For clarity at the outset, this article does not advocate ‘special treatment’ for the courier or their exemption from the laws, rules and regulations that apply to everyone else. The issues associated with modern day security concerns are also recognised. However, what it does seek to do is to highlight a few issues where common sense should, but sadly does not, always prevail.

Cycles

OK, some pedal-powered couriers are riding some fairly ropey machines that arguably should be quietly re-cycled (no pun intended!) or offered to a local museum; but that doesn’t matter – they are critically important to the courier concerned. Some bicycles are also pretty cool machines and very valuable. What this means is that when arriving at a destination, we need a little sense regarding where we leave our bikes. Most riders understand that you just can’t carry your bike into reception and stick it on one of the corporate settees, but they do need to park it somewhere close to the main entrance and secure it. Is it really such a major ask that the bike is chained to the railings at the front for just a few minutes while the delivery is made? Does our attempt to do so justify a mass charge of security guards waving their hands indignantly, their faces flushed with apoplectic rage? No, sorry, the direction that there’s a cycle park ‘only’ a half-mile down the road just isn’t helpful on a busy day!

Motorcycles

Even fewer motorcyclist couriers are going to be inclined to try and carry their bikes around with them or wheel them into reception. Yes, we sometimes need to slot our bikes perhaps onto a convenient place on the forecourt just so we can bring in what we have for you. We promise not to block anything or cause any other form of obstruction or danger. So, please, outraged cries of “Oi! You can’t put that there – find a park in the town centre somewhere” really don’t help either your company or us.

On four wheels

Sometimes, parking can be virtually impossible anywhere in the vicinity of a delivery address. Given the wolf-packs of parking attendants and police that now hunt using Star-Trek like technology to instantly pounce on even the tiniest infringement of the parking rules, is it too much to ask that the consignee makes some arrangements for a courier to park somewhere very close to them? It’s always nice to see the company’s own car park with its ‘reserved for directors’ spaces half-empty behind massively secure and closed barriers. In fact, we often share a laugh about it with the parking boys – just as they’re towing our own vehicle away after we’d left it unattended for a nanosecond while we dropped that parcel into your reception.

The courier and the fool’s errand

Finally, please try to remember that if we have, somehow and against all the almost insurmountable odds, managed to find a half-inch of space somewhere to park our transport, then we need to get back to it fast. Therefore, interesting as your entire site no doubt is, we’d prefer not to be sent off from reception on a vast hike around its various locations trying to find the right person’s office. If they could be brought down to the main door as fast as possible, then your local friendly courier will be eternally grateful!

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Getting invited to join

If you’re looking to join a courier company, you will sooner or later be invited to meet ‘The Grand and Omnipotent Master’. He or she will masquerade under a friendly title such as ‘The Head Of HR’, or perhaps ‘The Chief Dispatcher’ or maybe just ‘The Boss’ – but don’t be misled. This being has immense power and the knowledge of ages behind them. To secure their approval in the selection ceremony, you’ll have to prove yourself a worthy applicant by performing certain rituals.

These will typically include:
• Demonstrating your mastery of the false laugh as they unleash some time-weathered jokes and humorous remarks
• Reciting the specified rituals of humiliation by explaining just how much you want to join their secret society (or ‘company’ as they may insist you call it when speaking with outsiders)
• Pretending to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of any non-job related subject they raise (usually sport, pubs/clubs, steam engines etc).

Beware of trick questions designed to catch-out the unwary supplicant. These are usually cunningly disguised such as “do you have ambition?” Any answer other than a “NO” may be interpreted as a threat to The Grand Master’s position.

Initiation

If you survive the initial selection meeting, you may receive an invitation to join the courier brotherhood (no gender bias is implied in today’s world – the title is merely a historical hang-over from Medieval times). You’ll be given a joining date upon which you’ll present yourself at a specified secret location (it’s secret to stop a special type of outsider called ‘the customer’ from finding it). You’ll probably find that the Grand Master Courier has vanished, very possibly never to be seen again by mere ordinary members. You’ll find a fellow member, possibly called ‘him/her in the office’, that will probably welcome you with the traditional secret greeting, which is a very hard-to-recognise grunt and nod in your general direction.
If you’re lucky, you may be provided with your regalia (which with outsiders we describe as our ‘uniform’ or ‘overalls’) to which your response must be “I’ll look fine in this”. You’ll also be handed your personal book of secrets, which may be deceptively entitled ‘Delivery Schedules’ just to fool snoops. The book of secrets is a mysterious and very hard to decipher document that you’ll need to progress up the courier hierarchy to the level of a full ‘him/her in the office’ to understand. Its main purpose for initiates is its use to intimidate onlookers.

