So, welcome to the world of couriering! If it’s your first foray, you’re very likely using your own car, so whilst this guide has been written on that basis, the principles apply to all. If you like exercise, meeting people, being outdoors and driving, couriering has a lot to offer, but like any new job, there are some basics that really help to get nailed so that you start off in the best possible place. Planning your route is one of those basics that are absolutely crucial to ensure a smooth day as you head out to deliver parcels to your eagerly awaiting customers! You may well get some excellent advice from a seasoned courier at the depot on how to go about it, and it may well be like that which we describe here. But one things for sure – having a good system in place from the get go is a very good thing indeed!
To get the ball rolling follow these five points…
Photocopy a map of the area you’re delivering in.
Chart out the best route for you – work it that the last road you deliver in is the closest one to your route home!
To help memorise the route, trace it with the end of a pencil (or use the pencil to mark it out, whichever you prefer).
Do this over and over again until you start to become familiar with the order – you may develop ways of remembering them by associating the road names with random things – Admiral Road could remind you of Admiral Nelson, or just some whacky references for some roads in particular!
Learn this order, go over and over it in your head and test yourself.
Another thing you can do is do a ‘dummy run’ a day or so before you start, this way you’re already somewhat familiar with it (although it depends how many dummy runs you do!), not to mention that much more confident. Once you feel that you’ve got a handle on the route, you’ll feel so much more at ease
But what’s the best way to plan your round? Wing it? Well you could if you’re feeling super confident from all your preparation and driving the route beforehand. You may just have a really good sense of direction!
What is a really good idea is to get one of the photocopies of the route you did, and when you’ve got your manifest for the day (a list of what are called your ‘drops’ – and collections if you’re expected to do those), is to use a pen to mark each road that you have a drop/collection in. You could have a different colour pen for each road, or just keep it simple and stick to a plain old blue – but it’s best to use a coloured one on a black and white photocopy!
By doing this you’re mentally prepared and in a sense ‘ahead of the game’, which will be great for your first day nerves! As you get to know your route you’ll get more and more confident. Don’t be surprised if it takes a few hours to do your first run, you’ve still got to get familiar with where each property is! This will ease with time though, and you’ll become more and more comfortable each day – it should take around a couple of weeks to become properly confident and know your round. Just don’t beat yourself up in the process, you’re still learning!
(Use this system and stick with it – it’ll become your ‘mainstay’, keeping you on-track day to day. In time you may not need to carry out this exercise – you’ll just know your route, but every good sailor carries a compass, and as you learn your route this will certainly keep you on course! One things for sure, with each new route you get given and have to learn, this method will ensure that you learn each new round more and more quickly).
Now, before you go any further, there are a couple of things that you need to ensure you have to avoid something that without, you will very likely have a screaming fit at the windscreen from. And yes, we’ve been there too, still get a nervous twitch just thinking about it…
That app that the courier company asked you to download, along with asking you what model and software update you have on your phone? Yep, that one – it will….
D R A I N Y O U R B A T T E R Y! ! !
Seriously, it’s not uncommon to find that by the time you’ve downloaded your manifest at home, scanned all your parcels and allowed the app to ‘load your route’ that you’ll be down a whopping 30% from a full charge of 100%. But fear not, your trusty guys here at Couriersdepot.com have got just the kit you need, and done that legwork for you
We’ve got you covered in that regard – you could just go for any phone battery case, the cheapest one that promises the earth...but if the text doesn’t read well in the description you could be heading for disaster… Take it from us; you really don’t want to see the message ‘This device does not support this accessory’ all of a sudden when you’re looking to charge your 2-month-old battery case the night before work.
Like ‘That Courier Guy’ says, “if it’s no good, it’s not here!”
Well we’ve been there too, which is why at Couriersdepot.com we only list established brands that you can depend on, like Anker who provide an eighteen-month warranty, or Mophie who provide a two-year warranty. These are companies that have invested heavily into their technology, have accredited ‘MFi’ certification (Made for i-phone – we have a piece all about that coming up, so watch this space) which means that they have had to meet specific quality criteria by Apple to be able to have the MFi branding on their products. Basically, products made by them are on a whole different quality level to the cables you’ll find in a service station, and if your round (and sanity lets face it) depend on your choice of brand, we’d recommend biting the bullet and buying with confidence than hope!
Knowing that your phone and case are fully charged and good to go is a good feeling – you might even wish to have a spare battery case, fully charged in the glove-box, just in case you get back home and you forget for whatever reason to charge the case. Think of it as an insurance policy. Life happens…!
Whilst sorting out that part of your kit, consider getting a fast-charging cable. It provides an extra layer of piece of mind that you don’t have to wait an age for your phone to re-charge when you get home, particularly after a long one and you just want to hit the hay! The difference a fast charge cable makes to reduce charging time is incredible - they are mighty things and worth having one at home and one in the car.
Now, as it happens, there are a couple of handy web sites that can help you get to know your area if you don’t have a map to hand – ‘streetmap’ is great for this. Simply type in a postcode in the middle of your round, and the area will come up, which you can then print off. It will come up with a standard zoom level, which you’ll find just fine, but you can zoom in and out if you need to. It even has a local hotel booking facility nearby if your round takes you too long – OK, just kidding there!
Another great website is ‘findmyaddress’ which can identify where a particular address is. This is a more ‘formal’ site, which requires registration, and from which you’re entitled to up 30 searches, but you may just be more comfortable using the map app on your smart phone.
So there you are, all set to conquer that round and make it your own. A seasoned courier will have a bunch of different rounds that they know and able to adapt – the more rounds you do, the more valuable you come to the company as you can just get on and get the work done for them. Still, it can be a cut-throat business, so there’s no harm in having several routes to your name!
Good Luck, and remember, Stay Safe Out There!
Instructions on how to use ‘streetmap’
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