Hello, my dears!

Well, this is why I love blogging! Remember last time, when I asked for a few alternatives to courier jobs for owner drivers, because a gentleman I knew was in need of some quick contracts? Well, I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least – my inbox was flooded with responses from you lot, and most of them were not half-shabby, either! Below, I am fulfilling my promise and publishing some of the best suggestions I got; the other part of the promise will be fulfilled the next time I see my friend at the cafe and actually pass the list on to him!

Now, before we start, a warning: I'll be doing things a little differently this time around. Instead of publishing your responses as you sent them, like I usually do, I thought I'd spice things up a little and provide my own summation of each answer. I won't, of course, forget to credit anyone or anything; I was just a little tired of the old format. I hope no one is upset by this change; if you are, I do apologise. And now, without further ado, here we go! Your best alternatives to courier jobs for owner drivers!

School Bus driver. This one came from the US, where I apparently have readers. Tim from Oregon tells me that, in a small community, being a school bus driver (or a bus driver in general) is usually a good way to keep active when there are no courier jobs for owner drivers. Unfortunately, over here, we don't really have school buses, although some schools do have shuttles to take the kids back and forth. What my friend could do, and is actually not a bad idea, is start a shuttle to serve schools that don't have their own. He has a handful of vehicles, and some very responsible drivers, so this would be entirely doable. And I'm sure parents would be eternally grateful to him! Shuttling OAPs would also be a possibility. Maybe he could even do both, and be the Jack-of-all-trades of courier services in our area!

Taxi Service. A very nice idea from Jenny in Surrey. With his little fleet and his flexibility, it would be very easy for my friend to turn his business into a taxi service. He would make more money, and he wouldn't need to look for those elusive courier jobs for owner drivers anymore! Well done, Jen love!

Moving Service. Another very good suggestion, this time from Pete in Hampshire. There are always people in need of having their houses cleared, or their things moved to other locations, and I'm told many man-and-van operators do this when there are no courier jobs for owner drivers available. Another very viable suggestion that I will pass on to my friend. Thanks, Pete!

Garbage Man. I'm not sure how serious this suggestion was, but like I said, my friend is not afraid to get his hands dirty...

Well, there you have it – a nice little list for my gentleman friend to pick from! Give yourselves a round of applause, as we could not have done this without your input! Above all, though, I hope you had fun – I know I did!

Until next time!

Gertie
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