SPEEDY COURIERS

Thank you for your interest in becoming a sub contracted driver to Speedy Couriers. As you may be aware “SPEEDY” is a quick delivery courier company specialising in the delivery from point A to point B in a short time.

This is a high-pressure freight job with frequent periods of intense busy patches mingled with quiet down time. To make any sort of job of being a “Speedy” courier you must be able to respond to pressure. If this is not you then read no further.

SUB CONTRACTED

This primarily affects you in the following ways.

The job is a self-employed position, not salaried / wage or an employed position although as seen in the driver contract you will have obligations to “Speedy Couriers Ltd “in respect of couriering.

HOW AM I PAID?

We are required to pay you at the end of every month for the previous month’s work. For example if you were to start on the 15th of the month your first pay would occur on or around the 31st of the following month and this pay would only cover the period relating to those 2 weeks from the 15th to the end of the month. In other words you get paid at the end of the month for the previous months work.

Speedy Couriers utilize high tech dispatch systems that provide at the end of the month a complete record of every job you have done. It shows the pay for that job by way of the job number matched to a value, which can be tied to your physical copy of your run sheet. Your run sheets are necessary to verify your right to be paid and must show the signature and name of the person receiving along with the time delivered.

HOW MUCH WILL I EARN?

The most common question asked and the one most likely to be answered “ How long is a piece of string”. We have some drivers that earn in excess of $5000.00 a month and some that struggle to even reach $3000.00 GST included per month. The average is between $3500.00 and $4000.00 as we encourage all drivers to be good earners or suggest for there own sake to look at a different career.

Things that will not get you $5000.00 a month

1.Being a part time courier. If a month has 21 working days and you are on for only 18 or similar then you will not be a high earner.
2.If you have an old or poorly maintained car. The ability to earn comes from being on the road, not in your local garage getting your car repaired.
3. Reporting for service late. Some drivers have a poor attitude to being on the road between 7.00 am and 7.30 am ready for work
4. Having poor communication skills. If you can’t speak English clearly or understand the dispatcher’s instructions then you will struggle.
5.“Speeding”. Speedy is the name of the service but speeding is against the law. The best drivers are smart drivers.
6.Having a bad attitude.

What it takes to be a top earning driver

1.Having a very good knowledge of Auckland. You don’t have to know every street but it is fair to say the very best drivers know most of them if not by name then by route when getting somewhere.
2.Having a good work ethic. The best drivers are on the road bright and early and like a taxi cab get the first customer off the rack depending on there location in the morning.
3.Able to think logically under pressure. We observe couriers that despite given jobs to take them in a logical direction choose despite all reason or instruction to drive in a direction that takes longer, wastes more gas and limits them to be ready to receive more work.
4.Having a good vehicle. A courier may have a late model hatch, station wagon or van and the better earners have more in their pocket if less is blowing out their car’s exhaust in fumes. If your idea of being a courier is “boy racer” in an over rated “cc” engine then much of your hard earned money will go out the exhaust pipe in fumes. Consult with us on vehicle purchase for advice if you are considering purchase and are unsure.

START UP FUNDS

Put simply you need sufficient funds to carry yourself for the above scenario in paragraph PAY for 6 weeks and further more funds to bridge you between only 2 weeks income and whatever else you need to live on until your following pay.

You will require access to a means of fuel by way of initial funds or a fuel card supplied by one of the major card companies or some other credit agency. Even in the event of you having a fuel card from day one (which is unlikely because it takes time to process your application), when your first month of using that card is up a direct debit will take place from your bank account and you need start up funds to cover this deduction. Speedy can provide courier’s with a company card but only after an initial qualifying period.

START UP KIT

A kit will be provided to you with all the necessary equipment to uniform yourself and signwrite your vehicle.

This Kit Includes

2 Shirts, 1 Jacket 1 Cap
2 pairs of Shorts 1 Track Pants 1 Beanie (optional)

and full sign writing of your vehicle.

Total kit price $400.00 Inc GST

The RT and pager can be rented and deducted from your pay

GST

You will need to register yourself for GST in order to claim back the GST you are paying on everything. This is beneficial in the long run for a variety of reasons.

The initial purchase price of your courier vehicle is worth 12.5% of its value in cash (The total cost divide nine) to you provided you are registered. For example a car costing $9,000.00 is going to bring in $1,000.00 once your first GST claim is processed. (Don’t expect that back in your 1st month no matter how good your accountant is) IRD will take a certain amount of time in processing your first claim.

