theres the cost of the van to consider.)
But saying all that, alot of people make a good living and there is alot to be said about being your own boss. First thing to do would be to find out what sort of work is around in your area (multi-drop, small van, large van, etc) then decide if you are going to have your own customers, be a subbie or both.
Best of luck if you decide to go with it. Loads of good advice at codforum.org.uk/forums/index.php 
my advice would be to try it first, you may not like stop-start driving all day.
i,ve seen lynx advertise for owner drivers before.
try pm ing truckyboy he tried it didnt like it.
Hi, thanks to those who replied…
Decided against it, had a good look into it, and spoke to a mate who did it years ago, seems alot of an outlay (insurance sky high) and the thought of being on call, which alot of them want you to do.
Got an interveiw on Wednesday…fingers crossed.
Cheers, Robin Hood
robin hood:
Hi, thanks to those who replied…Decided against it, had a good look into it, and spoke to a mate who did it years ago, seems alot of an outlay (insurance sky high) and the thought of being on call, which alot of them want you to do.
Got an interveiw on Wednesday…fingers crossed.
Cheers, Robin Hood
Good luck for Wednesday Robin Hood. 
CM:
Good luck for Wednesday Robin Hood.
Hear hear! 
robin hood:
Hi, thanks to those who replied…Decided against it, had a good look into it, and spoke to a mate who did it years ago, seems alot of an outlay (insurance sky high) and the thought of being on call, which alot of them want you to do.
Got an interveiw on Wednesday…fingers crossed.
Cheers, Robin Hood
Yeah good luck mate. Just out of interest, what sort of quotes were you getting for the insurance?
agreed,
rates can be rubbish but can’t all rates be?
as an O/D you put your price in and take the work or leave it
how many HGV O/Ds can get £1.20pm? (Sprinter rates)
long hours, yes, but arnet all driver hours long?
Courier Exchange, you can’t live on this work but it’s good for back loads
The Club? like anywhere else you have to get known, and that’s quite easy
cost of van? Northgate Vehicle Hire, Small van £65 XLWB Sprinter £160 plus VAT week full maintenance
keelman:
£1.20pm? (Sprinter rates)
A bit optomistic. I would have said £1pm. £1.05 if your very lucky.
Toploadertom:
keelman:
£1.20pm? (Sprinter rates)A bit optomistic. I would have said £1pm. £1.05 if your very lucky.
No, that’s top rate and it can be got SV top rate £0.75
I’ve been paid more as a backload from London than going down at my normal rate
The best backload I had was in a SV from Berks 3 drops Dunfirmline £430.00 plus the £150 going down. 45mpg Put that against costs of doing same in artic
plenty work out there for the O/D or small operator, just have to get of you b/side and look for it (or sit at your laptop)
Compared to the cost of my mates Scania R420 and skelly trailer which he’s getting 93p a mile for, pulling boxs out of Teesport, I think the 95 - 120 p per mile I’m getting for my Sprinter is quite respectable!
Of course thats end user rates and if your subbing to someone it can be as ‘little’ as 80p/m but your outgoings are alot less.
Fuel costs? My Sprinter does 35 mpg, the Scania does 10 if ya lucky!
Long hours? Yes but only as long as you want them to be. You are after all working for yourself so how succesfull do you want to be? 15 hours for an HGV driver aren’t long hours?
If you want to be self employed and have a half decent chance of becoming a courier, then there are more differcult ways to make a living!!!
I haven’t been as happy since I gave up driving trucks to drive a van, it’s a much easier life! Ask Lyndsey (Ladytrucker) she commented on it at the last TruckFest at Hatdock Park.
Surely there is nobody working for less than a £1 per mile, even in Teesport 
Have a look at
codforum.org.uk/forums/index.php for the info on couriers
very informative
I did consider it until I managed to save enough to bribe my doctor for my HGV medical
I was getting between 70-80ppm for small van. I have heard of people going as low as 50ppm!
As has been said, backloads can be very profitable. I personally never used the various backload websites, but managed to find the odd one by myself.
Interview went well…they asked me if i want to do three days trial to see if it’s for me, if all is good the job is mine.
Get my own lorry also.
nice one robin, whats the job?
robin hood:
Interview went well…they asked me if i want to do three days trial to see if it’s for me, if all is good the job is mine.Get my own lorry also.
Well done
robin hood:
Interview went well…they asked me if i want to do three days trial to see if it’s for me, if all is good the job is mine.Get my own lorry also.
Excellent news Robin Hood, well done and good luck, hope it all works in your favour, keep us posted.
There are big changes ahead this year where I work. They could be good for me or they could go bad. Depends what happens when we go public.
I survived the redundancies last year, was initially relieved , but now fancy a change. Right now I am staying out to see what happens. The redundancy money was OK.
If I was made redundant, I would like to
a) Drive a truck (less chance)
b) Be an independant courier (more chance)
a) Would be difficult because due to a m/c accident 22 yrs ago, I lost a leg and only drive autos. I have read of people passing thier LGV test however in my condition. (T&D a couple of months back)
b) There are plenty of automatic vans around and Iam quite prepareed to put the hours in driving. Acess in and out of a van is easy enough for me but I would prefer to do distance work, pallets for instance , rather than local parcel work.
What is best for bringing money in ?
Are parcel couriers paid per drop ?
What happens with nights out ?
I have done some research, but as I say I am not going to be in a position to start off unless I get made redundant.
Any advice gratefully recieved