First job covered on mtvan!

After being on here for a while and lost heart in posting jobs here due to lack of calls and responses, we managed to cover our first ever job posting on mtvan today where our preferred network failed.

Gained a valuable contact from it too local to us.

Happy days.

And on the 6th day God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

Personally don't follow the bible or any particular religion strongly enough... But yeah ok rob!

It's a growing problem getting work covered on here. I posted a job on Courier Exchange yesterday and got a 12 calls. This site needs more legit drivers for it work properly

East-Lancs Sameday Couriers Ltd said:

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It's a growing problem getting work covered on here. I posted a job on Courier Exchange yesterday and got a 12 calls. This site needs more legit drivers for it work properly

Actually, it needs more work for small vans near Bristol/Bath!

Well lets hope its being resolved aphabetically then... lol

growing problem

Can you back that up? It seems to me, and possibly to the OP, that it's going the opposite way.

I posted a job on Courier Exchange yesterday and got a 12 calls. This site needs more legit drivers for it work properly

So is your idea of "working properly" that there's 12 couriers after every job?

we managed to cover our first ever job posting on mtvan today where our preferred network failed. Gained a valuable contact from it too local to us.

Thank you for the positive feedback - good to have a bit of balance. Really appreciated. Glad it worked for you.

Will give the site a bit more positive feedback have had very little work off this site being in the courier wasteland called the north east of England but two members contact me direct now on this site now one was cold calling looking for a courier the other I carried out a job for and seemed please with my work. They do not give me multiple jobs but all work is greatly appreciated and I am grateful to them

The number of peope quoting on any job is a refection of how many are in your area after dropping (ie looking for work to take them back) or local drivers looking for work generally. Either way the more members, the more quotes. There will aways be duff areas but i think the comment was suggesting that when you have an exchange working as it should, there is no reason for any job to get no quotes whatsoever.

there is no reason for any job to get no quotes whatsoever.

Obviously not what I was suggesting.

The number of peope quoting on any job is a refection of how many are in your area after dropping

Self-evident, but quoting a 12 to 1 couriers to jobs example as an exchange "working properly" invites challenge, especially from a courier member's point of view.

Will give the site a bit more positive feedback

Again, very welcome.

Really pleased it has worked for you.

I would say that 20% of my work comes from contacts made on here but the work involved is not usually posted.

I would say that 20% of my work comes from contacts made on here but the work involved is not usually posted.

Thank you for this positive comment.

As I always say to everyone who is accepted for an account on here, most of the work is traded over the phone, so the effort you put into your Profile is therefore really important to whether mtvan works for you or not.

(Picture, insurance details, accurate vehicle types and business description and postal address confirmation especially).

mtvan.com Ltd said:

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As I always say to everyone who is accepted for an account on here, most of the work is traded over the phone, so the effort you put into your Profile is therefore really important to whether mtvan works for you or not.

(Picture, insurance details, accurate vehicle types and business description and postal address confirmation especially).

Just a small problem - your system won't let me upload Vehicle Insurance details - as is so frequently, ad nauseam, posted on here, without Vehicle H&R insurance, all other insurances are not valid.

Just a small problem - your system won't let me upload Vehicle Insurance details - as is so frequently, ad nauseam, posted on here, without Vehicle H&R insurance, all other insurances are not valid.

You're right, so far we have enabled GIT & PL (the two which protect the interests of the Vendor) to be uploaded.

The PL has just been added, and the other two tabs will be enabled shortly.

mtvan.com Ltd said:

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Just a small problem - your system won't let me upload Vehicle Insurance details - as is so frequently, ad nauseam, posted on here, without Vehicle H&R insurance, all other insurances are not valid.

You're right, so far we have enabled GIT & PL (the two which protect the interests of the Vendor) to be uploaded.

The PL has just been added, and the other two tabs will be enabled shortly.

Surely H&R gives more protection? Some numpty gets stopped with SD&P and the vehicle gets impounded, but at least he'll be covered if he breaks something unloading whilst waiting for his van to be towed away!

I still think the GIT won't pay out when they realise the vehicle isn't covered to be doing the job in the first place but I accept there's a million opinions on the issue

Correct Andy.

