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Fuel costs are high at the moment, but if you go in armed with the facts, a part-time courier job could be the perfect thing for you. It’s a job that will fit in with your current lifestyle and earn you the extra money you need to enjoy life. You don’t need to invest any money or quit your current job to become a courier, and the wages can be as much as £300 per day. Read on to find out how you could be maximising your potential and taking home a decent profit.

• What’s involved?
• How to get started
• How much can I earn?

What’s involved?

There are over 60 courier companies in London alone, and more than 1,300 across the whole of the UK. Most companies have offices from Manchester and Birmingham to Plymouth and Aberdeen.

Courier jobs involve carrying parcels in your vehicle to their destination; on time and with minimum hassle. Couriers are self-employed, but they contract out to various courier companies. All the jobs are recorded by you and the company, and you invoice the company at the end of the week.

Beginning as a freelance means you can start in your spare time and work around your current job while you build your business network. If you don’t work, you don’t earn. But the further you go and the more you can carry, the more you’ll get paid.

Within London, the pay is usually worked out on a postcode-to-postcode basis. Outside of London a per-mile-per-load levy is applied, so you’re paid a certain amount for each mile you transport each item.

The work is not regular, so if you want to take on more, it’s a good idea to contract yourself to a few different companies. You don’t have to take every job that comes your way. You can pick and choose the ones that suit you.

To get the most out of the job, it’s worth having good navigation skills and general knowledge of both the area you live in and the whole country. It’s also useful to have general repair knowledge and equipment in case of a breakdown on the road.

How to get started

Step 1: Tools of the trade

First of all, you need a vehicle. Obviously the bigger the vehicle, the more you can carry. But there’s no point having a ten-ton truck if you only had to drive a box of documents from London to Birmingham.

There’s enough work around if you just wanted to use a hatchback car, but for bigger loads you’ll need more space.

The most important thing with driving jobs is that the vehicle is reliable. You need enough road knowledge to change a tyre and ensure your vehicle can drive from Edinburgh to Portsmouth without breaking down.  Visit Desperate Seller, which has hundreds of cars advertised across a wide price range.

Don’t forget about eBay Motors, of course – there are almost 200,000 vehicles advertised at any one time, so you’re certain to find something suitable.

You’ll also need a mobile phone. Make sure you have one of the best mobile phone deals that offers a large amount of free calls per month. This will cover all your business call costs. To help you work out tax claims, it can be easier to have a separate phone for business use.  Try Carphone Warehouse for some great offers, including free games consoles, laptops and more with pay monthly deals.

A computer isn’t always necessary. It can, however, help with areas of your business such as account keeping, having a business website and generally keeping up to date with your daily records.

Step 2: Insurance

As with most self-employed jobs, insurance is important. You must have it to cover yourself, your vehicle and the goods you are carrying for others.

Vehicle insurance is a legal requirement on the road, but when you’re getting quotes you must tell the companies your insurance is needed for courier use (not business use). This way, your policy will cover both your vehicle and the goods that you’re carrying for others.

Goods in transit insurance is also a must have for driving jobs and protects you in case you damage your customers’ goods. Cover generally goes up to £10,000 as standard but can be arranged at a higher level if you find yourself carrying very valuable goods.

It’s not wise to go for a lower premium when you’re getting this type of insurance. Check that your insurance company can cover you, otherwise there are specialist companies around you can use.

Public liability insurance is optional but you may prefer to have it as it’ll cover you for things like dropping a heavy box on a client’s foot or other people-related accidents.

Step 3: Fuel

You can’t get anywhere without fuel, and it’s important to think about this, especially since fuel costs are currently so high. You can (and should) incorporate the price of fuel into your prices to ensure you’re not losing out. However, to keep your prices as low as possible, it’s a good idea to use a vehicle that runs on diesel if you can.

Diesel may be a few pence dearer per litre, but you can travel further on a litre of diesel than you can a litre of petrol. If you’re planning to become a courier long term, it may even be worth your while having your vehicle professionally converted to diesel as the costs are much lower.

