Hi everyone,
I am not sure if this is a right place to ask this however I have no other choice.
I am new to driving, following my dad steps (he told me about this forum), recently I started working for myself, purchased LWB 3.5t Van. I signed up to exchange platform (no name provided), however throughout time is not really what I was expecting to be, on top of that, someone mentioned in different topic that every one can be a busy fool and work for silly money.
Does anyone have any advice for me? I dont really know where to start.
Located down the South, Hampshire.
Jake17:
Hi everyone,
I am not sure if this is a right place to ask this however I have no other choice.
I am new to driving, following my dad steps (he told me about this forum), recently I started working for myself, purchased LWB 3.5t Van. I signed up to exchange platform (no name provided), however throughout time is not really what I was expecting to be, on top of that, someone mentioned in different topic that every one can be a busy fool and work for silly money.
Does anyone have any advice for me? I dont really know where to start.
Located down the South, Hampshire.
The best advice you can get is not to listen to anyone on here, they have either done well in better times, have read some books, made up a load of old pony about their career or didn’t get the right opportunity.
Wheel Nut:
The best advice you can get is not to listen to anyone on here, they have either done well in better times, have read some books, made up a load of old pony about their career or didn’t get the right opportunity.
Thank you, this is definitely best advice I can get before anything else. Good reminder!
This is worth as much as you paid for and based on Pre-Covid
There’s a lot of competition in the man and van sector, I see ads locally all the time for that kind of thing from removals to garage/garden clearance
When I did that kind of thing for a few months, I would specialise in certain stuff, but it means knowing how to strap a load properly.
I did engine moving, particularly race engine moves from engine builders to where the cars were based. There is usually a pretty tight deadline for that sort of thing.
Also the engine builders would sometimes outsource some processes such as assembly balancing or powder coating etc to specialists and you would get the job to move that stuff back and forth
If you’re in Hampshire and close to Goodwood, it might be worth approaching a few engine builders and see if there might be ad-hoc work?
Does your Transit have a towbar? Perhaps seeing if any stables/race meeting types would be interested in horse movements?
Worst case but if you get stuck, I believe DPD use drivers on a self-employed basis.
myherpes…50p per delivery…kerchinggg.
I did same a few years ago couldn’t make a lot out of it being on my own back loads were a problem. I kitted my van out to work for a window company which was good work
You will see a few ‘man and a van’ chaps loitering outside any local IKEA store laughing at those trying to fit a 3 seat couch into a smart car or strap it to a roof. You can make money ad-hoc on that easily enough with the right approach.
- Get business cards and promote yourself!
- Get a website (WIX do one for £30 a yr, obtaining a domain name is about £7 for 10 years). Facebook page (I have one for my business, didn’t cost me anything).
- Contents Insurance on the goods carried if not already, public liability, etc. (How many firms you see promoting that!)
- Build Trust, build a reputation, get a DBS check on yourself if you working as a sole trader and file it!
- Plenty of Students in that area always moving around/going back home, go to the local Student Union, and leave your business card (and get money upfront!: wink
. - Speak to the local removals firms, they also turn away small loads or occasionally need a small van to cover excess they hadn’t accounted for in the original assessment, they could refer you should they reject the work.
- Shops selling electrical goods sometimes don’t have vans, worth a punt!
- Superstores normally have a wall of local suppliers/helpful tradesmen/women, normally free to place your card.
Like you, my mate started out with a beaten up 3.5T and hasn’t looked back, makes a very good living from it, brought his house in 10 years, but it takes time to get a good reputation and trust, which is the power of personal recommendation. Here is his website - www.gearshift.org.uk as an example (mods - for example, not business promotion). Good luck to you!
Very good call regarding the student accommodation
Most contracts end in July from memory. They will be under pressure to move out and find somewhere else and most don’t have cars as little parking on most uni campuses these days.
I would start putting cards out on Student Union noticeboards or pin some business cards up or flyer with tear off phone numbers for them to take as and when. Perhaps leave some cards in the the student accommodation offices too?
Bit late, but this is my history.
Worked in a freight forwarding office, from there went into the world of van work, patchy, but lucky found a start up plastic extrusion firm that made 2 and 3 meter conduit for cables. Ended up running 2 vans for them, topping up and returning with freight forwarder groupage.
Got work then from an electronics company that did some defence work and got in with the MoD and various other defence manufacturers until by the time I retired it was pretty much only defence work.
Does that translate from the early 90s to now, maybe. Partly it was down to hard work, in the early years there was never anything less than 100 hour weeks and the luck of being in the right place at the right time. What I didnt have was competition from cheap east EU drivers.
Somebody on here has told you not to listen to us.
