You might be a self-employed courier, looking to make more money. Or maybe your multi-van courier company needs more loads. Either way, at some point the question will have crossed your mind:
How much money can you make on Courier Exchange?
That’s why we’ve created a tool to calculate your earning potential on the Exchange.
How the earnings calculator works
The CX earnings calculator uses averages. It looks at all loads delivered on the Exchange in the last week, grouped by vehicle type (small van, LWB, Luton, etc.) and taking location into account.
It then calculates the average price per mile for a specific vehicle delivering a load on CX.
Factors that affect earnings on CX
The earnings calculator is a good starting point. But if you want to have an even clearer picture of how much you could make on the Exchange, there are a few more factors to consider.
1. Your location
Prices per mile vary in different parts of the country – which the earnings calculator takes into account.
You should also consider that – especially if you’re in a high-demand area – you might occasionally have more loads than you can take on. In this case, you can find subcontractors on CX for your surplus work, so you never leave money on the table.
Tip:
Driver demand varies between locations. If you’d like to know how many loads are available in your area, register your interest and our team will show you.
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 it up..
Backloads are different. They’re exactly 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.
These types of loads aren’t time-critical, so you should be able to collect them at some point in the future, after you’ve finished your current delivery. This is one of the reasons why 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 calculating how much you can earn on CX is whether you can offer specialist courier services.
Are you licensed to carry hazardous goods? Can you or your company transport chilled goods? Or oversized loads?
Most couriers can’t take these kinds of loads. So if you can collect and deliver them, your price per mile will almost certainly be higher than average.
4. Feedback
Some couriers think shippers just want a good price for delivering loads. But that’s not the whole picture.
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 their response, more than anything, is a courier in a nearby 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, your reputation will pay off and you’ll 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 work.
As well as searching for loads, you can share your availability with other Exchange members. Exchange ‘load-posters’ can then find you on the live map. And when they do, they can book you direct.
Tip:
The map below shows vehicles available right now. Load posters can use the map to book vehicles directly – often at a higher than average price per mile
Find loads
Thousands of loads to choose from
The price per mile for ‘direct’ bookings is often greater than average. This is more evidence for the point made earlier: load posters are willing to pay 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 for your vehicle and location
- Other factors for how much you can earn are: whether you’re just taking loads or if you’re also posting excess work, your mix of 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 the average price-per-mile in your area (and see how much work is available) register your details and our team will show you
The article was published on . It was updated on 13 December 2024 to make it more relevant and comprehensive.
