Active mtvan members

Can I ask a serious question

let's me honest I don't think half the people on here would login if it were not for the banter,
bugger all money being made here but it does make you smile,

I think I, like you are just waiting in the wings for when it does work....so a bit chicken and egg

Woooo Hoooo.
I have been saying this for ages, I have called couriers close to collection points only to find that they are either no longer couriers or they are looking for around £1.15 - £1.25 per mile in a small van, Or they simply do not answer the phone.

2 months ago we filtered out anyone who we had not seen within 3 months (rolling obviously) in response to N&DC's posts around the time.

so 622 members then?

One of my OD's "Delivered24/7" seems to have disappeared off the site, although he seems to think he is still a member and another "R Burgin" cannot be contacted. I keep trying to get od's to join to get a bigger pool of drivers in the Sheffield area but they don't seem to hang around for long. Could be they are just joining for the trial period and then not renewing?

Well i gotta admit i am dipping my toe in here at the mo but not picking up any jobs yet, yes i am new to the courier game but not to transport in general. I enjoy the forums tho.

Oh i dont charge £1.25pm either lol a lot less than that, and i like to be avail 24/7 if i can but most of all i am trying to be professional.

Just for info Notts what do u class as close to collection point?

Collection within 30 mins is good, within the hour for most....i think its pretty standard if you look at many courier websites.

but veerying slightly off topic

As I understand it, only Pro members are listed in the directory, perhaps admin can confirm?

We class close to collection point within say 10 miles,This is not always achievable but we would rather use a more local courier for speed of collection. We sometimes prebook couriers as well if it is more practical, recently we have used the services of  TLC and MK bikes who are members here and we called them because they were close to the collection point.
Goods collect quickly and delivered faster.

Thanks for that Notts....i try my best lol

oi...will you stop goin off thread please

thats a lot of money when ur not getting work in ....lol and you just starting out

Am I missing some post? Fast back? can't see what you are refering to?

Now you're just bein silly

[Admin: Off topic, incorrect information]

Pro and non-pro are listed in the directory. Please keep this thread on topic, open another thread for another topic.

Its the outlay, when you first start out i am on pro membership at mo for 3 months , i like the site and the people on it but if i am not getting work from it will i stay active we will have to see ( prob will tho just for the banter )

Good point here but I dont actully think that that many people are seriously looking for that much work . Those that are still left after the downturn already have their week planned

I just dont feel that there are that many people sitting around anymore

Fastback, mtvan does not cost £200! Start a new thread with your questions!

Sorry admin....i was talking about being an active member and i am trying to be ....see above from speed abot the 200

I dont understand the problem somebody you dont know phones up and you quote 1.25 per mile for a small Whats the problem ? They probably are not going to use you again .Its probably a job you dont want to do as you are already busy .

Im trying not to upset anybody here but jobs need to be priced correctly if you want to make money from this is 2012 where people are running for higher rates

Look at it from my point of veiw I dont really want to drive anymore than I have to so why would I run cheap when I could be fishing or hunting

He's guessing that there's 200 pro members with pictures, not that it costs £200!

Apologies my fault

Ahh there is the problem Barnsley, This is a business networking site for Couriers looking for work and Courier companies that have excess work.
If i call a courier and introduce us and mention that we got their number from MTVan and they are busy then that's fine.
If the courier gives a ridiculous price because they would rather be doing something else then that's also fine but it sets a precedent and that courier is pricing himself out of the market and we would only reluctantly call again.
We have our set rates for our customers and these do not deviate if "we think we can get away with charging more if the customer is desperate" or we would rather be doing something else.
I think there are 2 types of courier, The business minded courier and the lifestyle choice courier.

A thread never stays on its original subject matter for long does it...lol

No rob it does not, I think the thread gets so long you forget what the original point was!!!

Very true....

I can't understand why someone who doesn't need a courier exchange site is a member of one?

To cause trouble perhaps

he ain't a paid member...he's a freeloader..lol

Who is?

I would love to see this site more productive as an O/D there is not really much going on,
as a vendor who needs to cover work it makes no sense at all, the last time I posted a job I didn't get a call for 3 days and even then the quote was just a total joke,
it would seem the site has slipped into no-mans land not quite a uship/shipley and not quite a CX
it needs to find it's place, either unisured have a go ebay couriers doing it for beer money or those who are trying to build a good reputation with a professional attitude,
maybe making the forum more secure would help so that those who been kicked off for non payment will not be able to look in (ay sparrow?)
 

Hi Dave, I've just started a debate about this on the thread "how it all works" cus this thread has been deviating all over the place.

if jobs were listed at a standard rate would that help? say the site had a few catagories £1.25 plm £0.90p plm or £0.75p plm everyone would know where they stood sort of a book it now price just throwing idea out there for your consideration reflection and comment good sirs

Thats called price fixing and highly illegal

Is it really price fixing to agree a trade rate between people on here? I have agreed a trade price with a couple of local companies. They know what I want and I know what I am going to get paid when they ring me. No faffing about unless there is anything out of the ordinary.

