Pete The Courier Driver - Truck Vlogger in the UK. I have a new job, I am now a self-employed courier driver, and I was rather thrown in at the deep end. My previous job as a Market trader went right off the boil, and my short stint of working for someone as a courier driver took rather an early bath. I found myself having to navigate the pitfalls and master the Courier Exchange all by myself and let me tell you, it's a bit of a minefield. That's why I do these videos or vlogs, so you guys can avoid the mines. That and I like the sound of my own voice. I hope they help. Since starting this, I am now driving a truck/lorry and am using HX - The Haulage Exchange. I hope my Truck Vlog can help in some way! Pete
Jet A-1 is the fuel thats used in the UK . Theres other forms of the same stuff ( jet A jet B ) but its all the same just with a different freezing point . It can be used in diesel cars ( as far as im aware from speaking to others , never tried it myself ) without any loss of power or even noticing the difference . It also comes in between 50 ppl to around a quid a litre depending on where you are in the world and under what contract . Oh and if someone did use it they are legal to do so but would have to let the tax man know and cough up for tax . If someone was intending to `maximise profits` they can also use household heating oil .... now ive used that . Burnt through 600 litres of it when the nut jobs were making getting fuel difficult a few years ago . With the correct container and joining a fuel club it saves around 50 ppl compared to diesel . During covid it was down to less than 20ppl to buy ! .
Car crash TV bloody hell that screen tiny you know what there going to do on the last episode they will play one of your accidents and see what you say about that
I had an awful experience once I was looking for an address which was basically what I can only describe as a bungalow ranch house stile in the middle of a field the north side of the M25 you could not see the ranch for the hedge's and a tiny gate I was going around in circles for an hour or so I finally found it I got the box out jumped the gate got half way across the field when a lovely Doberman pinza comes from one side of the ranch and a rather large German shepherd from the other side which I did not see at first wile I was dealing with Fritz the Doberman by giving him the box as a bargaining tool to get me out of the there Herman the German shepherd decided it was his chance to have a bite of my left bum cheek thank god the ranch owner heard me screem and came to my rescue but my bum hurt for days
Had a difficult one about a month ago. Was delivering mountain bike to a residential address in Copthorne. A forget the number now. But number I needed I couldn't find. The numbers stopped at saying 61 but I needed 65. I drove up & down this road for about 1/2 hour stopping local people on the street & knocking on doors. I phoned shipper up just to make sure the number was correct. I eventually found it. Right next to 61 and what looked like a driveway was in fact lane that went around the back of the house. The owner then said he right it on the notes but it wasn't passed on to my shipper. I thought I was going mad.
Love it when the address your given doesn’t exist, like the other week when I went to pick something up from 71 can’t remember the road, there’s no 71, about 30 minutes of back and forth and it turns out it was 72 they’d mistyped it over and over
As for recovery All drivers now can't go outside certain radius of base as if do go into tachograph territory Back in the day I knew a driver that had transit recovery truck and light car one way and motorcycle return He did 35 hours straight driving with few breaks for nap But he didn't have owners with him
I think the bonded means it's in some kind of no man's land or limbo before customs not sure or is it bound not to leave the warehouse in that country unless taxes are payed longest drive London to Pisa Italy 21 hours carrying building props joking aside it was knackering but really nice drive I really like driving so no destination to far
Sunderland to Plymouth and back in a car which is legal. In a van it is illegal. Even though there is no tachograph on a van. you still come under domestic driving rules if you drive more than 4 hours in a day which you are limited to 10 hours in a 24 hour period if driving for work purposes. if in a hire van and not work purposes. Then its legal
Insurance ... Ok the big argument ...... the postal service can and will use their own cars to get to an area and then start delivering without a business policy . It is argued they are using the car to `get` to work but not `for` work on the grounds doesnt everyone use a car to get to work ? .... and isnt the work to WALK around delivering ? .... shady gray areas So some will insure properly , others do not , others get covered by the company they work for on the company policy ..... its yodel or hermies/evri ( i forget which ) who do this .
