by "Rainbow" (rainbeaux)
Published 05/16/2017 at 07:55
by "Rainbow" (rainbeaux)
Published 05/16/2017 at 07:55
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STARS: 0
I’ve been working as a courier for a couple months, and I mostly enjoy it. My only complaints are that I put 200-300 miles of city driving onto my personal vehicle every day, and a lot of my addresses are extremely vague (I often get the address to a large office park and no suite number, for example) which eats up a lot of my time. I’d much prefer to do one or two deliveries per day with primarily highway driving, though I do not currently feel comfortable driving a truck.
So, does anyone know of any long-distance courier and/or auto driveaway companies (that are based around or operate from Atlanta or close by) worth looking into? The latter is ideal, of course, but I don’t mind still using my own car.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
05/16/2017 at 08:09, STARS: 0
I wonder if the Amazon Now stuff is a good market for that sort of thing. I imagine every metro area needs a lot of them. Idk if Atlanta is on their map for 1 hour delivery. I am pretty sure those are all contracted out to couriers and such.
"E92M3" (E46M3)
05/16/2017 at 08:44, STARS: 0
Atlanta is, but they make 20-50 stops (deliveries) in a day. That’s the opposite of what he’s looking for. Though they are typically clustered in the same area, so it should be less miles for him. Only downside is some people aren’t aware of how it works yet. When they see a civilian car pull up on their property, some of them panic.
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
05/16/2017 at 08:55, STARS: 3
What about oversize load escort?
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
05/16/2017 at 09:20, STARS: 2
How about medical? I could imagine there’s a market for transport to/from Birmingham, Chattanooga, Columbus, Macon, Athens, Greenville, Charlotte, etc. Then you could make fewer stops and spend more time on the road. Maybe try to find companies that operate in those markets and you could even cold-call them to inquire (or “professionally stalk” them on LinkedIn, etc)
"notsomethingstructural" (notsomethingstructural)
05/16/2017 at 09:56, STARS: 1
Disclosure - all experiences here are on a “what I’ve heard” basis. Or, caviat emptor, you get what you pay for.
Someone said medical and that’s a great option but it might be a pain in your own vehicle because your insurance probably won’t cover your cargo, which will typically be valued over your insurable limit anyways. I would think if you go to a company they have insurance and vehicles you could use or would provide insurance for the carriage - but then you probably need a CDL. These positions are also typically on-call, and if you don’t take all the jobs then they won’t call.
You could look at hot shot gigs but again that won’t be in your car and over a certain size payload I’m guessing you’ll need a CDL either by law or insurer requirement.
Not sure what gigs are out there where you don’t need a different vehicle, supplemental insurance / a business identity, or a CDL. Wouldn’t suggest this to most people, but... Uber?
"Hammerdown" (hammerdown32)
05/16/2017 at 10:19, STARS: 1
If you’re serious about courier work I’d recommend saving up for CDL school. You may not currently feel comfortable driving a truck, but that is what school is for.
"Rainbow" (rainbeaux)
05/16/2017 at 20:07, STARS: 0
You make some good points about the medical thing, but I’m still gonna look into that.
As for Uber, I actually did Lyft before getting this job. Some people manage to earn six figures that way, but I’d just average $30-50 for a six-ish hour day (no sense in driving during work hours) even when I’d jump from sporting events to concerts to movies, etc. The biggest gripe I had was that nobody tipped at all. My biggest ever was $5, and that was on a three-hour $120 fare. I even let him play his own terrible music with the aux cord the whole time.
"notsomethingstructural" (notsomethingstructural)
05/16/2017 at 20:16, STARS: 1
The problem with uber / lyft is they say tipping is optional but it shafts the drivers. In NYC if tipping is treated like cabs (virtually mandatory) then Lyft and Uber can’t compete. But they sell it as tipping optional.
It’s funny, it’s almost like sending 20% of the price of a fare to California makes the ride and tip 20% more expensive. But take away a 20% tip for the drivers and suddenly they’re in business. Hmm.