There are 2 issues here

The 1st, and something most members have asked for, is for membership to only be open to those that have relevant insurance in place, and the 2nd, that the site has enough members to cover any overspill work vendors may have.

The probem with demanding the 1st is it has implications on the 2nd.

By demanding we restrict membership to bonafide couriers means that the sites membership will stall.

That is until it is known for ony having bonafide couriers and courier companies, and which point i woud expect its membership to soar.

Unfortunately it seems that news has yet to filter through not helped by this sites history in accepting anyone to join.

Let us hope someone else doesn't steal a march on this sites relatively new policy

Speed Couriers Nationwide Ltd said:

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Let us hope someone else doesn't steal a march on this sites relatively new policy

It's NOT policy until they require H&R, merely an aspiration [Like the aspiration to "Notify me of replies to this thread (coming soon) at the bottom of the reply box]

M & P Express said:

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mtvan.com Ltd said:

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Just a small problem - your system won't let me upload Vehicle Insurance details - as is so frequently, ad nauseam, posted on here, without Vehicle H&R insurance, all other insurances are not valid.

You're right, so far we have enabled GIT & PL (the two which protect the interests of the Vendor) to be uploaded.

The PL has just been added, and the other two tabs will be enabled shortly.

Surely H&R gives more protection? Some numpty gets stopped with SD&P and the vehicle gets impounded, but at least he'll be covered if he breaks something unloading whilst waiting for his van to be towed away!

H&R is the most important insurance in my book, at least GIT can be covered by myself whereas H&R can't

Most vendors only care about the goods being carried, and some not even that. That is why so many don't get insured properly, not enough companies checking

H&R is the most important insurance in my book, at least GIT can be covered by myself whereas H&R can't

PL & GIT are the risks that your customer's lawyers are most likely to turn to you the Vendor for, in the event of a claim, as it's you the customer contracted with.

That's why we started with those.

If you, as the head contractor to your customer, have the GIT risk (could be thousands) and the Public Liability risk (could be millions) covered as well as your subbie, just in case the subbie turns out not to be covered when push comes to shove, then so much the better.

Hire & Reward is important, and mtvan is not saying it's not, (which is why we have specifically asked about it when speaking to well over 2000 applicants to join in the last year) and the tab will be enabled soon.

There are 2 issues here.

The 1st, and something most members have asked for, is for membership to only be open to those that have relevant insurance in place, and the 2nd, that the site has enough members to cover any overspill work vendors may have.

The probem with demanding the 1st is it has implications on the 2nd.

By demanding we restrict membership to bonafide couriers means that the sites membership will stall.

That is until it is known for ony having bonafide couriers and courier companies, and which point i woud expect its membership to soar.

Unfortunately it seems that news has yet to filter through not helped by this sites history in accepting anyone to join.

Let us hope someone else doesn't steal a march on this sites relatively new policy

I agree more or less with this, though surprisingly our rate of new members has not stalled, as the number of successful applicants has stayed the same during 2014, even though we are rejecting over half the applicants. Do the maths on that, as far as the growth of lifestyle couriers is concerned.

I'd say the THIRD issue, to add to your list, is what to do about the people who are insured but can't be arsed, or refuse, to upload their insurance details.

For example, of the 7 fine upstanding people who have posted on the "insurance" thread to discuss their renewal, 6 have not uploaded their insurance. I'm sure the 6 are bona fide members, who anyone on here would be happy to trade with, all been members for years, all talking about renewing their insurance, all with otherwise good profiles reputation and feedback, all on here regularly contributing to the site, and no doubt even covering some work occasionally from Vendors they know on here.

Without this category of people "insured but CBA to upload it", the site would be too small to work properly, as other sites have found. We are putting the effort in to improve the situation with better controls on new people, and persuasion and website features for existing people.

So if anyone is wondering why we don't agree 100% with the 100% no insurance uploaded 100% no access to mtvan, there's your answer.

Here's the insurance thread.

I have come across a few companies that insure the goods themselves. Part of their terms and conditions. So if Mr Cowboy turns up with a quote for 80pplm for a lwb the company think its great.

