Courier Work Apps & Websites
Which Courier Work Exchange Services Are Worth Using?
So you’re looking for more courier work? And you’ve probably already searched the internet and found lots of websites that promise “100s of jobs available every day”, and that you can “find loads immediately” if you become a member. But can you trust them? Which sites really are the best ones to join?
That’s a question I asked myself over and over when I first started out as a courier. I was new to the industry and was looking for the best way to find extra work so that I could start paying the bills.
With most of these services, it’s hard to trust them when you have no guarantees what kind of return you will get for your membership fee.
Some of the subscription fees can be relatively huge and to new owner-drivers, and if you’ve just bought a van, insurance, equipment etc. you will probably be watching every penny you spend until you start to see your own invoices being paid.
That’s when I had the idea that, as I’ve already tried MOST of the main websites myself, I had enough information to give some fair advice about which sites are worth joining, and what you can realistically expect once you’re on there.
Work Service Top 20 Rankings by CTV
We’re just refreshed our review of The Courier Exchange (CX), Same Day Courier Network (SDCN) and others are following soon – make sure to visit regularly for updates.
Also, as part of the new ranking system we’re running throughout the CTV website this year, you’ll see our new Top 20 logo, and products and services will move up and down as we constantly review and report on changes.
The Courier Exchange is the one site you will hear other couriers talk about, commonly referred to as ‘CX’. It’s used by many large Hauliers, courier companies and freight forwarders sub out their work, meaning it offers the most potential to owner-drivers.
The downside of that is the increased competition for work, and the higher subscription fee compared to other providers.
3 - Courier Expert
This one gave us a bit of a headache as how to score it. It’s not specifically a work ‘exchange’ platform. It’s a large courier company that uses a sub-contractor subscription service to get its delivery work covered. So you CAN get extra work, but it doesn’t offer the opportunity for you to sell your own excess loads like SDCN or CX do. Good for subbies, not so good for growing companies.
Read More ABOUT Courier Expert (coming soon)
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the best of the rest
WORTH CONSIDERING
4 - DeliveryApp
This is one of the new wave of apps that shows real promise for change in the industry. Similar to Loadie (that's now closed, see further down the list) it makes the process simple of passing work to drivers and reducing costs to the customer. They've started to win some big customers so expect a lot to come from 2022 onwards.
5 - Load Dashboard by HBC Logistics
The Load Dashboard from HBC is brand new and as such you need to expect that currently there are not thousands of loads available. But give it time, because we expect this one to grow rapidly. It's a well built and simple system and is connected to many of the big players that use CX, so we're expecting loads will start to appear here as people move to a more affordable solution.
6 - Gophr
Gophr is starting to make a name for itself in the UK now that it has finally expanded out of London. This is very much a gig-economy style service where they notify drivers through the app and you can take or leave the work if you want. We have not had enough experience of this platform yet so full review will follow soon.
7 - Amazon Flex
Amazon Flex has to be one of the most well-known gig-courier services currently available. It's available in most areas of the UK now and often has loads (or routes) available, although due to the nature of it there are lots of competing drivers. It's open to cars as well as commercial vehicles, so you're not likely to earn amazing rates. Full review arriving soon.
8 - Return Loads
Please Note - Only for 7.5 tonne Vehicles and larger (HGVs). When I started out in 2012, this was seen as a real competitor to the Courier Exchange, but the vast majority of loads now are for 7.5 tonne vehicles and up. Seems to have regular work available for anyone with that kind of capacity. Cheaper than CX, but more expensive than SDCN.
9 - Shiply
Shiply was once a big player due to its ability to draw interest from Ebay. Drivers earning power often low and would only ever use it for backloads. Free to use. New review coming soon.
10 - Anyvan
Anyvan has changed and now more focussed on furniture removals. Seems to be heading to an 'Uber' style business model where drivers are almost tied into only working for them.
11 - Stuart
Stuart, from what we're told, is similar to platforms like Gophr and Deliveroo, and we believe it's mostly used so far for food and small item deliveries. We're looking to investigate this more in the next few weeks and should have a full review soon.
12 - Deliveroo
Everyone knows Deliveroo, don't they? Known for food deliveries, more specifically in town and city centres. They may deliver other items but I can't confirm at this time. Perfect if you like cycling or have a scooter.
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the time-wasters
NOT WORTH JOINING
13 - Delivery Quote Compare
Delivery Quote Compare is just another of the Anyvan / Shiply style sites that gets user to list their eBay items looking for the lowest bids from couriers. Don't bother wasting your time.
14 - MT Van
We've had reports from users that this site is basically dead and buried now. Seems like none of the admin team are responding to emails and hardly anything ever gets posted on there. This had a lot of potential but if the owners can't be bothered, then why should you?
15 - Courier Compare
Not a lot to tell as, from what we've experienced, there has been no work for couriers. Focus seems to be on member benefits, but the member fee to join is huge. Read the full review here.
16 - Freight Alerts
The loads on here are again more of the Shiply and Anyvan variety, despite the site trying to market itself more towards the Courier Exchange. Falls far short. Paid for service.
Number of Loads posted
(avg per day / 30m radius)
Longer bar = more loads. Our figures are rough estimates taken from averaging high/low traffic regions. Some areas get more than others.
Membership Cost
(per month)
Shorter bar = lower price. Some platforms charge annually. We have averaged those prices to represent a monthly fee.
Couriers TV Opinion
Value for Money
Longer bar = better value. This is only the opinion of Couriers TV researchers and is not influenced by the platforms represented in tests.
gone but not forgotten
CLOSED
17 - Shed 5
Used to be a cult-site that had a small number of members who seemed to share things between each other, but if you didn't know the secret handshake you didn't get anything. Now closed.
18 - Loadie
It's looking like Loadie has gone to the great website in the sky. No sign of recent maintenance or any effort to resurrect it. We've tried to contact them but no response
THE DANGER ZONE
WARNING!
19 - Courier Market
Be VERY careful with this one. We have had numerous reports of this being a possible scam, with a ridiculous £250+ joining fee, fake loads and no refunds. We can't find any legitimate information about the company, never answer the phone and seems to be run from a forwarding address in Birmingham. Shows all the warning signs. Courier Market contacted us to request this information be removed and we offered them a chance to prove us wrong and let us see their platform in action. They didn't respond.
