How much can you make on Courier Exchange?

Other factors that affect CX earnings

The earnings calculator is a handy tool. Still, to get an even clearer picture of how much you could make on the Exchange, there are a few more factors you should consider.

1. Your location

The Exchange earnings calculator uses averages, which aren’t perfect. In certain areas of the country, prices per mile vary – so your earnings might vary depending on where you work.

If you’re in a high-demand area, you could earn more than the calculator suggests.

2. Hotshots vs backloads

Something else to consider is whether you’ll be delivering hotshots or backloads.

On CX, hotshots are ‘regular’ loads. These loads usually need to be delivered quickly. When you’re booked to deliver a hotshot load, you’ll most likely drive to the pick up point straight away. (Or, if you’re a transport manager, you’ll send one of your vehicles to pick the load up).

Backloads are different. Backloads are what what they sound like: loads you collect as a bonus, usually after you’ve delivered a load, simply because you’re heading in the direction of the drop off point anyway. Backloads aren’t time-critical so you should be able to collect backloads at some point in the future. This is one of the reasons Courier Exchange is so popular: once you’ve arranged an initial, outbound load, you can find a backload before you set off.

Because backloads are an added bonus, the prices per mile for backloads are usually lower than prices per mile for regular loads.

(Of course, as a Courier Exchange member you can still quote for hotshots when heading back home. There’s nothing stopping you. In fact, doing so makes good business sense.)

3. Specialist services

Another thing to consider when thinking about how much you can earn on the Exchange is what you can offer.

Are you licensed to carry hazardous goods? Can you or your company transport chilled goods? Or oversized loads?

These kinds of loads aren’t your everyday loads so, if you can collect and deliver them, your prices per mile will almost certainly be higher than average. And if your prices per mile are higher than average, you can expect to earn more money than average when you join the Courier Exchange.

4. Feedback

Some couriers think shippers just want a good price for delivering loads. But that’s not strictly true.

In the past, we’ve surveyed shippers (at CX we call them ‘load posters’) to see what it is they want from Exchange couriers. And what they want more than anything is a courier in a good location who has good feedback.

That means if you have good feedback, load posters are happy to pay a little more for your services. So, if you’re a good courier or courier company, you can make more than average on the Exchange.

5. Direct bookings

On the Exchange, you can search our live map for loads. But that’s not the only way to get loads.

As well as searching for loads, you can share your availability with other Exchange members. Exchange ‘load-posters’ can then search a ‘live availability map’ to find you. And when they do, they can book you direct.

Prices per mile for ‘direct’ bookings are often greater than average prices per mile. This once again reinforces the above point: load posters are willing to pay a little more for a good courier.

So, how much can you really earn on the Exchange?

To sum up:

• Couriers looking for loads can use our earnings calculator to see how much you could earn on Courier Exchange
• The earnings calculator is based on average prices per mile
• How much you could earn depends on your location, whether you’re delivering hotshots or backloads, your services, your feedback score, and the percentage of direct bookings you receive
• You could earn more than the earnings calculator suggests
• To find out average prices-per-mile in your area (and see how much work is available) register your details and our team will show you