Self Employed Courier Driver?

[unlacedgecko 1,466]

anything to do with driving is a muggs game end of, cleaners get better money than hgv driver s there was an advert for office cleaners in our local rag £13 + ov there not many hgv drivers get that , a lorry driver wage looks good on the surface but then dig deeper and you ll see he does unsociable hours 70- hours a week for say 500 quid hes done 2 weeks work in one week so half that = 250 for putting up with shit all week everybody wants whats on the truck but nobody wants the truck or the driver and i own an agency and after 35 years of punching trucks all over europe the middle east , russia, north africa and all over the uk on every type of work going from tankers low loaders tilts tauts boxes you name it ive done it and its all shit its a lot of work for nothing the days of making good money driving are long gone

 

 

Anyone doing 70- hours a week for only £500 is a mug. Minimum I work for is £11/hour, so on a hour week I would be invoicing for £880. Self employed/limited company agency work is something which I can make work for me. Where do you get your drivers neg and goods in transit from Topper?

[gnasher16 30,121]

 

A good friend of mine has a courier firm with about 40 odd drivers all subbing....some of them seem to make a decent living...............the beauty of subbing as opposed to full on self employed is you dont get knocked !.....If he doesnt put a cheque in his drivers pocket at the end of the week he doesnt have a business simple......whether he gets knocked or not its still risk free for the drivers.........also as a subbie your not having to fork out the goods transit insurance whatever its called,you have no advertising costs,as much or as little work as you like......all with no risk.

 

companys up here doing that go through alot of drivers, they dont give a f**k. they aint paying for the van, fuel, tracker, unform etc, drivers do.. hence why they moved drivers to self employed, if its a shite day/ week company pays out f**k all, no drivers on the books, no vans to look after..the moneys crap for the amount of work you do/time on the road, job on the books is better, you know the score then

 

 

Ive never driven for a living so you might be right im only going on what my mate says........they do have a high turnover of drivers but as long as the goods get from a to b on time i doubt he cares........i know he has drivers who have been on the firm years as well though......i guess its like anything if your willing to put the hours in.....after all said and done i doubt theres too many jobs you can pick a grand a week up for driving a van about and thats the advantage of being a subbie you work as much or as little as you want whereas on the books is set hours/set money i suppose.

Edited November 1, 2013 by gnasher16

[just jack 998]

it seems you need to get in with the right firm/agency

https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/GetJob.aspx?JobID=632703&JobTitle=Multi-Drop+Driver&rad=20&rad_units=miles&pp=25&sort=rv.dt.di&vw=b&re=134&setype=2&tjt=&where=london&q=&AVSDM=2013-11-01T11%3a24%3a00-05%3a00

[Joe67 239]

prefered the distance jobs rather than being stuck in town with tram works going on lol, if you can get a distance job and something on way back then it can be good. places i worked for had to many drivers, good for company not drivers.

 

used to try websites like http://www.uship.com to try improve chances of work on the way back if companys i worked for had nothing

[Joe67 239]

 

 

A good friend of mine has a courier firm with about 40 odd drivers all subbing....some of them seem to make a decent living...............the beauty of subbing as opposed to full on self employed is you dont get knocked !.....If he doesnt put a cheque in his drivers pocket at the end of the week he doesnt have a business simple......whether he gets knocked or not its still risk free for the drivers.........also as a subbie your not having to fork out the goods transit insurance whatever its called,you have no advertising costs,as much or as little work as you like......all with no risk.

companys up here doing that go through alot of drivers, they dont give a f**k. they aint paying for the van, fuel, tracker, unform etc, drivers do.. hence why they moved drivers to self employed, if its a shite day/ week company pays out f**k all, no drivers on the books, no vans to look after..the moneys crap for the amount of work you do/time on the road, job on the books is better, you know the score then

 

Ive never driven for a living so you might be right im only going on what my mate says........they do have a high turnover of drivers but as long as the goods get from a to b on time i doubt he cares........i know he has drivers who have been on the firm years as well though......i guess its like anything if your willing to put the hours in.....after all said and done i doubt theres too many jobs you can pick a grand a week up for driving a van about and thats the advantage of being a subbie you work as much or as little as you want whereas on the books is set hours/set money i suppose.