In regards of the insurance as I have done it myself on behalf of Deliveroo, Hermies and Amazon flex. Goods in Transit insurance not required on food items. You need a top up insurance to cover business use on your vehicle which you can have it as a full time add on or as I prefer, a pay as you go add on which costs in my case £1.20 per hour while logged into the app. The big firms cover the public liability while on duty for that particular firm. They also have insurance in place for you as the driver if you hurt yourself such as slipping on ice while walking to deliver and item to a customer and breaking a leg. They will pay you sick pay and some compensation. However, I not hurt myself in that way so never tried it. Also, in the case of parcels. The goods in transit insurace is covered by the firm you are driving on behalf of at the time when you are logged into their app. Hence you have to give all your car details over to the big firms before they allow you to work. All the driver is responsible for is their standard insurance which is a legal requirement at all times and the business cover add. Every other insurance is supplied by the company while logged into their app
Bond ? Theres airside and landside . Airside is the part you get to at an airport where you have gone through the metal detector AFTER passport control . Its the secure part that means you have been checked and can approach an aircraft . Landside is everywhere else in the country . Some items sent into the country are bonded . This means the container they are in is classed as airside and they are secured via metal tags or security stickers . You see them on the back of trucks and vans , the goods inside are considered airside while the seal is in place meaning an item can be carried from one area to the other without the hassle of lots of paperwork , going through customs once more and running everything through an xray , taking samples , paying tax and whatnot . Be warned carrying bonded items means you may not be able to stop at all , you have to travel an approved route only which is monitored via gps , you have to call in , lots of lovely paperwork before being given the work and no end of hassle both ends . Ireland has the open border sooooo that created a need for this system . A bonded container from NI can be driven into England without the need to trouble customs as its been checked prior and is bonded . Emails with the numbers have been sent prior , its moments to check everything is in order at the border . Bond also works another way . There are warehouses around that are bonded . Here we have a few . When inside the warehouse you are landside . It requires nothing more than the company ID to be in the building . However the bays open out to airside without customs , security or any barrier whatsoever . The step down to airside is only 18 inch and you are simply on the apron 30 foot away from planes . This is monitored like you wouldnt believe . 30 seconds from a toe touching tarmac a couple of very unfriendly cops show up , you just made their day as they get to wave a gun around and cuff you up . Once a year some daft sod falls off the end of the bay , looks a little puzzled for a minute then 10 cars all blue lit show up , face down and bracelets , never to be seen again . As a courier you can have items released from bond for you to collect . You show up with ID and the appropriate paperwork and after an hour will be given the items . Paperwork is beyond important . It shows tax has been paid and the items are legal . If anyone gets a bonded collection expect to be messed around for around 2 hours . If the warehouse is airside its 5 years checkable work and home history weeks prior to getting a visitors pass . 2 proofs of id and endless hassle getting in and when you do its then under convoy with you tailing security who wont leave you alone even for a moment .... lots of sit in the truck until called joy . 3 parter to read this lot out 🙂
With some accounts, such as Monzo. If you pay at pump it only takes what you put in. The ring fence the £100 maximum or if you dont have £100 in the account, then it takes what you have in that account only, then if you dont put in the whole amount that you have in that account, you get the remainder back usually within 10 minutes. Failing that, if you dont have £100 in the bank or you do and only want to put £30 in the tank cos you need that other £70 straight away for something else immediately. Dont use the pay at the pump. Use the cash machine and pay with cash
Having 3 or4 fuel cards is counter intuitive, the time you spend watching prices, waiting for the new price to come in vs the fraction on a pence saving. Not to mention the time you spend on it. I have x2 cards 1 x keyfuels and 1 x uk fuels
Amazon flex and other car based delivery services require you to have good in transit insurance and the reputable companies will require proof of insurance before allowing you to work
At the airport they helped themselves to some jet fuel .... They pulled up onto the perimeter road and run a hose to the fuel farm which must have been around 200+ foot long ! . Hole in the fence and bye bye im not sure how many hundred litres . Now this is patrolled by ops , security and armed cops ...... even a couple of vans who come past every 10 minutes to fine those daft enough to stop in the middle of nowhere to drop people off , endless amounts of cameras and of course the public is coming and going . It just goes to show its a losing fight against them .
