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Freelance Courier?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Andrew2010
  • Start date Start date

Can a freelance Courier become a good business?

  • Total voters
    14
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A

Andrew2010

Someone approached me with the idea of becoming a freelance courier.

Has anyone got any information on this?

What do you need etc.

Any information will help me a great deal.
 
I wish your poll had a 'no idea' or a 'perhaps' or a 'depends' option.

I can't vote yes or no. I would have thought that with the growth of online shopping the courier business is a good place to be but I don't know the industry well enough to say whether being freelance works or not.
 
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Thanks alot for your imput. I will remember for my next poll :wink:

I have been told that couriers eg FedEx take on too much work and hand out work daily to free lance couriers.

Sounds good. I have heard of someone making £30k a year doing it.
 
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A friend of a friend setup on his own doing just that and aparantly does quite well. I know nothing about couriers, but I cant see how, unless you have several packages for the same are that you can make a profit.This must be very difficult to achieve unless as mentioned, larger firms subcontract you.
 
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The courier business is huge especially the carrying of valuable documents, needed parts for broken machinery and aircraft, blood etc.
I am looking in to this market so that my company through existing courier companies or courier experienced entrepeneurs can JV in a helicopter courier service.
Pretty much door to door service for business by helicopter, brighton to manchester in 2-3 hours.
 
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My brother in law set up as a subcontract courier for one or two of the big companies but his company has folded after just six months. Plenty of work but the companies take forever to pay so the cashflow problem killed the business. Just something to bear in mind perhaps.
 
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By Courier, I assumed (wrongly it seems) a white tranny van with parcels in the back ! I didnt consider valuables - I'd have thought security would have been a more apt title, as for blood, dont hospitals and such do this already? I would have thought the implications behind transporting something that has to get to its destination FAST would be immense, OK, you have a helicopter, but as far as I know you can only have a blue light and siren if you are an emergency services vehicle which would still cause problems once the helicopter landed. There may well be ways round this, just my tuppence worth.
 
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Wow, Hayles, sorry to hear of that.

I was going to say that you must need a very good route knowledge of the area in which you intend to work. Time is money.

Also, overheads would be high for a start-up. Cost of van, insurance, fuel and possibly 1 mth's salary to keep you going. You really need some 'inside info' which would be invaluable.
Cheers, Nigel
 
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confused said:
By Courier, I assumed (wrongly it seems) a white tranny van with parcels in the back ! I didnt consider valuables - I'd have thought security would have been a more apt title, as for blood, dont hospitals and such do this already? I would have thought the implications behind transporting something that has to get to its destination FAST would be immense, OK, you have a helicopter, but as far as I know you can only have a blue light and siren if you are an emergency services vehicle which would still cause problems once the helicopter landed. There may well be ways round this, just my tuppence worth.
Click to expand...

Huh? You are confused :?
Cheers, Nigel
 
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Ever seen securicor being hijacked? Don't try it at 3000ft it could hurt.
Contractors and emergency services do transport organs either by road, blue lighting or air ambulance, both take away valuable public resources. Valuable doesn't just mean diamonds but also information and contracts etc.
Fast service 2-3 hours from initial call to landing.
I think that is were you where going with the blue light problems, i'm not sure but i hope i have shed some more light.
 
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Hayles said:
My brother in law set up as a subcontract courier for one or two of the big companies but his company has folded after just six months. Plenty of work but the companies take forever to pay so the cashflow problem killed the business. Just something to bear in mind perhaps.
Click to expand...

I have seen this happen to another company as well. If you u can helpit do not deal directly with companies. They hae their 30 day credit thing etc
But lets not forget the good old CCJ

Al
 
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Depends if you work for Amtrak! Some recent statistics I found out is that there are supposidly 100,000 freelance couriers and 3000 courier companies. This might sound like a lot to compete with but the volume of work needs covering.

If anyone is actually thinking of going down this route you can do a lot worse than taking a look at Fetchitnow (google it). If you are looking to be a courier then this could be helpful.
 
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Talk to:

City Link
Business Post
DHL

They all employ owner drivers and with the busy Christmas period fast approaching you should have no problem in securing work.
 
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I have just noticed this it is an old thread but its our business..!!!

An owner driver courier will never make a lot of money..We use a lot of O/ds and they make between 10k and 18k and not much more.It is a hopeless task..

We never have anything to do with any of the other couriers as profits are so low working with them.

We only take on our own business customers and then use subbies(owner drivers) for any over flow and European work..

A Owner Driver /Freelance(we dont like that word) will never be a good business
 
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Andrew2010 said:
Someone approached me with the idea of becoming a freelance courier.

Has anyone got any information on this?

What do you need etc.

Any information will help me a great deal.
Click to expand...

Hi.I own a car and driving over 7 years.can go anywere in uk with sat.nav.realy intresting in self emloyed owner driver like freelance courier.What do i need for that?Many thanks
 
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Hi.I own a car and driving over 7 years.can go anywere in uk with sat.nav.realy intresting in self emloyed owner driver like freelance courier.What do i need for that?Many thanks
Click to expand...

Ideally you need a van, unmarked preferably, under 3 yrs old, enough working capital to run for four months before you are likely to start seeing much of a return, mobile phone, loads of patience, and be prepared to work for peanuts.

Sorry to burst the bubble but self employed couriers are two a penny, as one goes bust another starts up, many believing they will enjoy driving around for a living, until they begin to understand to make a living takes a lot more than just driving around.

All the costs are going through the roof whilst the market is shrinking and rates getting put under pressure. Many jobs are now done for just the cost of the diesel used.
 
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Courier market is huge, and while Fedex and other focus on the business angle and business to home (like HDN), there's a big market for home: home and small businesses.
Parcel coys work on a logistics basis - loading vans overnight full with stuff they collected pm. White van man works direct, door-to-door. Different way of working, different costs, different prices.
No shortage of stuff to deliver....key is getting your van full out and back...and home shopping / internet / swapping / auctions are just growing....
 
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Andrew, I have worked in the courier work for 6 years in two major corporate express parcel delivery companies and think we have a lot to discuss.
I am also just starting up on my own and have a few advantages over you that I am willing to help you with.
There is a way that I am exploring at the moment that requires minimal set up costs and instant profit.
Let me know what it is your actually looking to do ie, Driving, running a buisiness such as a sub-contractor? or are you just very good with computers and are looking to set up an online courier service?
Contact me and i will be happy to help or discuss further.
Regards

Nathan
 
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