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Any advice on becoming a courier ?
- Thread starter hopkins
- Start date
Geestar
New member
You been watching too much Shipping Wars
BensGrandad
New member
Dont join either. With Hermes you have to work 6 days a week and have dropped the rate per parcel and are now targetting Eastern Europeans with a car as they need no cards etc being self employed. A friend of mine has worked for them for 14 years and earns good money but as her rounds have got busier with more on line shopping, they have made it into 2 rounds and reduced the rate from 85p per parcel to 52p and given one half to another courier.
Vegas Seagull
New member
- Jul 10, 2009
- 7,782
Start off by throwing stuff from the van up against the front door, save you a few weeks of wasted effort
tigertim68
Well-known member
- Sep 3, 2012
- 2,321
I went self employed as a courier , worse decision of my life , did it for a year , really hard to make money , the costs of owning and running a van are very high ,insurance is very high .
You make very little per drop , my advice dont do it
sir albion
New member
Way to much completion out there...It will take time to build a reputation and you'll be doing serious hours and mileage.
Going rate is what £1 mile?
Going rate is what £1 mile?
Pretty pink fairy
Banned
- Jan 30, 2008
- 31,981
Be prepared to get stuck in traffic , parking fines, late finish's, what's not to like
regards
DR
regards
DR
GoldWithFalmer
Seaweed! Seaweed!
Mate of mine worked as a delivery driver for Wicks and Howdens's *10 stops a day maybe* and has his own business as a man with a luton van,he is very fit as you can imagine,delivering sand cement,kitchen units,wood,paving slabs you name it..
Anyway,he tried Citylink *proper multidrop courier work* for a spell as a subcontract cover driver for a few months...
It absolutely blew his mind and was a nightmare,he only went out with 60 drops in a town centre route,it was not for him.
Seems like a decent enough job,but you can get treated like shyte and put upon,many drivers go out with 100-150 drops a day add,to that,timed deliveries,baulk deliveries,early or worse still narrow collection windows and you can find yourself doing 11 -13-15hour days..
In all weather...hope your not a talker,well not too much.......1 minute talking per drop could cost you 2 hours..
Anyway,he tried Citylink *proper multidrop courier work* for a spell as a subcontract cover driver for a few months...
It absolutely blew his mind and was a nightmare,he only went out with 60 drops in a town centre route,it was not for him.
Seems like a decent enough job,but you can get treated like shyte and put upon,many drivers go out with 100-150 drops a day add,to that,timed deliveries,baulk deliveries,early or worse still narrow collection windows and you can find yourself doing 11 -13-15hour days..
In all weather...hope your not a talker,well not too much.......1 minute talking per drop could cost you 2 hours..
BensGrandad
New member
My friend working for Hermes has approx 140 deliveries a day at average 52p a drop depending on size which is approx £72 per day less motor expenses plus they take about 50p per day for parcel insurance. So for 6 days it isnt brilliant money.
GoldWithFalmer
Seaweed! Seaweed!
Must be working for the wrong type of courier company,some subbies i know can make £800-£1200/week,still that's the likes of DPD UPS DHL DX TNT FEDEX TUFFNELLS CITYLINK and so forth..(Little clue for the OP there)
el punal
Well-known member
Best advice : DO NOT!!!
The Andy Naylor Fan Club
Well-known member
Don't get caught. Be careful of which countries you enter, some have the death penalty. If you swallow the wraps don't over do it.
BensGrandad
New member
She was until they split the round into 2 and reduced the rate due to being able to get the deliveries done cheaper. It must be remembered that Hermes are the biggest and busiest home courier company in the Uk. If they can do it when will the others follow suit?
Son used to drive for DX they pay between £180 and £200 per day for a Sprinter size van and running costs have to come out of that.
Pretty pink fairy
Banned
- Jan 30, 2008
- 31,981
Parcel pete anyone 
UPS pay the money
regards
DR
UPS pay the moneyregards
DR
- Jul 10, 2003
- 25,809
£800-£1200 for driving a van. Surprised more people don't do it
*edit* I suspect that you have got me and Pink Fairy to agree on something - congratulations
Pretty pink fairy
Banned
- Jan 30, 2008
- 31,981
Normally driving it badly£800-£1200 for driving a van. Surprised more people don't do it
regards
DR
crookie
Well-known member
I am an owner driver for UK Mail. It is a FT commitment, make no mistake. I am very fortunate in that the round I took on has no daily collections, so pretty much when I'm finished delivering I am done, usually between 1 and 2. Most drivers don't get back to the depot till 4.30-5 at the earliest, sometimes 6 if your round is a distance from the depot. Most get in around 6am, so a 12 hour day, even longer if you live far away. I live in T Wells, deliver in T Wells and the depot is in T Wells so I use a lot less diesel than most. Drop rate is £1.52 for small bags, £1.82 for boxes, that's the lowest in the depot as my round is local. Drop rate can go up to about £3 max for rural routes away from the depot. Obviously you are using more fuel and doing less drops. I can average about 16 drops an hour, so 80 drops would take me 5 hours, delivering 8-1, earning about £135. Using about a tenner for diesel, so not too bad. Van is on a 4 year lease for £235 a month, so again, not much, insurance about £120 a month.
You'd need to contact local depots and find out which, if any rounds they have available and see if you fancy it. Most important thing - FIND OUT THE TIME OF YOUR COLLECTIONS, or you could get stitched right up !!
Feel free to PM me if you want any more info
You'd need to contact local depots and find out which, if any rounds they have available and see if you fancy it. Most important thing - FIND OUT THE TIME OF YOUR COLLECTIONS, or you could get stitched right up !!
Feel free to PM me if you want any more info
GoldWithFalmer
Seaweed! Seaweed!
Fair comment and you did mention that i notice in your other posts,well at the end of the day couriers are drivers for the company they work for and in theory they can be taken off a round and put on any round at any time.
With regards to subcontractors across the board,many now only want owner drivers so within reason there are opportunities out there to be had,but business to business courier work rather than the type of work that Hermes carry out will need a different type of driver..after all the type of work your son did for DX was similar but quite different to Hermes.
GoldWithFalmer
Seaweed! Seaweed!
Abandoned on the lights,blocking the road,no use of indicators? yep that's the type of thing.
crookie
Well-known member
Plenty of shocking driving going on every day, not all by courier drivers !!