the health effects of being a courier and driving long distances

The courier industry is one of the most important parts of British business to date, connecting businesses across the world either through same day, next day or international deliveries. With Christmas seeing more and more people shop online couriers have been busier than ever, delivering more packages and parcels then they dare dream.

With over 208,648 reported casualties on the road each year long distance driving is thought to be a problem as it cause a large percentages of the fatalities and accidents on the roads each day.

With some couriers facing long and seemingly endless shifts on the road, the heavy lifting and bending, drivers face a constant stream of conditions that may cause a number of severe health problems:

Article by  Change Your Life Hacks, January 14, 2011

Body Pains

Attributed to their heavy work and long and immobile hours on the road, fatigue and back pains are two of the foremost complaints from being employed in this job. Staying at a stationary sitting position for extended hours can injure the back, spine and the neck. Statistics show that 20% of truck collisions are brought about by tired and overworked drivers.

Sleep Disorders

Truck drivers usually operate on different shifts and are oftentimes compelled to spend the night on board their trucks which do not facilitate for a healthy sleeping habit. As a result, most truck drivers face the nagging problem of sleeplessness which is very hazardous and can result in accidents. Another health issue that they face under these conditions is experiencing apnea; a condition characterized by irregularities in breathing during one’s sleeping.

Eyesight Problems

Having excellent vision is pertinent to anyone who works as a truck driver, but unfortunately driving on dark and dusty roads can greatly strain the eyes and may lead to poor vision and other eyesight impairments.

Obesity

One of the rising health concerns for truck drivers is that of obesity. As a truck driver needs to fight off sleep, they tend to stuff themselves with takeout foods that are usually greasy and fatty and as their jobs are greatly confined to their seat, these calories seep into the driver’s belly which leads to hypertension and heart conditions.

Though it is primarily the driver’s responsibility to look after his own health, their particular work conditions make it difficult to do so, providing them with the means to regularly be screened by a health care specialist is essential. As our economy relies on these truck drivers to deliver the needed goods and commodities to the people, it is also important to look into their health and medical conditions.

Some couriers and long distances drivers may never experience any of the above but if they do what should they be entitled to? Should courier owners pay for gym memberships for drivers, should they have to pay for your glasses?

Couriers businesses sometimes don’t understand the emotional and mental needs of employees in a male dominated industry many directors fail to understand the importance of mental health issues. As mental health issues are continuing to gain more recognition in the courier industry i think in the next 10 years we could see some changed to wages, benefits and legislation for long distance drivers.

 

 

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The ancient art of seaweed farming could provide a solution to a 21st-century energy dilemma

Are we going to see one of the biggest breakthrough in big fuel technology as GM microbe paves way for large scales seaweed farming as scientists have created a genetically engineered microbe that turns the algae into low-carbon biofuel.

Could you comprehend driving a van powered by seaweed, if you can do you think the price of the bio-fuel will be as expensive?

The ancient art of seaweed farming could provide a solution to a 21st-century energy dilemma  but i wouldn’t get to excited yet as the process must make the technique commercially viable.

Biofuels have been touted as low-carbon replacements for petrol and diesel, but those made from crops like corn and sugar have been blamed for increasing global food prices and delivering only modest benefits.

Earlier studies have indicated that large-scale use of seaweed as an energy source could in theory supply the world’s needs several times over and the UK government envisages between 560 and 4700 km sq of seaweed farms in its long-term energy planning.

The new microbe research, published today in the leading journal Science, represents a “critical” technological breakthrough, but the challenge of making the approach commercially viable remains.

“Natural seaweed species grow very fast – 10 times faster than normal plants – and are full of sugars, but it has been very difficult to make ethanol by conventional fermentation,” said Yannick Lerat, scientific director at Centre d’Etude et de Valorisation des Algues, the algae study centre in France. “So the new work is a really critical step. But scaling up processes using engineered microbes is not always easy. They also need to prove the economics work.”

Read more about this in the article on the Guardian newspapers website

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Calculate the impact of your travel, home and shopping habits

Your “carbon footprint” is the total amount of carbon dioxide, or CO2, emitted in order for you to carry out your daily activities. A carbon footprint is usually expressed in tons of CO2 emitted per year. While some activities, such as driving a car, clearly contribute to your carbon footprint, others are not so obvious.

The Guardians quick carbon calculator works out the impact of your travel, home and shopping habits with our simple carbon footprint calculator.

Have a good on the carbon calculator and see what you are producing

A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc. The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

As courier drive thousands of miles every week and it is important that drivers are aware of the impact they are having on the environment, many courier service have CSR statements in place which outline intensions and activities regards environmentally friendly activities. Many courier services are activity working on reducing carbon footprints to save money but it is clear that it is not easy.

