Why so much? Moving a wide, heavy load is expensive.  A fully loaded shuttle can take up to three hours to move one mile.  Now in this instance it will not be carrying the fuel so it should be able to move that bit faster. Banksmen and other technical and non technical support is also required. You cannot just throw a shuttle on the back of a lorry and hope!  There will need to be police escorts and co-ordination with the highways agencies etc. It could be split down and sent by road and air but most likely it would be shipped.

If you can afford to buy one, I am sure the delivery charges are not a problem the good news is decommissioning fees are also included!The Most Expensive Delivery in The World?

What would you say if Nasa called and ask YOU to deliver a shuttle?

Kevin

Delivering big, awkward, bulky items but most certainly NOT space shuttles

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Police spokesman Atunaisa Sokomuri said drug dealers had found a new means of transporting their stash.

He said when police raided the homes, they found that parcels were all packed and ready to be sent through local courier companies to the Northern Division.

He said the 44 parcels confiscated from the vehicle were hidden there to be taken by a courier company.

“The courier companies are not aware of what is sent through their services and so we are investigating this case,” he said.

Source: Dealers send drugs by courier - Fiji Times Online

As a courier it is essential you know what you are delivering, and that you can legally deliver. Certain items cannot be delivered.

• Hazardous materials / Biotech waste
• Other items that are similarly dangerous
• Live animals cannot be shipped via a courier delivery service.
• Deceased animals are bio-harzadous and can be shipped by specially trained companies
• Illegal drugs

There are other items too, so check with the customer first before you commit yourself to delivery. If in doubt, don’t take the booking.

Sarah

Complete courier start up guides for freelance couriers

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A PARCEL marked fragile was “shot-putted over a six foot fence” by a specialist delivery company, according to the furious man who received it.

Guy Penwarden, 50, of Churchill Road, Parkstone, said he only realised he’d had a delivery from City Link after going to investigate an “almighty crash”.

He told the Daily Echo he saw a delivery van heading off down the road, then discovered the battered parcel at the base of the fence.

He said: “Despite the fact that all surfaces were marked fragile, it had clearly been shot-putted over the fence, and had smashed on the driveway.”

Fortunately the contents were not a priceless gift, but tins of organic dog food for his pet Bruno, which arrived dented.

He said: “It is all replaceable, but it makes me wonder how many other parcels are getting destroyed by City Link.”

He added: “I think it’s disgusting. Had it been a computer or something it would have been ruined.”

He also questioned if the delivery driver had looked before dropping the 20lb parcel over the fence into the garden where his dog plays.

Source: ‘Delivery man flung parcel like shot-put’ From Bournemouth Echo

I do wonder if the larger companies actually give their drivers some customer service training and explain just because they may not be in when the delivery takes place, it doesn’t give them the right to be less than professional with a parcel.

What exactly does driver training entail? Do large companies only focus on the driving aspect and not the delivery aspect? Safe and green driving practices are good but if you have to redeliver a damaged parcel then it’s not exactly effective.

Kevin

Thinking about freelance courier work?

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With the Vatican issuing guidelines regarding environmental issues and encouraging their congregation to be greener, I felt they could have been a bit greener themselves. They could have used the secure postal systems to deliver his items. Looking at it in more detail, I realise the safest, most secure option for him would have been a dedicated courier which is exactly what he used

When security is of the utmost importance a dedicated courier is the very best option, I hope that Thaddeus Kühnel has his vehicle tracked in case of hijack and remembers to secure his vehicle everytime he leaves it. I am sure he uses up to date software to plan his routes - so that they are the most efficient .

I also hope that Mr Kühnel has changed his vehicle since this article was published, as he could now become a target.

Infallible Christmas gifts: Pope’s courier reveals secrets | World news | The Guardian

Kühnel drove from the pope’s home state of Bavaria to the Vatican yesterday to personally deliver this year’s boot-load of food, as well as five Christmas trees that were strapped to the roof of his car.

