{"id":616,"date":"2012-04-16T12:02:14","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T11:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/?p=616"},"modified":"2015-07-09T12:50:41","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T11:50:41","slug":"top-tips-for-setting-up-as-a-courier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/top-tips-for-setting-up-as-a-courier","title":{"rendered":"Top tips for setting up as a courier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When starting out as an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/delivery-jobs\/courier-jobs\/\">owner-driver courier<\/a>, there are many things you must consider to ensure you get work and make a profit. Here are some of the basics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The best way to start out as an owner-driver courier is by finding work with courier companies in your area.<\/li>\n<li>Find the contact details of local courier companies online. Phone them and ask if they need any couriers, either for regular work or during their busy periods.<\/li>\n<li>You may need to phone some companies several times to make sure they remember you.<\/li>\n<li>Stress your availability and do not dwell on your inexperience.<\/li>\n<li>If a person sounds interested, get their email address and send a short email to arrange a meeting.<\/li>\n<li>Many courier companies will ignore your emails or letters if you have not phoned first.<\/li>\n<li>Owner-driver couriers are self-employed subcontractors when working <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/courier-service\/\">for a courier company<\/a>. This is not a contract of employment, so you will be responsible for your own National Insurance contributions and Income Tax.<\/li>\n<li>Owner-driver couriers often work for several courier companies. If you work for only one courier company, HM Revenue &amp; Customs may class you as an employee. This can have negative consequences for both you and the company.<\/li>\n<li>To find more work, you can set up a profile on an online courier work exchange.<\/li>\n<li>You will typically be paid an agreed percentage of the amount the courier company charges the customer per job.<\/li>\n<li>On top of the mileage rate, you should pre-agree the rate of waiting time, additional cost for en-route drops and the minimum rate per job.<\/li>\n<li>You can hire commercial vehicles at competitive rates. Many owner-driver couriers do this for their first few months, rather than buying a vehicle. This will give you time to find out what kind of vehicle is most suitable for your work.<\/li>\n<li>Owner-driver couriers choose their hours of availability and are paid only for the work they carry out. Exercise self-discipline and make yourself available as much as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When starting out as an owner-driver courier, there are many things you must consider to ensure you get work and make a profit. Here are some of the basics: The best way to start out as an owner-driver courier is by finding work with courier companies in your area. Find the contact details of local [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36],"tags":[80,44,55,99,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3282,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions\/3282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}