Yes courier save money and the environment by not making unnecessary trips but can the courier industry do more, investing in eco friendly fuel can be costly for couriers in a hyper competitive market were price is large factor so sometimes many large couriers companies fail to reduce their carbon footprints out of fear of losing profit and completive edge.

If the technology was at a high standard courier services would be able to switch to more environmentally friendly transport, electric vans need to be introduced but at the moment the lack of worthwhile eco vans on the market is surprising. Many of the eco vans on the market occurs high maintenance costs and take more time and effort to maintain. Many couriers are in a catch twenty two as the want to reduce emissions and co2 but are in the position of if they want it they have to spend thousands buying it.

It will be exciting to see in the next few years the rise of the eco vans into express delivery and postal services depots, but until then will the courier industry continue to destroy the environment?

 

 

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Should couriers be able to open your packages?

Many people would have thought no chance as soon as you had read the title of the blog, however does your courier have a right to know what your are sending is legal and safe?

In a perfect world we should all be able to send packages around the world easily and freely, some bad eggs have spoilt the idea of making it easy but we shall not get into that now.

Because of the actions of several people over the past few ‘years’ postal and courier companies all over the world are considering every packages content? Some global companies to have checks in places for international deliveries, however national couriers do not have anything in place, not even a sniffer dog. If you are sending a parcel though a same day courier should they have the right to check your package?

As a security risk unknown and un-trusted packages can/have caused some major incidents and disasters around the world, giving the powers to a courier or postal service could reduce the security risks of explosives, illegal goods and improve the security of your items. Courier services have many rules and regulations in place to insure you parcel gets to the right place at the right time with evidence of the journey, driver and time.

Would it be fair to assume that many courier services and drivers are not aware of what potential dangers goods they could be carrying? Giving couriers the powers to search is unlikely but a thought that should be pondered sensible as cutting crime and reducing security risks are two big issues we face in this day and age. With countries on red alert should the courier and postal industries be doing more to keep them selves and the world safer?

There are no figures that represent illegal or risky goods pass through the hands of couriers and postal service but i can assume as i have been working in the industry for over 20 years the figure will be more than anyone can predict.

Do you consider your package being private a part of the service? would you ever consider changing courier if the powers of ‘search’ were introduced to small to medium sized courier services?

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Has your courier killed the festive fun? Learn how to complain

In a world with people who constantly consume to feel content is it fair that the couriers could have killed our Christmas?

com·plain/verb: Express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event.

We know the holiday season creates ciaos for couriers and postal services but now online shopping has risen and the rise of M commerce (Mobile shopping) is taking pace this holiday season is said to see the biggest amount of lost parcels, damaged packages, late delivery and negative customer service/ complaints.

Thousands of people this week will be fuming about late or lost gifts thinking there is nothing to do but keep leaving those answer phone messages and angry letters that portably won’t be delivery and if they are not read. Well many people are not aware of the impact the internet has, word of mouth is the best form of advertising for any business and a bad reviews of a company are talked about more than a good reviews. It is the quickest and best method to get your message across to a global audience.

Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Linkedin, Stumble, Digg. Tumblr, Reddit and many more sites can be used to air your rants about companies that ‘do not deliver’. Thousands of people will take to the key boards in the next few weeks to protest about bad customer service and poor customer services and deliveries. So if you are going to join them why not also get your point across on websites dedicated to complaints:

The howtocomplain.com is a great place to get answers, have a rant or find out your rights about services or products that have let you down when you have needed them the most. The website is free and independent which drives results,

 How often have you intended to complain about something but never got around to it? Well now you can easily and effectively:

• Learn about your rights and where to get advice and help.
• Submit, escalate and resolve complaints online.
• Find out how to complain about any issue.
• Share info using our message boards.

If you have had a courier that has let you down i would insist that you get on board this website as many couriers in the UK only care about volume of parcels and profits, when most of the time the smaller and medium courier companies are the most reliable.

There are loads of websites to help you kick off about your late, lost or stolen goods:

http://www.complaint.co.uk/

http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/

http://www.blagger.com/

http://www.reviewcentre.com/

Don’t stay silent let couriers and postal service work had for your money as at the moment many national couriers do not care abut your goods, you are 1 parcel in a million to them, so get online and get posting. You don’t want other people to be in your position next Christmas do you?

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FedEx delivery man tossing a computer monitor over a fence *video*

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Youtube highlights the importance of service and ethics in the courier industry

I decided that after seeing some of the most shocking videos on Youtube of couriers/postal services throwing parcels into vans and kick them around I would talk about ethics this week.

Even though the employees of the companies that are being caught on camera are primarily to blame what are the company’s reactions to the negligence or damage they are causing? There are 100’s of videos on Youtube that are damaging couriers and postal services around the world, my question is why are the couriers and parcel companies not aware of what is online and if they do know about it why are they not doing anything?

