Deliveries to London during Olympics

Afternoon, just a bit of advise is required if anyone can help. During the olympics and the road cloasures in the big smoke, has anyone got any advice, we make deliveries to London every day and are a little concerned.

Have a look on the Olympic Route Network website it gives all road closures and times. Roads are mainly closed at weekends so i dont think it will be as bad as they make out. If youve got small parcels or envelopes try parking near an underground station and get train if its near to where youre going. ive done that quite a few times. Not heard about the ups hub. As you say if youve got to deliver at a specific time it would be unworkable. It's brilliant at the moment. Ive sailed through central London a few times using the olympic lanes. Hardly anyone seems to be using them, probably dont realise they dont come into effect till the 25th. !!

I would suggest you find a Courier Company in London and let them do the last leg for you.<div>We've been doing it for a couple of years now, we drop it off with them and let them deal with the hassle. I would point out to your customers tho that cos of the Olympics you can't guarantee a time....by close of play i thin is the best we can all offer</div>

This is our way of combatting the Olympic congestion<div><img src="[link]"></div>

just done mylast drop in london tonight im avoiding like the plague until its all done and dusted 2 1/2 hours to cover 7 miles today thats enough for me until games finish&nbsp;

Did 2 drops in london yesterday, one in west london w1w, one in east london e2, 5 miles across central london. Took 20 mins. &nbsp;The olympic lanes are still in use, so dont see a problem (yet). Friday is a lot worse though.

Hmmmm...so the Olympic traffic jams have started and the 1st job of the day?<div>Stansted to E14</div><div>2nd job E10 to W11</div><div>3rd job Stansted to EC1</div><div>4th job Stansted to W4</div><div>5th job EC2 to Guildford</div><div>now i may be getting paranoid here but that seems a bit too much of a coincidence to me</div><div>What is this..."keep [name]'s lot busy so we can cream off everything else"...lol</div>

Mind you only using 2 x drivers for em so can't complain

i think there is a map and a site that gives you all the comings and going allowed on the olympic areas, try TFL they run that type of thing

Wot a truly brilliant idea....lets make some Olympic lanes no one's allowed to go in, and make the bus lanes open to normal traffic?<div>Why not make the bus lanes the Olympic lanes ffs....</div><div>Local Govt.."If we can over complicate the simplest of tasks, then we most certainly will"</div>

95 % of my work is going into london. its a nightmare of epic proportions . So far we have had 35 directs in to central , west , east . Taking for ever ...

yes strange quite how much is goin into London...i reckon its cos lots are saying no...as i'm a whore who never turns anything away we're doin em.....its not too bad cos you can load up with several and though its bad traffic wise, its good financially for the driver...Stansted to London with 5 and he's gettin £190..as long as you don't want eta's!!!!!

As a sole trader with a small van I'm considering an "olympic surcharge" for jobs into London in view of your comments. What are your opinions? I'd be more interested in drivers opinions as the 'big boys' who sub out probably won't agree with this as they get their percentage no matter how long it takes the driver!!

That's a bit unfair....we're all in the same game, and we have the drivers interests very much at the forefront of what we do..we want to cover the work, sure, but we also want the drivers to earn.....What the Olympics enables all of us to do is to take more into London per driver as everyone knows it's going to take longer anyway. Therefore the need to add a surcharge for me is not needed. Under normal circumstances we'd have sent in 2 or 3 drivers to do cover the same as 1 has done today. The fustration of the traffic hopefully outweighed by the money earnt.<div>There are a growing number of Couriers who won't go into London at all...and for one drop I agree it's not worth it, but with a little planning, and also with the ability to meet London couriers to take your delivery from you, then a surcharge isn't needed. I also think you have to look longterm...what are your customers going to think about a surcharge?...I think it's good PR to say you're NOT adding a surcharge but each to their own....just my opinion</div>

If you wanna drop any London's with us [name], we'll be only too happy to take em...just a thought

Did a couple in town today w1 &amp; sw1 wasnt to bad&nbsp; plenty of crumpet about though&nbsp; lol

Sorry [name], wasnt meant to sound unfair. You are obviously &nbsp;more considerate to your drivers than the companies I work for!! For example, I can get a couple of deliveries from one company and they will only pay mileage, so if I get one in west London and one in east London say 10 miles apart I'd only get £7 extra which may take a couple of hours!! If I had separate paying jobs then its worthwhile doing. That's good point about PR brownie points.<div>I think I might scrap the idea and grin and bare it!!!<div>Thanks for the offer, I might well take you up on that!</div></div><div>{as I'm writing just got job to Heathrow so if you want anything back t'North I'd be happy to oblige, eta 15-30}</div>

