Many of us could really use some extra income. We have enough
to pay our bills and put food on the table, but nothing extra.
You could always go to work for McDonalds or Walmart, but with
all of your responsibilities, is minimum wage worth it?
There is one occupation that can be found in every city and town
in the US large enough to have a bank. You may not notice them,
but they are there. I'm talking about Couriers.
Many businesses have shipments such as paperwork, checks, etc.
that need to get from one place to another quickly. A good
example of this is cancelled checks. Most banks need their bank
work picked up after business hours and other work returned
before they open the next day. UPS and FEDEX can't handle this.
This is where courier companies come in. They provide routes
that pickup and deliver 24 hours a day. Some have employees for
their routes but most use contract drivers. Contract drivers
provide the vehicle and driver to run a scheduled route and cost
the company less than employee drivers. A contract driver is
also responsible for all gas, maintenance and repairs of their
vehicle.
You usually don't receive company benefits like life and health
insurance, paid vacation and paid holidays, however, there are
several benefits to being a courier. You can normally expect to
receive between 35 and 40 cents per mile. This doesn't sound
like much but it adds up pretty fast. Even if you only run 100
miles per day, which only takes about 2 to 3 hours, you will
have a check between $175 and $200 per week. Of course your
expenses will have to be deducted from this. For a vehicle that
gets 20 mpg, at $1.50 per gallon, your gas will only run about
$37.50 per week.
The biggest advantage to being a courier is the huge tax
deduction. For the tax year 2002, you can deduct 36 1/2 cents
per mile for all business miles. If you are making 35 cents per
miles, you will pay taxes on almost nothing. You don't even
have to itemize your deductions to claim this deduction. The
36 1/2 cents per mile is the standard deduction allowed by the
IRS which covers all of your vehicle expenses. You will receive
a 1099-misc form giving your total income for the year. You
will need to report that income on Schedule C - Profit or Loss
From Business. In addition, if you are away from home over 6
hours at a time, you can claim 50% of any meals while on the road.
The IRS requires that you keep track of your mileage and meals
each day. You can buy a small log book for this or use Budget
Stretcher's Vehicle Expense Log
http://www.homemoneyhelp. com/vel.html and Vehicle Expense
Summary http://www.homemoneyhelp. com/ves.html.
Usually the only requirements to be a courier is a drivers
license, a vehicle and a fairly clean driving record
(NO DUI/DWI). Since most couriers deliver/pickup a regular
route, most of the time you don't even have to have a good
knowledge of the area you will be driving. After two or three
days you will know your way around.
To find courier jobs in your area, check the classified ads
in your local newspaper under drivers or business opportunities.
You can also check with your bank or insurance agent to see if
they have a courier company providing service to them. Once
you have identified the courier companies that service your
area, a simple phone call will let you know if they have a
route that suits you.
About the Author
Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy
Way http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/ebookadpage.html and editor
of The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher
web site http://www.homemoneyhelp.com. He has 25 years of
experience counseling individuals and families concerning their
personal finances.