Rites of passage

Your first day as an initiate (as indeed every subsequent day) will commence with the ancient ritual performed with him/her in the office (HHITO).
Your guide to the liturgy is given here:
HHITO: “Are you still here?”
You: “…my book of secrets needs updating..”
HHITO: “you’ll be asking for full delivery addresses next”
You: “how am I meant to find this place without a postcode or town?”
HHITO: “You’re a courier – use your initiative and ask someone”
You: “I am eternally grateful for your benign guidance”
HHITO: “Next!”
If this sounds strange, bizarre and exotic – it’s meant to. But, once this becomes routine and normal and you start finding it all makes sense, then you’ll finally be a true courier.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Showcasing

OK, not everybody’s made the same, either physically or psychologically. Even so, some jobs give the opportunity to ‘strut your stuff’ and look good in clothes that also proudly proclaim your profession. Let’s take a couple of obvious examples.  Think about, say, Tom Cruise in Top Gun or Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman.  People in the military often wear the uniforms as a mark of pride in their occupation but also as a bit of a fashion statement. The old joke about all the girls love a uniform may not be entirely untrue, and quite a few men admit to liking women in uniform too.

Then there are other outfits that proclaim both utility and sexiness coupled with style.  Think about the surgeons shown on TV strolling around in their theatre kit or the doctors in their long white coats. Then there are all the other badges of office – the chef’s white overalls, the judge’s robes, the pilot’s uniform and so on.  All these occupations have the chance to wear clothes that communicate a purpose but also are maybe a mixture of style in some cases plus perhaps prestige or ‘street-cred’ in others. But what about the courier? Is there a courier street style?

Workaday clothing

You may say that this is a tiny percentage of the workforce. In reality, most people don’t wear uniforms as such when they’re on the shop floor or in an office etc. Well, maybe or maybe not.

If you see a mechanic or engineer dressed in their overalls, perhaps covered in oil as evidence of their trade, sometimes it’s hard not to see it as a recognisable badge of profession and one that’s pretty street-cred. In many offices, the latest suits, shirts, blouses and skirts are on display and there’s an opportunity to ‘dress-up’ to show a combination of your personal style and maybe even level of success.

The humble courier

For us, it’s all so different of course. Take the motorcycle courier for example. Waddling into an office submerged under 27 layers of protective clothing and leathers designed to keep the cold out rather than style, while sporting a full-face helmet, just isn’t going to have the same effect on members of the opposite sex that Richard Gere’s entry to the shop floor had in the above mentioned film. Sorry, but that’s a fact! When the courier first made the transition to pedal power, initially it looked like there may be some hope as spandex, lycra and sunglasses  started to seem like they may become marks of profession. But not so much now. Even when you do still see it, people struggling to ‘pull themselves some slack’ around the saddle area after they’ve dismounted, is just never going to look either glamorous or much of a statement of status (other than, maybe, “I’m sore”). Nowadays comfortable and practical clothing is more the norm and the helmet just isn’t going to cut it as a fashion statement.

Finally there’s the four-wheeled courier.  Some of the bigger carriers may have uniforms but few would argue that they’re even close to being symbols of prestige or fashion.  Why, oh why, do so many of them look like they had their design origin in Thunderbirds programmes of the 1960s? Once again, the norm remains a tatty pair of jeans and a practical heavy-duty jacket just in case that breakdown maroons us somewhere inhospitable in the depths of miserable weather. Exciting it isn’t.

What’s the solution?

Stating the problem is easy – finding an answer is often more of a challenge. Perhaps some of the courier industry associations should all chip in a few pounds to hire some PR consultants and a fashion designer.  Maybe they could come up with some sort of recognisable garb that would instantly proclaim to everyone that you’re a courier and proud of it.  If that could also be fairly stylish and practical at the same time – then so much the better. Mmmm. Not looking likely just yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted and report any courier fashion developments we discover.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

The warning signs

One of the best indicators that a courier job may go wrong is when you arrive at destination only to spot some immediately visible worries, including such gems as:

•    Gates being padlocked;
•    A security guard sitting at a desk in reception not trying too hard to hide the fact that he or she is playing a computer game;
•    A completely empty car park;
•    The ‘Closed’ sign hanging in the front window.

