How To Start A Courier, Delivery And Or Moving Company (ALL THREE) With No Trucks And No Buck$

Can you truly start a moving, courier, delivery business or all 3 together, with no money and no owned trucks? This sounds too good to be true. But in fact, my friends, you can… Not a traditional full service moving company with a trucks and insurance and a nice office and storage warehouse. But you can start a profitable moving company without a dime and start yo ur Level Up Move.

There are great places that you actually sign up for where you can get free leads and jobs for your newfound moving company. Yes…they’ll take a cut, but you can get jobs and build a reputation with them while you also build your bankroll to become a full service, licensed and insured moving company owner.

So, You Decide To Start Your Own Delivery Company (The Moving Business)

There’s a massive need for this business because when people move, they don’t want to move this stuff themselves, or they physically just can’t so they hire a moving company to help them move in to their next house and do it in a day instead of taking weeks to move all their stuff over.

Okay so let’s talk through how much does it cost to start a moving company? You may be surprised how profitable this multi-niche style of a moving company is and how you can make really good money by working kind of as a part-time kind of side hustle okay the nice thing about the cost of it is we really only need to spend a few 100 on moving equipment that may be tarps or you know things to not scratch stuff big blankets that doesn’t scratch People’s Furniture maybe a dolly but we really don’t need that much moving equipment and you don’t really need a truck because you can actually rent a truck from U-Haul and use it for your moving company.

And the amount of money that you’re spending on that truck really it doesn’t make sense for you to buy your own unless you’re really moving Somebody almost every single day so our startup costs are very minimal which is why I love this business. Your insurance is probably about a thousand a year that you don’t pay all at once. More like  6 month premiums, or even monthly. A website with scheduling on it is probably going to be another few hundred to thousand but you really don’t necessarily need that just starting out.

So you know all in we’re thinking about 2 -500 or less to start this business. Very easy to start, you could probably start even lower, without the insurance. But I would recommend that you get insurance because you never know when somebody potentially could sue you for something that’s negligence or anything crazy, but things happen so it’s good to have insurance. Okay so let’s go into how much we can make which is probably why you considered   this business to begin with.

The first thing you need to start a small moving business is work ethic and drive the moving business is a very hard business it’s not an easy business it’s very taxing on the body you’re lifting heavy furniture you’re lifting heavy furniture up up and down flights of stairs you’re doing it on a hot day you’re doing it on a cold day and it can be very wearing and taxing on your body so you have to have a strong work work ethic this is something that you have to be willing to do it’s not easy not all jobs are going to be the same some jobs are going to be easier than others some jobs are going to be harder than others there’s going to be heavy dressers there’s going to be light dresses there’s going to be heavy sofas there’s going to be light sofas there’s going to be heavy armoires that may need to go up three flights of stairs there may be a light chester george that may need to go down a flight of stairs no job is the same but it is a strenuous job so before i get into all the things that you need that’s going to cost a little bit of money the first thing you need is work ethic and drive.

The first thing that i would recommend that you rent, or that you may already have would be some sort of vehicle to do the moving in whether it be a pickup truck a cargo van sprinter van or box truck you’re going to need some sort of vehicle to move the furniture from one place to another. You can start with a pickup truck and  scale up from there with a pickup truck you can do small jobs you can do boxes you can do mattresses you can do sofas you can do refrigerators you can do dressers anything that can fit in the back of a pickup truck you should be able to do cargo vans you can also do small loads and cargo vans boxes dressers you could probably do small studio moves box trucks you’re scaling up all right depending on the size box truck.

Your purchase depends on you know how big of a move you can do. With a 16-footer box truck rental, you can do up to two bedrooms, with a 24-26 footer you can do four to five bedrooms. Now for those of you that have a vehicle a moving vehicle already whether it be a pickup truck a cargo van or a box truck your biggest purchase to get started is already out the way the rest of the steps should be fairly easy for those of you that don’t have a vehicle to start in this business that have to acquire one this is going to be the most expensive thing that you need to get what i recommend when you’re getting started is to rent vehicles once you scale up from a pickup truck, you can  start renting trucks from penske and such places. At some point before youi even start buying trucks you could be running three or more penske trucks a day.