If you already have a vehicle then you will need to get a valuation in writing from an accredited Motor Vehicle dealer to substantiate your claim for what is affectively the sale of your car by your self to your (sole trader or partnership or company) which ever you choose to register as to show a clear audit trail for all your expenses and comply with IRD standards.

You will probably run your business as a sole trader. Obviously the purchase from everything from fuel to M/V maintenance bills to GST paid on a pair of sunglasses is also claimable as long as it directly relates to the contracting costs of providing your service.

VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS

Obviously a white vehicle is needed, preferably late model (no older than 10 years) and of a type to run as inexpensively on fuel as possible. Remember its not necessarily how much you earn that determines your success as a courier but how little your overheads are. A good way to fail is to have a gas guzzling old car that constantly needs repairs and keeps you off the road.

The need to keep your vehicle clean is of the utmost importance and must be cleaned at leased once a week.

The decals are necessary to avoid instant fines every time you use a loading zone and obviously we require our image to remain out where it can be seen.

Sign writing is required on the vehicle before any applicant can start.

MOTOR VEHICLE INSURANCE

We require you to insure your vehicle. This is because the statistics for crashes in an industry where you are on the road for 8 hours a day is not good. If you are not insured then you will unlikely survive in business with any sort of expensive repair bill on accident damage.

Speedy Couriers have found through extensive quoting that in respect of commercial vehicle Lumleys are the generally the best. Note the cost for Commercial insurance is considerably more expensive than the private M/V insurance you are used to. We accept no responsibility for your insurance requirements.

The typical cost can be broken down as follows approx:

Comprehensive coverage $1000.00 Necessary
Public indemnity $125.00 Necessary
Carriers Liability $204.00 Necessary

We have a group cover on carriers liability that allows a monthly deduction deducted from your pay. The other two are your responsibility.

LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

A currant New Zealand driver’s licence is required.

Goods & Services Licence To be a courier you must have a Good Service Licence as it is required by law. The G/S licence can be obtained from your local NZ Land Transport.

Dangerous Goods Licence (Optional)

COMMUNICATIONS

RT’s
Speedy Couriers use what is known as a trunked mobile radio system which allows the despatcher to talk to the drivers on a private or group call situation. The RTs are a vital part of equipment used for numerous functions. These can be rented off us or direct via our RT supplier.

Pagers
Alphanumeric pagers are used to receive all the work despatched from base. The pagers hold all the required information needed to complete consignments from the pick up and drop off addresses. The can be rented of us and deducted from your monthly pay

Cell Phones
Speedy is slowly moving away from pagers towards data messaging on phones. This will be phased in over a period of time and will need consulting with us as to whether you need to hire a pager or purchase a phone.

TRAINING

You will be required to spend some time as a passenger initially with an experienced driver. This is vital preparation to be a good courier. We have extensive literature on procedures and basic training in equipment use is supplied by our team.

THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING AN OWNER DRIVER WITH SPEEDY

1. The most obvious one is the freedom of being your own person and that your ability and attitude can determine your reward.
2. Their are few freight/courier jobs of any sort that can earn $200.00 plus per day for hours of work that are very closely aligned with a standard business day. Most freight jobs that give you good earning potential require you to be up at the “sparrow’s fart” and working long after dark doing non-urgent cycle work. “Speedy Courier” services company’s standard office hours.
3. There is no need to report to Base before the start of the day. Drivers typically leave home and can drive directly to the closest point for their first job of the day. At the end of the day they often have a job that takes them towards home. The only need to come into base is to drop off your run sheets.
4. It does not require specialised qualifications. Apart from a drivers license and Goods and Services license which is an easy 1 day course a person can be up and running very quickly.
5. We are an inexpensive company to get set up with and a good company to be an owner driver to. Our assistance in the form of
(a) Partial pay advance throughout the month
(b) Provision of fuel card (After an initial one months qualifying period)
(c) Rental options on equipment that is deducted from your pay
(d) Inexpensive sign writing and uniform costs
(e) Good driver earning potential

Make Speedy a great company to be with. We are a long established and reputable company in the market place having been around for over 7 years. If you have what it takes then give us a call and ask for the Operations Manager.

Mike Marsters
Ph 636-3933