Advice on becoming a courier?

[Viney]

You get specialist insurance, sort of reward and hire that cabs get. Its usualy on a rolling month basis and costs a small fortune.

1. Don't!
2. If you do take note.
2a. You'll be on the bike for at least 10 hours a day Monday to Friday.
b. Your insurance will be at least £800/year
c. You'll need good cold and wet weather gear.
d. Be prepared to work late. Friday pickups going distance are fairly regular.
e. Get a guarantee of at least £400/week
f. Make sure you have decent map books.
g. If you use you own bike be prepared for increased maintenance costs.
h. Get used to being treated like a slave.
3. Don't!
4. Learn Spanish/Portugese as most of the couriers are now Brazilian.
5. Get used to hating the sight of your work bike and not enjoying weekend riding.
6. Ask me for any other 'advice'!

If you decide to go for it, look at going to a big company. ie Lewis Day, Addison Lee but not Courier Systems.
HTH

ahh see i only wanted to do it part time, and yes i just got a quote of £880 for courier insurance, but for £400 a week thats not too bad....Is it really that bad?

Yes! The End!

And I did it on and off (Literally) for about 7 years.

And looking at Pauls avatar it never did him any harm.....

You also end up with a really good '1000' yard stare!

Well, I did it for 4 years and ended up not riding for 5 years afterwards, so I second Mr Jesters advice.

Also, by the time I did the sums of a 50 hour day earning approximately £500 per week: £10 per hour. Not bad right? Then factor in insurance, tax, national insurance, petrol, upkeep of the bike, parking tickets...

Worked out I was working minimum wage and risking my life a lot.

The good old days of money for old rope are gone, most stuff is internet transported these days, so the big money has gone.

[Sid Squid]

Hmmm... seems the ex-couriers on here are a bunch of nancies, frankly it's a great job, but I still wouldn't go back to it as very simply the industry is all but dead, the circumstance that lead to it's birth and prosperity just doesn't exist anymore, there's no money in it and what's left is subject to heavy competition. Insurance is not hard to get but can be expensive, but then you'll be riding professionally - just like cabs and lorries etc, next to them courier insurance is pretty cheap, it's no different to setting up and maintaining any other business expense.

Originally Posted by petevtwin650

Your licence will suffer because you'll be rushing around trying to meet impossible deadlines, so speeding becomes a way of life and with all the "safety" cameras etc it's only a matter of time before you pick up points.

Didn't find this myself, the quick is done by using your head, not the throttle, of course it's some time since I despatched but those of my acquaintance in the industry now tell me nothing's changed. 'Deadline jobs' are a common misconception - they don't exist. Sometimes you'll be asked to hurry - your choice on what that means in practice.

Originally Posted by Ed

I have never been a courier. But if you do, I guess - and it is only a guess - that you will end up hating your bike.

Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't get enough, still can't! During the years I was despatching I still went out at the weekend for a blast and on holidays by bike. Hating biking? Bizarre.

There are many positive things about courier work, although of course they're the ones shared with just about any self employed circumstance, you're your own boss, and can take a holiday pretty much when you want, not that that's an opportunity to only work when you can be bothered, or at least not if you want to be profitable anyway - if you show up variously and unpredictably you can't expect your company to rely on you or pass you much work. You'll learn a lot about biking - what kit is good and what's not, get a sixth sense about other road users actions, and you'll be paid for riding a bike - great! The bottom line is that it's not what it used to be though, I was lucky enough to work in the industry during it's boom years, there was lots of work and and lots of people earned very well. But that situation is long gone.

My advice also... DONT!
most of the money you make will be spent on running your bike, tyres servicing etc... I was in-between jobs, so it was a way of keeping my bike on the road, but there wasn't much left over afterwards.
Steve