Hello, everybody! I’m Pete the Courier Driver and today's video is the most valuable things you need
as a courier driver. Firstly,
the things that you're required to have by law. If you're just driving a van, all you actually
need is a valid driving license and you need insurance. Which is either a higher and reward,
or goods in transit insurance. And you'll need high reward, light haulage,
and you’ll need goods in transit insurance. Some people also go for public liability. It’s not
necessarily a must, it's a handy thing to have. On top of which if you're driving a bigger vehicle,
like a seven half tonner or over, you may need a different license, depending on when you got your
driving license and you'll need a CPC card and you'll need a driver's card. CPC card is one of
these things you have to do every five years. There are other things also that it's handy
to have: Two forms of ID, your driver's license (that you should have anyway), then a passport or,
if you've got one, company ID. That's sometimes required. This often is for airports and things
like that they need two to let you in. That's basically what you need by law.
Then of course, there's the things you're going to need to run in; your clothes. You're going
to want to be comfortable. It's very sunny at the moment, so I am currently standing here in shorts.
But also boots. Because a lot of the places you'd go to, probably 50% of the places you go to,
might require PPE. So you're going to need some other PPE too.
What I've done is I've said the things you need fit into three different categories.
I'm going to flip this round; I'm going to show you the three different categories.
So from the PPE point of view; you’ve got a hard hat, you've got a high-visibility vest. I've also
got a padded one. You can have high visibility, jacket, gloves are not necessary, but you're
gonna use them all the time, and glasses. So everyone's different. I've been to sites
before where I've turned up, it says required long sleeve high visibility. And the guy says, “Yeah,
you need a long sleeve, high visibility”. I'm standing there in a bright orange,
long sleeve t-shirt that I have, it's a proper one. And I went,
“I'm wearing one, it's kind of a bit difficult to miss mate.” He said, “Yeah, but it's not green.”
I said my peace, I thought. He said, “Our site insurance requires green.”
He said, “Here, have this one.” He gave me one, it’s too small for me, standard.
So that's the other thing. You're also going to need straps and stuff. Strap your load down.
Here you go, here’s my strap box. We have five tonne straps. I have two tonne straps. That's
the fancy one. That's like a recliner, that’s a retractable one. If you’ve just the normal ones,
you’ll do absolutely fine. WD 40 in there. Corners for tramping down a load (also very handy),
also in the back that's a gadget (I'll show you that one day). Also in the back;
shrink-wrap, you know, padded, anything like that, anything that could take that you can put
next to the load, that's going to stop it moving, stop it being tricky, that kind of stuff,
getting it in the right place. And then also the other thing
(now this is category number three), it’s what I call my drivers bag, there’s a flask for the tea,
flask, for the juice we've got in there. We've got a pad and paper. You started to see a first
aid kit (always very handy). That kind of thing. This I need; my driver's card. Not
everybody's going to need one of those, tea and coffee (In case I get stuck out on the road).
The truth of the matter is you're going to get your basics. And so we'll probably, we'll go into
this a bit more depth later on, like, you know? But you'll learn very quickly what it is you need.
Your PPE is important because it can stop you getting onto site.
Straps are important because it will stop you breaking stuff when you come over. If you go
out on the road and you haven't got a cup of tea, you can always stop at one of those drive-through
things to get yourself a cup of tea. So you don't necessarily have to have a flask. Some people like
a nice coffee. I just won’t pay the money. Other things. The most important thing,
ironically enough, is this thing I'm carrying in my hand, the phone. The phone is going to be your
sat nav, is going to be the way your jobs come through sometimes, it might be your DAB radio,
it's the way you keep in contact with people. So that's just a basic overview. But before we
go on, I'd just like to say three things that I think people sometimes miss that I think are a
blinder and that will carry you on with a job. Firstly, you want to get yourself a torch.
I know you got one on your phone, but if you're going to do your walk round check in the morning
on the truck to make sure that everything's all right, and the wheels haven't fallen out, and no
one's had a go at your diesel, it's very handy. If you're trying to find Rose Cottage in your small
van at 10 o'clock at night in a dark village, you got the light on the phone, a decent torch will
stand you in good stead, that’ a bit of a boon. Also you want to grab yourself a knife. A knife is
a very handy thing to have. You’re probably better with a Stanley, or a box cutter. I've got this
one because I got it a long time ago in the Lake District when I was on holiday with the in-laws.
But it's handy for me because it's got that tiny little bit there – and that bit there is very good
for breaking the straps that go around pallets. And last, but by no means least, this guy:
It's a pen. But it's not just any pen, it's a fat marker pen. I mean, you can get the Pento ones
or the Pilot ones. When we used to do the DFS, what you’d do is you’d get sofas and it might be
three seater, three bits, like a big sofa, and a couple of armchairs and one would be an armchair
and a footstool, and sometimes they're all very similar colours. But what you'd do is you'd put
one load on, and you think, “That's my last drop.” So you’d mark every big plastic bag on the outside
with a four, then you get the next drop on, you’d mark every big plastic bag with a three.
If you've got a hundred parcels to load, they will let you mark the parcels, if it's drop number one,
stick a great big one on it. So much easier to find a great big
one than it is to find a tiny little barcode. Anyway, as I say, that’s a general overview,
we'll probably come back to this in time. I hope that helps. If you like these videos,
please subscribe to the Circuit channel and also I've got my own channel also on YouTube, which is
Pete, the Courier Driver. Take care, take money.