You ARE right...there are plenty that take the p*** but if you let em they'll keep doing it. I'll never be rich but I do sleep at night AND I have a loyal bunch of lads. If you take away the chance of a double or treble up you take away the hope that "today may be the day I have it off".<div>Like I said one of mine went in with 5 x Londons...sure he got held up in shite traffic but he got £190....if i was a piss taker then that'd pay half that and i'd have a disgruntled driver.</div><div>Without drivers i have no Business...its a shame some forget that!!!!</div>

Im doing one monday Croydon to Watford so that should test the water as they say may go long way round&nbsp; lol

BCN<div>Have you tried TFL website? I get daily emails off them showing what events are on and where and the roads likely to be closed or congested on that day,. There's also a very handy interactive map showing likely delays for every day of the olympics.</div>

i get the emails mate, think its coz the vans registered for the con charge ?&nbsp; last 2 days have been a doddle did the Croydon - Watford &amp; sat nav ed it park lane edware etc , today did a couple in Camden then moved down to Fulham again roads were empty think tomorrow im down the west country&nbsp; will keep you posted&nbsp; lol

I thinks there's been a lot of scaremongering to get people onto public transport. As ive said previously ive been into London a few times and not had any problems.&nbsp;

London is empty....

We thought ahead and have put in place an idea,<br>I had a Somerset to Hyde park corner the other day dropped the package off to a waiting motorcycle at 13.30 in west London and it was delivered before I had chance to drink my tea!! No stress no parking bother and all for just a few quid more than the 'C' charge<br>

We've been doing this for a couple of years now...releases my drivers quicker and as you save on the con charge, the cost to the London Courier is very workable

I have been thinking of&nbsp;basing&nbsp;a bike in London, feeding it from the M1 and taking on jobs like the ones you describe off other couriers, How much do they charge you?

i used to have a bike based in w6&nbsp; actually she was an old bike lol

Hope it was a Triumph...

[name] it depends on what it is and what part of London its going...they even have pushbikes....varies from £9 to £30....and lets face it £10 of that is the congestion charge

Well I had a delivery into London last week, 2 envelopes, didnt even want to attempt driving in so parked up at Borehamwood station and got the train into london, was in and and back at my van within an hour

Another bloody good idea that i'm sure many haven't thought about

@Speed I've got a handful of couriers who will often call to find out where my bikes are, done it for £10 just outside the CC zone &amp; £15 from Finchley&nbsp;<div>A dozen or so of these each day easy money on a bike<br><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>@SG I knew someone that did that once then kicked himself because he had to turn down a job 4 boxes outta London to Manchester</div></div>

That is most definitely the down side it has to be said

I had to go into Bermondsey this morning. Traffic report said Hyde Park corner and Park Lane closed for 'triathlon rehearsals' so went south circ and across through Battersea and Lambeth instead. Unfortunately, so did every other bugger so it was bloody chaos.<div><br></div><div>Then had a second drop in W1 off Regent Street. Took nearly an hour to do 2.3 bloody miles so anyone telling you that central London is quiet this week is a bloody liar.</div>

Well it was quiet....20% less traffic than this time last year..can't comment about 2day as only had the one London and didn't have any hassles with that.....sounds like you were just unlucky

Ok again today i delivered Paddington, W1, &amp; Two in Fulham

Stansted to [postcode] 10 mins....Empty in there...a real pleasure to drive in central London...can we have the Olympics all the time please!!!

i think everyone is expecting the world to be in london so everyone has avoided it, i'm thinking of putting together an all year round olympics,lol might drop some flyers to trick ppl

Did anyone manage to charge more for deliveries then or did they "backtrack" as the roads were so quiet ?

I'm sure lots increased their prices and some even refused to do London at all....short sighted in my opinion.<div>We kept everything exactly the same as it was.....and as everyone has discovered, there was no problem doing London during the Olympics. I think everyone understood that deliveries may take longer and that gave us the opportunity to take more per vehicle than would normally be the case....so as they say in the comedy prog 2012...its all good then.</div><div><br></div>

Can we keep these games lanes after the Olympics is finished? They're great, they're like special lanes for people who can read.

<DIV class=story>Can we keep these games lanes after the Olympics is finished? They're great, they're like special lanes for people who can read.</DIV> <DIV class=story>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV class=story>thats what i thought , bet they would make them "toll lanes" lol</DIV>

Edgware Road is like that&nbsp;queuing traffic along side non operational bus lanes!!&nbsp;

When does the olympics start?

I think you might of missed it... :-)

Wood & Sons said:

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When does the olympics start?

5 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro - might be a bit too far for you to make collections... ;)