OK, so you don’t have to be a great detective to realise that any of these things may be a pretty powerful indicator that you’re probably going to have trouble making that delivery. There are, though, a few more subtle signposts the courier experiences from time to time.

Body language

In this category, things may initially look promising. Maybe the building’s open and buzzing with life, the sun’s shining and everything looks good. Don’t get too carried away with the ‘joie de vivre’ though, because those courier warning bells might start to ring again very shortly.

That’s when:

•    The person on reception looks at you as though you’re clearly deranged when you say you’re a courier trying to make a delivery;
•    Your mention of the recipient’s name results in a baffled look, followed by the receptionist starting to thumb half-heartedly through their internal directory to find the person concerned (this one is often accompanied by loud sighs and a sad shaking of the head from side-to-side as they try and find the name);
•    The receptionist is “calling up” to try and find out what’s going on and all you can hear is one side of the conversation, consisting of one or more of: “no, I’ve never heard of them either”; “wasn’t that the guy that left 6 weeks ago?”; “aren’t they based in our other office up north?”; “I’m not telling him – you come down and tell him”;“that’s not my responsibility, so if you won’t sign for it then I’m not”;
•    As the phone is put down, even if you haven’t heard anything along the lines of the above, you suddenly find the receptionist is unable to look you in the eye and starts fidgeting in their chair – that’s often accompanied by those immortal words “someone will be down to sort you out in a few minutes” (the expression ‘sort you out’ is almost ALWAYS a bad sign – be warned!);
•    You sit down in reception patiently waiting for the ‘sorter-outer’ to arrive and then spot the receptionist whispering conspiratorially to a colleague and pointing in your direction.

Of course, none of these things necessarily mean doom and gloom for the courier but…….

Done and dusted

Let’s assume that in spite of all of this, the delivery has somehow managed to take place and you’re in the process of leaving. Job done. Mission accomplished. It’s time to take that mental lap of honour and on to the next courier job. Or is it?

If you’re an experienced courier, you’re probably worldly-wise enough to know that once you’ve got that signature, then you need to get out of there like greased lightning. That’s to avoid any remote possibility of the sudden “hang on – I’m not taking responsibility for this!” call and re-think on the part of the consignee. So, your feet are really motoring towards that exit door, then the alarm bells ring again as you hear the person signing for it saying to the receptionist one or more of:

•    “I thought these were only shipped in lead-lined containers”
•    “I’m surprised he agreed to deliver it like that given what’s inside”
•    “I’m not touching it without a bio-hazard suit”
•    “Oh no! It’s leaking out of the bottom!”
•    “Get the safety tongs and I’ll carry it downstairs”.

That’s when you have to decide whether to continue letting your courier instincts drive your feet out of there as fast as possible or whether you turn back and say “er, excuse me…”. Tricky call! But don’t worry, we’re pretty sure this one will never happen, but you have been warned!

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Germany

As 2010 began, Germany implemented a law that every car entering Berlin, Munich, Cologne, and ten other cities in the country had to display an environmental sticker. If you’re a courier driving to Germany from outside the country, failing to display the sticker could lead to a fine.

Canada

In Montreal, Canada, a courier might find themselves stymied when it comes to parking. It’s illegal to park in such a manner as to block your own driveway, and it is against the law to wash a car parked on the street. Finally, cars parked in public places, by law, must have their windows down to a width less than a hand. Couriers may not want to leave their vehicle if it’s raining!

The USA

One Southern American state, Georgia, has a law prohibiting the act of spitting from a car or a bus. However, good news for a courier whose choice of vehicle is a truck – spitting from the windows of a truck is perfectly fine. Other states have differing laws that must make being a courier in the USA interesting – in Illinois, trucks may only park inside closed garages. In Virginia, you cannot shoot any animal from a moving car… any animal other than a whale. In Florida, if you keep an animal such as an alligator or elephant next to a parking meter, you must put money into the meter as if you’d parked a car there. A useful clarification for those couriers delivering animals to the circus!