So with penske you can go in there and you can talk to one of their reps and the more you rent from them you can negotiate better mileage rates, better weekly rates, better insurance rates.  I would recommend this one move will pay for the rental for the week and then you can stack your money from there so that you can buy a vehicle now once you acquire your moving vehicle the next step that i recommend is finding a helper i recommend finding one guy starting with one guy and so it’ll be you and the one guy i don’t recommend you hiring two people or three people and getting your truck engine is pushing them out there this is a business where you need to physically get out there at the beginning and learn the business. this isn’t a business where you can just invest in it into it initially as and think you’re gonna make passive income and you don’t have any idea of what goes on out there in the field you must get out there at the beginning you have to learn the business so hire a helper.

Again once you hire this person it reverts back to the first thing i told you that person has to have the work dedication that you have this isn’t a business where you can be lazy this isn’t a business that if you don’t have the work ethic and the drive you’re not gonna make it it’s taxing not only is it taxing people pay a lot of money for movers a hundred plus dollars an hour and the last thing they want to see is a person being lazy when they’re spending 100 and some dollars an hour and you’re not moving at least at an efficient pace so make sure when you’re finding a helper you find someone that is dedicated and as hard working as you are okay so now you got your truck and you got your helper now it’s time to start buying the equipment for the truck the first thing you want to purchase would be moving blankets and pads a matter of fact it doesn’t have to be the first thing you need to purchase but it does need to be purchased before you get started.

Moving blankets and pads depending on the size moving vehicle that you’re running will determine uh how many pads you need um i wouldn’t buy anything less than a dozen you can buy them in a bundle of a dozen when you start buying them individually they can be very expensive it’s better just buy the dozen um for a pickup truck you probably don’t need a dozen on a pickup truck but just buy the dozen for the cargo van buy at least a dozen for a 16 17 foot box truck i at least have two to three dozen uh um moving pads and blankets on each uh 16 17 foot truck uh daily um for 24 26 footers i wouldn’t do anything less than five dozen blankets at least 60 blankets minimum on those trucks because you can do four or five bedrooms and when you get up to four or five bedrooms you’re going to use a lot of blankets so you want to make sure that you have enough.

The next thing i would purchase would be ratchet straps ratchet straps are going to hold things in place on the truck on the in the cargo area of the truck so they don’t shift in transport if you purchase a truck um and it doesn’t have an e-track system that means you’re going to have to buy an e-track system e-track system goes on the wall all the way around so that when you put those you have the slots to put the ratchet straps into when you ratchet the things down to hold them into place next you want to start buying shrink wrap and tape uh you want to buy that stuff by the case don’t go in the lows don’t go into home depot and spend the 22 23 or whatever they’re charging for one row of shrink wrap shrink wrap is your friend.

As a mover you’re gonna lose it, you’re gonna use a lot of shrink wrap you’re going to use a lot of tape so it’s best to just buy it by the case cases shrink wrap comes with four rows uh and you’re going to save a lot of money just buying it by the case don’t buy it individually same thing with the tape just buy the tape by the case you’re going to use a lot of tape these are items that you’re going to use constantly actually we use so much shrink wrap uh i just have it rotated i got to come in every two weeks i just got shrink wrap coming in every two weeks whether we need it or don’t need it because we have spikes when we use a lot and then we have spikes when business kind of slows down but you know we we with the pandemic there was a shortage on shrink wrap so i’d rather have it than not have it so shrink wrap is something that you should always keep buying don’t wait till you get down to your last case and then try to order some shrink wrap because it might not come on it might not come in time and then you’re gonna have to run the home depot and spend 20 per roll on shrink wrap so you can go on amazon and just subscribe uh for cases of shrink wrap and you can set your subscription for it to come every week every two weeks depending on how booming your business is.

You can determine uh how you can set up that subscription on and and what pattern you wanted to come in whether it’s weekly bi-weekly so on so forth all right so the next thing you need to buy would be your dollies two-wheel dolly two little dolly hand trucks and four-wheel dollies um if you are on a box truck you’re gonna need at least one hand truck and a couple four-wheel dollies now i know the title of video is a thousand dollars or less so the thing is is the more the merrier with the dollies yes the dollies are kind of costly a hand truck a good hand truck could cost anywhere from 100 to 200 bucks four-wheel dollies i haven’t purchased them in a while we have a ton of four-wheel dollies but they average around 60 70 bucks they may be a little bit higher now with inflation i haven’t bought any since inflation has gone through the roof as of the past few months um the more the merrier getting started out you probably are not going to be taking on big jobs so you can probably start with one of each to keep your costs down and as you scale up in business and you start booking those jobs and you start making money you want to buy more so now we got the vehicle we got the helper we got the equipment now we need to find some business you can find business many different ways the way i got started was craigslist but this was like 2009 – 2010. i wouldn’t recommend craigslist today i don’t know how every market is but i know it can be a little bit shady in my home market i heard it’s kind of shady in other markets so you want to be kind of leery if you’re going to do the craigslist thing i would recommend applications like thumbtack hire helper taskrabbit homeadvisor.