The lack of ethics that is seen in the videos poses questions, can companies ensure that they are hiring reliable and ethic employees?

Ethics can be defined as/or ‘relating to moral principlesor the branch of knowledge dealing with these’ If a company employees a person with a lack of moral principles should they not be held accountable for that persons actions?

I believe that a company should hold there their hands up even if the person is to blame and say look I am sorry I was wrong to hire this person to represent the company. Send this in a letter and build the customer service reputation back up from the ashes. There are too many employees of global couriers doing something wrong online, in my opinion it may not hardly damage their reputation as they could be the cheapest or best courier in the world to some people and as long as it does not happen to them it’s all fine and dandy.

The videos online do give local and national couriers a better perception than the global players. Do the local couriers do better because of the bad press that the national couriers get? Do businesses use smaller couriers as they are more accountable for their actions? I would like to think they do.

Luckily I have never been in this situation and I understand that it must be harder for larger companies to deal with but is it just a case of larger companies not caring about the small percentages that see the videos online?

If I was a larger organisation and an employee was filmed doing something morally wrong I would comment on the video every time someone comments on it. Giving the message that the company is ethical and they care about what people think not just leaving it.

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A thick line placed between ethics and legal trading

Many people believe that trading unethically is against the law; in fact they are wrong as there is no legal requirement to be ethical.

Unethical trading is something couriers still do within the industry. For example; being a sub contractor for a courier for a few months then leaving and stealing those employers’ customers is still perfectly legal!

Not having a CSR, crashing a competitors website, clicking on PPC ads repeatedly, not being fuel efficient, poor customer service are just some other ways unethical behaviour can take place in our industry.

It may not be illegal to trade unethically but in some customer’s eyes it’s even worse than trading illegally. Research has shown that customers want to see the businesses they are dealing with being ethical.

Positive associations can be very beneficial to a business in attracting new customers towards a courier. If a business is trading unethical word of mouth can begin and start to tarnish a company’s reputation, negative association can build up and so ensuring your company and your employees act ethically can now be just as important as trading legally.

The definition of ethics is ‘pertaining to or dealing with morals or the principles of morality; pertaining to right and wrong in conduct’

The line between ethics and law has been made thicker in the past few years with courier companies struggling to survive in the current economic climate and the technological advances within certain industries pushing companies out of the market and into administration.

Being ethical is however now more important than ever is important to those left in the industry. Regards of the economic climate and the line between legal and ethical trading couriers must up hold moral decency to revive some more trust into the industry.

Article reference thecouriershop.co.uk

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The 3 golden rules you should consider when choosing a courier

I am not being negative towards courier services that don’t follow my three golden rules, i am being green!

It is as important as ever for your business and yourself to start taking responsibly for what you do and how is affects the planet and the people around you. In a world were being ethical is becoming more important as customer expectation increase and legislation/laws are becoming more strict and noticeable you should be activity acting consensually ethical.
 
I have devised these three golden rules when choosing a courier service as i believe if you chose a courier that doesn’t do any of the rule then you are affectively responsible for what they are doing ethically and environmentally. It sounds old now but its not easy being green and every courier should be striving to develop ethical and environmentally friendly ways of trading.

What are my three golden rules when choosing a courier?

Number 1 – CSR

I don’t believe in this day and age some courier companies are not acknowledging their responsibility as a business to their community and the wider world. If you are looking for a courier or you already have one then you need to identify their CSR. A CSR is defined as

‘CSR is the acknowledgement by companies that they should be accountable not only for their financial performance, but for the impact of their activities on society and/or the environment. Discussions surrounding the concept are still at an evolutionary stage, although the principles of CSR have long been part of business strategy’ Click here

If your courier does not do the above then it is neither acting in your businesses best interests or its own. If you find a courier who acknowledges the impact their business has on the world then you are on the right track, by identifying what they do they are aware of the impact their services have on the environment, local community, etc. If you associate yourself with this business their reputation is being transferred onto your brand. So my advice is to trade safely and think responsibly when choosing a courier service.

Number 2 – Local business: Local drivers

Did you know that the unemployment rate is currently 2.49 million? Did you know that around 226000 immigrants came to the UK last year? With thousands of job cuts being announced last year and more to role out this year i believe it is now more important than ever to use a courier service that employees local people from the areas they trade within. If you are currently using a courier and they are using workers that do not have an understanding of your area why are you using them?

Some companies use drivers from all over the UK, I believe that in order to be ethical and to support your local economy, couriers should use local drivers from your local area. Why would you want someone who does not care about your business or community dealing with your work? I believe if you want to be seen as ethical using a courier that demonstrates and supports local togetherness will benefit not only that company but your company as well.

