A sad tale of modern Britain: the 'lifestyle' courier.
 

I'm talking about the poor saps who work for the likes of Yodel and Hermes, paid naff all and employed as 'contractors', so out of their pitiful pay they have to fund their own insurance, fuel, pension, etc. They can also be sacked at will.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-s-notice.html

It was only a while ago I noticed that Amazon use these guys instead of Royal Mail. When I got my Xbox One for example I had to wait two days all day. In the old days it would have come in the morning.

Don't mention couriers, we'll be in to a 10 pager before you know it. :freak3:

I don't think we should pity the 'poor saps' who work for these couriers as it's their choice who they work for.
The answer is down to what people (i.e. customers) are prepared to pay for a delivery service, and most often that is as little as possible with scant regard for the possible outcome. Consequently courier services, like many other services in this country, are on a race to the bottom. Who can do it for the least? Sounds great until you realise you can't have a Rolls Royce for Mini money. Sure you can pay less, but don't moan when you get less.

As said in other threads on a similar topic, quality couriers of the like of UPS, FedEx, et al, are relatively expensive when compared to the DIY couries like Herpes and Jokel. But they offer a quality service that is reliable and (usually) trouble free.

From a slightly different perspective, what kind of image are you creating of your business if you are prepared to consign your deliveries into the care of an anonymous 'sap', rather than somebody who turns up at a customers premises in a marked van wearing a branded uniform.

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys, simples.

Not always true - sometimes you pay well and still get a monkey!


The Next Day delivery boys/girls suffer the same as the Same Day crew, though "on paper" they get paid more per drop. Their issue is that they get to do less work per day - 10-20 jobs but its not unusual for a courier to earn £400 in a week gross before having to factor in van rental and fuel etc. Most SD companies have a massive turnover of courier staff.

I used to courier in the 80s/90s and I was earning £650+ a week with obviously lesser costs but couriers 25 years later are struggling to get the same figure and will have to cover a greater distance to do so. Hence why the quality of couriers overall has gone down.

Sad fact of life but with the increase in online retail, the pressure on courier companies both Next and Same Day to keep prices low is only going to increase at the expense of the people doing that last mile.

Absolutely.
DHL being prime example as far as I'm concerned.
The best of the lot from my own personal experience is DPD

They can always bump up there pay with all the parcels that go missing around Christmas time ....

Good post. I wish I could say more on the subject.
Also don't forget public liability and goods in transit insurance.

I'm a self employed courier driver. Drive a mercedes sprinter. Forked out 13k to start off. Pay is per drop. And is so much better than ****ty yodel and hermes. I tend to leave alot of parcels with neighbours and in safe places. Never throw fragile items over gates. Small packages like clothing are ok but i can see where they are coming from. The pay is soo low that they have no choice but to leave them at any place they find.