Hello guys,
I plan on financing a Toyota LWB van to get into the courier work.
A 2019 model roughly sells for 40k
Anyone here do courier work for say Toll, Star Track or any of those companies?
Just wondering if you are able to share your experience in whether its worth it to enter this field.
Considering all online orders and purchases these days , I am thinking its a good idea.
Also, I am desperate to work for myself instead of answering to others. One of my driving factors
Once, I caught the guy by happenstance.
He legit only had the card, didn't have the package. He pretended that he lost it. I said, either you pick it up or you gave the package to someone else, which is it. At that point, he realised the conundrum and confessed. I was more concerned that he was going to swipe it for himself. To be fair, he was a piece of scum, and his manager was the same for allowing such things to happen like normal.
What was the purpose of driving to my house anyway?
It was their business model, sometimes if they're enroute and rushed, they will slip the card in and their Terms and Conditions state that the receiver is responsible to drive to their warehouse and pick it up. That way they can do many stops in one route, cutting their time significantly shorter. Picking the sample up must be done somewhat pre-arranged with them on the phone, and they're warehouse is located all the way next to the airport. It's just too bad that when you're receiving some package, usually you are not able to choose which courier service the sender goes with.
This sour incident is just one of dozens, where there is little/no effort in knocking and dropping off a package. I once left an empty box where they can place it in, where it would be concealed, no dice. Other times, they're pretty good at hiding the package between the door and flyscreen. I just don't get how some of them expect to stay in a job when the complaints come in. Guess they take the risk, maybe, most Aussies put up with that bullhittery?
You’re still not really going to be answering to yourself - you’ll be answering to Toll, star track, etc.
Why start out with such an expensive van?
requirement is a van that is no older than 5 years
There are still much cheaper vans available.
My cousin tried this, advice is make sure you have a run set up before you go finance a van
Toll, Star Track and the other main carriers have waiting lists for runs hundreds of names long, and locum drivers are next in line.
You could be waiting a very long time to get a run and all this time be stuck with finance payments on a van you are not using.
I know everyone bags them but Fastway and Couriers please are more likely to give you work as they run on a franchise system where you "own an area"
Do some deeper investigation at your likelyhood of getting work/a steady run before committing to a van loan
Why not start your own courier company, the Damienhello Express.
Suggest you rent a van to start with for a couple of months. It will be expensive but will tell you whether you should invest that much money.
I did this for 3 months.. Was lucky I didn't find a good vehicle so had to rent it. In hindsight I am glad I rented instead of buying. Didn't find it lucrative enough.. Even if I bought a van, the maths didn't add up. Was investing too much time for much less fruit.
There was another colleague.. He bought a van outright before he started. Then got stuck doing the courier job until the van was paid off.
thanks for the insight, google search on reviews of Fast Track say the same. Just does not sound lucrative enough for the investment. might pass on this idea all together
You'll be wasting your money.
Every delivery pays about $1.20 (roughly - might be more depending on the employer).
Do your own sums. You need to make x deliveries per day. Each delivery takes x minutes. How many deliveries can your really do in a day? Not enough!
Given COVID-19 I'd invest in a bike and do take away food deliveries.
Toll and Startrak you need to do your research, only reason they were busy is due to contracts with retailers (non grocery). They are doing it tough because people are not buying a new pair of sneakers because they are not going out and can't show them off on the street.
Don't need a van for that, just ninja skills for slipping "sorry we missed you" cards in mailboxes without being seen.