My mate (and yes it is a mate, not me) has just set up his own business in Newcastle doing courier work for the north east. He has a van and has registered the company and had numerous meetings with some of the big players and was after some advice.
Does anybody have any advice they can give him to help get him on his feet? He understands it is a bad time to start but he does still have a fulltime job and works it between him, his missus and his mate.
I have pointed him to here and told him there are some very helpful people on here and some successful business men that started out the same as he did
If you have any advice you can give him or even better are willing to chat to him on the phone and offer advice it would be appreciated.
You think that road haulage is cut throat? Then you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Courier work is worse,and I know as I tried it last year,and got out of it as fast as I could before it took me down.The only way you can make it work,is to source your own customer base.The big players want you to do it for nothing,(There’s a surprise.) while they make the money,and while your working for them,you won’t have time to get your own.
You will have no life,as you’ll be expected to be available 24/7,and that’s when you become a danger to yourself and others.Insurance costs are astronomical,as you will need proper courier vehicle insurance and GIT,and customers will want to see it.
Thats something Ive thought about doing part time as well, I have a Peugeot Partner van and as there seems to be no overtime on the buses Id like to make a few quid where I can!!!
How do you start doing it part time if its possible (and no Im not taking the pee)?
as with quinny i came out of the couirer in august last year as i could see it was going downhill fast personally id wait untill things start moving again tell to keep things on the back burner if hes bought the van keep it but wait. with the way things are its his fastest way to becoming bankrupt and lossing everything
i was and am still on courier exchange this time last year there was 8 pages of small van work at when i looked this morning there was 8 pages for a search from motorbikes to XLWB (trannist jumbo lets say) as quinny says you will be expected to be on 24/7 that isnt litteral.
I started out on DHL sameday one day i went to centeral london for 9 am and then on the way back got a call asking if wanted to go to aberdeen had to be there for 6am and yes i did it
the hours are rubbbish the pay is not good considering what your layout is for van git pl and hire and reward insurance.
if theres owt else let us know well be glad to help
he has just joined so hopefully will introduce himself when he comes out the shadows.
i dont think he wants to do it flat out as yet, he still has a full time job and was just trying to build a customer base to start with, then maybe go to it full time, with more vans and full time drivers.
at least the van is bought and paid for and wont cost anything if it does sit on the drive for a few months. he is the sort of bloke that will work hard and try his utmost to make it work but you never know what the future holds.
Appreciate all the advice so far. I realise it’s a cut throat business and it’s going to be hard work. All i can do is try my best to establish myself. All i want is the opportunity to provide a decent service and to hopefully gain a good reputation. I’ve got over 17 years experience in Logistics Supply Chain which i know will count for nothing but i have had an insight into how the system works. Once again it’s good to have made contact with people with so much experience.I value your opinions and advice.
you cant just have a go at it you either have to go for it or forget it . im lucky at rhe moment i 1 customer that rings me up every so often and its only very small stuff that i can sub out to another courier ive met.
please please dont do it yet wait until the economy picks up before you do anything
you could also try www.GTMUK.com they have a forum there and they are mostly long established couier companies . please have agood read through the forums on codforum and gtmuk, thell give you some exlent information
Appreciate all the advice so far. I realise it’s a cut throat business and it’s going to be hard work. All i can do is try my best to establish myself. All i want is the opportunity to provide a decent service and to hopefully gain a good reputation. I’ve got over 17 years experience in Logistics Supply Chain which i know will count for nothing but i have had an insight into how the system works. Once again it’s good to have made contact with people with so much experience.I value your opinions and advice.
Regards,
Nobby
Welcome to the forum Nobby, I hope your new venture works out.
Appreciate all the advice so far. I realise it’s a cut throat business and it’s going to be hard work. All i can do is try my best to establish myself. All i want is the opportunity to provide a decent service and to hopefully gain a good reputation. I’ve got over 17 years experience in Logistics Supply Chain which i know will count for nothing but i have had an insight into how the system works. Once again it’s good to have made contact with people with so much experience.I value your opinions and advice.
Regards,
Nobby
Welcome to the forum Nobby, I hope your new venture works out.
Thanks DD…think i’m gonna need all the luck in the world from the feedback so far
The problem here is that you are up against people who have no real idea of how much it costs to run a van.
They can work out the fuel cost and don’t bother to insure it properly so, add in a bit for maintenance and the rest is profit — right?
It works at first until the van breaks down or needs some tyres [oops forgot to allow for that] so they just go out of business. The trouble is that there are plenty more around to keep the rates so low that the only way to make it pay is to graft day and night and trust to luck that the cameras don’t get you and that the van [and you] can keep going. That’s if you can get the work in the first place.
Oh! And don’t forget the customers who don’t pay, the VAT, income tax etc etc.
The problem with courier work (I know, as well as others on here I used to run a couple of vans along side my truck) is that there is no regulation, every painter/decorator/plumber/factory worker/office worker etc etc who have been made or are about to be made redundant are thumbing through Auto Trader as we speak to buy a little white van and do some courier work, they do it for the cost of the fuel in many cases then realise that they can’t make it pay and sign on because that does actually pay more most weeks than what you will earn, a lot do it on normal car insurance with no GIT cover unless you are subbying to one of the biggies who insist on proper cover and to earn a good wage you need to work 24 hours a day 7 days a week - and thats the truth, small van rates are typically 25 - 30 pence per return mile AT BEST with Transit size vans it is around the 38 - 43 pence mark, work that out Birmingham to London in a small van, 240 mile return @ 30 pence = £72.00, take off the expenses fuel/charge zone/ins/tax/ etc and see what you have left, if you go to London also remember that it WILL be a days work because of the traffic, this is only an example and I wouldn’t like to put you off, I ran two vans for 18 months before they nearly broke me, I thought the truck was bad but courier work is something else, I used to be able to get good rates running euro until our east euro friends turned up, same old same old now, everyone thinks that if they offer a good reliable honest service that people will use them - wrong, people will use you because you will have to wait 60+ days for your money and you will be cheap to get the work, by which time your nice new customer has moved on to more reliable couriers who are only too willing to do his work for him.
As said - DON’T, listen to the people who know, having said that - good luck if you do decide to have a go. As said on here if you want to be rich while in transport - start off VERY VERY rich.
As a sceptical (but happy, contented & flexible to work for a decent employer) ol’ git, I’m brimming with admiration of the Bulldog spirit whilst Mr G. Brown seemingly gags to pit UK pukka practise against corner-cutting Rumanians, etc.
As such & within that Bulldog spirit, please keep the driving standards of any employees up to scratch …I get pee’d off when white van-man’s profit is at the expense of poor/bad/dangerous highway practise spoiling my day and/or soiling my dhobi.
There’s arguably too much ‘Who Doesn’t Care Wins’ evidence amongst the wheel-merchant ‘tradesmen’ in the puddle-jumping industry, the drivers of whom (I reckon) occasionally appear to percolate onto big stuff …cue the Portuguese ‘Careless Driving’ bloke?
good luck nobby.
no harm in trying, as long as you go about it, in the right way.
i agree with what someone else said, try and get your own customer base, rather than 3rd party work, it won’t be easy, but if you’ve got the drive and determination, who knows.
i’m looking at doing something similar, the time is not right now, prob won’t be till next summer earliest, but gives me time, too save for the right vehicle and spec, as its abit of a niche market.
but gives me plenty of time too look into costings, accounts, vehicles, insurance, git insurance, laws, rules and regs, company name, image, branding, customer base, service, web site, advertising, and so on.
