the dx(courier company) self employed help!

zeddy1

maninthestreet wrote: »

How can they 'fine' you???

i dont really know , probably because they are on a schedule.

oh i forgot to say that you have rent out their scanning machine for about £16 a week.

gb12345

zeddy1 wrote: »

the contracted is 8 hours a day at £7.50 an hour. and i'll be doing this 5 and a half days of the week.

You said in your OP

zeddy1 wrote: »

i'm hearing they are offering £800 a week minus all of the costs (van, insurance, fuel)

These figures don't match.

£7.50 an hour for 44 hours a week is £330 a week, which is nowhere near the £800 you were talking about.

Take off the £130 a week you were estimating in your OP for van hire and insurance and you are on £200 a week.

306chris

maninthestreet wrote: »

How can they 'fine' you???

The old grey areas of self employment. All sounds good but in reality it stinks.

I worked "self-employed" as a driver and when the money was good I was taking home between £1700 - £2000 every four weeks (had tax and NI to sort out)

However when it was bad I was lucky to be taking home £700 for a 4 week period. I was working twelve hour days for this.

It was bad more than it was good and times like christmas you were laid off at home.

The day that I had finally had enough went like this: Meet at Manchester at 9am (£20 job) get a lift up to Ayr (£0 earnt) take the a car to Sunderland (£35 job) spend an hour in Sunderland helping another driver get their car and then head home (cheshire) hopefully something on the way - there wasn't. I got back home at 11pm after being out since 7:30 am and eanrt £55 with a poor start as no overnight carry over.

Anyhow with companies like this you are technically self employed yet you can't work for other companies and you can't choose your hours. They can "fine" you all sorts for instance when I worked as a driver if you handed your invoices in late then they took off £30 a week. You also had to pay them an admin charge for each day you work, if you get on with a good firm wh are winning business then you don't mind but when they dont get work the controllers still get paid their wage and you get sweet f.a.

It's not real self employment and if it seems to good to be true.........

Not saying that you can't make a living from it, but it will be hard work and can be silly long hours, when I was driving I nearly ended ip splitting from my partner as I was away that much.

zeddy1

thanks 306chris, your story is the type of thing i've been reading about. and i dont mind working hard either, ive done 12 hour shifts at other places but atleast i was around people and enjoying the banter but this kind of work as you say is insanly hard and i just dont think im cut out for it.

bugslet

Excellent post 306chris!

Adenuf

Hi,
I would just like to warn anybody looking at working for Dx couriers to be very careful when signing a contract with them to work as a self employed courier!

You will actually be signing a "Zero hours contract" and ALL of the costs incurred will be your responsibility and Dx will end your contract without even thinking twice! I have worked for Dx in the secure mail side for over 2 years and the company have gone from bad to worse with couriers now working silly hours for well less than the minimum wage after taking out ALL expenses.You cannot take a day off without having pressure put on you not to,if they overload you and you stand up for yourself they get rid of you(!), if you make any mistakes you are out etc etc......so there is no pressure!!! If Dx recruit more couriers than they need then your daily volume of work drops and you make even less money and yes if you complain you are shown the door! Our manager said that the managers had cost Dx £2,000,000 in bad contracts so they decided to get the money back by not paying couriers for deliveries that could not be made due to the item requiring a Mandatory Signature etc even though the courier had done the work! They also not only deduct your whole 50p for this delivery but they also now work out your drop rate for the day ( by miles travelled and amount of deliveries) and take this for each failed delivery so if you bring 10 items back (normal day) then they deduct 10 x drop rate approx £1.25 = £12.50 which is £300 per month out of your pocket! Just to make anywhere near a wage you will have to work six days a week and rumour has it that this is compulsory for all new couriers?!

Trust me this company are ruthless and I have seen peoples contracts terminated for speaking up about conditions,one lady,s mother was in hospital with cancer and she took a day off so they sacked her etc etc so please think carefully before you commit any money to them.You also need to work three weeks in hand plus pay for your outgoings/petrol for the three weeks which can add upto a few grand!

rsbk

I would be very interested to hear from any 'self employed ' courier for dx as i too worked for them for 5 years and a colleague for 10. We were both 'sacked' without warning or reason and currently going through the legal system for unfair dismissal .
They treat their couriers like **it hiding behind this bogus self employment farce. For the 5 years I worked their my route expanded so much I was working well over the legal domestic driving laws all for no extra pay, and yes dare you complain you are out . There health and safety is shocking , they say they have no legal weight constrictions and continue to expect couriers to man handle over sized and over weight goods. They insist on over loading vehicles well above the legal weight limits and don't care as 'you are self employed '
This company do not care , they will continue to function under this phoney 'self employment' by having a master vendor who has little to do with the couriers other than to pay the wages each week . The master vendor has no say over the running of the couriers , dx run the entire operation and will 'sack' anyone without warning comfortable in the knowledge that they are untouchable in a court of law as any tribunal will no doubt go for the master vendor .
Two tribunals against dx are pending one is next week and the other is in January .

