Okay, this is what I am doing currently. Not as a career, just as something to keep the bills paid and get me out of the office environment which I gave up a couple of years ago.
You need to make sure you work for the busiest firm you can find, as job levels are down at the moment. Some are making money, others aren't and lots of smaller firms are being bought by the larger ones. I started with one company who were pleasant to work for and paid good rates, but there were days when no jobs came through at all. The firm I work for now is one of the busiest in Watford, and has work available all day and half the night if I want it. You really do need to be on the road all day to make it pay though.
Another thing you might want to consider is multi-drop. There seems to be a fair demand for multi-drop drivers at the moment. If you work for a firm that pays, say, £2 per drop, and you average, say, 70 drops per day, once you get to know your post code area you'll be done in three or four hours and that's £700 a week - not bad for driving a van around.
Basically, find a firm that is looking for van owner drivers, and try them out - if you don't like it or they don't have enough work, move on to another. As Vin says, you will have an advantage if you are able to avoid getting stressed out behind the wheel.
|
I once looked in becoming a motorcycle courier but in the end did not go for the position.
The extra you pay on insurance can be quite expensive, especially if you have only a couple of years no claims.
Also, you need to work out exactly how much it costs to earn the money you do. Take into account wear and tear like brakes, tyres, engine failures etc.
In my opinion, this is a viable long term option but the money you do earn is not as great as it first appears since there are so many costs involved.
|
|
|
-Another thing you might want to consider is multi-drop. There seems to be a fair demand for multi-drop drivers at the moment. If you work for a firm that pays, say, £2 per drop, and you average, say, 70 drops per day, once you get to know your post code area you'll be done in three or four hours and that's £700 a week - not bad for driving a van around.-
What planet are you living on Arthur?
Average 70 drops a day , you gotta be having a laugh.4 hours equals 3.42 minutes per drop!!!!!
Lets say it takes an average of 15 minutes to make drop and then get into your van to the next drop, find the address and recipient , get a signature as proof of drop then thats 17 1/2 hours per day you'll be working and I guarantee you won't last long doing those sort of hours.OK it helps the better you know your area but it aint gonna pay anything like the money you suggest.
|
I've had loads of customers buy thir vans from me for this job.
The ones that bother to work earn reasonably well, unlike the ones that sit in the office all day drinking tea & moaning!!
One guy, considered it easy money, being paid to drive around & listen to the radio!His Escort went out from us 20,000 miles & swapped in 140,000 miles just under 4 years later, for a newer one. Earning 60 odd pennies a mile, is that enough for you? He never worked Saturdays & sold his 2nd van, to work in the courier firms office last year!
Couple tips ...
Check the insurance covers you for what you will carry - some high value items can fit in a little package!!
Know the weight of what you're carrying - don't risk a pull, for overload.
Don't stuff yourself up with a NEW van & commit to looooooooooong finance deals. Buy low/lowish miles on 2/3 year old.You'll soon clock up an unattractive mileage, destroying used value.
Fill up wherever you see cheap diesel!!
Have fun!!
VB
|
|
|
What planet are you living on Arthur? Average 70 drops a day , you gotta be having a laugh.4 hours equals 3.42 minutes per drop!!!!! Lets say it takes an average of 15 minutes to make drop and then get into your van to the next drop, find the address and recipient , get a signature as proof of drop then thats 17 1/2 hours per day you'll be working and I guarantee you won't last long doing those sort of hours.OK it helps the better you know your area but it aint gonna pay anything like the money you suggest.
:)
You obviously haven't done any, so I'll explain simply:
The more drops you have in a postcode area, the more often you will find that a lot of them are in the same road, or even in the same building. Sometimes even the same person! So yes, you can average about four or five minutes per drop for many of them. Usually you try to fit in all the ones in the centre of a town, then do the outlying ones on a route taking you back to base - except for the timed ones which can screw everything up.
If you try to do the work by starting at the top of your run sheet and working your way down it in order, then obviously you will spend all your time driving from one drop to another, but that would be stupid!
|
Helicopter said
"What planet are you living on Arthur?
Average 70 drops a day , you gotta be having a laugh....."
to which king arthur replied
"You obviously haven't done any....."
I'll echo king arthur.
My record was 157 drops in one day. OK it was a long day but no longer say than a hour commute each way plus a full day in office. So not that bad.
Also whilst it did involve multiple drops to the same premises / street also included plenty of single drops.
Over 100 was a regular day. All driving legally too, AND wearing a seatbelt.
To the original questioner Van Driving man.
You'll never make your fortune but it pays the bills.
[b]Do get a switched on accountant![/b] Giving a slightly tongue in cheek example you can then claim all of Fido's Chum & Bonio on the grounds that he's a guard dog for the goods you are carrying, plenty more ideas like that. Get the drift?