The UK

There are some famously strange laws in the UK that could make for interesting delivery work. It is illegal for a cab in London to carry rabid dogs or corpses. However, as this law only applied to cabs, it should pose no problem for a truck or car-driving courier. Additionally, all those ‘livestock-herding’ jobs can be made a lot easier in London; ‘Freemen’ of the city are allowed to take a flock of sheep across London Bridge without being charged a toll. It must have been a useful law for the medieval courier. Another holdover from medieval times would have been very relevant to seafaring deliveries. Any Royal Navy ships that entered the Port of London were by law required to provide a barrel full of rum to the Constable of the Tower of London.

Interestingly, the ancient ‘London Hackney Carriage Laws’ still cause disputes amongst modern-day taxis, and might be a law to recognize for a courier as well. The law states that carriages must carry a bale of hay and a sack of oats. Some firms have manufactured tiny bales of hay to be kept in a glove compartment, so that drivers can still remain within the law.

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Pre-history

OK, technology didn’t start with the 60s and 70s.  Even going way back, transport and courier companies had things such as telegrams and the telephone to help them communicate. To those that think computers began with Bill Gates, be prepared for a shock. Computers were being used in the business when Mr Gates was still in his pram. However, it’s probably fair to say that before the later 1960s, technology was pretty much restricted to the telephone (often only available to the directors and perhaps heads of department) and a massive mainframe computer churning out the accounts. Contact with a courier driver? You had to hope they could find a public call box and had change.  Trying to contact overseas? You had to ask the operator to connect you and sometimes even had to book the call, as all lines were busy.

Groovy systems

By the late 1960s and early 70s, most courier and transport companies were starting to see technological changes. Photocopiers (often huge things) were starting to appear in special ‘print rooms’ in many offices. These were often partnered up with a much-dreaded device called the Banda printer – something that looked as if it had just time-travelled from Victorian Britain. The idea was that you could type a form and then print it many times over using the Banda – what happened in reality was that you and your papers got covered in ink and various forms of other fluids it used to go about its terrifying work.

Then there was the telex.  A revolution in its day, it allowed you to type lengthy documents (e.g. manifests, collection notes, carnets etc) and convert them all to punched-tape. When complete, you just dialled out over the telephone lines to another telex elsewhere in the world, fed your punched tape through and hey presto! Your document was printed off at the other end. In a way, it was a sort of pre-cursor to the fax and worked fine, er, except when it didn’t! Tape jams and breakages were commonplace and physical fights erupted in some offices when an hour’s tape production and typing were lost because someone trod on or spilled coffee over your tape before you’d had a chance to send it.

Oh yes, this period also saw the arrival of the first electronic calculators. Prior to that, the courier simply had to be very good at arithmetic, use a slide-rule or one of those phenomenal manual desk calculators that work by cranking a handle in the side. So, the arrival of the electronic calculator should have been good news and it was, except for the fact that they were expensive and many companies could only afford one.  No prizes for guessing the early ones were often locked away in the manager’s desk as a perk and you had to ask their permission to use it (and stay in his or her good books).

The lady’s not for turning

During the 70s and into the early 1980s, things steadily improved, got smaller, more reliable and less messy. They also got cheaper and that meant most people started to get access to things like calculators, photocopiers and even started getting their own telephone handset on their desk.  The very early office computers and PCs started to arrive, typewriters gave way to word processors and then PCs and by the early mid-80s the average office didn’t look massively different to the office today. There was one exception though – the courier or driver.

Not much had changed in 20 years. Many offices still resounded to the cry “I don’t know where he is!” or “why hasn’t he called?” The biggest difference to, say, the early 1970s was that by the 1980s, more of the public phone boxes weren’t in working order making it even harder to contact anyone ‘on the road’. Then, in the mid 1980s, the first mobile phones arrived.  OK, they were laughably large and heavy by today’s standards but they simply transformed the transport world.

For the first time ever, excluding a relatively minor amount of radio use beforehand, the courier drivers and the offices were able to speak to each other.  Gone, well almost, were the “I don’t know what’s happening” cries of dispatchers and offices.  Suddenly, in the office you could get regular updates from your driver about the stationary traffic on the M6 around Birmingham.