geordie_5

I worked for the dx for 3 years up until a month ago, when i finally had enough. I worked in the secure mail section, had my own van, pay all outgoings, tax, national insurance etc... i showed up in the morning, got my round, and off i went. Normally we turned up around 6.30, but there were days, sometimes weeks on end, where we were all sat outside, waiting for rounds to be ready. Sometimes we left late, were late on timed deliveries, and if we knew before hand that we would be late, we had to go off route to be at these timed deliveries, and do the extra mileage, without getting paid. If then the person was not in, and the item needed a signature, we wouldn't get paid the drop rate either.

first of all, i'll explain the pay structure. you get 50p per drop, and 46p per mile. now lets say I have 70 deliveries, and do 150 miles, that amounts to £104 in total, and £1.48 droprate. If I then had mandatory signatures i could not get rid of, or a parcel i could not leave safely, say for example 10 in total, that is £14.80 taken off my earnings for the day.less petrol at around £17, £3 for handheld hire (which never work properly anyway) insurance around £5 a day, so I came out with just over £60 a day, for 12 hours. £5 an hour. minus tax and etc...

But, when i bought the van, it was new, £16,000. By the time I left the job, the van had done around 150,000 miles, and no sell on value. I would have been better off working for minimum wage, without the stress of the job. By stress I mean, timed deliveries, you get a royal telling off for being late, even though most of the time leaving the depot late was their fault, not mine. Mis-posts, you get 'fined' £250 if you lose an item or post in to the wrong address. This is mainly for passports and other items from the identity and passport service. Even though a new passport only costs around £80, they make a profit on your mistake. Mis-post more than one in 12 months, and you are out. And without warning.

I'm pretty sure that what they're doing, is not legal. Especially the part where they're not paying couriers for items that can't be posted or left safe. They have still been to the address, and left a calling card. this has caused drivers to sometimes post items that need a signature, putting themselves at even more risk of losing their jobs, because they cannot afford to be bringing stuff back. This alone, was costing me around £1500 per year. Also, you cannot post anything in outside letterboxes.

By the time I left, the morale of the drivers was terrible, the depot office workers didn't care anymore, and even though some of us tried to express our concerns, I doubt it ever made it to head office. Or infact, it would have made any difference if it did.

It is very long hours, and hard work, for not that good money anymore. Not to mention the weather conditions this time of year. If they are telling you you can make £800, they are not telling you the truth. During quiet periods, you are not even guaranteed a full weeks work.

vino164

Up untill Monday of this week I worked for DX in the secure operation.I simply had enough of using my time,money and fuel for little or no return.I had worked self-employed for 16 months for this appalling company.Up untill the second week of January this year if there wasnt enough work in your area you were given a day rate (£70) after this day rates ceased and if an item wasnt delivered due to a mandatory signature , or a calling card being left or if it was a flat and you could not gain access you were not paid for that drop.
Lets take the straw which broke this camels back.
Monday I dared to complain about the work I was issued on the Saturday (more work for less money) I was taken off my usual round and put on another with a mere 49 items.
49 x 90p=44.10
Take off fuel 17.00 hand held charge 2.50 mandatory items which you know cant be delivered 7.20.
I was expected to got out for a days work for £17.40.
I gave my badge back there and then.
There are couriers at the depot who regularly rake up 16 hours daily far to many hours for health & safety.
If you apply for a job with DX you will get it if you pass the vetting process as they are desperate for couriers but you will not earn anywhere near what they you will.
This is not sour grapes but a warning be very carefull.
I was fined for an item I mis-posted I couldnt get the item back as it took 5 days to give me the investigation by which time the address to where I mis-posted has opened the letter and disguarded the contents I was fined £195.00 but I only go £1 for delivering it.
The fine system is £250 for a passport and you loose your job
Any other item is a fine of whatever the cost of the item inside.
£5 if you are late for a timed delivery (somedays you could have 8 per 1s in 6 different postcodes)
and whatever else the can think of to fine you they will.
You would earn a better wage staking shelves at a supermarket.
Management are simply not interested they just want the items out the door and off their system to meet targets that upper management have set off a spread sheet.These people have never done the job of being on the road and do not know what it entails
Please BEWARE

Needtosavemore

I'm being told that I can earn over £30000/yr by doing almost 100 drops per day 6 days a week. This is working throughout the year, fuel and insurance to be taken off - no mention made of fines etc. Is this viable at all?