Man with a van

Jude57

Baldytyke88 said:

EnPointe said:

hire and reward insurance 
waste carriers licence 

are you  fit  and well to load / unload including carrying things potentially quite significant  distances, have you got the relevant  MHE  and  equipment to  undertake  the kind of work people often ask for a 'man and van for'   do you have a  useful second person who assist you when the job is one that  the major retailers would used '2man white glove'  resources on ? ( do you even know what  i men by ' 2 man white glove  team'  ?)

I was thinking more van and man, not 2 men. I have thought that a winch or a ramp could be handy, but I don't want to go into removals.

I like recycling, so picking up 'rubbish' and then recycling sounds appealing, but working with larger organisions would be needed to make it worthwhile. Lots of work on Facebook and free to promote yourself.

You'll need to look into the ramifications of your recycling plan. There's a whole raft of legislation covering this in addition to the Waste Carrier licence that's mandatory, including disposal of heavy metals, groundwater toxicity, air quality impact assessments and very much more. That's before you decide where (and how) you'll store the 'rubbish' and where and how you'll 'recycle' it, which may affect your home and those of your neighbours, plus you'll need permission from your home insurer and possibly your local authority if running the business from home. That's if you're really talking about recycling rather than upcycling. Tarting up the odd chest of drawers is one thing; recycling scrap metal or old tyres is another thing entirely.

Debbie9009

I work for a larger organisation that regularly has waste to be removed from various sites, we have to use someone with a waste carrier licence, they have to dispose of all the waste correctly and send us documents to prove they have done this, they can’t just take it down the local tip. 

A van wouldn’t be big enough to carry our waste, and they make it work by having lots of regular routes and lots of drivers.  Because we work with one company we have negotiated rates and terms with them.  I think you will find it hard to work with collecting waste from larger companies, especially part time.  

I think it’s something you would need to do a lot of research on.

Emmia

FlorayG said:

Cheslea2010 said:

Unfortunately, there are so many man with van operations around these days it is extremely competitive. You will be up against those doing jobs for cash and without the proper insurances. You will also need a waste carriers license if you intend to haul anything to the tip etc.

Yes this is absolutely going to be your main problem, illegal competition and potential customers saying " but Fred down the road is half that price". You will need time to buildup a good reputation and not make much money meanwhile; plus ONE bad review (for something that possibly wasn't even your fault) could set you back a long way. As a full-time earner it's a struggle - as a part-time to supplement a pension it might be worth it.
You might look into specialist man-with-a-van; I used to know somebody who specialised in moving valuable antiques and did very well; he would transports stuff all over Europe in his van

These days to do that (outside the UK) he'd need an operator licence for a van of 2.5t or more.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-van-or-other-light-goods-vehicle-operator-licence