A revolution

Of course, it didn’t stop there and things like SATNAV, barcodes and auto-picking systems have all had a major impact but perhaps none have had quite the same revolutionary effect that the 80s had in finally connecting drivers to their offices. Of course, some individual couriers or drivers may lament the loss of freedom of the old days and those “we didn’t have any change” excuses given after the event – you may think that but we couldn’t possibly comment!

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

The Perfect Hobby

So why is photography such a great hobby for people on courier jobs? Mainly because, due to the nature of your job, you are constantly travelling and seeing new things – perfect to capture in an image. You may go overseas on your courier jobs, but even if you don’t you will see more of the country than most people do.

Photography is all about creativity and you will have access to a huge variety of places to inspire you. Whether driving through big cities or tiny villages, you’ll see things every day that other people do not, and that will make your photography interesting.

From spotting an animal at the side of the road, to a picturesque sunset or a rare bird, you’ll have many opportunities on courier jobs to take great photos. But you don’t have to witness amazing things to take an amazing photograph. By using your imagination and seeing the things that other people miss, you can create some stunning photographs.

An Accessible Hobby

Photography is more accessible than ever before. Digital photography has revolutionised the market, and it’s now perfectly possible to buy a cheap digital camera that’s capable of producing high-quality pictures. As long as you have a computer, laptop or netbook, you can develop excellent photos all by yourself without the need for a dark-room.

A great place to start is your mobile phone. Many new phones come with a camera inbuilt, and some of them are actually of a very high quality. As you’ll have your phone with you on courier jobs, use it as a start and if you realise you enjoy it then you can always buy a dedicated camera.

evelop your Skills

Starting costs can be minimal, but as you develop your skills you may well decide to take your photography to a new level. This might involve buying a top-of-the-range SLR and, even though it will set you back a bit, the cost will definitely be worth it. It all depends on just how seriously you want to take your new hobby.

Try it Out

Give it a go next time you head out on one of your courier jobs. Wherever your job takes you, right across the country or just across town, keep your camera handy and you never know what interesting things you may be able to capture whilst on your job. It’s a great way to learn a new skill while you work, and you’ll have something to show for it at the end of the day.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier jobs and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier services and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

The Perfect Learning Environment

If you think about it, you’re really in the perfect learning environment when you are on courier jobs. You’re on your own, no one can hear you and you’ve got no major distractions for large parts of the day. So you can listen, rewind, listen again, speak out loud, sing songs and pretty much learn a language in your own way without being embarrassed.

Large Selection of Courses

There are some fantastic language courses available now, and they don’t have to be too expensive. They range from free MP3 downloads to boxed courses containing numerous CDs. Nearly all language courses consist of an audio section, and some are completely audio based, so you can either listen to them on the CD player in the vehicle or download them to your MP3 player and listen whilst carrying out courier jobs.

Surprise Your Friends

You’ll be surprised by how much you can learn if you spend as little as one hour a day practicing a language. Within a month you’ll have the basics, and within a year you could be speaking quite happily in your new language. Of course, you could always put more than one hour a day into it whilst working on courier jobs and your skills will rocket.

You’ll certainly surprise a few people when after a few months they hear you speaking in a completely new language. You’ll also invoke the envy of more than a few people who will wish they had the time you have to learn such a great new skill. If you carry out courier jobs across the continent then you may also find plenty of opportunities to practice your new language.

Learn More than One Language

But why stop at one language? With all that time spent on courier jobs , you could easily mix them up and learn a few at the same time. Maybe focus on one to get the basics, then move onto another one to have a break. Or get to a good standard with one and then the second language is generally easier because you know the process.

Use Your Time to Your Advantage

Many people would love to have the time to dedicate to a real life skill such as learning a language. It will provide you with great satisfaction and improve your skill levels enormously. Working on courier jobs, you are in the perfect position to take advantage of it, so use your time wisely and see what you can achieve.

 
Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier jobs and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier services and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

This article was provided by LeadGenerators – the smartest SEO agency in London, and the proud host of a series of Internet Marketing training seminars and Social Media breakfasts.

Plan in advance

Make sure to plan in advance. Courier jobs can last significantly longer than you expect, especially when trying to find a destination you haven’t been to before. A good rule of thumb is to stop for a fifteen minute break for every two hours spent driving.

Be careful when driving late

Between midnight and 6am, natural alertness is especially low. Instead of working through these hours, many couriers will take the opportunity to rest before picking up a return load and then making the journey back. For a courier, jobs can often be made more profitable by arranging a return load before ever setting out.

