City Sprint, I've escaped!

A couple of weeks back, I had a phone call from out of hours asking me to go from Cardiff to Scotland on a Friday night. I told them I couldn't do it as I had committed to my own work on Saturday and Sunday. Then I get a call form the manager at the local depot asking me why I couldn't do the run, I gave him the same reason, adding I had only one job all week from them so found my own work. Then I get a text telling me to take all my city sprint stuff that had been issued to me to the office. I needed no second request for that. No more doing an Amazon delivery that takes one and a half hours and only getting a fiver for it! No more promise of extra money for weekend and night work and still getting the same as normal day rate. No more chasing under payments on already low rates. No more £20.00 a week for tracker and uniform. Could go on but you all know the story. I'm getting plenty of work as a subbie tart and loving it. All it takes is a few phone calls and contacts on here and Courier Exchange and I'm much better off. Should have taken the plunge months ago.

Well done Ade, good on you. Let's see if we can grow.

They don't like it up em

Excellent. These people have got to realise that enough is enough.

Good for you Adrian! "As one door closes another one opens", as they say. Did the same with DHL years ago and never looked back!

I have to say, CS and the rest of the big boys are P***takers, a couple of yrs ago when I first started, they rang and asked for a Bike to cover local work in Leeds, so went through the motions of paper work etc, then... Then payment and my terms were discussed, lets just say, I told em, not a chance, I wouldnt get out of bed for what they offered which was 40pplm at the time.

Trouble is as you leave there are plenty of others ready to walk in!

If only drivers did their research before diving in the deep end

And a lesson for those that continue to offer low rates. You WILL eventually lose that driver when he discovers that there is a world out there that pays better. A lot easier to pay decent rates and keep hold of them. If you pay well, there's nowhere for them to go.

Simple really

I find it quite ironic that these low payers spend copius amounts of money advertising for new drivers, instead of paying them more with the same money they're spending on recruitment.

Daft

Sometime we must remember, there for the grace... That driver may have been on his arse and needeed to pay the mortgage!

The Bristol office by any chance? We had roughly the same experience some years back when we first got going, CS ideal for the first year to build up cashflow funds but apart from steer clear!

If you can afford it then yes, a good way to find your feet, and then venture out.

I really don't like anyone who thinks you're their driver when you're self employed.

If they want your availability they should pay rates that would make you more likely to be available shouldn't they.

Either that or pay a retainer.

No, Cardiff but Bristol are as bad, I went to pick up a job for them from Avonmouth, got there, waited half an hour and after turning down a lucrative run from a courier in the Midlands, was told the job had been put on a van that was already there, they paid me £5.00 cancellation fee. It was picking up from Bibby's to do the Toyota run.

Gary, if we can help each other that would be great.

Exactly, Mr. Speed, I had only done one run all week for them, they can't expect drivers to sit at hopme hoping the phone will ring.

Sadly sat at home most of this week

Are CS offices franchises or are they company run?

They are company run, all fully trained in telling you the price for a job, then paying you less.

The best part of the original post for me was "all it took was a few phone calls!"

Harks back to a post of mine a while back. Too many subbies seem to think that these websites are the be all and end all of gaining work.

All you really have do is get on google, find the local independent companies in your area and get your arse out and press some flesh (should I have picked my words a bit more carefully there? Probably) :-)

Well said Scott. I got in touch with a courier company about 25 miles from me, I sent in copies of insurance etc. And hey presto, They rang me a couple of days later, but I was already out on a job. Same the next day, I just asked if they wouldn't give up on me and apologised for not being available. Really nice people and I just hope they ring back. I also contacted a haulage firm not far away and got a run the next day. It does pay to make contact with people and put in a bit of effort to make this industry work for you.

Adrian, they offered you just 1 job all week? Omg.. Thought they were so busy they have to keep recruiting new drivers