These are paid lead subscription apps but that’s just the way things are rolling right now when i got started you can post one ad on craigslist and you would get calls all day from that one free classified post you put up it’s not like that today you may need to find a lead service on top of lead service word of mouth is always a great tool to have spread the word let people know hey i got a truck i got a van i’m doing small moving jobs trust me especially in the spring and the summer moving season uh back to school when college kids are going away when they’re coming back there’s plenty of parents plenty of people looking to move here in my home market the summertime is booming the phone doesn’t stop ringing word of mouth make sure when you do book jobs you do a good job about 40 of my business is repeat customers and referrals so make sure when you’re going out on these moving jobs you do a superb job you do an efficient job because they’ll call you back the following year when their lease is up and they move again and they’re going to recommend you to all their family and friends.

Adding The Delivery / Courier Arm To your Company

If you’ve been looking into the courier business, chances are you probably heard a lot of mixed messages. One person is saying, “Start with these apps.” Another person is saying, “Skip apps and go straight to contracts.” without even explaining contracts. Another person says, “You need a cargo van or a box truck.” or somebody else is saying, “You need this complex business setup and all these certifications.” And that’s exactly why many people are stuck and confused.

Because most people talk about the courier business like there is literally only one way in and one way to win. And that is not true. There are different lanes in this industry, different entry points, different income models, different levels of control, and different ways to build depending on where you are, what you have, and what you’re trying to build.

I’m going to break down how to start a courier business using four levels framework. I’m going to explain what each level is, how the money and relationships work at each level, and how to know where you should actually start. And let me say this upfront. The four levels are not a forced ladder. You don’t have to start at level one and slowly climb your way up like that is the only option. Some people should start with apps at level one. Some people should start with contracts at level two. Some people are ready to manage drivers and have vehicles at level three. And some people are ready to go after direct contracts at level four.

This is about choosing the right lane for your season. And let me clear up one thing really early. Vehicle size does not determine the level. The level is determined more by the business model, the contract structure, and who holds the relationship. A bigger vehicle may expand the kind of opportunities you can take because you have more capacity, but it does not automatically mean you’re at a higher level. I have personally known people who operated at level four with just a car, literally a Ford Focus, before later adding cargo vans. And even some government contracts, including USPS opportunities, can allow SUVs to start out at level four. So, keep that in mind as we go through all of this.

Let’s begin with the levels. Level one, the independent contractor level. Level one is the level that most people are already familiar with. This is your app-based work, the gig platforms, flexible on-demand work, and fast cash opportunities. This is where many people start because it usually is the easiest level to access. You can often get started faster compared to the other levels. You can usually use the vehicle you already have, and you can begin earning without needing a full business structure on day one. Level one is usually best for people who need fast money, flexibility, an easy starting point, experience, or way to learn the flow of delivery work. And I want to be very clear here. Level one matters. Level one with apps can actually feed you. Apps can help you survive. Apps can help you learn the routes, the timing, the different territories, customer service, and just the overall delivery work flow.

So, I never want people to hear me talking about the levels and think that level one is beneath them. It’s not. It’s a real and a valid lane in this courier business that you can use strategically. Now, does level one give you the most control? No, it doesn’t. Does it give you the most stability? Usually, no. But, does it have the highest ceiling? No, again, it doesn’t. It absolutely does have value, though, especially for people who need to get moving quickly. Now, let’s move on to level two.

Level two, subcontractor or courier partner level. Level two is where a lot of people begin moving into actual more responsible contracts. This is when you are working through a middleman. That could be a established courier company, a logistics company, a broker, 3PL, or another provider that already has the work and just needs coverage or capacity. This is where you often start seeing the dedicated routes, the scheduled work, reoccurring deliveries, more structure, and more consistency than just random app orders. This is also where many people start shifting from, I’m doing gigs to I’m operating like more so like a a regular job. Cars and SUVs may fit things like medical courier work, pharmacy prescriptions, specimens, documents, small packages, bank runs, office supply routes, and light retail.

Cargo vans and box trucks may fit larger or higher capacity work, but what makes something level two is not the vehicle. What makes it level two is that you are getting work through someone else’s direct contract. That is the key. And level two is strong for people who want to start out without having to go build that direct relationship, but they want more consistency, less randomness, more structure, and reoccurring income. Now, let me say this, too. Not all contracts are equal. Some pay per stop, some pay per route, some pay per package, some pay daily. Some are worth it and some are not.