[b]The key is, as king arthur suggests, good route planning.[/b] For one firm used to get the next day's delivery schedule the previous evening. Fortunately it was only covering a couple of postcodes so had a heap of A-Z maps photocopied.
Got a packet of highlighter pens in various colours and highlighted the streets where visits needed. Tokk about 30 minutes. Eventually you get to know the individual premises. Use different colours of highlighters if you get specific instructions as in must be before noon and so on. A picture for your most time economical route will soon emerge.
After a time you get a mental map of the area rather like cab drivers knowledge.
There are downsides, its a grueller in weather extremes of hot & cold.
Not to mention the first time visit, usually a domestic address, where the postal address has a house name but no number for some reason, (vanity?) and the name is not properly displayed. Yes Shell Cottage, I do mean YOU!
Hope that helps re white van driving.
Question, why not HGV? national shortage of decent drivers!
FiF
|
Arthur / FiF - I have done it - It was not for long.
It may have changed as when I did it was a while back BUT...
I still say you will not make anything like that sort of money ,if you could make £700 a week for four hours work a day you would be killed in the rush.
It depends what you are dropping and what you get per drop, whether you have to get signatures and whether you know the area that you are working in and whether you can find the house without a number or name or where they have their letter box even!. Three minutes a drop is best case scenario - don't give him that - tell the truth.
Its always easy to remember the best run and the record drops when you are only covering a small area of a couple of postcodes but how often did jobs like that come along ?
As FiF says the worst days can be bummers when you make nothing because your company has no contracts , you have to deliver by a certain time and you are in a five mile jam, your van is booked, your clutch goes ,you get caught by the scamera etc etc.
Don't be seduced Van Driving Man - IMO you'll be lucky to make half the money Arthur says. .
|
"Its always easy to remember the best run and the record drops when you are only covering a small area of a couple of postcodes but how often did jobs like that come along ?"
Not often that jobs like that came along indeed, and if it was so wonderful why wasn't one killed in the rush as you rightly point out.
That scenario, ie small area lots of parcels, was physically a killer, ie in and out of van all day, lifting, sorting, fighting off Jack Russells and Corgis.
Plus it wasn't a flat rate per item. If I recall correctly for that oufit the rate per item went from 20p to around £4-£5 depending upon weight and value, eg signature, timed delivery and so on. Presumably rates have changed since then; I really can't say as this was about 12 few years ago.
Working hard, & I do mean hard, you could clear about £1000-£1200 / month after deduction of expenses which more or less ties in with Vin's? figures. Never got to £700/week or even near and as for £700 for 4 hours work a day, sounds like the civil service. (ducks and runs for cover)
Nice when you get several high value collections and deliveries to a single address, not so nice when you have a van full of single 20p deliveries knowing that your diesel, tyres, tax, insurance etc all have to come out of it, even if they are tax deductible. Not so nice when no jobs come along, also not so nice when you know you could work a 16 hour day, still have failed to deliver everything and that another heap of stuff waits for the next day.
Another thing; now parking enforcement is privatised you will find less leeway given, especially London. The parking clowns don't often know / care that loading / unloading rules might be different from pure parking regs, hence the first action is a ticket rather than a request to move on. Freight Transport Assoc is complaining about it big time.
You do see how the other half live though!!!!! By that I don't mean the upper crust, but quite the opposite. After some places I just wanted to go home early and get in the shower. Yuck!
Yes there is a high demand for multi drop drivers and in my view that is because so many drop out after a week or two. Nevertheless some people love it. Personally, well let's say it was an experience, but one that as said earlier indeed paid the bills.
Is that an objective enough update for you helicopter?
FiF
|
FiF - I did more motorcycle work rather than van drops.
Yep its a more objective view than £700 a week sky pie!
I always remember the run I did from London to Winchester with a computer part for repair, paid £80 , got there , guy looked at it and said it'll take me 1/2 hr to fix , Can you take it back?
I charged him £80 to take it back and he paid me cash. Nice money for three hours work.
I also remember the young lady answering the door in her nightdress..... ( funny place to have a door!)
I also remember being frozen , soaking and dispirited having worked a 16 hour day for £30.
|
|
|
Plus it wasn't a flat rate per item. If I recall correctly for that oufit the rate per item went from 20p to around £4-£5 depending upon weight and value, eg signature, timed delivery and so on. Presumably rates have changed since then; I really can't say as this was about 12 few years ago.
The current firm I work for pays £2.00 per drop for next-day deliveries, the last one paid £1.50. The drivers there were earning £500 - £600 per week, and would often be finished by around 2pm, on busy days they might have to come back to collect the parcels they couldn't fit on in the morning. That was only a small depot. You do regularly see positions for self-employed multi-drop drivers with own vans, quoting earnings of £750 per week and upwards. The downside is, you'll need your own LWB Sprinter for some of them, and they are not cheap to buy or run (or insure).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
