I was an owner driver for viking direct (stationary equipment) had a lwb transit which i leased was a brilliant job but hard graft i used to do 65 drops a day @ £3.75 per drop 5 days a week plus every other saturday morning

you need to get git insurance and a commercial insurance policy on your van plus you need a newish van upto 6 years old or you wont get much work from the courier companies

Another thing you can try is make up some business cards and take them round to all the local haulage firms you would be surprised how many calls you get late afternoon for rush jobs collecting the odd pallet

simon