Number 3 – Low emissions, carbon offset- well educated

I have discussed the lack of investment in the technology to make the courier service industry more green. There is currently nothing in the market which is anywhere close to what the couriers want in terms of being green and seriously reducing carbon emissions.

If you use a courier that is actively investing in technology and that is well educated and informative then you are on the right track. Your courier’s needs to be activity involved in reducing its carbon emissions and have a strategy in place to evidence that they are working towards being a greener company.

Your courier should follow these golden rules and if they don’t you need to be looking elsewhere as these are some of the biggest topics currently in the courier industry. Your company/brand needs to be acting ethically, social responsible and be green. You can do this quite simply by using a courier that follows the three golden rules.

What are your thoughts on my golden rules?

Do you/did you consider them when you chose a courier service? has you brand/businesses reputation been affected by your courier service?

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How many hours can a courier drive?

The rules and regulations on how many hours a courier driver can drive are very cloudy, in an industry were some large courier companies pay their staff under the minimum wage I believe it is important to educate the couriers in the UK to ensure they and their companies are not breaking any rules and regulations imposed on them.

To ensure you are not breaking and laws, rules or regulation i have identified a fantastic website that details all the vital information needed to ensure your business or the business you work for are practising legally.

Ethical trading is something the courier industry are not held in the highest respects for, by following the rules and regulations we can ensurew that indsutry

All the following information is quoted from the  Courier Business Stuff website, the article was Posted by Alec at 4:19 pm, July 24, 2008.

‘For most same day couriers within the UK the only legal restrictions on driving and working time will be the domestic drivers’ hour’s rules and some aspects of the Working Time Directive.

The GB Domestic Drivers’ Hours Rules apply to all drivers of goods vehicles, however small, driven in Great Britain (Northern Ireland has its own rules) in connection with a business, where EU drivers’ hours rules (tacho regulations) don’t apply.

The rules are quite straightforward. In any day (defined as 24 hours from the start of duty) you’re allowed to drive for a maximum of 10 hours. Driving is defined as being at the controls of a vehicle for the purposes of controlling its movement, whether it is moving or stationary with the engine running.

The total amount of time that you’re allowed to be ‘on duty’ for the same 24 hour period is 11 hours.

For an employed driver, including directors of limited companies, ‘on duty’ means any working time, including sweeping the yard, answering the phone, loading and unloading etc.

For a self-employed driver ‘on duty’ means driving the vehicle or carrying out any other work in connection with the vehicle or its load. Answering the phone or sweeping the yard would not be duty time, cleaning the van or loading it up would be.

If you drive for less than 4 hours in a day there are no restrictions on duty time – you could legally work in the warehouse for 10 hours and then drive for up to 4 hours.

There are exemptions to the duty time BUT NOT THE DRIVING TIME for certain trades, but same day courier work wouldn’t fall into any of the exemptions.

If you only ever drive vehicles that are under 3,500kg GVW there is no legal requirement to keep records of your working or driving hours.

• You can drive for up to 10 hours per day, breaks aren’t included in the 10 hours, nor is loading and unloading or waiting time with the engine switched off.

• You can ‘work’ for up to 11 hours per day, breaks aren’t included but all other work is included (unless you’re self-employed when some work doesn’t count).

• The ‘day’ lasts for 24 hours from the time you start work. So if you start at 10.00am today and work for 11 hours then you can’t do any more work until 10.00am tomorrow.

• There are no record keeping requirements for drivers of vans under 3,500kg.

• There is a requirement under the Working Time Directive and Health & Safety laws for drivers to have adequate rest.

The rules are enforced by VOSA, but except for in cases where tiredness has actually caused an accident I’ve never actually heard of anyone being prosecuted for being ‘over hours’ in a vehicle without a tacho or driving hour’s log. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, just that I’ve never heard of it.

In the case of an employee who causes an accident while exceeding their daily driving or duty time their employer would almost certainly be held liable for the accident. A death caused by an employee under these circumstances could leave the employer facing a charge of Corporate Manslaughter.

It should also be noted that both VOSA and the Police can go to extraordinary lengths to establish exactly how long a driver has been working, particularly following a serious accident. Mobile phone records can easily be checked to pinpoint the users whereabouts to within a few hundred metres, your own GPS tracking logs can provide even more conclusive evidence, fuel receipts can be examined and the time of fuel-card and credit-card purchases can be traced. Even a POD for a 500 mile round trip same day delivery may be enough to incriminate you.

VOSA are already using ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), in conjunction with axle weight sensors embedded in the road, to identify overloaded vehicles. I believe that it’s only a matter of time before they use it to detect drivers’ hours offences as well’

You have to agree that the website does a good job of informing us on the laws of driving as a courier, if you require more information I have provide the link to the <a href=”Rules on Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs Goods vehicles in GB and Europe” target=”_blank”>vehicles and service operator website</a>

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