London Dispatchers...

[LondonBiker]

First off, id like to say hello to all! as its my first post.

Im currently in the process of doing my DAS and am considering working as a courier in London.

Was just wondering if there are any bikers out there in London whom are or have had experience dispatching?

Whats it like?
How dangerous is it?
Hows the pay?
Hours/Flexability?

Feel free to share. :D

[Cloggsy]

Welcome to the site Bud...

Despatching in London :shock: Make sure the ol' life insurance is up to date ;)

[LondonBiker]

Welcome to the site Bud...

Despatching in London :shock: Make sure the ol' life insurance is up to date ;)

Hi, thanks for the welcome.

Have you done any dispatching in London?

[Cloggsy]

Have you done any dispatching in London?

Nope, nor would I wish too... I'll stick to North Yorkshire thanks ;)

[Jelster]

To be frank, a newbie doing courier work in London is a government statistic.....

You have to "learn" to ride in London, and there will be too much pressure on you to perform before you're ready.

I've ridden London almost every weekday for the last 4 years, and I wouldn't do it...

Sorry if that sounds harsh.

.

[21QUEST]

First off, id like to say hello to all! as its my first post.

Im currently in the process of doing my DAS and am considering working as a courier in London.

Was just wondering if there are any bikers out there in London whom are or have had experience dispatching?

Whats it like?
How dangerous is it?
Hows the pay?
Hours/Flexability?

Feel free to share. :D

Hola :)

Right I'm a courier though I hasten to add not a proper one :lol: .

Not being a proper one can't help you much.

Cheers
Ben

[philipMac]

Dispatching in London is a bit sketch.
I have had two mates who worked as couriers in London, and a load in Dublin. Both of the london lads had a fair few offs, both of them had one pretty serious off.

Emm. Yeah. London is dangerous enough mate. I think the money is alright though. Once you get into the swing of things, learning the streets etc. Dublin, predictabley enough I suppose, seems safer. Again though, mates of mine have had serious offs doing it. But, in fairness, that was after a good few years. One guy wrote off his Super Tenerie ;*( and his liver. Except, your liver grows back. So he was grand. Just had to stay off the drink for a while. :evil:

I am not saying dont do it. I wouldnt advise against it, just these are the lads I happened to know... so... there you go. They all loved it too. They would go off, and get other real jobs after a fright or whatever, and be back scumlording it again with the lads on the road in a month or two.


EDIT: Oh. Hold on. DAS? Does that mean he is a learner? Emm.. if you are just learning, (thats what DAS means?) no way man. The lads I knew were bikers since they were young, like 10, learning on farms rounding up sheep and ****. If you are not completely confident, then I would advise against it.

(And, I sort of define confident as does your bike feel really light to you, almost so you dont notice the wieght around bends, like you can just chuck it about, stand on the frount wheel when you need to, drive it with like your body, and not your arms...And, you should have had a few offs too. You have to have crashed a couple of times to sort of learn how to not get hurt as much. Then... give London a lash.)

[kjames]

i've ridden in london everyday weekday for the last 4 yrs, and you get the occassional nutter out of the blue... but most of it is pretty predictable, expect everyone to pull out on you.. taxi's to U turn, Buses to do everything and anything, and dispatch riders to try and ride through you.

i think riding around london wouldnt be too bad.. but i wouldnt do it on a motorbike, even if you have passed your DAS.. buy a scooter for the job, and its kind of point and go... nothing to think about apart from the other cars trying to kill you. 125cc... 65mph, 80+mpg.. turning circle of an ant on a uni cycle.

I reckon, you'd be upto speed, in terms of road safety in a couple of weeks, just cross your fingers for the first two weeks.

the hardest bit would be finding your way around london, expecially with the time pressure " must be delievered by 5pm"


k

[LondonBiker]

I know london like the back of my hand, and have alot of road sense i like to beleive as i do alot of driving too. As for riding, I have nought all experience in London, but driving in london gives me a good enough idea of what to expect, its bad as it is while driving.

Is it also true that being a dispatcher is a self employed job?

Do you work when you want...etc?

[secret squirrel]

I know london like the back of my hand, and have alot of road sense i like to beleive as i do alot of driving too. As for riding, I have nought all experience in London, but driving in london gives me a good enough idea of what to expect, its bad as it is while driving.

Is it also true that being a dispatcher is a self employed job?

Do you work when you want...etc?

Driving and riding in London are worlds apart.

In a car people tend not to pull into where you are as they see you whereas on a bike they see a "gap" they can fit into. Other traffic sees you better and tends not to pull out on you half as much as they do on a bike. Pedestrians see you a lot better to and tend not to walk out in front of you.

My mate who is a dispatch controller having done the job for many years basically reckoned this when I asked him about it.

1. Expect a very serious accident with time off every 6 months - a year at least.
2. If you like bikes and think it will be great to earn a living from your hobby, think again. By the weekend you won't want to face the bike having been on it for 8-10 hours every day during the week.
3. The pressures on you to rush everywhere will mean you will make mistakes or ride unsafely, which may result in no 1 happening. For example, I have witnessed a courier on a ped turn right in front of my bus forcing driver to slam brakes on. Courier had turned right into a no entry and nearly had a head on with a merc.

I would say if you are serious and you're prepared for hospital food regularly - I have seen 4 accidents in the past week all involved couriers so I am fairly sure my mate is spot on with the risks - I would go for distance work. Easier to chug up and down the motorway than in London imo.

