Tag: delivery drivers

Don’t Defrost Your Van Insurance This Winter

Posted on by News Desk

It’s that time of year again, where morning temperatures are mostly in the minus and van drivers around the country are defrosting windscreens.

Police have recently taken to the airwaves in a bid to warn van drivers about the dangers of not defrosting windscreens correctly and leaving their van unattended

For example, did you know that if you are pulled over by Police this winter and you still have ice on your windscreen, then the Police officer will instantly slap a £60 fine on you? They are just doing their job.

Also, were you aware that if you leave the engine of your van running on the roadside while defrosting the windscreen, the Police officers have been instructed to give you a £20 fine? With all these fines, van drivers will be going without ham sandwiches and flasks of tea before too long.

Perhaps most alarming of all is the message from Police, that if your van is stolen why you were defrosting your windscreen, and you had just nipped into the house to “warm up for a bit,” then your van insurance company probably won’t pay out.

That’s right. Thousands of pounds worth of your property could disappear into the cold winter morning and there is not a thing you could do about it. Your van and power tools just gone, leaving you to start all over again…or go down the local job centre.

The message here is clear if you ask me…do not leave your keys in the ignition while defrosting the windscreen, especially if you plan to leave the van unattended, even for a few seconds.

Gangs of van thieves are everywhere right now, patrolling the morning streets of the UK just looking for that one opportunity. They are organised, quick, and fearless, and will think nothing of taking away everything you have worked hard for over the years.

This has led the Police to give out advice on what van drivers should be doing on those cold and freezing mornings.

Firstly, make sure you give yourself enough time to defrost your window. One of the main reasons why people get it wrong in the first place is because they are rushing.

Secondly, be prepared by using a windscreen shield overnight, and then in the morning, get rid of the ice with a basic scraper. Don’t turn on your engine and then leave the vehicle

Unfortunately, I think many van owners are going to ignore this message from Police, which means this winter could prove to be costly for many of our nations tradespeople and delivery drivers.

With that being said, you can make it not so expensive, and even a bit cheaper, by using a van insurance comparison website. Simply fill in the form and then get instant deals from around 40 companies.

All New Volkswagen Vans to Include Autonomous Braking

Posted on by News Desk

I’ve spoken before about self driving technology in vans, well, with a recent announcement it looks like Volkswagen are leading the way.

From right now, all Volkswagen vans, which includes Caddy, Crafter and Transporter vans, will be fitted with autonomous emergency braking systems, which are known in the industry as AEB.

If you ask me, this is a very significant move in the self driving revolution by Volkswagen, and I should think that most of the other major van manufacturers will now be following suit, or risk getting left behind.

One expert has even commented that this news is the most important since the announcement of the seat belt. It could very well be.

That same expert has predicted that AEB could save 100 lives and prevent over 100,000 accidents over the next decade. Let’s wait to see what happens.

What I do know is that if true and autonomous emergency braking in vans is the real deal, then eventually we should start to see van insurance prices getting cheaper.

At the end of the day, if there are less accidents then van insurance companies don’t have to pay out as much…which then leads to them passing on the savings to you, the customer. That is the theory anyway.

Of course, there are other factors that decide how much you pay for van insurance, such as van thefts and government interference.

Regular readers of this blog will be only too aware about how many vans are being broken into and stolen around the UK just recently. It has a lot to do with these “magic keys” that are being sold on the internet.

Hopefully once the self driving technology becomes really advanced they can work out a way to stop van thieves once and for all, but for now it looks like van crime is here to stay.

Back to Volkswagen and a spokesperson for the company said, “We’re really proud to be the first to fit AEB as standard to all our vans. This means safer vehicles on our roads.”

Volkswagen seem to be right at the forefront of technology as they also recently announced a partnership with a company called Nvidia, in a bid to make their self driving vans more intelligent.

A dedicated Artificial Intelligence team have been set-up at Volkswagen HQ, and I’m sure they are all hard at work to bring us the next piece of technology that is going to make driving easier and safer.

