DPD Driver Franchise

Dave1981

maverick23456 wrote: »

I am with DPD as ODF. I have read many correct and some false information on this thread. If you have any questions regarding ODF, please forward them to me and I will answer as honestly as I can.

Maverick please contact me dtwilson1981 @ gmail .c om

I want to find out alot about doing this.

sparky1110_0

maverick23456 wrote: »

I am with DPD as ODF. I have read many correct and some false information on this thread. If you have any questions regarding ODF, please forward them to me and I will answer as honestly as I can.

what is the set up costs , whats the return through out the year , how much per parcel , what about the quiet times what is the return then , what are roughly the hours , what happens when the parcels become too much at xmas , what tax do you pay and allowances do you get from tax man thanks

duffyrobert

hi guys . i started as on ofd driver in dpd glasgow depot and thought id warn people of money ive lost . you pay 1300 to dpd . you train for a week. all fine and dandy. you get a blue print plan of the money youl recieve per parcel and the miles you do to make your min yearly wage of 28000. sounds good sofar eh. well in fact i had no chance of making the money promised because i was sent mostly to farms sometimes 7 miles apart. working 12h a day in those 12 hours i delivered 50 parcels . with such distance between my drops i had no chance of taking the 70 parcels in my blue print to make the 28k wage. and for the first week i was fueling the van myself. also other drivers had 1st pick of the parcels leaving me with all the farms and off road deliveries . i gave it up because i realised the sums dont add up and i was working all those hours for peanuts. dpd refused to listen to my comments and have decided there keeping my money 1300 and they'l decide how much payment il get for 2 weeks work at 12 hours per day. be warned guys

Jean31

£1000 of the Franchise is refunded once you decide to leave!! You also get your £300 back in your 3rd month!! So in affect doesn't really cost you anything in the long run! We get on average at least £2500-£3500 every 4 weeks depending on how busy or what time of the year! Last wage was £4700 paid on Xmas day! Yeah when it's busy you have to graft but when it's not you can still earn a decent wage getting in at a decent time! Get in at 7:30, sometimes home as late as 8 but very rarely! Average time home is 5:30.

Ming_The_Merciless

As this thread seems to still be active, I'll post my findings in case it helps anyone looking to come into the business.

I had a Franchise with Parceline (pre-DPD days) from 1996 until 2006 and things were great. 6am start, 3pm finish, earning over £200 per day before vehicle costs, which worked out between £35k-£40k per year before tax but after fuel, rental etc.

At that time they weren't covering holidays so I didn't have a single day off for 10 years. With a fine of £150 per day hanging over you, you don't go sick. I had flu for the one and only time in my life and had to go in - you don't care if others catch it as they're not going to pay your fines - and you quickly realise it's every man for himself with getting the best routes, ,loaders to help you get out in the morning etc.

Anyway, I moved to Spain for 4 years and when I came back I applied at the same depot for another franchise with the company now known as DPD. £1300 up front - £1000 deposit for the van which is refundable if it comes back unscratched, £150 for uniform and £150 admin fee. I was promised my route would be compact enough to generate £28k per year after costs. Bear in mind I worked for the company for 10 years so knew the score....and there was no way I would earn that. Things had changed for the worse in the intervening years and the amount of timed deliveries (including PM and evening dels) as well as later and later collection times meant I was driving like a lunatic to get my daily hours down to 13 - if I'd driven sensibly I would have failed deliveries and been out for 15 hours. As well as that the "route plan" was set up as 120 miles per day but it was more like 200, so the fuel and mileage charge for the van was obviously way more than they quoted. You have to pay for every mile you travel as you're almost forced into hiring one of their liveried Sprinters. i suggested using a different vehicle which was cheaper and more fuel efficient but they wouldn't allow it as it didn't meet their specification!

I left after 2 weeks. Got my £1000 deposit back. Still use the uniform when working on my bike!

Now I'm working for DX and they are getting as bad. I came there a year or so ago from DHL International when they phased out Owner Drivers and at first all was well. Now the days are longer, you're almost forced to take extra drops from the Freight side (formerly Nightfreight) that DX bought out as they are a shower of !!!!!! - yesterday I had to take 2 flat pack beds to residential addresses on my way home as the lorry driver left them behind for 2 days running. I could have said no....but I would have had my parcels scanned last the following day as "punishment". If you don't scratch their back, you'll pay for it. I've lost count of the "favours" I've done them and not been paid for - if you are truly self employed I believe you should be able to set your rate and if they don't want to pay it you don't do the work. Not here. They took 25% or our day rate for the 5 days from Xmas Eve until the New Year as it was quiet.........but we still had to go to the same delivery places but with less parcels, so the fuel and mileage was the same! Oh....and we didn't find out about it until we got our invoices a week later - nobody bothered to tell us in advance it was happening.

When you complain the stock reply is "CityLink have gone bust and we have a waiting list of drivers wanting a job, so leave if you want to".

Really makes me feel loved.........

In summary - being self employed can be good but there are so many pitfalls, I wish I'd trained as a plumber instead.....

MarkPVine

I am currently a owner driver franchise with DPD and your stop does depend on area and volume also whether it a business to business route or a business to customer route everything one is different as my stop rate is totally different to my sons who also is a franchise basically it's done to earn you 30k which you then have to pay your own tax and national insurance

samb77

Thank goodness someone has told it from personal experience and not hearsay. I am a self employed gardener and enjoy being my own boss. Although, I have been looking at changing career path, as gardening work is mainly seasonal and I need something more stable and all year round. Your reply has answered most of my questions about working for courier companies.

Biola

I'm interested in the owner driver franchisee. Can you please put me through?

Biola

Can you please put me through the owner driver franchisee at dpd. I'm intetested

tykesi

Biola wrote: »

Can you please put me through the owner driver franchisee at dpd. I'm intetested

What are you on about?