courier drivers and cooper highway terrains

bozo,
Am a courier at present and have done it most of the time for the last 6 years so i've got it pretty well sussed financially and info wise.
This is a dangerous business to get into and you can lose a lot of money if you buy into anything. If it has a price attached, skip it.
This stuff has no goodwill attached to it despite what Fastways and Couriers Please bods will tell you. You are just buying yourself a job and unless you pay mega bucks for a big juicy industrial run, you will not make good money.
The other facet of it is point to point stuff as an independent and you need to know what you are taking on and what you will gross.
Before you even start, you need to have a per km running figure in front of you. take everything fuel, servicing, depreciation, interest on a loan, and insurance, rego etc. Without this you can't possibly line up your costs with the expected income and see whether it's even worth while doing.
My costs are 33.1c per km and most guys do 1500kms per week so it costs $500 minimum to keep my ute on the road.
I know what I'm doing and there's not much money in it now.
Activity is down and fuel is up. You will probably do much better on wages at a permanent job.
I do it because I can listen to my choice of music, look out the window and the world is always a bit different looking, and not have to talk to TFI's

Mark,
$30 per hour might be alright but you would need to have your fuel cost indexed. This is the killer because you are a price taker as a courier and as fuel costs go up, most employers of sub contractors won't pay any more. The story is that they will look for someone else if the bite is put on to pay more and there always someone to do it cheaper and undercut you. People who don't know their real costs and quote low are the problem.
This afflicts the heavy transport industry as well and I think we will be seeing a lot of owner drivers going to the wall with increased fuel and interest costs.
If you still haven't totally given away the idea, then I could point you in the right direction vehicle wise and help you determine your running costs. Look, it has its good momemts and it's great to be out on your own going up the M1 on a sunny morning with the radio on (your choice) but...............
The guy I work for is such a ranting a/ hole that I keep thinking of chucking it each week. At least when you are working for a firm there's a chance that some one might have some interpersonal or people management skills.
Sleep on it and call back