Tony's Guide to the Courier Industry

Tony’s Guide is a step-by-step guide to getting started in the courier industry.

If you want to get work as an owner driver (sometimes called a “freelance courier”) in this industry, this guide will help get you earning. It will tell you where to look, who to talk to, and what to say, when looking for courier work.

The first part of the guide helps you when you’re starting out as a courier owner driver, and it will show you what you need, who you need to speak to, and what to say, to get paid for driving.

It will help you go freelance, and work for lots of courier companies, and then on to work at getting your own end-user customers who use couriers. If you want to grow your courier business, this whole book can be used as a kind of operating manual for your business, to guide you through the many pitfalls along the way.

Useful to anyone interested in the courier industry, this book is packed with a wealth of tried and trusted ideas and information, to help you to get up and running, and to make a success of running your own courier operation.

The Same-Day Express Courier Market in the UK

Let’s first of all be quite clear what we mean by “courier” in this book. It’s a“same day courier”. It’s the kind of courier who collects from a business customer immediately in a small van, and goes straight to the delivery point and gets a signature. Like a minicab for parcels. There are some variations on this theme, but we are not talking about couriers or carriers like Parcelforce or UPS, who generally collect towards the end of the day, to take parcels to the local depot for delivery overnight by means of a system of depots, and trunking vehicles, operating through the night.

If you know the right people, and if you know how to approach them, there is a good living to be made as a courier. Everything happens and changes faster nowadays, so instant delivery is only going to become more essential, even in a recession.

Although a lot of what couriers used to carry is now delivered via the internet, there’s still good work to be had. Most of what is being carried by couriers now and in the future will be "product" ie stuff which you can't send via email. So the industry is changing.

There’s a bright future, especially for really reliable and professional ownerdrivers. There are a handful of big sameday courier companies, such as Citysprint, who cover the country.

Smaller courier company players can compete with bigger companies by offering something even more special to their customers, such as offering a really personal service, which larger companies sometimes find difficult at a local level.

That's as well as everyone in the industry having to offer a high level of "the basics", such as accurate delivery, smart vans with professionally turned-out drivers, instant Proof of Delivery information on the web, on-line bookings and enquiries, instant national coverage, 24/7 availability, consistent pricing, electronic invoicing, and instant proof of delivery reporting.

Tony’s Guide can help you to get the most out of this market, even as these exciting changes are taking place, and despite the recession.

What equipment do I need to work as a courier?

Here’s a helpful checklist of the equipment you need to invest in to get yourself on the road as a courier. Although the list is quite long, you may well find you have most of it already.

You’ll need a van. Your van should be either one of the many small diesel vans which will carry anything from an envelope to a pallet, or something much bigger like a high-top Sprinter. Which size you choose depends partly on your temperament (are you happy to load and drive something that big?) and partly about the demand in your area. If the choice doesn’t seem obvious to you at the start, start with something small and cheap, get to know your local market, and trade up if you think the money is there for running a bigger van. Contract hire is usually safer and cheaper than buying your own van.

People often ask if you can do courier work in a car. The answer is yes, but you’ll get less work (because not everything you may be asked to carry will fit in), and you’ll soon rack up the miles, which may make you think twice about how long your car will last doing this kind of work.

You will need an up to date street map of your local area and a UK road atlas.

Even more importantly, you’ll need SatNav.

You should carry a few basic spares and bulbs with you and the tools to fit them.

You will obviously need a mobile phone. Many customers and contracts require a proof of delivery immediately at the point of delivery, so you’ll need lots of free minutes, and a bundle of texts for as little money as possible. We strongly recommend that you get yourself equipped to go on the internet in the van, for which you’ll need a suitable mobile phone with internet access. Some couriers take their laptop computer around with them, and use that for the internet.

Or one of the “notebook” sized ones. If you’re buying a phone, we recommend a “PDA” (a combined internet and phone). It’s also possible to get satellite navigation systems to plug in to these phones, which can make the whole package very useful to you.

You should have sufficient straps and bungee cords so that you can prevent packages from sliding around and getting damaged, and a few old blankets for providing extra wrapping and a buffer’ between the consignment and anything else. It is your responsibility to ensure that the load is safely, securely and legally loaded, both during the loading process, and before driving away.

A barrow may be a good idea, especially if you have a large van, as it’ll save you time and backache while loading. Keeping the load safe is really important.

You should always keep the load area of your van clean and dry to prevent damage to the stuff you’re carrying, so you’ll need a dustpan and brush.

If you have to keep a package overnight, or over the weekend, for later delivery, you must obviously keep it safe from theft. This may even mean transferring the load to your house or garage. The load is your responsibility while it is in your care, and a loaded van is very attractive to passing thieves. You may find that the small print of your Goods in Transit insurance excludes cover for unattended loads, especially overnight. So you’ll need somewhere secure to keep stuff overnight, such as your garage or even your bedroom.

This should go without saying, but make sure you have a legal spare wheel, wheel brace and jack.

The key to your locking wheel nuts.

Membership of a recovery service.

A spare ignition key, attached to a chain on your belt. You could be stuck miles from home if you lose your main van key.

You’ll need money or credit cards (best of all one with Nectar Points or similar, as you’ll be spending a lot) for fuel, lunch, tolls, and other expenses, and for emergencies.

Put simply, make sure that you have everything you need to do the job properly, and be organised so that nothing stops you earning the money when it’s there.

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." (Warren Buffet) mtvan