Only last week I had a controller say to me "couldn't resist that one 85pplm for a lwb" I told him that I could not and would not even try to match that. Was the driver insured correctly?

Are we about to get to the stage where all members have either uploaded said documentation or have at least had reminders to? If so that needs to be shared as its cearly very newsworthy.

How about on the directory, a colour code. Those members who have upoaded all appear one colour, who have uploaded some, another colour, and who have yet to upload anything at all, yet another colour. Better still, those who have not uploaded anything don't appear on the directory until they do.

My personal preferred way of working is thru mtvan - a great bunch of guys post work on here n ive found they are all good when it comes to being fair n paying on time - ive been off the road for over a month but am back now so hopefully will be looking out for work esp around Birmingham

Are we about to get to the stage where all members have either uploaded said documentation or have at least had reminders to? If so that needs to be shared as its cearly very newsworthy.

Absolutely yes we are already at this point.

Better still, we even send renewal postcards to people who show their insurance details.

How about on the directory, a colour code. Those members who have upoaded all appear one colour, who have uploaded some, another colour, and who have yet to upload anything at all, yet another colour. Better still, those who have not uploaded anything don't appear on the directory until they do.

Yes, it's for a long time been our intention to do both.

We had to get the quality of the membership right first, which takes months, i.e. we had to speak to all new applicants about their insurance for long enough to make a noticeable difference to the quality of new joiners. And during that time the inactive pre-2014 people have dropped off the directory, and those pre-2014s who are left, and who don't show any insurance, are generally the "CBA" types who have all been reminded many times.

Hope that's clear.

My personal preferred way of working is thru mtvan - a great bunch of guys post work on here n ive found they are all good when it comes to being fair n paying on time - ive been off the road for over a month but am back now so hopefully will be looking out for work esp around Birmingham

Thanks for that, Tariq. I'm really glad it's been working for you. Good luck with getting things back to normal after your break.

mtvan.com Ltd said:

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Are we about to get to the stage where all members have either uploaded said documentation or have at least had reminders to? If so that needs to be shared as its cearly very newsworthy.

Absolutely yes we are already at this point.

Better still, we even send renewal postcards to people who show their insurance details.

How about on the directory, a colour code. Those members who have upoaded all appear one colour, who have uploaded some, another colour, and who have yet to upload anything at all, yet another colour. Better still, those who have not uploaded anything don't appear on the directory until they do.

Yes, it's for a long time been our intention to do both.

We had to get the quality of the membership right first, which takes months, i.e. we had to speak to all new applicants about their insurance for long enough to make a noticeable difference to the quality of new joiners. And during that time the inactive pre-2014 people have dropped off the directory, and those pre-2014s who are left, and who don't show any insurance, are generally the "CBA" types who have all been reminded many times.

Hope that's clear.

I got one of those postcards as my renewal is due next month, and i will be uploading my insurance because i'm not lazy and it show vendors that I give the time to do so aswell. If you have a good profile, then you have half got the job you are quoting for. I know from experience that vendors will look at your profile and feedback before even considering you for a job for them. It will be even better once the H&R is viewable on your profile as well, this shows that you are legit and no cowboy.

Does make me wonder if people cant be arsed to upload insurance details etc then what else cant they be arsed about, your goods maybe or whether they can be arsed to pay you on time... Come on guys upload its not hard ffs

mtvan.com Ltd said:

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Better still, we even send renewal postcards to people who show their insurance details.

You did NOT send me a renewal postcard - I deliberately held back on uploading my renewed certificates until after the previous ones expired on 30th September to see what would happen. The only thing you did was annotate my profile "No Valid GIT Insurance " (Like one of the above posters is annotated too).

Dennis said:

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mtvan.com Ltd said:

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Better still, we even send renewal postcards to people who show their insurance details.

You did NOT send me a renewal postcard - I deliberately held back on uploading my renewed certificates until after the previous ones expired on 30th September to see what would happen. The only thing you did was annotate my profile "No Valid GIT Insurance " (Like one of the above posters is annotated too).

I have receipt for it going out to you on the 30th of August. On the same day we also sent a postcard to I.A.M. Couriers and D-2-D Courier Service.

