Alan, a student in Newcastle, lives in London.

Once a month he makes the long drive up to Newcastle…and back again. Not only is it a long drive, but the fuel cost really adds up. For a student, that’s even worse news than for the rest of us!

Ever resourceful, the student wanted ways to make some cash. A friend told him about stuff2send  – where anyone with wheels and a licence can offer to deliver stuff (parcels, packages, ebay stuff, furniture, prams, you name it…anything)…and get paid cash!

Sounded good, so Alan dived in and saw someone who needed a delivery service to send a crate of fine wine from London to Newcastle.

Fragile, costly, and precious (the wine), the sender gave the job to Alan becuase not only was he door-to-door, and could save him some money, but cecause he’d spoken to him, knew all about our online checks to verify who Alan was, and then met him, he trusted him. The sender also knew if anything happened, it would be Alan’s rating and future using the site at stake. He had plenty of reasons to trust Alan.

And he did. And his personal courier delivery went door to door. Perfectly.

Another example of how the 33m drivers in the UK can help themselves, and others, as they drive. Delivery something today.

From Classic Car Weekly / 19th Feb 2009.

The idea is beautifully simple; people who want something delivered place details of the item plus the collection and delivery postcodes, on the stuff2send website. There’ it’s seen by other people who are making a similar journey anyway, and they can make an offer to deliver the item. The sender can then select the lowest or best offer.

This benefits everyone; the sender pays less than they normally would using a conventional company and the person making the delivery gets a bit of money towards the cost of the journey they are making anyway. The environment benefits too because duplicated journeys on the same route are minimised.

We suspect it’ll work best when time is not of the essence for the delivery, and the sender can wait for more offers to find somene making that journey anyway.

We think it’s an excellent idea, and hope it succeeds.

Running empty is a real problem for anyone who makes a living from their vehicles. Industry experts claim around 25% of all truck journeys are undertaken with empty loads. This represents a major challenge for hauliers struggling with high fuel costs, let alone a fullblown recession.

For taxi drivers, the issue of running empty is of course, one of passengers not parcels. But the principle is the same. Every journey made without a paying fare represents a cost to the business. The truck sector has invested millions in better logistics, real-time vehicle tracking and driver monitoring software to maximise loads and minimise costs to address the problem. Now a new web site has the potential help London cabbies do the same – albeit much more cheaply. The site  -www.stuff2send.com was launched in December 2008. Site founder Colin Hay, recognised the benefit of services that linked empty truck loads with potential jobs. He took the concept one step further and applied it to private motorists, and small businesses.

And now he’s looking for taxi drivers to join the community. “It’s a very straightforward web site,” he said. “The idea is that if someone is driving somewhere anyway, they can bid on-line to deliver a package or parcel to a destination close-by, for someone else. There are real advantages in sharing your vehicle space with a package.

For all road users it means less unnecessary traffic, while for the individual it means getting paid for journeys you already do.” The service has signed-up 500 delivery drivers including students, commuters and small businesses like van couriers. But Hay believes the service could soon be a hit with London cabbies too. “We understand that many black cab drivers commute into London from outside the capital, so our service should prove a benefit on those empty runs.”

The cost of using Stuff2Send has been kept low too. It’s free to join for those who want to send stuff by posting details onto the site; those who join as a deliver driver pay a one-off fee of £10. Once registered, drivers search for parcels and packages to be picked up near where they start a journey to be delivered close to their planned destination. “We’ve only recently launched Stuff2Send, but already there’s been great interest,” added Hay. “We want to develop our community of delivery drivers and senders. I can’t think of a better community to spread the word and reap the benefits of Stuff2Send than London cabbies.”

It’s an interesting idea. And while parcels may not be the world’s greatest tippers, at least they won’t ask you to turn the radio down!

eBay had gone well, and the kite-surf fetched a decent fee. Now to get it from Berkshire to Southend-on-Sea.

• Step 1. Wrap it up. Sarah spent 30 mins wrapping, taping and securing it.
• Step 2. To the PO. 15 mins in the car, find some parking…and pay for it.
• Step 3. Queue. Fewer PO’s mean longer queues. 25 mins.
• Step 4. Oh Dear. “Sorry, we cannot take this….it’s 2cm too long”

Oh dear. Not so good.

• Step 5. Plan B. Call a national parcel delivery company, and join the telephone queue. As a non-account holder, £25, and they’ll pick it up tomorrow, sometime between 10am and 2pm.

            ”But I’m at work at that time!”.

            ”Sorry, that’s when we’re in your area, that’s all we can do”

• Step 6. Take time off work. And Wait. They did arrive, not at 10, or 11….but at 2pm

So, what did all this really cost?

• Time:                             1.5 hours packing, driving, queueing, phoning
• Delivery Service       £25
• Packaging                    £3 (wasted)
• Lost Earning               £60

Total: About 1.5 hours and £88.

With millions of people already driving all over the country, every day, there must be a better way…..

Since stuff2send.com launched, we have had a few people contacting us in regard to where they stand, as an individual, about taking some reward for delivering a package for someone.

The short answer is, as long as you do it in a not-for-profit basis, and any payment is a contribution to your fuel costs, you are ok.

We have taken our advice and lead from the ABI (Association British Insurers) guidance for car / liftsharing, which states that car-sharing won’t affect the insurance of their members so long as a profit isn’t made:

“Giving Lifts – All ABI motor insurers have agreed that if your passengers contribute towards your running costs your insurance cover will not be affected, as long as lifts are given in a vehicle seating eight passengers or less. This agreement does not apply if you make a profit from payments received or if carrying passengers is your business.” (Source: ABI website, 2005)

Drivers with any concerns should check with their insurance company as terms and conditions may vary between insurance providers over time.

Carrying an inert parcel will logically be a lower insurance risk than a person! On the site, for individuals, in both the T&C and FAQ’s we make it clear that any individual taking a payment for delivering a parcel, should do so on a not-for-profit basis, and any payments should be a contribution to fuel costs only.

So, individuals, as long as you adhere to the above, use stuff2send.com with confidence.

Item Details

1. Item Description. Keep it short & clear (limit 250 chars).
2. If you’re uploading from eBay, check the bottom of this box for unnecessary bits of code, text etc and delete them.
3. If you can be flexible with pickup & delivery dates, tick the box.
4. Offers End.  This is the date & time until which you are happy to get offers. To give more carriers the chance to make you offers, make this as many days as you can (we recommend between 2 – 7 days).

Extra Options

1. All carriers. Your item will be available to all carriers to make offers on. Gives you the best chance of getting most offers & choice.
2. Businesses only. Limits your item to registered businesses (eg couriers), so likely fewer offers, but a business level of service.
3. Telephone Offers. If it’s urgent, and you’re happy for carriers to see a contact number, then they can call you direct.

Peace of Mind

1. Your personal details are secure. They are NEVER shown to anyone else.
2. Read the profile & rating of each carrier before deciding to talk to them.
3. Talk to any carriers you want. Ask about their service & details (landline, address, vehicle they drive, how long they been on stuff2send, have they delivered before etc).
4. If you want, call them on both a mobile & a landline number to verify.
5. Choose the carrier you feel will give you the best service.

Choosing your carrier

1. We’ll alert you to every offer by email.
2. See each offer in: My account /Message (or Send) / My Item.
3. Call a carrier anytime to discuss their service & details.
4. Call as many carriers (who’ve made you offers) as you want.
5. You don’t have to wait for your “offers end” time – you can accept an offer whenever you want.

See what others say on our blog & check user guides.