After two years of being stuck at home, immobile and demotivated, it’s no surprise that many workers are choosing to shift their career into the lively world of shipping and delivery services. The number of jobs available is growing too, as online shopping continues to go from strength to strength and more and more consumers wish for packages to be delivered to their door. So if you’re thinking of becoming a shipping professional, this is a brilliant time to get started. Here’s what you need to know about getting into shipping this year.
Shipping Roles
First, you’ll need to decide on the kinds of shipping roles that might interest you. There are dozens of different roles in the shipping industry, though these are the main options for someone who’s just starting out:
- Use your current vehicle as a small delivery vehicle, taking small packages from place to place
- Purchase a van or truck that can transport large goods between locations
- Train as a truck driver in order to find full-time jobs in haulage
These choices boil down to two things: the size of the vehicle you’re prepared to drive, and the kind of lifestyle you wish to accompany your driving jobs. Larger vehicles mean longer drives, while smaller vehicles mean short, flexible work. The choice here is yours – to suit you and your family’s needs.
First Jobs
If you choose to work full-time, you won’t have the issue of finding jobs on your own. But if you do choose to freelance, taking smaller packages from place to place on your own terms, you’ll need to learn where and how to drum up the work you’ll need to keep you in profit.
Shipping work isn’t necessarily difficult to find. It’s posted on forums and platforms across the web, many of which are hugely popular, with thousands of postings a day. Make sure you never travel empty wherever you might be driving, by searching through these websites and finding routes and truck loads that suit your capacity and your ability to make deliveries on a given day.
Developing a Career
While you may enjoy starting out as a casual freelancer, there are ways in which beginners in the shipping field can develop into fully-fledged drivers or even fleet owners – who learn how to operate a number of vehicles at once in order to optimize journeys and to rake in the maximum amount of profit.
The best way to learn how to run a logistics firm is simply to participate in all levels of the work – from the driver to the logistics planner to the client manager. Alternatively, you could head to college or university to take a course and to earn a certificate in shipping and logistics. This career is one that’s expected to be in growing demand in the coming years, so getting in there early could help you amass huge profits in the future.
If you’re interested in working in the shipping industry, this short guide will show you the basics of the decisions you ought to make to start building that career.