Cycle courier work

[ttcycle]

Health wise; not able to right now but trying to think of work that I can do to supplement the creative work that I do which won't always have a reliable income as a freelancer.

Any people had any experience as couriers? Are the working hours flexible? Is it possible to work part time? Or is it not worth doing so for the money?

Just thinking of options and chucking it out there - a reflective time at the moment.

I know I should post on lfgss but they're usually unhelpful, childish and very rude

 

[Baggy]

My borther was a courier for a long time, but hasn't been involved for a few years. There were some part-timers where he worked (but I don't think any "casual" riders, they all worked set days), and the money was good once you were established - it used to be that newbies got given the awkward jobs until they'd moved up the pecking order. He was always knackered!

 

[ttcycle]

Thanks Baggy, I remember you saying; I'm ok with the set days if I technically may be able to earn enough to cover my basic outgoings ie rent/bills and food and the rest can maybe be on other areas of employment.

Some people may think I'm nuts - got a decent living in office/campaigns/advocacy work but it seemed to not be right or healthy for me.

So perenially on the search for something that may fit the bill.

Baggy, would you brother be interested in me asking him about couriering? I know he's not been doing it for years but the insight would still be useful.

 

[Baggy]

I can give him a nudge and see! From what I can remember he said that you needed to be fit in terms of stop/start cycling, not get wound up by all the egos, and be prepared to have bad days without any job/income, and learn to love the weather! The worst aspect for him was the lack of sick pay etc, but as a "career courier" he did end up with better T&Cs than many.

It might be worth dropping a couple of companies a line, too, to see what kind of demand there is - I know there aren't as many as there used to be. Getting in before the Uni holidays was a must, too! Interviews used to consist of sending you out to keep up with one of the regulars on a couple of jobs.

 

[ttcycle]

Thanks for the feedback guys!
The stop start fitness wasn't a problem a while back but it is now; I don't think this is something I could do tomorrow as seldom on the bike at the moment and would struggle for sure. However, it's something I'm thinking about and looking into for when I can work again.

Baggy let me know if your brother wants to share knowledge
Thanks Lee- really useful; will have to think about the crazy cycling-have become quite cautious of late and lost my daredevil won't die today attitude!!