Level two is not just about getting a contract. It’s about getting the right contract for your situation. Let’s move on to level three. Level three is the carrier partner or master contractor level. Level three is where things begin to actually shift from just driving to you operating an actual business. Now, you’re thinking about multiple vehicles, other drivers, multiple contracts and routes, capacity, coverage, and operations. At this level, your money is no longer tied only to you personally being behind the wheel just to make money. That is the major shift because a lot of people say they want freedom, but they’re still building a model where every dollar depends on them. Personally, driving every single mile, you cannot expand if you’re the only driver.

Level three starts to break that. In this level, you may be managing drivers, covering multiple routes, handling overflow work, or building those relationships with companies that need more than one driver. What makes this level, level three, um it’s because it’s building capacity beyond yourself. You’re operating more like a carrier partner or master contractor. Now, let me be honest. Level three can absolutely increase your income and your leverage, but it also increases your responsibility. Now, you start dealing with hiring, firing, driver reliability, callouts, settlements, route coverage, client communication, and operations. So, yes, level three can help you scale and grow, but it also requires a different level of maturity, responsibility, and management. Let’s move on to level four. The prime contractor direct vendor level.

Level four is when you are going direct, not through a middleman, not through a broker, not through a dispatcher, not through a courier company that already holds the relationship in the contract. I’m talking about direct with the product owner, distributor, manufacturer, hospital system, retailer, government entity, or whoever actually owns the work. This is where you become a direct vendor. And this is one of the most important levels to understand. It is the highest level. Because this is where people finally realize driving for app is not the same as holding a direct contract. Running under a middleman is not the same as owning the relationship. At level four, you’re thinking about direct outreach, business development, vendor registrations, capability statements, compliance, insurance requirements, professional branding, and direct client relationships.

This is where your positioning matters the most. Can you present yourself as a serious transportation vendor? Can you solve a real logistics problem? Can you communicate professionally? Can you fulfill the work if you were to win the contract? That is level four. And again, this level is not automatically tied to the biggest vehicle. You can be at level four with a car, SUV, cargo van, or box truck depending on the contract and relationship structure. So, where should you start? That depends on your season. If you need fast cash and flexibility, level one may be your lane right now. If you want more structure and reoccurring work through existing or more established providers, level two might be your lane. If you want to build beyond just yourself and you’re ready to start managing capacity and drivers, level three may be your next best move.

But, if you want to position yourself as a direct vendor and pursue large direct relationships, level four may be the lane that you can start it. And there’s no shame in whatever level fits your season. The goal is not to impress other people. The goal is to build wisely. So, let’s get into how to start without overcomplicating it. If you want to start a courier business, here’s what I would focus on first. Number one, decide your lane. Ask yourself questions like, “What vehicle do I have? What kind of income do I need? Do I need fast cash, more structure, or scale or direct contracts? What level makes the most sense for me right now?” Those are the questions to ask when deciding your lane.

The next thing, not every opportunity fits every vehicle. Choose what works and makes sense with what you actually already have. Number three, get your basics in order. At minimum, you want to have a valid driver’s license, minimum state insurance, valid registration, and an email and voicemail if you get a callback, a reliable vehicle, and basic business presence if you’re aiming at the higher levels. And remember, the contract dictates the insurance. Number four, learn how the money actually works.

Understand the difference between per-stop, per mile, per package, per route, per day, and percentage-based deals because revenue means nothing if the structure is bad and it may not be profitable. Number five, build your positioning. Even if you are beginner, don’t present yourself like you confused, okay? Know your lane, know what kind of work you’re targeting, know how to speak clearly and professionally. Number six, grow as your goals evolve. You may start at one level and stay there for a while, or you may start in one lane and expand rapidly. That’s okay. Again, this is not a forced ladder. It’s a four-levels framework to help you move with clarity.

Th courier business is bigger than just apps, but all the apps actually matter. The courier business is bigger than just contracts, but the contracts matter, too. The courier business is bigger than just getting behind the wheel and driving. There are levels to this industry, and when you understand these levels, you can stop moving randomly. You stop comparing your path to everybody else’s path. You stop chasing opportunities that don’t fit your season, and you start building smarter. So, whether you have a car, SUV, pickup truck, cargo van, or box truck, there is a lane in this industry for you. The question is not whether the courier business can work for you. The question is really when you’re in this industry, which level fits you the best right now.

The Idea Is Born And The Move To Level Up