Stop to rest

If you find yourself nodding off, it’s best to find a safe place to stop, take a short nap of about twenty minutes, and then set off with an energy drink or caffeine tablet. Many new couriers believe the more time spent driving, the more jobs completed – but an accident can amount to hundreds of missed courier jobs, during repairs or worse.

Radio waves

Don’t rely on turning up the radio or opening the window to keep you awake while driving. They’ll do little to delay the onset of tiredness, and listening to the radio may even prove a dangerous distraction while tired, taking your attention from the road.

Avoid drowsiness

Although working as a courier is definitely a full-time job, sometimes life can get in the way. Falling ill can be unavoidable at times, but what is avoidable are any effects of the medicines you choose to take as a result. Common medicines such as hay fever tablets can cause drowsiness, so it’s best to check beforehand. And, of course, alcohol should be avoided for the serious courier. Jobs may require a good memory for directions, and your reaction time while driving can be slowed by too much alcohol consumption on your days off.

A few strange ideas

There are some strange ideas about keeping awake while driving; and most aren’t as effective as they seem. One recommendation is to suck lemons while driving, as the powerful bitterness might be enough to keep anyone awake. Cutting the lemons while driving, on the other hand, is a different story – and a task most people would struggle with while wide-awake, let alone half-asleep. Similarly, attempting to do two things at once is often recommended, but multitasking at such a time stretches your concentration even further than the task you’re already undertaking. When it comes to courier jobs, they’re a lot easier when you are completely rested.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier jobs and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier services and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Thank you for visiting Travel Articles Directory. Feel free to use any of our travel writing articles for your own website, on the condition that you also take the link we have included in the text. Check back for more travel writing soon; we’re uploading more original travel articles all the time!

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The self-proclaimed intergalactic courier company was started by the Professor in order to fund his research. Although the company scrapes by it is always in fierce competition with Moms Friendly Delivery Company, a cornerstone of MomCorp, which although appears to be owned by a sweet, frail old lady is in actual fact owned by a manipulative director, who will stop at no means to make her company succeed. So ruthless are her business strategies that it’s a wonder that the friendly courier workers at Planet Express manage to survive at all, but this they do thanks to their complete disregard for health and safety laws and the minimum wage; the Professor has even be known to accept the occasional bribe. With a company slogan that reads ‘Our crew is expendable, your package isn’t’ you can’t help but feel that the crew of Planet Express would be better off working self-employed courier jobs.

The Professor may be the bane of the courier worker’s lives, yet despite many changes of owner throughout the series, the business always manages to fall back into his capable hands. Cubert and Dwight inherited the courier work business from the Professor during one fateful episode in which he was declared dead. During their management the company was renamed ‘Awesome Express’ and grew to be more even more profitable than Planet Express, until it emerged that the two boys were not carrying out any deliveries during their courier work, but rather depositing all the parcels on a crater on the moon.

Although Planet Express carries out courier work in every corner of the galaxy, the headquarters are based in New York City on the corner of West 57th Street and Henry Hudson Parkway. The building is one of Planet Express’s only three assets, which also include the famous green delivery ship and a servant robot, known simply as 1-X.

The Planet Express headquarters are built upon a green limestone cavern and contain five separate floors, with rooms consisting of the Professor’s laboratory, the main hangar, a kitchen, living room and even a room entitled ‘The Accusing Parlour’, which in used in one episode to solve a murder; not quite the typical courier office that you are most likely accustomed to then!

But whilst Futurama may provide viewers with an entertaining look at work in a courier company it also raises some questions about courier work in the future. After all how long can it be until we swap our trusted white vans for pea-green spaceships and start taking up self-employed courier jobs on the planet Zorg?

Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director of Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the Sameday courier and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

His red van and black cat are images instilled in minds all over the world, and come to the fore whenever we post a letter. But Postman Pat is employed by Royal Mail, so even he might be on strike! Unfortunately, Pat does not have his own self-employed courier job, so he has to abide by the rules of his union and company. So when the mail service goes down, Pat goes down with it.

British Royal Mail has been a hot topic in the news as of late, with an angry public, an angry staff, and undoubtedly angry and flustered management. The standard of the postal service has declined dramatically, with people waiting days for their local mail to arrive. So, the only way to ensure mail gets delivered in a reasonable length of time is to courier it instead. This is, of course can be more costly but when the national mail system fails to deliver, there isn’t much of an option.