It might be a while though until vans become completely self driving and delivery drivers are replaced by robots, so for now, the vast majority of van drivers around the UK can get on with business as normal.

Delivery Drivers Tell All in Anonymous Survey

Posted on by News Desk

Every day vans are driving around the country making important deliveries, but what about the delivery drivers themselves? A new survey tells us more.

No names were taken when conducting the survey, which means the drivers could relax and open up about what really goes on when they deliver goods and packages to homes in the UK.

One driver told the survey that it often never occurs to customers who have just moved in to tell them where white goods such as cookers and washing machines are going in the house, expecting him to instantly know where to put such items.

“We’ll turn up and they’ve just moved in, with boxes everywhere, and they’re expecting us to navigate this huge oven down to the basement kitchen.”

Another driver, who will remain nameless, mentioned how a woman screamed and swore at him because an expensive brand name stove wouldn’t go around the bend of her very narrow stairs. Apparently, she just couldn’t comprehend how the stove could not be taken to the kitchen, and ended up blaming the delivery drivers.

Of course, a simple 2 minute job with a tape measure would have told her that a designer stove was not getting around the stairs. Not surprisingly the delivery driver had to take the stove away and the woman was refunded.

That same driver also told a funny story about how he once delivered a washing machine to a student house, only to be asked “so can we, like, use it now?” He had to explain that it needed to be plumbed in first.

What almost all delivery drivers agree on in the survey is they just can’t stand the guy who stands around like a gaffer ordering them about and giving instructions while trying to deliver white goods and other large items.

“Mind the walls” and “bend your knees, up a bit,” these people will say, but at the end of the day delivery drivers know their job and are better off left alone to do it after getting some simple instructions.

“I’m often tempted to drop their new fridge on their feet,” said one driver when asked about the home owners who try to order him about.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, with the majority of delivery drivers agreeing that many customers are very nice, and the best ones are those who offer a cup of tea.

If there is one thing that all delivery drivers like it’s a good cup of tea…and cheap van insurance as well.

Insuring your van is getting more expensive, but you can save money by using a comparison website.

Argos Van Drivers Call Off Christmas Strike

Posted on by News Desk

It was all set to ruin Christmas as one of the nations favourite stores looked to be on the verge of a strike, but the van drivers have decided against it.

Initially, the delivery drivers and their representatives had voted to strike for 72 hours around the busiest time of the year in a dispute over pay. This would have left the store in complete chaos, with millions of orders that couldn’t be delivered.

The good news is that it now appears the strike is off, although the drivers and their representatives are still going to vote again on whether or not to accept the new pay offer from Argos. Experts have commented that the offer will be accepted soon and the van drivers will be on the road as usual.

Is that a good thing though? A recent video caught an Argos van driving on the wrong side of the road. I know they are in a rush to get their deliveries out, but they really should follow the traffic laws and have basic common sense in my opinion.

Maybe the Argos bosses might want to take out some extra van insurance over the next month just to make sure they are completely covered…that and some basic driver training it seems.

Whatever some might think about Argos delivery drivers and their driving skills, there is no doubt that many people will be glad to see them back on the road, getting those gifts out around the UK in time for Christmas and making sure no-one is left disappointed.

A spokesperson for Argos said, “we are pleased that both sides have resolved their issues and would like to reassure our customers that it’s business as usual this Christmas at Argos.”

Unfortunately, Argos are not the only company talking about striking this Christmas, because as you may have heard the Post Office are potentially going down this route.

Just to be clear, it’s not the Royal Mail and their hard working van drivers that are planning to strike, it’s actual post office workers who sort the mail and things like that.

From what I’ve been told, Royal Mail and the Post Office are two separate divisions, which means we can expect to see the millions of parcels get to their destinations on time because of those Royal Mail van drivers.

As for the Post Office strike? Let’s wait to see what happens there, although I think it’s possible we could see something similar like what happened at Argos, where the workers accept an offer from the company and then it is business as usual.