Put a claim in then and test their GIT - it obviously got lost in transit and you should investigate how that occurred or you run the risk of it happening again.

My GIT was already uploaded, my PL is now and H&R will be as soon as a space is provided.

I think the bottom line is that those of us that take pride in being professional are not willing to share an exchange with 'lifestyle' couriers. It is up to vendors to choose what type of couriers they want and to support the exchanges that provide them. It is up to exchange operators to choose which market they will cater to. It seems increasingly clear that the two don't sit side by side.

your system won't let me upload Vehicle Insurance details

As promised, this is no longer the case.

Please take a few minutes to upload all your insurances on mtvan here.

Your details will appear on your Profile (and elsewhere) soon.

As I always say to everyone who is accepted for an account on here, most of the work is traded over the phone, so the effort you put into your Profile is therefore really important to whether mtvan works for you or not.

Is my profile crap because my phone don't ring from mtvan members?

Yesterday I quoted for a job on here and was asked for my mtvan number. Having never been asked for this before and forgetting I had one (Doh) it set me back. Anyway it is now displayed in the sunvisor so I wont be caught out. Did I get the job! :-(

PHAX said:

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Yesterday I quoted for a job on here and was asked for my mtvan number. Having never been asked for this before and forgetting I had one (Doh) it set me back. Anyway it is now displayed in the sunvisor so I wont be caught out. Did I get the job! :-(

Apologies, in my opinion the mtvan number thing is a complete archaism and I hope to be able to do away with it in the not too distant future.

Am pleased to see the H&R can now be uploaded, mine is done.

Had a few txts over the last few days and i really appreciate this and feel guilty i couldn't at the time quote on them. Mad day Wed and Friday with txt's been sent to quote for work whilst i was on the way to jobs and nothing thursady and no work :-(. Thats life. Sooner or later i will get that first job in.

I think all big players main haulage company's are on Courier Exchange that's why you pay a lot of money to join it it seems that courier expert is part of mt van and that's your biggest player on here but you have to work for peanuts we them to get jobs I very rarely do owt of here now it's pointless bidding

Hang on in there Mr A. E. Delivery. Profile looks ok. Remember : small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.

courier expert is part of mt van

100% not true. Actually a competitor.

I very rarely do owt of here

Please leave feedback for the work you have done. Might help you get more here.

mtvan.com Ltd said:

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courier expert is part of mt van

100% not true. Actually a competitor.

How strange - I wouldn't let a competitor park his van on my driveway. Why do you let a competitor into your website?

Dennis said:

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mtvan.com Ltd said:

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courier expert is part of mt van

100% not true. Actually a competitor.

How strange - I wouldn't let a competitor park his van on my driveway. Why do you let a competitor into your website?

Dennis that's exactly what I was thinking. Although I know (or was pretty sure at least) that the two are totally independent, competitor is probably the wrong word.

JRG Express said:

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Dennis said:

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mtvan.com Ltd said:

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courier expert is part of mt van

100% not true. Actually a competitor.

How strange - I wouldn't let a competitor park his van on my driveway. Why do you let a competitor into your website?

Dennis that's exactly what I was thinking. Although I know (or was pretty sure at least) that the two are totally independent, competitor is probably the wrong word.

Well, make your own mind up - it's the website Admin which says "100% he's not part of MTVan, he's a competitor". It's since he apparently started an exchange site of his own (haven't seen it, just seen it mentioned on here and him saying it has incredible facilities/features that nobody else has so he can assure us that he'll not be posting work here unless he absolutely can't cover it on his own, which will be rare. I have to say I took heart at that, expecting a cessation of his jobs, but I'm still getting notifications of them - hard to think how MT will survive without his work posts).

competitor

We're competitors in the sense that we both offer similar services, and we work together just as people on sites like this work together even though they offer similar services.

work for peanuts we them to get jobs I very rarely do owt of here now it's pointless bidding Eeeeee its good to see some property english on ere. Al sithy.

Would i let a competitor have access to my customer database? NO

Speed Couriers Nationwide Ltd said:

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Would i let a competitor have access to my customer database? NO

Wot? Not even if he gave you a couple of 9 mile car jobs?