stewmac

Was thinking of a career change & looked at this in the paper ,earn $1500 a week ,with the petrol likely to hit $2.00 by the end of the year im not too sure this is career worth getting into ?? Any help/advise ?

thanks

perksy

Not got any advice for australian couriers, but I can give you an insight into the career in the UK as I run a courier business here and have done for past 8 years. In all honesty I wouldn't advise you to be looking to do this. The rising fuel costs are a major worry. Its worthwhile to be keeping an eye on the diesel prices and not petrol as most commercial vehicles run on this. Some things for you to think about are: Do they supply a van for you? If not what are your plans? You need to think wether to lease or buy. My opinion would be to lease but thats just my preference. The benefits of this are things like free servicing, breakdown recovery, free tyres etc but it will cost you. For example an escort sized van in the UK costs roughly £350 per month a Transit (SWB) £450 a Sprinter (LWB) £600. If you brought your own van you will need to think of hidden costs such as tyres, servicing, wear and tear, maintainance, road tax etc. Its also worth remembering if your own van breaks down its up to you to get it fixed but if you lease a van then they do all the repairs giving you a replacement while this is done. While you have a van off the road you wont be earning any money.

Then you have to think about who you're working for. Will it be yourself or are you going to be a subby? Subby rates in the UK are generally poor no matter what people say. If I charge my customer say £1 per mile I will only pay you 60p per mile to do the job. Thats not me being tight that unfortunatly is the going rate. Plus bear in mind of that 60p per mile its a one way price therefore you dont get paid to come back. Out of this 60p per mile you have to pay for your own fuel and van costs including van insurance. Most subbys get paid monthly so remember you will have to find at least 1 months fuel money to tide you through

By the way there is an advert in one of the tabloids in the UK that says you can earn silly money doing this job eg Liverpool to Portsmouth and get £350 for it. Dont believe it mate its bollox. The days of earning big bucks as a driver have long gone. To make any decent money you need your own customers

Hope the info above is of help to you good luck

DrWho

Personally I don't know how anyone makes anything out of being a courier over here... I spent 25 years in the transport business in the UK and I can't believe what people charge over here... Last Wednesday I needed to send a couple of light but bulky items from the top end of the Northern Beaches to the far South West of Sydney... Got a dedicated ute, turned up in an hour, and cost $90... That's like a transit van from Barking to Heathrow, going through the centre of the city, at peak times, for less than 40 quid...

The Bloke

Obviously direct priority service or taxi truck. If you stipulated economy service it would have been cheaper but would take longer. You could have used Couriers Please instead for instance, cost being about $8 for each 25kg on a 4hr service with 4 runs daily to metro areas. (based on my experiences with Qld diivision)
www.couriersplease.com.au/content/view/17/121/

The Bloke

This can depend on actual work undertaken. The more jobs you do, the more money you earn, in theory. Unless you run an independent business, you are contracted to the parent firm for X amount per delivery (depends on which firm you are with). Fuel, maintenance are usually YOUR responsibility. Further, any downtime for maintenance, lessens the amount of work you get, hence, less money.

stewmac

id be a subbie ,so id use my own vehicle ,earnings average $1300 a week ,minus running costs about $350(based on rego/insurance/petrol/wear & tear etc) earnings only based on core hrs so if i was happy to put in the extra hours which i would i dont see much of a problem of clearing $1000 a week to be honest

perksy

What type of work will you be doing? Multidrop or distance?

Multidrop you will be doing less mileage but wear and tear on your vehicle will be high typically 60+ drops per day are the norm and you are paid by the drop.
Distance work is majority very high motorway mileage (my subbies are doing an average 3500 miles per week) The wear and tear on your vehicle is less but your diesel bills are high. With this type of work your van will need to be serviced typically once a month/6weeks

You also need to be aware that you wont be running on a standard insurance policy. Most companies insist you have a 'courier policy' which carries a high premium plus you will need Goods in Transit insurance.

If you look at a website called www.codforum.org.uk this is a forum for owner drivers in the UK and it will give you an insight into the struggles courier owner drivers are having in the UK at present. This industry along with the haulage industry is really on its knees in the UK at present with many companies and drivers going under.

I also notice you are doing your figures and are taking account the cost of petrol. Please forget the cost of petrol as you will be running a DIESEL vehicle and the costs differ considerably