Lebkuchen honey and spice biscuits, stollen German Christmas cake, and chocolate were among the treats, Kühnel told German media. Of the trees, which came from the pope’s home town, Marktl am Inn, Kühnel said: “One is for the Pope’s living room, and two are for private chapels.”

Butchers in Marktl am Inn began selling Ratzinger sausages in his honour when he became pope in 2005.

There was also a present from the pope’s brother, Georg, 84, a retired priest. Kühnel would not reveal what it was, but said “usually they give each other practical things, like wristwatches and electric foot-warmers”.

Kühnel said he had already clocked up around 250,000km 150,000 miles in his car, delivering goods to the pope that he had personally requested, along with presents from his old friends, staff and distant relatives. “I deliver all the things he misses about Bavaria, including fruit nectar, Bavarian sausages from his favourite restaurant, advent wreaths and German sweets. He has a very sweet tooth,” Kühnel said.

“The first thing I brought to Rome, in my car, was a paschal candle, as well as some fruit from Adelholzen and mineral water. He likes the Christmas cookies that women from Bavarian parishes bake at home as well as those made at certain monasteries. He also likes the chocolates made in Aachen.”

I hope he has also insured his car for business use!

It’s not easy being a courier, but a happy customer makes it all worthwhile, but please have a word about the mileage… 150k is a lot of miles for one person to drive safely in a year.

Merry Christmas

Kevin & Sarah Arrow

He also has a great checklist for winter driving, so of it is quoted here….

I was sat in the office yesterday and as the afternoon progressed it got darker and more gloomy. The rain started to come in horizontally against the window and this mornings blog was born.

It is the time of the year that the car repair industry looks forward to, the onset of winter. The nights draw in and the weather turns wetter drivers tend to have more collisions. There are many reasons for this, the greasy damp roads, the change in light, the leaves on the road surface and the change in the properties of the tyres.

In line with previous articles on this forum not only do we raise the awareness of the problems, but we will offer some solutions as well.

The top of the list of things for you to do is take a trip to your local car dealer for a winter safety check. You could also do it yourself. You need to check your Tyres including the spare, Lights, Oil, Water/Antifreeze, Screenwash and Wipers. These are things you can easily check.

Tyres - You need to check the tread depth, tyre pressure you may need the handbook for this bit and the general condition of the tyre. I recommend that you have no less than 2mm of tread on your tyres. You should check your tyres every month.

Lights - Take the time to check all of your lights on your vehicle. You should also invest in a spare bulb set too. Remember that your lights are there to ensure you are seen rather than to see where you are going in most cases. You should check your lights every week.

The Winter Driving Season Cometh | Fleet Risk Consultants

Drive safely

regards

Kevin

Self Employed courier ebooks

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It was a very British protest  -  cocking a snook at overbearing authorities while staying within the law.

But Dick Roper’s glow of pleasure at using two sheets of toilet paper to write a cheque for a parking ticket was short lived.

Although Her Majesty’s Court Service said they would accept the £30 cheque, they demanded an extra £15 to cover the fee for cashing it.

When the 63-year-old grandfather refused, he was dragged to court for non-payment of a fine. Source: Daily Mail

I know how frustrating it is to get a ticket, and a loo roll cheque seems to be the perfect answer to the problem thankfully it wasn’t used toilet paper…

regards

Kevin

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What else can you be a member of?  Well after you have been trading a least 6 months you will hear of this wonderful cottage industry that some less than ethical couriers have…. it’s called closing your business down whilst not paying your drivers and start up again quickly in a new name. With times & work getting tougher this is going to be happening more frequently.

www.findacourier.com has some of the answer, it will allow you to track a courier company who has done this to you. Be careful if you are reading this in order to know who to avoid - you need to know the full circumstances in which a company closed down and restarted. It circumstances like this it’s important that you do not make rash assumptions and that you talk to other local couriers, they may have advice for you thats useful.

