Thinking ahead for work, Owner driver ?

[W.olly]

I live in hope to get back to work soon, i say soon, in the next 3 months. no wi used to drive on the last job for 12 years, and previoulsy aswell in mobile van sales and excavators, so to make life easy i think i will go back to driving. I am good at a lot of other thigns but this is the best way i can see to get back to work.

Now the question is i thought of trying Owner driver jobs, i see these as self employed and well, you own your own van and do parcel deliveries etc.
As said i have done driving jobs int he past and one was the parcel industrie, now that job was a P take, 10 hr days 100 parcels to get a bonus etc etc. Is it anything like this these Owner drivers jobs?
I dont have much cash to splash so i am thinking on getting a Transit connect in the mean time, spares repair and fix it up, good at that thing.

 

[steviec_lj]

Owner Driver...You're only paid for what you deliver. Usually 60-70p per parcel, less for a catalog, less for a packet, and collections are half your top rate.

If its for anyone like Yodel, expect the sh*t to hit the fan on day one, stuff missing, items out of area, etc, etc.

Still waiting for remittance advice for 4 weeks ago.

Yodel start you on 30 parcels a day, and up you immediately, without asking you.

I do it to fill gaps between repairs at the farm, and to be honest, someone has to be in until lunch at least to accept the sacks, then you have to "receipt" them within an hour, and all of the parcels have to be attempted that day. So really, its nothing like being self employed, you cannot chose your own hours, you have to be available all day, everyday, until 9pm at night.

 

[rtbcomp]

Ask the City Link owner-drivers what they think.

You want to be looking at something nobody else does - less competition.

 

[normspanners]

I have known a few owner drivers and they say they are treated like poo and given impossible targets, it is not just 'driving' there is a lot of admin and running

 

[Kent]

Its one of the highest rates of bankruptcy of any line of work. Far more profitable ways to make a living self employed and investing so heavily in fast depreciating equipment like vehicles.

 

[steveo3002]

just cant see how people can do it ifs really 70p a parcel (which i dont doubt) , so like the fella that delivers here out in the sticks , i cant see him doing 10 an hour to make £7 , then petrol and insurance off that

 

[rtbcomp]

If you're an owner driver and running your own business that's one thing - you have say in how things are done.

Being an owner-driver for a single company is a way for that company to get round employment legislation. HMRC take a dim view too, they tend to regard you as "employed" if all the work you do is for one "customer".

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Mate did courier work rather than parcel delivery. Businesses needed something, whether one screw or a pallet and everything inbetween ,delivering sometimes hundreds of miles away asap sort of thing. He started off on motorbike delivering small parcels and packets before going onto the use of a van. Didn't make a fortune but "kept the wolf from the door".

 

[Kent]

Mate did courier work rather than parcel delivery. Businesses needed something, whether one screw or a pallet and everything inbetween ,delivering sometimes hundreds of miles away asap sort of thing. He started off on motorbike delivering small parcels and packets before going onto the use of a van. Didn't make a fortune but "kept the wolf from the door".

The issue I feel is many see money in their hand as a wage but its not just fuel and time that needs considering service, repair, insurance. depreciation and replacement costs along with lots of other stuff

 

[W.olly]

Well thanks guys for all the insight, i thought aswell about it, had to ask as i see a few of these jobs being offered around here. Not after making shed loads of cash, just a living for now while i decide where to go with things, need to still find my way in life.

Got a feeling i need more surgery anyway

 

[SmartWerks]

Just a small note, you say about getting an old connect van and fixing it up. Most parcel firms won't give you work if the van is more than 5 years old. I went to get an o licence many years back for a 7.5t, had to prove I had considerable savings to prove I could afford to run and maintain the vehicle, £10k if i remember correctly. I know it's different for vans, which it shouldn't be but that's another topic.

 

[octo0072000]

round Doncaster local yodel my Hermes etc are on about 100 plus to 170 parcels a day yodel deliver up to 8pm round here lots of industrial estates so maybe 30 pick ups drop off in one place yodel always seems to be 3.5 ton van my Hermes seem to use smaller vans
none of them seem very happy

 

[dunk]

W .olly, the Q thats being asked in the courier world now is ,who`s the next big one to bit the dust, i came out of it 2 yrs ago and sooooooooo glad i did, these city link od`s i feel for them, they worked their socks off to get the xmas rush out and thats how this industry rewards you, same thing with amtrack a few years back. If you still want to have a go you will need the right insurance and thats a mine field in its self, plus fuel money till first pay check comes in, then there`s breakdowns , repairs, etc,etc, if one`s health is not to cleaver i seriously doubt this kind of work is the best choice, with in/out of vehicle x amount of times, timed deliveries, brainless controllers at the depot, but on the good side amazon are recruiting drivers with small vans and large vans

just my two pence worth

 

[Kent]

Just a small note, you say about getting an old connect van and fixing it up. Most parcel firms won't give you work if the van is more than 5 years old. I went to get an o licence many years back for a 7.5t, had to prove I had considerable savings to prove I could afford to run and maintain the vehicle, £10k if i remember correctly. I know it's different for vans, which it shouldn't be but that's another topic.

On site machine driver- owners are often forced to replace for a new machine on quite short intervals I am told

 

[dannyp]

yodel ummm i wouldnt want to work for them