Wrong. Listen to Albion. She has seen it & done it. There are a couple of clues within her post that in my view should make you run a mile 
I keep hearing online that it can be hard to make it as a courier, but then I got speaking to one that was doing very well. Clearing over a grand a week, up to about £1,500. He was doing the same 8 hours as I was (He got £240 for that vs £90 for me as I was direct employed) but would do a couple of jobs in the morning before that contract started and sometimes one or two after. Same as the taxi drivers, they don’t want to do HGV driving because “tacho”.
I’ve been looking into this myself but I’m unable to move on it due to personal circumstances.
I’d suggest watching “Pete the courier driver” and “big beardy” vlogs on YouTube. They both seem to be doing alright, even through Covid.
They tend to suggest that the exchange that they use isn’t a magic wand and is only a tool to get you work.
eagerbeaver:
Somebody on here has told you not to listen to us.Wrong. Listen to Albion. She has seen it & done it. There are a couple of clues within her post that in my view should make you run a mile
Bang on. Eastern European drivers doing loads up the country for £10 on fuel pinched from an artic in a lay-by.
Getting in with the MoD is the golden goose. I’ve often said i need to start a business selling to the MoD, they pay ridiculous money without question a lot of the time 
Trucking sideways:
eagerbeaver:
Somebody on here has told you not to listen to us.Wrong. Listen to Albion. She has seen it & done it. There are a couple of clues within her post that in my view should make you run a mile
Bang on. Eastern European drivers doing loads up the country for £10 on fuel pinched from an artic in a lay-by.
Getting in with the MoD is the golden goose. I’ve often said i need to start a business selling to the MoD, they pay ridiculous money without question a lot of the time
This took 2 seconds to find…
If you search a little bit instead of moaning,you can find anything you want…
Jake17:
Hi everyone,
I am not sure if this is a right place to ask this however I have no other choice.
I am new to driving, following my dad steps (he told me about this forum), recently I started working for myself, purchased LWB 3.5t Van. I signed up to exchange platform (no name provided), however throughout time is not really what I was expecting to be, on top of that, someone mentioned in different topic that every one can be a busy fool and work for silly money.
Does anyone have any advice for me? I dont really know where to start.
Located down the South, Hampshire.
The van idea seems as good a place to start as any.
Being forced back into the job market from medical retirement I was thinking of doing something similar but couldn’t get the answers I wanted regarding work.( Too much silly local multi drop where the description busy fool would be an understatement ).Like 100 + drops needed to earn a proper day’s pay.
With a few more promising same day distance full load or bulk opportunities out there.But just like truck work there’s obviously an over subscribed pecking order going on for it.
To the point where some van supplied jobs and even some self employed owner driver ones are calling for ‘‘must have previous experience’’ in that specific line of work. 
Obviously no such problems with the local multi drop dross.Also bearing in mind some liars out there promising distance bulk but actually offering local multi drop rubbish.The question why wouldn’t they want a 3.5t tilt or curtainsider bodied van if it’s supposedly bulk pallet work, as opposed to medium size panel van often sorts that out.In addition to no definite answer to the question is it deffo not local multi drop.
While Hampshire, like Surrey, was always a difficult place to find transport work from vans to class 1.
Ads full of van or 7.5t London multi drop and little else being the order of the day here.Everything else rarely needing to be advertised when opportunities arise.
dieseldog999:
myherpes…50p per delivery…kerchinggg.
Done now where can I find a mug who I can sub it out to.One drop every 5 minutes of a 10 hour day no break. 
Carryfast:
dieseldog999:
myherpes…50p per delivery…kerchinggg.Done now where can I find a mug who I can sub it out to.One drop every 5 minutes of a 10 hour day no break.
Hello Mr, come off dingey at dover’s, I do job for you,and live in van,you take money from me,please no yes.
biggriffin:
Carryfast:
dieseldog999:
myherpes…50p per delivery…kerchinggg.Done now where can I find a mug who I can sub it out to.One drop every 5 minutes of a 10 hour day no break.
Hello Mr, come off dingey at dover’s, I do job for you,and live in van,you take money from me,please no yes.
Let me know how much you’ve got left of the 60 quid after you’ve paid for the van hire and the fuel.Around 50% of that sounds fair. 
What’s the going rate PPM nowadays for a Sprinter / Transit type vehicle ?
SHYTOT:
What’s the going rate PPM nowadays for a Sprinter / Transit type vehicle ?
First you’ll need to find a job that makes PPM relevant.Even distance work, if you can find it, often seems to be paid on an arbitrary job rate not the actual mileage.
Local Multi drop usually based on a silly price per drop as described above.