For a reliable postman such as Pat Clifton, the decision to strike or deliver a good mail service must be a difficult one. Postal workers need to unite and stand as one if a strike is to have an effect, but equally important is the job that has been entrusted to Pat: delivering the mail. During times such as these, it would have been better for Pat if he had his own self-employed courier job. That way, he would still have been able to deliver the mail on time and reliably, without the worry of his fellow colleagues’ plight.

In fact, Pat must be suffering from the low salary that his colleagues are complaining about, too. And delivering the mail in his famous red van with Jess (his black cat) by his side may not be making ends meet anymore. Pat lives in the small village of Greendale, and has come to know the people whose mail he delivers very well. Imagine if he had to let down Ted Glen, the local handyman, or Alf Robinson, a farmer in the village? Pat would surely be vexed by the mere possibility. So for Pat, self-employed courier jobs are probably looking more appealing.

Pat Clifton, the local postman of Greendale, may be a fictional character conjured up by writer John Cunliffe, but the position he finds himself in during the recession, and the resultant state of British Royal Mail, his employer, are by no means fictional. Post men and women all over the United Kingdom are striking in protest of their salaries. And as a result considerable inconvenience is being caused to the public.

So it really is in the interests of the individual postal employees to consider a change to self-employed courier jobs, where there is the potential to earn a higher income. And until the strike is over, the public will have to rely on couriers to deliver any important mail.

Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director of Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the Sameday courier and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading self employed courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

According to the RAC, the clamping of cars by private companies could be an infringement of the 1998 Human Rights Act. The motoring organisation says that the fines charged by private individuals are usually exorbitant and unjustifiable. The fines for parking on private land are also demanded without any type of legal process and this is something that the RAC would like to see changed. The changes would certainly help people with courier jobs, as there is nothing worse than returning from a delivery to find a large yellow wheel clamp placed on your beloved van.

The move comes after the launch of a Daily Mail campaign to demand that the government strengthens regulations on private wheel clamping and ultimately makes it illegal, as it is in Scotland. Once the newspaper introduced the campaign it was simply inundated with stories of unjust instances of car clamping. A man on a courier job who found his van clamped after delivering some documents, made the headlines when he took a sledgehammer to the clamp and broke it off himself to avoid paying the exorbitant fine and another man found his car clamped after popping into a private office block to pay off his girlfriend’s wheel clamp fee. The price charged by private individuals doesn’t seem to be in any way consistent. Whilst some people have reported having to pay £75.00 fine to free a car from the car park of an office block, another woman wrote into the paper describing how she had to pay a £375.00 fee.

So how exactly is wheel clamping illegal? Chris Elliott, a barrister for the RAC, argues that the concept of one citizen punishing another is alien in English law and that the purpose of clamping is simply to prevent a vehicle being on private land without permission. Therefore, Chris argues, clamping is perverse as it perpetuates the harm caused to the landowner which is ultimately a self-inflicted wound. The only tactic is to punish or deter, both of which have no foundation in English law. This is because they are based on a notion that one person cannot punish another and that punishment is a power reserved solely for the State. There are further arguments by barristers that the practice of clamping is also contradictory to protocol 1 of the Human Rights Law, which states that every person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions and should not be deprived of them, unless in accordance with English law.

The Home Office is in the midst of proposing a new licensing regime for private clampers. However, with arguments that the very action of depriving people of their vehicle is illegal, it seems unlikely that the changes will now go ahead. With the RAC strongly arguing the legal elements of clamping, it seems extremely likely that the very act of private wheel clamping will be made illegal. And for us in courier jobs, it’s certainly a case of the sooner, the better.

Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director of Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the Sameday courier and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

The Outfits Would Have To Go

Some of the outfits Carrie wears in Sex and the City are quite outlandish. Huge puffball skirts, origami folded jackets and Dolce and Gabbana dresses are all featured on the hit series. Most of these are far too expensive to wear on self-employed courier jobs and a lot of the dresses wouldn’t even fit in the white vans they’re that big. Who can forget Carrie’s stunning ballerina dress that she wore in the final episode of the series? She wouldn’t have even been able to close the van door, let alone made a delivery wearing that. Plus the lads down the local diner would have teased her relentlessly about her outfit choice, which brings me to my next point….

