Speed Couriers Nationwide Ltd said:
I think you're all missing the point. If your business model does not include asking to see vaild documentation of potentail members at the point of registration then your business model is wrong. If your costs haven't included the fundamental need to see that a driver has 1-a driving license, 2- correct vehicle insurance and 3-GIT cover, then that business model is flawed.
It allows people to come into the industry without some or all of those things, and that allows them to undercut you.
If i started a catering business without a food hygene certificate you'd think i was mad, or without a water supply?
What i'm saying is this is the same thing. It is very much part and parcel (excuse the pun) of what we do as couriers and courier companies even before we go touting for business.
And if you hide behind the "its not affordable" then you have a duty to make it affordable, and if you don't then you don't have a business model in the 1st place becasue it has a very important bit missing. The legality of the drivers you intend to use.
But all of this is painting over the real reason behind the excuses.
Andys business model is about getting numbers to sign up. He sees ensuring the legalities of those potential members as an obstacle to that goal.
As I said, the idea has merit and some organizations fund this by either charging an accreditation fee or pay paying rates lower than courier expert pay. I have not written off the idea, but I suspect the most likely way forward for ourselves (and indeed exchanges like this one) would be for a 2 tier membership, where the higher grade members are vetted and checked.
However, for now it's not at the front of the development agenda, because it is not what our customers are asking for. Their goods are covered by our own insurance anyway. For the immediate future, software development time is going to be spent on a tracking solution, as my largest customers want and expect this, above all else at the moment.
Andy