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Port deliveries – couriers – how not to incur fines

November 1, 2009 By
Port couriers for delivery
Image by Francisco Sánchez via Flickr

Delivering into ports is something that we enjoy doing here at same day couriers -Arrow Light Haulage, when starting out delivering or collecting from a port is something thats easy when you know how. If you don’t do it correctly then you will hold up the collection or the delivery and in some cases you may fail to deliver or collect. This is when the fines start to come in.

What to remember for port collections or deliveries

  • no children
  • no animals
  • 2 forms of ID thats photograhic
  • high viz jacket
  • safety boots
  • clear manifest of what is being delivered / collected

Failing to collect or deliver from a port is a serious issue for a courier, it is something that incurs port fines. This is something that needs to be taken into account when pricing for this type of work. Often a courier or courier company will think that they can do a deal and co load something with the port delivery and price it at a lower rate to win the business.

The courier wins the job but now has the port items on with other items. This means it takes longer if the vehicle is searched at port security or longer to complete the delivery itself, as its going to another destination first. When this happens the courier could miss their booking in slot and incur a fine. A courier I know racked up 30k in fines in one month, not very good for their business.

If you are looking at gaining work from portside warehouses or delivering into them on a regular basis, make sure you follow their guidelines and make sure you have plenty of time to make your booking in slot.

Kevin Arrow

Become a courier

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Filed Under: Courier World, Driving, Fleet Information, Get More Customers Tagged With: , , , ,

Thinking of starting a home based courier business?

August 31, 2009 By

Are you thinking of becoming a self employed courier or an owner driver?

Driving for a living can be one of the most rewarding jobs there is. It also has a lot of regulation and the biggest plus point to becoming a self employed courier is you can work from home.

Working from home as a courier will allow you to be a greener, more sustainable business as well as save money on office rental.

The down sides to working from home as a courier are there are too many distractions like the family, the pets, the school run etc.

This is only a viable option whilst there is just you as the main driver for your business. When you reach the stage of having employees, then you will need to become office based in order to have a health and safety compliant base. Alternatively you can upgrade your home and continue working from it.

Some people would say all you need to get started as a home based courier would be your van, a phone and a desk! Some would even go as far as saying with membership of a freight exchange you don’t even need the van! :-)

Starting any new business is tough, and starting in the courier industry is very tough. If you believed every ebook for sale you would think that there is a shortage of couriers, but that isn’t so. What there is a shortage of is good couriers.

If you think you can just pull up to a customers warehouse, grab the gear throw it into the back of your van and drive away, you need to think again. You may get customers initially that way BUT you won’t keep them.

Working from home as a courier can take a huge amount of discipline. It can mean having to separate a space for just your courier business paperwork. Whether it’s the dining table or the dining room, a designated space is essential.

Working from home as a courier has it’s benefits – make sure you weigh up all the options before you decide to set up office in your home.

Sarah Arrow

The complete guide for couriers is a downloadable ebook aimed at helping people make successful courier businesses.

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Couriers on twitter

June 24, 2009 By

I am compiling a list of couriers, worldwide that are on twitter. Some are active users, some are not.

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase

If I have missed you, please add yourself in a comment with a link to your twitter home page.

@Essex_courier

@freight_rescue

@cityexp

@VelocityDublin

@clutchcouriers

@Capital_Courier

@dialavan

@motocourier

@WatfordCourier

@bostoncourier

@HotShotDelivery

@ZIPCOURIER

@Brianthecourier

@DiscyDave

@adicourier

@Jus10brown

@ officeboys

@ MadisonCourier

Freight exchanges include:

@courierexchange

freightrescuetinybutt

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Profile Twitter founders: Jack Dorsey came up with the idea for taxi and couriers

June 23, 2009 By

Dorsey, born in St Louis, Missouri, was interested in designing dispatch routing software by the time he was 14. Not a typical teenage obsession, perhaps, but taxicab companies are still using his software. He dropped out of New York University and left his job as a programmer at a taxi- and courier-dispatch service in 1999 to move to San Francisco. By 2000, he had started a company to dispatch couriers, taxis and emergency services via the internet. Anxious to find a new way of staying in touch with friends without having to stay tied to a computer, he approached an internet software company called Odeo, where Biz Stone worked. He wanted to create a communication service that allowed people to tell each other what they were doing. Stone, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has published two books about the growth of “social media”, and Dorsey produced a Twitter prototype in a few weeks.

via Profile Twitter founders: Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams – Telegraph.

So knowing the one of the original applications for Twitter, why don’t more couriers use it?

Are couriers and  transport companies slow to engage modern technology?

Sarah

Twitter for Couriers and Transport companies

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Tips to help you get paid in a recession

June 23, 2009 By

It’s been a while since we addressed the subject of getting paid for work done and services provided, yet that subject is probably closer to the hearts of many a small business owner than ever before in these recession-hit times, when:

  • Companies big and small are ‘going to the wall’
  • Even good, established customers are taking longer to pay
  • Cash isn’t flowing as it was even 6 months ago
    1. Be prompt in chasing – you’ve provided the service or product
    2. You are entitled to the money by the agreed time
    3. The longer you leave it to chase your money, the further down the queue you’ll go when the cheques do get written out
    4. Speak initially to the Decision Maker who bought from you – three reasons for this:

      5. This is the person who values the purchase

      This is the person with whom you are building an ongoing business relationship

      In short, this person has a vested interest in keeping you sweet – don’t know about you but I can remember numerous occasions standing over Financial Directors and making them write out a cheque after ‘getting it in the neck’ from a totally fed up supplier!

    5. Don’t back down – be prepared to state your case to the top man or woman
    6. Be pleasant but firm – no-one wins if a slanging match is allowed to develop

    • So let’s have a quick update:

    The telephone can be your best friend – a very useful tool in chasing money, second only to presenting yourself at the customer’s premises, so keep lines of communication open!

    Over to you and best of luck!


    Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.

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