Courier Business Stuff

Interesting comments – especially seeing as the banners on this site are full of the same ‘get rich quick make 250 quid a day adverts’ you choose to berate…..

Like you style m8!!

Like your honesty! I was made redundant in April 2009, and would love to become a courier, but reading your comments and those on the COD Forum has given me second thoughts. I probably will go out there and do my best, but won’t expect the earth. I’m just a hard working dedicated bloke who wants to work for a living, believe me, trying to work for myself and just scraping by is a whole lot better than being a ‘jobseeker’ and being turned down for jobs that offer the minimum wage. At least trying to become self employed rekindles my pride. Thanks for confirming my thoughts that couriering is not something to be taken for granted, I just hope my determination can see me through.

Thanks for the advice

i have been made redundant and was very glad i stumbeled over your site a lot of these sites say you can start up with a car or a van do you think it possible to start using a car as i wanted to see if it’s ok befor i lash out and sort a van out

I’ve read all the comments regarding your ‘editorial’, i have been involved in this industry for just over a month, call me nieve but have earned between £600 and £8oo per week for between 10 and 12 hours daily work. My last job in the ‘security industry’ on paye was for over six years working at least the same or in many cases more hours for on average £350 a week! yes you have to show commitment and willing and perseverance but what position dosen’t!

Having looked for a job for 18 months now, and having just been made redundant, I have read this article with great interest, and done some further research. Yes, you can earn money, but not from the initial job, especially these days, as if you drive to london from Leeds, you only get paid to go there. coming back is the trick. seems you need to be a member or a freight exchange/courier exchange/shed to get returm jobs (or have a great contact list!!) But why do they all charge so much money!!

i agree with everything you have said its good information i too have been made redundant and was considering returning to this job the rates are much the same theese days when i was working for pony express in the late 80s early 90s back in them days it did pay as fuel was about half as much as it is now the estimate for london to manchester is probably nearer £60 than £40 though making it impossible to make any money at all

Just a word of sympathy for the owners of (same day) courier businesses.

Lets not forget a courier company often:
-Has to wait 45 days + for payment
-Gets all the hassle and lose business if a driver screws up.
-Take the hit if a customer goes bust, the driver gets paid regardles.
-Has to accept drivers take their frustrations out on the companies vehicles, often at great expense to the courier company. Ins goes up, damage needs to be sorted etc etc and any profit soon goes down the drain.

On top of this a driver gets paid every week/month, the courier company often has to wait 45 days + to get paid, that is IF they get paid.

The bottom line is that no one is forced to drive for x pence per mile! So if you don’t agree with what you get paid per mile, stop whinging and go try and earn the money else where.
Alternatively set up your own courier biz and tell your potential customers you will charge them £2.00 per mile to keep your (self employed) drivers happy………..
Sorry but never that easy and straight forward in any Biz………..

I have been mulling this idea of self employed courier over and over. Searching the sites and have come across many offering high earning potential. Fee’s attached. It all rang a little false because normally anything sounding too good to be true usually is, -in all areas of life I have found… so I am always the skeptic. Thanks for the advice. I am very grateful for it! It seems to ring out more honest that all the 600 quid this and that…. I guess the reality of it is: If you are a bloke with 20 vans and you get 20 muppets to drive ‘em then you could probably rake it in…but if you wantit to last you need the best from your muppets so you’ll have to be really good to them by being pleasant and not give them the impression you think they are muppets. -Maybe even buy them chips sometimes! All business is based on exploitation. Social intelligence merely requires agreement or compromise. God saved the queen but screwed you and me…..their swindle continues!

I have been in the industry for 8 years and worked for many companies owning and using 3.5 ton vans tipical day is leeds to Aberdeen collection then Glasgow collection then Newcastle 3 collection and back to leeds to unload by the time I have paid for everything I am left with minimum earnings. As a pensioner of nearly 2 years I can’t afford to retire and am unemployable in any other job.

thankyou for your honesty i will be using the forum for any questions we are family business we are just getting by with certain contracts we do have you have opened our eyes even more thankyou everymuch dave and jess

Good article – you’re right that a great many drivers don’t realise that speed limits are different to those for cars.