 

 

maybe mate, i had to pay van hire each week so didnt have a choice, couldnt aford to take days off.

 

pros and cons to van hire and owning own van

[gnasher16 30,121]

 

 

 

A good friend of mine has a courier firm with about 40 odd drivers all subbing....some of them seem to make a decent living...............the beauty of subbing as opposed to full on self employed is you dont get knocked !.....If he doesnt put a cheque in his drivers pocket at the end of the week he doesnt have a business simple......whether he gets knocked or not its still risk free for the drivers.........also as a subbie your not having to fork out the goods transit insurance whatever its called,you have no advertising costs,as much or as little work as you like......all with no risk.

companys up here doing that go through alot of drivers, they dont give a f**k. they aint paying for the van, fuel, tracker, unform etc, drivers do.. hence why they moved drivers to self employed, if its a shite day/ week company pays out f**k all, no drivers on the books, no vans to look after..the moneys crap for the amount of work you do/time on the road, job on the books is better, you know the score then

 

Ive never driven for a living so you might be right im only going on what my mate says........they do have a high turnover of drivers but as long as the goods get from a to b on time i doubt he cares........i know he has drivers who have been on the firm years as well though......i guess its like anything if your willing to put the hours in.....after all said and done i doubt theres too many jobs you can pick a grand a week up for driving a van about and thats the advantage of being a subbie you work as much or as little as you want whereas on the books is set hours/set money i suppose.

 

 

maybe mate, i had to pay van hire each week so didnt have a choice, couldnt aford to take days off.

 

pros and cons to van hire and owning own van

 

 

You have to weigh up the depreciation on your bought van.....to the hire charges..........large van hire is what 150 per week roughly ?......is your van going to depreciate in value by 150 per week ? no.......but obviously a hire van wont cost you service/repair bills etc......then again most hire firms will be limited mileage......plus your bought van will be backed off on your vat and a good accountant will make it all work.......like you say its all pros and cons.

The only reason i take an interest is i used to have a big yard of vans with this mate,when we sold up he was on at me to come in with him in a courier firm but it wasnt for me......but near 10 years down the line he has done very well with it and like i say.....plenty of work and plenty of drivers.

[Joe67 239]

if your the owner should make a good few £, you find the courier company makes a deal with certin hire companys, sends drivers to them, last van i was hiring was a berlingo, £125 a week, unlimited milage always got a new/ish van all i needed to do is put fuel in it. wear and tear. repairs was upto hire company, got another van when getting serviced so always on the road and insurance was sorted with hire company/courier company.

 

own van you have to pay insurance, repair, tax etc. if it breaks down your off the road while its getting repaired and not making any £. good point about the vat.

[Popovs Garden Craft 1]

Any of you lads gone down the taxi route? Also hear good and bad about this work. I'm basically desperate to get a new job, sick as a chip in my current work.

[just jack 998]

Any of you lads gone down the taxi route? Also hear good and bad about this work. I'm basically desperate to get a new job, sick as a chip in my current work.

our local taxi drivers seems to be getting a bit jet, i mean jet black, fair play i suppose, they just nod and put the postcode in the NAV, then you direct them the last 3 ft,

it seems the asian taxi fella likes the city centre thing

give it a bash

[the_stig 6,614]

Any of you lads gone down the taxi route? Also hear good and bad about this work. I'm basically desperate to get a new job, sick as a chip in my current work.

a mate makes a living just out of airport runs ---

[Popovs Garden Craft 1]

Thing that puts me off is all the knowledge tests and this test and that. Surely all the foreign folk can't pass this?

[just jack 998]

are you in london or newcastle mate

[Popovs Garden Craft 1]

Newcastle. I live within 15min drive from the city centre

[Joe67 239]

private hire badge is easy to get

[Popovs Garden Craft 1]

Would it be better to work for a cab firm or go at it on my own, would like to do airports and pre booked hopefully would miss a lot of the trouble customers and drunks. What sort of wage would this bring on average?