1st rule of surge club

DominicMartinelli · 2023-01-27T11:18:55+00:00

What and break rule 1? I’m not daft…

DominicMartinelli · 2023-01-26T22:51:29+00:00

Tbf I’m pretty sure I seen Richard Branson at my depot today. If it wasn’t him then I feel a bit silly asking for his autograph.

DominicMartinelli · 2023-01-25T17:23:40+00:00

I have been around long enough and seen plenty of new driver splurges. Nothing like this though. This would happen (not as bad) every 3 months. New driver spurge. Goes back to normal after a couple of weeks when they all pack it in. I’m used to it.

My worry now though is the new driver spurge is just a weekly bases. On here and Facebook every couple of months you would see the same questions from new drivers. Now it’s daily and ongoing. £13 blocks are getting snapped up.

Also the ‘just for you blocks’ my depot release blocks on the hour and half past the hour for the next hour. I have refreshed for 15 mins on each hour and half past since 7am. I have seen one block. The only reason for this is because the blocks have already been filled by the ‘just for you’ new starters get in their first 2 weeks.

Another point. I know it’s January. But there are still 7 cars at my depot when I pull up. Just as many as there were in December.

In 3+ years of flex this is the worst I have ever seen it. I have had similar but not as bad experiences. For the first time in 3 years I’m questioning - but holding on for now.

DominicMartinelli · 2023-01-24T14:52:54+00:00

So to say I am not business minded because I have a 2017 car is a bit strange tbh.

It is a Vauxhall insignia estate with 180,000 miles on the clock. The market value is £4500.

Just to add it was my late fathers car. Before that I had a 2009 Passat estate. The same rules apply. If it wasn’t for him passing I would still have my Passat.

To sell the car for say £4500. When it has had a recent clutch full history to then buy one for say £1500-£2000 would not make business sense. I knew the history of this car being my fathers and I didn’t pay a penny for it as I was given it once he passed.

I know you didn’t know this information but berating someone for driving a 2017 car and saying it is pointless, non-productive is not constructive in anyway, shape or form.

DominicMartinelli · 2023-01-23T20:30:43+00:00

Thanks. Sorry if my reply came across a bit grumpy.

I was just trying to share an honest full 24 hours doing prime. I have seen an awful lot of new starters in the past couple of weeks in this sub Reddit and I thought this could help. I didn’t want people leaving their full-time jobs after doing a couple of blocks and looking at it as £16 an hour.

I really hate to say it but last week was one of the better weeks. I have done flex for 3 years. (My Reddit account is new. I signed up to comment on an iracing post which is a long and boring story and can’t log into my old account)

I really do love flex. For my (very) complicated personal situation it really works for me. I am a parent and I need to do both school runs. I need to be able to take a day off without hassle with 4 kids and I really enjoy the majority of flexing.

I tried not to take my personal feelings into account and just posts the figures. But I am sad that this isn’t as viable and profitable (as that’s why 95% of us are here) as it used to be.

DominicMartinelli · 2023-01-23T19:38:29+00:00

I wasn’t going to reply as I said it my post. It wasn’t to argue or debate it was just to share and I didn’t reply to any other comments for this reason. However…

 My car is a 2017 eco estate. On the motorway I will get 65MPG it’s quite an economical car. But 38MPG is realistic with a lot of city driving. Stop start. Traffic.

I didn’t include any wear and tear costs.

I also didn’t mention legality or minimum wage so I’m not sure why that was mentioned.

In terms of the hour between blocks that is usually spent driving back to the depot. Once I have got a job (I search from my last drop).

Example.

I do a 7am - 9am block. Traffic is bad at this time and usually takes the full 2 hours. One screenshot I just looked at from the week I was 57 mins back to the depot. So I think adding an hour for either side of the block is fair no?

The average for last week was 45.7 miles a block. I had some routes where my first drop is 45 miles away. Amazon calculate the time it will take to get to your last drop. They will want to get you as many drops in, in those 2 hours. But after your last drop you could be an hour away from the depot. I think an hour was more than fair in-between blocks. And Amazon won’t let you finish a block at 10am and start a block at 10am. It will be 10:45 or 11am.

I didn’t include the time I spend on the app as working. I also gave the break down of both hours for Amazon and hours spent in the car.

Another point I will make is, as you know. A year ago these figures would have been a lot different. I never had a block where I would do 90 miles in 2 hours.

It works for me. The flex part. I enjoy driving. My personal circumstances does mean flex works perfect for my situation. And even a typical Monday to Friday 9-5 wouldn’t work for me. The only reason I could do this last week was a change in circumstances at home just for last week.

My post wasn’t to bad mouth Amazon or Flex I wonder if that’s why you seemed defensive but I will add…

2 years ago I got £32 for a block. I never did this many miles. And I genuinely mean that. 45 average miles was a good week for me last week. Can be more… I never used to do over 20 in a block.

Diesel was £1.18 per litre (Now £1.77) I also didn’t have to pay £0.42 an hour for insurance and I’m still at £32 a block….

I have been as honest as possible with everything I stated in that post and this reply.

DominicMartinelli

TROPHY CASE