Ask anyone in transport how they feel about the industry, and on any given day you could get an entire spectrum of responses.
Some will tell you it’s a great industry to work in, and that you can earn a lot of money.
Others will tell you it’s terrible and you can’t earn anything.
The truth, as with everything in life, often falls somewhere between those two extremes.
Should you pay for advice or ‘training’ to learn how to be a courier? Beware of Scams
The reason we felt the need to write this article is that recently we’ve noticed a few social media accounts popping up that we feel are somewhat ‘misleading’.
These accounts feature videos of delivery drivers making big and bold claims of their earnings, followed by an opportunity for you to learn how to do it too, as long as you sign up to their paid course.
We have no way of either proving or disproving their claims about the amount they’re earning.
And because of that we’re not saying any of these accounts are ‘scams’ as such – we’re just suggesting you take their claims with a pinch of salt.
What we can say though, is that we know this industry well. And many of the earnings claims are way outside the scope of what the vast majority of people in this industry ever earn.
It’s not impossible. It’s just VERY unlikely you’ll ever earn the pence-per-mile rates they’re claiming.
For example, some of these accounts are claiming anywhere from £1.80 – £3.00 per mile on jobs for Small and Short Wheelbase vans.
Even the biggest and best couriers in the UK struggle to get those prices on distance work.
The accounts making these claims also like to brag that they’re pulling in ridiculous sums of £15,000 – £20,000 per month – as owner-drivers!?
This is highly unlikely for most owner-drivers to ever achieve.
If you are earning this level of money then you’re ready to take a lease on a warehouse, hire a team of drivers and take your business to the next level.
We believe it’s wrong to sell people a course claiming that you’ll achieve those same figures.
We’re not saying you can’t achieve it, and we hope many people do. It’s that the figures being stated are just unlikely for almost every owner-driver.
In all likelihood, the reason they’re selling the course is to try and boost their own earnings, because they’re not making the kind of money they claim they’re doing with delivery work.
We followed some of their links to end up at pages (like this image below), charging £375 for a course to learn how to be a courier.
This is what they’re trying to get you to sign up for – £375 for some kind of ‘training course’?!
Open and honest discussions by real couriers
One thing we really try to encourage is speaking to real couriers who will tell it like it is.
There are plenty of courier groups on social media. We even run two networking groups, one on LinkedIn and the other on Facebook. You can talk to other drivers and get a real insight into the industry, not just our opinion.
If you’re an owner-driver courier that’s really earning this kind of money, then tell us.
But be warned, we’ll ask you to bring the receipts to back up your claims.
It’s a Supply and Demand Issue
Transport is a supply and demand business. The rates are determined by the market, not by how good you think you are.
So every time you want to quote £2.50 per mile to your customer, just remember they have a lot of other people to choose from who are all in need of work, and will probably do the job for £1.50 per mile, or less.
There are thousands of self-employed delivery drivers in the UK.
Customers have access to so many service providers they don’t need to held ransom to your rates, because another courier is almost literally just around the corner.
So here are some simple tips to help you, and might save you £375;
- Do some research – find out what other couriers are charging. It’s easy, just go on their websites and request a quote for a set route. From that you can get a rough idea of the mileage rate they charge their end customers.
- Work out your costs – Van, insurance, fuel, maintenance, tax, food… and don’t forget to include what you need to earn for your time (hourly rate etc). Once you know what it costs you to do the job, you know what you have to earn to make a profit. Set your price above that.
- Network with other drivers – to find out what the average rate for sub-contract work is so that you know how to compete when using exchange boards like CX and SDCN
Our Advertisers and Partners make the difference
We’re able to provide free access to all the information you’ll need to be a courier and grow your business because we work with a select group of partners and advertisers to cover our costs.
- We provide the information for our visitors to learn about the industry
- Advertisers pay us to promote their goods and services to potential customers browsing our site
- Visitors purchase what they need from the advertisers
This way, everyone gets some of what they need, and the people most in need of help and advice don’t get tricked into paying hundreds of pounds for something that should be free.
“Help will always be given to those that ask”
Alright so that’s a quote from Harry Potter, but we kind of want it to be about us too.
We know from our own experience how hard it is to get started, especially if you’re new to the industry and don’t know the difference between an artic and a pump truck.
With that in mind, we want to ask you one question…
What’s one thing you/your business need help with right now?
Reply to this question in our contact form and we’ll try our best to help