No I haven't done it, but as said I have seen enough couriers and their bikes down and know how hard it is to ride safely in London to know its not an option for me unless I really have no other way of earning.

[LondonBiker]

3. The pressures on you to rush everywhere will mean you will make mistakes or ride unsafely, which may result in no 1 happening. For example, I have witnessed a courier on a ped turn right in front of my bus forcing driver to slam brakes on. Courier had turned right into a no entry and nearly had a head on with a merc.


Thats a really good point.

[Ceri JC]

1. Expect a very serious accident with time off every 6 months - a year at least.


That's the stat I've heard as well. London couriers generally reckon on an off every 6 months.

I've no experience of being a courier/riding in London, but would strongly advise against doing it with as little experience as I assume you have. A mate who uses his bike for 20-30K business miles a year doesn't look at the thing at weekends and barely rides recreationally any more; too much like work.

My best mate worked as a (pushbike) courier in Melbourne and said he reckoned a lot of the accidents, even most of the ones that were "the other driver's fault" could be avoided if the couriers weren't going so quick/under pressure. However, boys being boys (and it is mainly boys) it becomes a bit of a game and people try to beat each other's time's for the regular runs. So, what you effectively have is a road based time trial through the most challenging city roads in the country, with lunatics pulling out in front of you, suicidal pedestrians etc. even assuming that you don't make mistakes, that's a lot to contend with.

Also bear in mind there is a general decline in bike couriering (particularly long distance) with the advent of the internet/email and most people/businesses using van based ones and just accepting it takes a bit longer. This might effect your decision if you're looking at it as a career rather than just for a year or two.

All that said, big respect to bike couriers. Very brave (or mad) people.

[Professor]

I used to know a guy who did his DAS just before me. He went on
to deliver newspapers in his spare time (on a Yamaha cruiser). Mind
you, delivering newspapers in Wiltshire is not as dangerous as being
a courier in London. At the same time, the pay is a fraction of what
a courier in London probably earns.

[tomjones2]

Never dispatched and spent very little time ridding in london but something that you will become aware of riding a bike (and many people on this site can testify to) is that other drivers sometimes dont see you even when your clearly visible.

Riding under pressure in london means the chance of not being seen increases.

Have delivered pizza in portsmouth and I couldn't belive some of the stuff I nearly got hit by, the scariest was a car driving straight over a crossroads (wasn't their right of way) at 30mph right infront of me. If i had been 10 meters further down the road it would probaly have been terminal. Point takern that this could have happened in a car but i think your chance of survival would have been much higher. When i switched from ped's to the smart car things were much less eventfull.

[secret squirrel]

checked with my mate too. You get to ride in all weather, all road conditions, with all manner of hazzards to negotiate at speed. And your pay? If you're experienced it comes down to £500 p/wk.

About consistent with some ads I have seen which reckon your annual income is around £22k. Though I reckon thats with some experience, less if you don't have that.

Frankly that is not enough for me to put myself into that level of risk for that level of money. Because those figures need to be adjusted for the weeks you don't work through leave or injury. :(

[Last Action Pimp]

London Dispatchers are slow riders through traffic (they are always holding me up!!) :twisted: :twisted:

[Ceri JC]

checked with my mate too. You get to ride in all weather, all road conditions, with all manner of hazzards to negotiate at speed. And your pay? If you're experienced it comes down to £500 p/wk.

About consistent with some ads I have seen which reckon your annual income is around £22k. Though I reckon thats with some experience, less if you don't have that.

Frankly that is not enough for me to put myself into that level of risk for that level of money. Because those figures need to be adjusted for the weeks you don't work through leave or injury. :(

Are those figures based on "after you've paid for running a bike/leathers/lid" for 30,000 miles a year too? Even something old that you're servicing yourself will need bits replaced, repairing after offs and consumables like tyres, oil changes, etc.

[jambo]

I commute every week day in London and would say that it took me several weeks to adjust to riding in central london rather than the bits of south london I was used to, there is a definate skill to riding at a fair pace, relativly safely in london that takes a while to develop.

Unfortunatly I am handicaped by a god-awful sense of direction so never felt like being a courier would be a good move for me :lol:

[Gidders]

Dispatched in London and Birmingham for years (only years ago).

It's mental, exhilarating, frustrating, miserable, dangerous and bloody good fun on the right day. The money's there, but you have to be good to earn it.

The only way to get good is to do it. It's a hell of a learning curve, but as it's a steep curve, you get to the top of it quickly.

[busasean]

Dispatched in London and Birmingham for years (only years ago).

It's mental, exhilarating, frustrating, miserable, dangerous and bloody good fun on the right day. The money's there, but you have to be good to earn it.

The only way to get good is to do it. It's a hell of a learning curve, but as it's a steep curve, you get to the top of it quickly.

I worked as a courier for a year, mostly in london and i can only agree as above! I used to commute 700 + miles a week and covered 179,000 miles (on the same bike)in 6 years and used to love riding to and from work.as soon as i became a courier the enjoyment of riding was few and far between.

some days are just absolutely ****ty, miserable and downright hardwork! It will destroy any enthusiasum for riding at weekends. i really wouldnt recommend going from DAS to being a courier. you wont have the experience of riding and youre more than likely will end up a statistic. I had one big off and 1 minor off so the stats of 1 off every 6 months is about right. i still commute between 700 / 1200 miles per week, half of which is into london and every day some **** tries to kill me. see if you can get a couple of weeks holiday and do some courier work in that 2 week period and then decide if its for you./