Your agreement is between two parties and I would be surprised if you didn't have a "rate" at which you worked for a company, it may even vary from company to company depending on how much work you get, terms etc several individual businesses having an agreement on the rate at which they will work for to a variety of customers is price fixing whether it is on here or not.

Yes but surely there is a defference between several "trade" companies agreeing a rate amongst themselves and the same companies agreeing that they will all charge the end user an agreed figure they will all charge?

Its hyperthetical I know but if we all agreed a trade fee between us of "X" to me thats not price fixing as each company could then agree an end user price they can get. However if we all agree that we will charge the end user a price of "Y" regardless of costs etc that "to me" would be price fixing.

Must look up the law on that sometime :)

Mmmm.

Having tried to read this http://www.oft.gov.uk/sharedoft/businessleaflets/ca98_guidelines/oft401.pdf

Its a minefield.

[Admin: Make it into a link using the link/chain icon at the top of the editor.]

I don't have experience of CX, but it seems to me that this site has everything it needs, apart from work.

OP, you ask "what plans are in place for this site to truly challenge the other exchange sites, and become what it once was." But at the risk of sounding sukky-uppy to the admins... is there really any more they can do? There's a good platform here - isn't the rest up to us?

The more work is posted, the more ODs like me will come to mtvan for a look. The more work we bid on, the more worthwhile it is to post work, so more gets posted etc. Simples!

But it's obviously a chicken and egg problem...

Thanks for the compliment CAMVAN.

We're always improving, but we do have plans for things that will help everything work better. We're working on them all the time.

But yes you are largely right about chicken and egg too.

i think what puts me off is the price to be a pro member, perhaps it should be free till the work or member activity goes up, surely having the work posted is better than just having a member count

Actually, one thing which would make things easier...

Instead of work being listed postcode - postcode, wouldn't it be better to list city - city, and then list the postcodes in the item description? As a newbie, I don't yet have all the UKs postcodes on the tip of my tongue, so it can be a bit of a slog, trying to work out where all the jobs are by typing the postcodes into my satnav or google earth. One advantage of anyvan, uship and shiply is that you can view all deliveries on a map...

CAMVAN said: One advantage of anyvan, uship and shiply is that you can view all deliveries on a map...

You can here, just click into the job....

Yes, sorry, I mean there isn't an option to see all jobs on the same map.

When I'm on the road and checking mtvan on my phone, the 3G is too slow for it to be practical to click on each job and view the map.

All the while there aren't many jobs on here, I guess it isn't much of an issue, but if there were hundreds of jobs, I wouldn't want to be clicking on each one to view it on a map.

postcode and location would be a simple option for CAMVAN. sometimes i look at a postcode an think where is that then other times ill look at a place and think where is that.

Simple email would be

Van required Load SA1 Swansea (Wales) to MK1 Milton Keynes (England)

click for more info

all the other MTVAN stuff drivers dont really need we know it all by now.

From the Fens: We post work properly. We pay proper rates. We pay on time. We don't f**k people about. But the real discussion here Rob should be why have firms like us left... The answer lies within imho.

you know what JC you are right its about wanting to do a good job and being professional and from what i can see from this site its what we have, people who care about what they are doing.

010sqn, yes that kind of format would be ideal for those like me.

Guys you have to remember its hard times, aswell as all them idiots who sign on, killed the prices then just stopped working because the £500 banger van failed mot.

Yes you will say there should be more work, but with all the smaller companies, who tend to use couriers going under, and lets face it know one here does work for the likes of tesco or curry's what real hope is there for anyone.

We do an awful lot of recovery & transport work, we have 2 national companies we sub work to as its cheaper for us to do that than have megga truck bills.

We sometimes pay prior collection & sometimes on delivery. Its taken time and trust for us to work close with these other guys.

Once your network is established its easier to sit back grab at all the work & find a bigger company to have all the hassle. You just take your small cut & dont be greedy.

We did all the sameday for city link years ago. Cardiff to London £190 and £82 return, prices should have got better but i know they havent. again back to the idiots, there the ones to blame, not us.

CAMVAN..... you need to get onto "Tim" @ MTVAN.......... Glad our format would help. It helps us with our own system.

"TIM" you reading this

010SQN

so now we have a "reputation", when searching the directory can this figure appear too...that way we can see at a glance those that are more "active" than others...and save an awful lot of timewasting

Speed Couriers (Stansted Airport) said:

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so now we have a "reputation", when searching the directory can this figure appear too...that way we can see at a glance those that are more "active" than others...and save an awful lot of timewasting

Yes this is coming on a new directory refresh that is currently being worked on.