Question for you Pete, get your tea ready, it's a long one! I've completed a job for a large Shipper and whilst I was on site tipping had to wait 2 hours, my terms and conditions on the HX Exchange are 1 hour free and £0 p/h thereafter, pretty standard and more than reasonable I think. after an hour of waiting I contacted the shipper and explained that they were on lunchand and that no one had made themselves available to tip me and I was likely going to be there for a while longer and therefore there would be waiting time, the shipper said "Ok, let me see what I can do" and off they went, presumably to phone the customer, another 30 passes and no one arrived, then a forky turns up and 30 mins late I'm tipped, paperwork signed, HX exchange updated and off I leave, I invoice an extra £30 for the additional 1 hour. Now the Shipper is refusing to pay the additional £30 stating that there terms of me accepting there booking??!! is that they don't pay anything for the first 2 hours on Collection or Delivery, this effectively is giving them 4 hours per jobs free of charge, so, my question, who's terms and conditions apply, mine or theirs? My feeling is its mine, they booked me to undertake the work and therefore accepted my terms, your thought's????
Depends what you are doing and where. Remember it only weighs the full amount when you fill it. When I was running a 3.5 tonner on field service work in Scotland and N. England I would often use a tank full in a day, who wants to fill up more often than you have to? The extra break time thing doesn't work either, most of the time is taken getting to and from the station, getting in and out, queueing on the forecourt and in the shop, not actually filling up so if you have to do it twice instead of once you are losing way more time than you gain by short filling.
van in for a major service, given a loaner. Had a job booked in so filled the tank just enough to cover the journey. Job gets cancelled at collection. Darwin award goes to.........
CX pushing Smartpay. has anyone a readers digest explination of its pros/cons and can it be ignored. I notice a few shippers are now smartpay approved. hopefully its not another fly in getting paid requirement ointment.
To me you start the day and fill it . Simply put i dont need the hassle and stress of worrying about when to get fuel . Also leaves a tank empty over night for when the thieves come out to play . Diesel weighs in at around 20% less than a kilo . 100L comes in at just over 80 kilos .
It's all good for me Peter 😂on the security side of things the fuel bandits very seldom go around by themselves there are normally 2 or more and there all probably packing so yes I would not lock my tank for minimum damage or get out of the vehicle I would try to drive off however as long as it was safe to do so 😜
I also just fill up half a tank at a time. One reason is to save a little weight but also having a fuel card where I get my price for the next week it can sometimes work out cheaper. At the moment my price has gone up. So I'm back to using supermarket fuel as it's a little cheaper
Did a job on Monday to the Goodwood festival of speed. Luckily I only had to meet the lads in the carpark. Got a question about insurance. As we all know we have to have to have goods in transit, hire& reward plus public liability. Is it true that people who use their own cars working for the big logistic companies just use their normal car insurance. How is this fair and is the case for people who deliver food from supermarkets.
Festival ... the 3 tenors . Drove some people down there and sat in the limo on a hill where i couldnt see but could hear the performance . Quite quite cool . Other videos ... wouldnt mind seeing how the company you work for is set up . An introduction to your new working life showing the office and yard , trucks etc . Call it a promotional ? .
Hi Pete what is your view on filling your fuel tank to the top I've never done this because dead weight I always only fill half way at the most it gives you better fuel consumption, a 5 minute driving break you may not have had if you had a full tank great palettes by the way lol😊
I had a eight hour wait for the AA in Windsor, in an underground car park,they did turn up after five hours,but told me they couldn't drag the van it had to be lifted,so another three hours wait till the right vehicle turned up,,then a tow to Brentford and a lift home to Streatham, probably the worst day on the run I've had in five years.Nigel.🎺🍺
Hello Pete Can you help me spread my story Thank you for helping us do the right thing by telling your view I joined the CX in July 2020 in the hope of keeping me going till when I retired in 2025 I love the open road and wandering around the UK was fantastic but failed to get enough work at the right price to cover my costs I have never met my minimum target of £1500 but did get £1400 in may so close but need 1500 to match the minimum wage. I caught covid in November last year which wiped 3 months to clear with lung and chest infections and coughs I started to get going in may but something was right and went back to my doctor and with a load of blood tests there it was a PSA test of 40 a 0 or up to 3 is okays now after x-rays, CT scans further bloods and samples from up there and symptoms getting worse the result is in Prostrate Cancer with a score of 9 of 1 to 10 Not Good So can I ask to share the link below if your 50 and above get a PSA blood test and repeat every 5 years catch this early prostatecanceruk.org/risk-checker?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1MQaJns_9ljhfBafkSBoHhCxXszEvlMUysrJUYSYDE0pi9TK4vObirn0U_aem_b_Oa6eHlv6UsjPC__5NQYw Yours Bazza in a Van
