Cycle Couriering

fish-head

Anybody ever worked as a cycle courier? I've been considering going into it, mainly to get out of being inside wearing a suit in an office all day when I'm not at college, also for the fitness and freedom and fun of it.

Any companies you can reccomend?
Do they take part time employees?

rp

I'd guess the fun will wear thin pretty quick, but I'll admit, it's my dream job too!

DavyD_83

Best job I ever had. Didn't pay as well as people think thoug. I'd say you'll have a bit of trouble finding somebody who'll take you on part-time. I did it for few weeks when i started, but only because i committed to going full-time as soon as i could (I was still working another job at the time; tiring couple of weeks).
Sure give it a go. Whats the worst that can happen..?:rolleyes:

rubadub

There are many old threads on this. Now is the time to go for it, students are back in college, and the weather is getting worse. I would love to do it at weekends if I was allowed come & go as I pleased, dont really care about the pay too much, it is just exercise and getting a few quid for the pints on the saturday night to undo all my hard work!

Pay is not great as mentioned. I was thinking you might need some sort of niche in the market, dunno what though, but some way of working for yourself. I was thinking some large company that uses a lot of them could have you on permanent staff, like how hotels & hospitals get in full time plumbers & electricians who sit around doing nothing half the time, but it is cheaper than calling one in every day for 10 mins work.

TinyExplosions

rubadub wrote:

Pay is not great as mentioned. I was thinking you might need some sort of niche in the market, dunno what though, but some way of working for yourself. I was thinking some large company that uses a lot of them could have you on permanent staff, like how hotels & hospitals get in full time plumbers & electricians who sit around doing nothing half the time, but it is cheaper than calling one in every day for 10 mins work.

In terms of figures, I'm fairly sure Cyclone pays 2.50 a job, so that's the sorta cash you're looking at. The places with Govt contracts and more big business ones pay more... May be worth callin a few places up, see what they say

ullu

I've been doing this for a few months now and have only worked for the one company so this post is a bit limited.

Pros:

- Apart from the obvious health benefits, I find I sleep better at night and am generally in a better mood.

- Not being in stuck in an office all day

- If you like bikes and cycling, then it's for you

Cons:

- The money is not good. You are paid per delivery though some companies provide you with a basic wage. This means if you only do 200 euro worth of deliveries in a week, as long as you're in on time every day, you'll still get your full basic of say 350-450 euro (depending on company). I've heard some companies don't do basics so if you have a quiet week, you make next to nothing.

- If you have an accident, it's your problem. Most companies subcontract the work to you so you're not technically their employee, therefore they have no obligation to give you sick/holiday pay etc. I've heard Cyclone do cover you in the case of an accident but that's not definite.

- The weather can be a kick in the face, even if you have a high tolerance for it like I do. As much as you can defend yourself from the rain, there's nothing you can do about the howling winds.

- I'm generally wrecked after work and find myself staying in more because I need eight or nine hours sleep to be in good shape the next day so it's had a slightly negative effect on my social life.

philstar

ullu wrote:

- The money is not good. You are paid per delivery though some companies provide you with a basic wage. This means if you only do 200 euro worth of deliveries in a week, as long as you're in on time every day, you'll still get your full basic of say 350-450 euro (depending on company).

350-450 euro per week, thats ok, would you get that at the start or do you have to be with them for a while??

and what distance would you cover??...is it only in and around the city centre??

ullu

As I said, I only have experience with one company which gave me a raise of 50 euro after a few weeks and I might be due another one if I'm still there in a month or so.

Generally, if you have experience, you could probably walk into a new place at the higher end of that scale. A former colleague moved to another company and immediately started on e450. One of his new inexperienced coworkers is on less but will probably move up rapidly if he proves himself to be good with remembering where everywhere is and fast etc.

I've been intending to get an odometer but I was told by the same colleague that he covered around 80 miles a day and that sounds about right. I'd estimate I cover 120 - 130km a day including my commute though that's a very rough guess.

Where I work, the extremities would be Queen Street to the west, Dorset Street to the north and Ballsbridge to the south.

Nevyn

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=144

there is a courier forum

DavyD_83

Thaedydal wrote:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=144

there is a courier forum

That seems manic alright:D

Sounds like you've got it fairly sweet there Ullu. Where I was, I was on €250 basic. They had too many couriers for the business they had, so usually wouldn't get over my basic in the Summer, which was a pain in the ass.
It wasn't that i wasn't working, or willing to, there was just always huge quiet patches where you'd end up sitting on the green waiting for a job.

Clearly my company wasn't the best, won't name names. Have a bit of a cycle around town and just ask some couriers what their company's setup is.

philstar

is there a time bonus, if you get an item to its location in a certain time??

and how about the cops would they be on your arse??...breaking red lights etc

ullu

philstar wrote:

is there a time bonus, if you get an item to its location in a certain time??

and how about the cops would they be on your arse??...breaking red lights etc

There are certain jobs that pay more, a client might specify that they need something somewhere within half an hour and they pay double or triple rate for the privilege. You'd get a few of these on an average day.

I've been given out to once and that was only because of the amount of pedestrians around when the Sea Stallion was in town. I get the impression they're fairly laid back. I've stopped at lights specifically due to the presence of guards in a car or on foot, only to have other couriers breeze through without consequence.

DavyD_83

^^^
True
But, as always there's a few Gards about who have no time for couriers and their liberal approach:p to the rules of the roads.
There's (at least) one motorbike lad who's mad for catching you doing anything. I still see him about and avoid catching his attention. Part of the speech i got from him (for nipping down Merrion Row the wrong way)involved a lot of bragging about the last few he'd had up in court and advice to start saving!
The man was an absolute a**hole. But you know youself, depends on the Garda, what you've done and how he's feeling at the time.

peterk19

DavyD_83 wrote:

^^^
True
But, as always there's a few Gards about who have no time for couriers and their liberal approach:p to the rules of the roads.
There's (at least) one motorbike lad who's mad for catching you doing anything. I still see him about and avoid catching his attention. Part of the speech i got from him (for nipping down Merrion Row the wrong way)involved a lot of bragging about the last few he'd had up in court and advice to start saving!
The man was an absolute a**hole. But you know youself, depends on the Garda, what you've done and how he's feeling at the time.

Aye i had a similar experience with a motorbike garda on amiens street he didnt like the way i filtered through traffic to the traffic lights, started ranting about god knows what then started waffling about how he should put points on my licence so i said "sorry i dont have a licence for a bicycle" he said something like that doesnt matter, i lost interest in his pointless ranting and asked whats my reg? he looked at me as if i had 2 heads and i cycled off he chased up amiens street but got stuck at the luas tacks,