The Fancy Restaurants Would Be Swapped For Motorway Service Stations

The Sex and the City girls are always meeting for lunch in fancy restaurants and this is something that would definitely change if they were couriers. After a long day carrying out self-employed courier jobs, we don’t want to end up at a restaurant that charges us above the odds for a minuscule meal. There’s nothing like stopping off en-route for filling pub grub and a bacon butty. God knows, some of those girls certainly look like they could do with a half decent meal.

Have you ever seen the Girls Drive?

Apart from when Carrie rents a car to take Samantha and her to San Francisco and almost manages to crash it while getting out of the rental office, have you ever seen any of the girls drive? They travel everywhere by taxi and this just isn’t practical for those delivering packages on self-employed courier jobs. New York cabs are expensive and so for that matter are London taxis. Sometimes I can be driving for hours on one courier job and if I were to forgo the van and bill the client for my taxi fare, the cost would be just astronomical.

High Heels Make Self-Employed Courier Jobs Impossible

We all know the real reason the girls take taxis everywhere….their shoes! If Carrie’s high-heels make walking the streets of the Upper-East side impossible then imagine how she would get by driving in them. A recent study in the UK showed that 11.5 million women are putting their lives, and the lives of others, in danger by wearing inappropriate footwear whilst driving. High heels weren’t designed with driving in mind and as we can’t imagine ever seeing Carrie wearing a pair of flat shoes, this rules her out as a potential courier.

Carrie might not make a great courier, but Miranda and Samantha would both fare well with self-employed courier jobs. Miranda’s brusque and efficient manner would allow her to deliver packages in an organised and timely way. Whilst, somehow we all know that Samantha would get around the quickest.

Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director of Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the Sameday courier and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading self employed courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Toads on the Roads

The small town of Forge Dam near Sheffield is an important breeding area for the common garden toad. Whilst carrying out courier jobs in the area, you will see numerous toad crossing signs that dot the Whitely Road, and never is this area more prevalent than from mid-February to March. This is breeding time for these randy reptiles and hundreds of toads cross the road to reach their ancestral breeding ground during this period. The Wildlife Trust has recognised the area as nationally important. Froglife is an organisation that recognises the importance of the area and has placed regular patrols on the Whitely Road. The members all don bright yellow jackets and warn upcoming vehicles to slow down, whilst guiding the toads across the road.

Beware of the Badgers

Those carrying out courier jobs between Inverness and Nairn on the A96 should be prepared to bodge that badger! Badgers account for 25% of all road deaths and this problem seems to be more prominent in certain areas of Scotland. The Scottish Natural Heritage has set up a Think Badger campaign following reports that 24 badgers were killed on a single stretch of road. The majority of these deaths took place in the months of February and August and over half of them took place in the Petty Church area of town. Due to these statistics, drivers are requested to be extra vigilant if travelling this route by night.

Honk for Hedgehogs

Why did the hedgehog cross the road? To see his flat mate! Hedgehogs have long been the butt of jokes concerning road safety, and perhaps it was for this reason that the government choose this cute critter to front its road safety campaign. In many areas, hedgehogs can become an issue on the roads and the British Hedgehog Preservation society has spent many years campaigning for the introduction of hedgehog tunnels and hedgehog bridges. These may have helped reduce the number of hedgehog road deaths in recent years, but areas such as Priors Hardwick in Warwickshire are still campaigning for drivers to reduce their speed the old fashioned way with the introduction of hedgehog crossing signs.

Give Owls at Hoot

Whilst hedgehogs account for 29% of all road deaths, they are closely followed by barn owls at 25%. The Barn Owl Trust is campaigning for 10 foot trees and shrubs to be planted around the side of main roads so that the owls have something to fly over. The number of barn owls has dropped by almost 70% from the same number in the 1930s. Whilst the use of intense farming procedures is partly to blame, over half of all barn owl deaths are thought to be as a consequence of main roads. The problem is so bad that a recent study found that during the nesting period, which runs from March to August, all adult barn owls living within 0.3 kilometres of a main road are certain to be killed. This shocking statistic is a warning for those carrying out courier jobs to be aware of their surroundings and try to avoid using excessive speed in areas where barn owls are present.

Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director of Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the Sameday courier and express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.