Eight years ago i gave up despaching in London. The money wasn`t as good as it was back in the day. Plus at 42 years old i considered myself lucky to be in one piece after 15 years at it.
I passed my LGV1 and have been driving artics for the last 8 years. I absolutely hate it. The hours are awful and you get treated like dog poo. The credit crunch has now hit big time and there is no work.
So my question is shall i go back despatching? Is there any money to be earnt at all? Any guarantees money wise? I used to get a £500 a week guarantee.
At 50 years old i`m a bit passed it but Mastercard have a hitman looking for me. I have my trusty BMW K100LT ready to go.
Sorry don,t know anything about despatching but just a thought…put london bike taxis into google .
Seems to be a growing business and shouldn,t be quite as frenetic as courier work .
Do You mean pedicabs? a.k.a. Rickshaw? Damn!:w00t:I just happened to be a mechanic in one of those companies. Business isnt that good. Especially during the winter. Theres too many rickshaws on the streets already. Ive been working for one of the biggest companies on the market. Money isnt bad in the summer. It all depends on You. Some people make Ł50 a week while others make Ł300 per night. Yor earnings depend on weather. If its raining then its hard to make any money. But generally - great fun, chance to meet new people, see Londons night life (i.e.Soho :w00t: ). Sometimes Youll get a chance to carry some famouse people or paparazzi`s etc.
Ok. Back to the topic. petethefeef - Money now isnt that good in dispatching. Theres no good money anywhere nowadays. Give it a try, find out how it is in different companies. But…avoid Courier Systems. I`ve been working for them this year and ooh boy…avoid!
BMW is great for this job but check insurance prices first as the quote may ba a pain in the a*se!
No ,…you didn,t put london bike taxis into google like i said did you ?, i may not know much about despatching but i do know a k100 wouldn,t make a very good rickshaw
All the old lads I know on the curcuit are struggling a bit, it’s quiet everywhere and there are too many boys over working for peanuts. Cycle crew seem happy enough though and fairly busy.
It’s not even clost to the golden times of 3 & 4 up returns to Newcastle though. I think CYC are a pretty good company to work for, not too big and I’m pretty sure if you prove yourself they’ll sort you out a garuantee.
Insurance is also nowhere near what it used to be as nowadays it’s considered no more dangerous than an office job!
Oops. Sorry then. I thought it was about rickshaw crap. They are called bike taxis. As bike=pushbike. It`s not my fault…just spent too much time with those bloody rickshaws.
Anyway. Courier job - the bigger company the less money You get paid per job, then you must do more jobs to get some decent wages. Ive been working 2 years in a very small company and they paid good money, then moved to Courier Sys. hoping to get more jobs and money but they paid peanuts for each run so at the end of the day You realise that You have to do twice more jobs to get this same wages as in the small business. But small business sometimes is very quiet and ya know... Just to compare: Small company - Ive had about 350-400pw doing 30-45 jobs pw (500ccm, own bike)
Big company - Ł200-250pw doing 50-60 jobs pw.(500ccm) And then got knocked off the bonus (without reason), got charged for bike hire, insurance excess etc. No money left for a piece of bread…:crazy:
Well, thanks for your replies guys. Much appreciated.
But by the level of response. It sounds like motorcycling courier work is dead and buried!
I had a feeling that with the advent of the fax machine and email. That the business had changed somewhat. But on balance i`m suprised there are any courier companies left at all.
Looks like Beachy Head is my only option!:crying:
etc.