As a novice

Hello all. My name is Darryl Curtis and I live in Sheffield. I am a complete novice to the profession of courier. I would be very grateful if anyone could give me some information regarding fees and expenses. Any other information relevant to the work carried out would also be more than helpful.

Hi Darryl and welcome, this and many other forums have plenty of threads and information to keep you busy on this type of question.

You could also look at cod forum or courier world

I hope this helps.

Yup... Loooooaaaaads of info on here and the cod. Happy hunting

Gary I thought the codforum was for fishermen. Sorry ha!

Hi Darryl. Your profile shows that you don't have any valid insurance. It will be difficult for you to obtain any work.

Saddlebow Deliveries said:

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Hi Darryl. Your profile shows that you don't have any valid insurance. It will be difficult for you to obtain any work.

Does that mean new people can join without submitting copies of insurances? What happened to the new policy?

Looks like it. A company called Mars Couriers joined yesterday with no valid insurance.

Hi all. Thank you all for you feedback on my questions. I was wondering about insurance? I have valid car insurance but is there another form of insurance I have to have?

Hi Darryl

You will need Hire & Reward insurance and Goods in Transit insurance. I also have Public Liability insurance. Without H&R and GIT you will not get any work from here or from the other exchanges.

Get ready to empty your bank account.

Best advice is be as professional as possible.

Once a reliable and clean van is sourced with the correct and relevant insurances, make sure you do the basics, keeping the vendor fully informed of any problems encountered, make sure you obtain a clear and legible proof of delivery, advise when goods are collected and delivered, and do a good job so the vendor will use you again. Make sure you buy quality communication equipment and always answer your phone! Also don't come into this business thinking of it as a 9-5 job..........IT ISN'T. The reason urgent couriers are used is because goods are very often required at unsociable hours. If you can adhere to the key points mentioned you should be ok.

Good luck

Somne good advice from Alan of RLT and not just fot the newbies out there either!

Remember you are representing the person who gave you the job so be polite at all times even if the customer you are picking up from and delivering to is in the wrong. Looking after your customer's customer keeps you in business. Good communication is a must, without it this industry collapses. Make sure you have a reliable van and try to keep it clean. (That's hard, whenever I wash my van it always seems to rain the next day!) Proper insurance is a must. As is an overdraught facility, unless you have just won the lottery! Good luck, it's hard work but rewarding when you deliver to a factory that is on stop waiting for you to deliver the goods to get them going again. You'll never get rich at this but you can make a decent living.

Garnham Courier Services said:

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Remember you are representing the person who gave you the job so be polite at all times even if the customer you are picking up from and delivering to is in the wrong. Looking after your customer's customer keeps you in business. Good communication is a must, without it this industry collapses. Make sure you have a reliable van and try to keep it clean. (That's hard, whenever I wash my van it always seems to rain the next day!) Proper insurance is a must. As is an overdraught facility, unless you have just won the lottery! Good luck, it's hard work but rewarding when you deliver to a factory that is on stop waiting for you to deliver the goods to get them going again. You'll never get rich at this but you can make a decent living.

Just washed my van today after 3 weeks without a wash :( had been doing it every weekend but been super busy and just invoicing and sleeping at the weekends. It took ages, but looks as good as new now :D