However, I’m not sure things are as confused as you say. The DfT page you link to also states that “the van design must be a derivative of a car body”. This clearly rules out all but car->van conversions, like the Astravan.

The DfT also says that taxation class is unrelated to speed limits. Speed limits (it says) are related to the load capacities of the vehicle and whether or not it is used for carrying passengers.

I do agree that it seems bizaare that a Nemo is subject to lower speed limits than an Astravan, however. I think it is a case of vehicle designs overtaking the law – these small vans with big payloads didn’t really exist in 1984, when the van speed limits were introduced, did they?

Thanks for taking the time to highlight this, look forward to seeing your response from the DfT…

Roland

I have a ticket for a Vauxhall Combo for 69mph on the A27 dual-carriageway at Holmbush (Hove/Portslade) dated 23/08/2008. It is a hire van (long-term) and I do not have the registration document. Sussex police, by the way.

great web site, please could you help me,i have just got a notice of intended prosecution, in a v.w. caddy,tdi.reg 02.it tell me recorded speed was 76mph,speed limit 70 mph,vehichle limit 60 mph. the registration certificate says its a panel van,light goods vehicle,2270kg cross revenue weight,wheelplan 2 axle-rigid body,vehicle category N1.is this a fine i should pay? or is the law wrong here? greatful for any help thankyou dave

thanks alec for reply, but i have look at manufacturers plate,it says 1770 kg then 2770 kg, (1)-890kg,(2)-950kg,typ 9kvf,looking at this plate,i think it means 1770kg is the g.v.w.is the vehicle weight?and the 2770kg is the revenue weight for taxin of the van? i could be wrong,i have been in touch with v,w, an they tell me that my van is on the volkswagen germany data system as a caddy derived van 66 tdi 5 speed. any more advice thanks david

It’s a nasty area that should really be changed in law. People carriers and SUV’s are more of a risk, yet they dont fall foul of the GVW law.
Could van makers be lobbied to state that all car derived vans have a GVW of 1999kg or less ?
I’d think owners of most small vans could care less about their ability on paper to carry an extra 10-30kg or so, then being put at risk driving a half empty van of getting done for speeding for no reason.
Like really, who on earth fills a small van to its maximum weight capacity on a regular basis ?

good news for berlingo & kangoo drivers my son received a notice of intent to prosecute having been caught on camera doing 71mph on a dual carriageway in kent in his berlingo van.having read previous comments on this website i got my daughter who is a police officer in thames valley to speak to a traffic officer colleague who advised her that the key factor regarding class of vehicle is the gvw.i then rang the kent police ticket bureau & spoke to the camera operator who had recorded the “offence”.he admitted that a mistake had been made & that both berlingo vans & the renault equivalent i.e the kangoo did not fall into the goods vehicle category that resricted speed limits.he advised that no further action would be taken & that a letter confirming this was being issued today.thats what i call a result & my son owes me several pints

My company has just changed from Astravans to the Citroen Nemo, I am now being charged by Grampian police with exceeding the 60mph limit on the A90 dual carriageway. When I challenged it their response was “vehicle is registered as a light goods vehicle”. I’ll try to take it further but I’m not hopeful.

I totally share your opinion. I work in the Fireworks industry and can assure you that any reputable retailer/wholesaler will definitely expect the couriers to be fully ADR licenced. I NEVER transport fireworks and yet I have taken the ADR training at the behest of my employer to address any queries which may arise. It is very irreponsible for any courier not to take this into consideration when you consider that there is a 25 metre safety distance with ALL 1.3g fireworks – I dont know many vans that are over 25 metres long!!

Having just read Alec’s comments from the 23rd September, I would like to respond.