You can also get up to 35% better fuel efficiency by just driving a bit slower and not accelerating so quickly. Get cheaper fuel by checking Petrolprices before you go out and fill up. This site tells you which of your local petrol stations is selling fuel cheapest, so you know where to go to get the best price.

Step 4: Notify Inland Revenue

You are effectively self-employed with your own business, so have a look at our article on freelance finances for help with your tax. You can either do your own accounts, or hire an accountant. It’s a good idea to speak to an accountant first, even just to question them on what exactly you can claim back on your tax return. These will be things like your mobile bill for business purposes, fuel and other costs.

Step 5: Pricing

Pricing is usually charged per mile one way and at a discounted rate if clients want the package returned. It’s a good idea to set one price for your individual customers and another, more competitive one for other courier companies.

Prices will vary depending on where you live and what vehicle you’re using – i.e. how much fuel you’re getting per mile. Be prepared to negotiate prices with other courier companies, or maybe even offer the first delivery at a discounted rate.

Step 6: Getting your first job

You may be running your own business, but the best way to kick-start your revenue flow is to go to the companies that will sub-contract work out. They are not only your competition but your business partners – they rely on freelance couriers every day.

When other courier companies can’t handle all their jobs in one day they outsource the work. If they know you, and know you’re available, you’re more likely to get the call to come to the rescue for them.

This is where networking comes into use. There are over 1,000 courier companies out there that can provide work for you. See the links at the end of this article to start finding courier jobs.

Step 7: Advertising

Put an ad in the local paper. Get yourself in the Yellow Pages, Thomson Local and online business directories. Post flyers with your prices and contact details. Talk to local industrial areas about their delivery needs, even just to help yourself with ideas of pricing etc.

Have a look at Vistaprint, who will print you business cards for free when you pay for the delivery costs – usually around £5 for 1,000 cards. You choose the design and fill in your information. You can also get letterheads and any other stationery with your business symbol on it for very low costs.

A website can be a great idea, but don’t spend a lot of money on it. Set up a simple site, or even just a page with your details, prices and a photo or two.

Step 8: Daily records

Keeping daily records is essential for a courier. You’ll need to have a schedule of pick-up points and delivery addresses, and a list of signatures to prove that you’ve dropped the packages off to your customers.

You may also want to keep a list of dropping-off points in the most convenient order and a plan of your route.

Qualifications

Courier jobs require no formal qualifications, apart from a driving licence of course, and most companies like you to be over the age of 25 for insurance purposes. You can take further development courses such as the:

• NVQ Level 2 Carry and Deliver Goods certificate, and the
• NVQ in Customer Service.

Other vehicles

In larger cities it may be more worthwhile to courier using a bicycle or motorbike, which would mean less heavy items to carry, not travelling as far, and a certain fitness level required!  If this sounds more enjoyable to you, we’ve got a whole article on being a two-wheel courier!  In fact, there is a general shortage of motorcycle couriers, particularly in south-east England.

Alternatively, if you’d prefer to go a bit further afield, why not try being an air courier?

How much can I earn?

We’ve spoken to several courier companies and the average per day seems to be about £140 which is pretty good compared to some driving jobs. You can earn upwards of £300 a day, which could mean £1,500 a week and even £70k a year.

This is based on a figure of 60p per mile to your destination and 40p per mile for the return journey. Every company will have their own tariffs. Some couriers have been paid up to £2.47 a mile, but you need to scope your market.

It all depends on how much you put into starting up and running your business. And business may be slower when you begin, especially if you start part time while continuing with your previous job.

The average working day is between six and eight hours, but it depends on the work available and how much time you want to put in.

Being self-employed gives you the flexibility to choose when you want to work. However, don’t turn down jobs without good reason. Rejecting work from one company on a continuous basis may mean they may stop calling you altogether. You need to tread a fine line to keep everybody happy.

Useful Links

• Desperate Seller
• eBay Motors
• Carphone Warehouse
• Comparethemarket car insurance
• Be Wiser van insurance
• Endsleigh public liability insurance
• Vistaprint
• Greyhound Couriers (London)
• On the Dot Couriers (West Midlands)
• Response Couriers (Glasgow)
• CitySprint (National)