Kevin

Ethical deliveries

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The full article can be read here : BBC Article

I wonder exactly how this can happen, a bloke in a box 120 x 150 cms must weigh at least 11 stone, how can he be carried out without anyone noticing? Well at least it was in Germany and not the UK, not yet anyway.

Sarah

Self employed courier set up your own business for sucess

Last year motorists forked out over £1.6 billion in fines for one driving offence or another. Now the plans mean that if you are done for speeding twice, your licence will be forfeit for 6 months.

I am working out the maths on this now, in 2 years the roads will be empty of UK drivers and and the Government will have no revenue from motorists, or fuel revenue as nowhere near as much of that will be sold, and the money has to come from somewhere!  I think they will tax Joggers next, after all that’s a form of speeding

It’s about time their was some joined up thinking in the Government and taxing the motorist to death or off the road seems to be the only answer for them. What about average speed cameras and the LED signs that flash up your speed? These are very effective but raise very little revenue. What about educating pedestrains more too? How many times have you been driving along and a teen has walked in front of you without looking? shouldn’t we be fining the parents???

But is it really as bad as all that? Motorcycle News thinks not, and I tend to agree. However the changes in employment laws mean you may find it hard to sack a driver when they have lost their licence, and even harder to replace one.

The new system however, will not be based on a fixed system as it is now. The new 6 point penalty system will only come into effect when the driver goes over a set speed limit. For example, in a 30mph zone a motorist will still receive 3 points and a £60 penalty for any speed up to 45mph. But if a motorist goes above 45mph in a 35mph zone then they will receive 6 points and a £100 fine.

Government Ministers are keen to point out that excessive speeding carries a much larger risk, and that it will lead more quickly to a six month driving ban. In 2004 the government scrapped plans to lower the penalty for minor offences to 2 points, as it would have meant motorists could commit seven offences before they were banned.

The calls for a change in the penalty system come after there was a 20% increase in child road deaths in Britain last year. And research has shown that a pedestrian hit by a car at 35mph is twice as likely to be killed as one hit at 30mph.

Here are the speeds at which a six point penalty is valid. 32mph in a 20mph zone, 45mph in a 30mph zone, 57mph in a 40 zone, 70mph in a 50mph zone, 82mph in a 60 zone and 94mph in a 70 zone.

Regards

Kevin

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Ecochauffeur’s Lexus GS 450h SE-L Hybrid

If you think about chauffeur services, you tend to summon up an image of huge gas guzzling limos rather than something environmentally friendly. Yet that may be about to change thanks to Ecochauffeur, an offshoot of established chauffeur company iChauffeur.

Ecochauffeur was launched in early 2006 to fill what the company perceived was a gap in the market. The company’s director Will Senior says: “We felt there was a gaping opportunity for us commercially which could also lead the way for hybrid and other alternatively-fuelled vehicles to become more commonplace in the chauffeur industry. It was partly an experiment to see if our customers would take to hybrid technologies and also because we felt it was the right thing to do for our children and grandchildren.”

Ecochauffeur uses Lexus GS 450h SE-L Hybrids - with huge battery packs in the boot which makes too much luggage something of a problem – rather than industry standard Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs to transport its clients. Senior says that the car averages around 25 miles per gallon, which makes it approximately 25% more cost effective on fuel and 40% more cost effective on maintenance than the industry standard S-Class Mercedes.

Mary Frary, Times Online

The article states that luggage may be a problem for these vehicles as the batteries power packs are in the boot, but what about the space next to the driver? Ample enough for luggage.

When it comes to utilising space more efficiently, EcoChauffeur needs for want of a better phrase, to think outside the box… Will Senior has the right idea in training the drivers to drive more efficiently and keep them educated to the benefits of greener driving. One thing has crossed my mind as I type this… has he not thought about converting his existing fleet to LPG?

Good luck EcoChaffeur, you can make the world a greener place just one step at a time.

Regards

Kevin

Greener Driving and Delivery

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