150 Parcels Stolen From Delivery Van

Posted on by News Desk

It’s Christmas again and that means one thing…lot’s of parcels being delivered all around the country by van drivers.

Unfortunately, one delivery van in Burnley got stolen last week, and although Police later found the van abandoned in a street, the 150 parcels it was carrying were nowhere to be found.

This wasn’t an isolated incident either. On that very same day another delivery van was also stolen in Burnley. Fortunately, on this occasion the driver was coming towards the end of his shift which means he didn’t have any parcels left to be stolen.

This comes at a time when Police are warning delivery van drivers around the country to not leave their engines running while making a delivery.

While it has not been confirmed exactly how the 2 vans in Burnley were stolen, typically speaking, when these kind of vehicles are taken it is because the driver got out to make a quick delivery and then left the keys in the ignition with the engine running.

It all happens so fast, and before the driver knows it their van is being driven off down the street by a thief who was just waiting for the smallest of opportunities.

Not only does leaving your keys in the ignition make the chances of your van being stolen more likely, but it also puts you in a bad situation if you need to make a claim on the insurance policy.

I’m sure that your van insurance provider is not going to be thrilled when they ask how the van was stolen, only to be told that you basically handed the keys to the criminals…and even left the engine running for them so it made the getaway even easier.

If you work for a big company then your boss won’t be impressed either, because the company will find it hard to claim on the van insurance.

Of course, there is a good chance the van will be found by Police in no time at all, but this doesn’t always happen, and as we’ve just seen in Burnley, many times the vans reappear but without those parcels.

It’s Christmas time remember, which means it’s now more important that all those parcels arrive safely to their intended destination.

So what is the solution? The only way is to turn off the engine, take out the keys and then lock the door when you are making a delivery.

Sure, it is going to take you a bit longer to deliver all the parcels, but at the end of the day it’s better to get everything delivered and be 30 minutes over schedule, rather than being back at the depot by lunchtime having to tell your boss the van was stolen.

Delivery Drivers and Self Driving Vans

Posted on by News Desk

We all know that self driving vans are the future,but could this mean the end for delivery drivers? The answer is surprising.

One of the main companies at the forefront of self driving technology is Google of course, who recently have been trying out a number of cars at various locations around the USA (including one incident where their car crashed into a bus and they tried to get out of giving their insurance details).

Well, in a move that is sure to get the attention of delivery drivers, news has just emerged that 2 Chrysler Pacifica vans have been spotted at Google headquarters.

Nothing wrong with that you might be thinking, but our insider sources have told the site that these vans are actually part of a new test for self driving vans.

What I know right at this moment is that each of the vans has been fitted with sensors, which means they are almost ready for the road…without a driver.

Could we imagine a day where vans are driving around delivering parcels and other important packages, without the need for anyone at the wheel? Also, let’s not forget that if self driving vans really are the future then van insurance will probably become a lot cheaper.

If you drive a van though don’t get ready to hand in your notice just yet, because in my opinion I think the technology for these self driving vehicles is a long way from becoming something you see on the roads around the UK.

While companies like Google will tell you it is only a few years away, there is a lot of problems that need to be sorted out, as well as proving to the public that self driving vehicles are the real deal.

This is all going to take time, and it could very well be 10 to 15 years from now until we really start to see things change. Even then, it won’t go smoothly at first, and there will be a need for delivery drivers to keep things running along like normal, even though they might not have to do all of the driving.

I have no doubt that well into the future we shall see vans driving around without any drivers at all, but this is still a long way off.

For now though, the delivery driver industry is going to be as strong as ever, and those millions of vans around the UK still need insuring. It only takes a few minutes to get a quote, and you could easily save hundreds of pounds compared to your current policy.

It will be interesting to find out where all of this self driving technology takes us. Right now it is still a bit unclear exactly how far away this is from being the real deal and how it is going to work, but one thing is for sure, with a company such as Google behind it this is something that eventually is going to become mainstream.

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