im toying with the idea of chopping in my ST170 for a LWB transit or sprinter and becoming a self employed van driver doing courier work and other white van man business, ive done delivery work before in a 3.5 ton and ive got plenty of experience just wondering if any one on here can offer any advice or insight on the trade and work load in the currant economic climate?

 

yes keep it real dont jump before you can walk keep outgoings to a real miminum and with luck you will tick over nicely enough for a while then you can look at upgrading

 

I would find out if you can get the work before you do anything.

 

ive got a temp job at the minuet i was thinking of using the van as a daily runner and doing odd jobs on weekends to get started. at end of this month im starting a job in a tyre distribution warehouse so it wouldn't be my only source of income just a bit of extra cash for now until i get a few contacts

 

also if any one can offer a ruff figure what could i expect to earn if i go self employed?

thanks for the quick responses btw

 

Depends on how much your gonna charge for jobs really before you can get an idea of how much you will earn.

 

if ya wanna do parcel deliveries stuff like that, reality group take's on self employed van owner drivers.. a mate round the corner from me does it. he don't seem skint with his st focus an 4x4 and new bungalow. an ya can rent a new sprinter lwb on longterm hire for 125 quid a week

 

If your self employed it can cost alot. The insurances public liablity accountans fees running costs waiting for invoices to be paid quite alot of firms are paying very late these days and going bust Has happened to me. If you are certian you want to do it Get the work lined up first before jumping into it. Get all your costs worked out first. Food for thought thou 2 lads in my street are self employed courours and there lucky to go out once a week these days as there is not that much work about.

 

whats that in your picture on the left of your post.. something in the road???

 

are you gonna work for a parcel firm as a self employed driver who has a contract, or do it by your self where you go and find work?

im self employed with UK Mail and to be honest i love my job but my out goings are alot

 

DHL have 2 depots both well within a ten minuet drive of me i was hoping to pick up some contacts from this new job also we have a few other tyre distribution depots in the area they always seem to be looking for van owners, as i said in my last post it would be just a bit of extra cash to start with advertising myself as "man and van" on local websites, forums and ebay. im looking at 2.0 turbo diesels preferably a transit but i used to drive a 316 LWB high roof sprinter as a company van i once helped a mate move flat in two runs so i know these have great load capacity, but the last sprinter i was in earned me 3 points and every van in the fleet always seemed to suffer with gearbox issues and i know they aren't cheap to repair. again thanks for the response its much apreciated