I don’t know who Alec is or how long he has worked in the transport industry, and therefore cannot comment if I would consider him suitable for a position in my company or not. But what I do have knowledge of are HGV drivers. After 35 years I certainly know a good one from a bad one and what can and cannot be expected of them.
Some of the best drivers I have had could bearly read or write, and have one now that finds his way around by comparing the shape of the words of a destination to the road signs. He is a very productive driver and quite happy to be working for someone who can live with and help him with his problem.

But the content of a ADR course is beyond him. Even the ones who can pass with no problem do not have a retentive memory. Its not usual for these men to leave a collection point with ADR product on board and yet fail to ensure they have a Trem Card.

I stand by what I say. In the vast majority of cases the decision of what a haulier is going to carry on his truck is made by the traffic management. Providng the product is covered by the driver’s ADR license then that is not a problem. The vehicle or trailer is often loaded in the driver’s absence, and a driver turning in at 4am in the morning is highly unlikely to open up his vehicle to see what is stacked next to what.

These are all decision made by trained traffic management and therefore it is these people would really need the intensive training to ensure the load is safe both in terms of the mixing of volatile chemicals, and the packaging limits.

The driver should have concentrated training on what to do in an emergency, and how to interpret ADR labels amd packaging to ensure the product comes within his license remit.

With regards to the driver CPC training. I would like to point out to Alec that I am currently training my own in house trainer, who will from the September start date, be providing on the job training to each and every driver in excess of the laws requirement of 7 hours per year. in addition to taht will continue with the RHA icon training programme taken up some 3 years ago. So I take exception to his comment that I operate my company “on the fringes of legality”. I abide by the laws controlling every aspect of operating a HGV including ADR. My traffic staff are ADR trained despite the fact is is not a legal requirement and that we only carry printing ink and arable fertiliser. They are also time served drivers and take exception to his calling them “under trained cretins”. Nobody is taking away a drivers need to ensure his vehicle is safely loaded, infact i can only wish some would pay more attention to this requirement.

I can assure Alec that my drivers are not expected to exceed the legal limits of anything, and I would be very pleased to show him my drivers tachograph records, both analogue and digital, infringement reports signed off by the driver concerned,DGSA annual reports, maintenance records, infact anything he would care to inspect. The only problem is that I don’t think he would get past the “under trained cretins” in the traffic office in one peice.

Alec’s comments regarding drivers being asked to colect ADR goods they are not licence to handle, reflect the corners that some operators both large and small are prepared to cut. Please do not count me amongst them without first qualifying your asumptions.

According to you then Alec anyone who hasn’t received the high level of education you so obviously enjoyed should be denied the right to gainful and properly paid employment. I don’t judge my people by their acedemic skills as you seem to do, and am not prepared to write them off if they are able to carry out their duties in a fit and proper manner. As for the traffic office staff, please remember it was you that voiced a derogatory opinion of them, and why should they sit back and take that from you.

All my drivers who handle ADR have received the proper training, along with traffic office staff,and will continue to for as long as they remain in my employ. As far as I am aware this is still a free country and until such times that we are forced to employ only a Pseudo Aryan race that you purport to, I retain the right to form and voice my own opinion of the content of ADR training for drivers.

cfl were owed less than £50K (quite a bit less) so how did that sink “a multi million pound turnover business”? (as he put it), also mtvan has “ceased trading” but isnt in liquidation…..work that one out

Update for those concerned

TENON RECOVERY HAVE TAKEN OVER CFL’s AFFAIRS
PLEASE SEE COMPANIES HOUSE WEBSITE

THANKS BILLY

To whom it may concern, might be a little late but there is a credditors meeting today

thanks billy

I just found out about MT Van and am a little aggrieved to say the least. I was getting paid every week like clockwork until about 6 weeks ago then the payments stopped. Spoke to Holly who reassured me nothing was wrong and told I would receive payment soon. Am still owed £700 by them and have no chance of ever seeing it. Rob from Cardiff.

hehe great article-can rely on you Alec!

MTV are and they have been for a long time the worst investment an owner driver could make. You could only get some rubbish work from ParcelForce/Royal Mail. The system itself is miles behind other exchanges. I’d not shed a tear if they go bust…