Delivery Jobs With Your Own Vehicle in South Africa
Most delivery jobs that ask you to use your own vehicle are offered in one of two ways. In a per-parcel subcontract you are paid per drop or per kilometre and you carry the fuel, servicing, tyres and insurance yourself.
On a dedicated route or contract run you cover a set area or lane on a set schedule, usually for a fixed rate or a per-drop rate tied to that run.
The contract, not the job advert, tells you which arrangement you are being offered. Get the rate card and the cost responsibilities in writing before you agree to anything.
Four things that decide it
None of them appear in the job advert
The contract decides
Not the advert or the job title
Rate card in writing
Per drop or per kilometre
Know who pays what
Fuel, tyres, servicing, insurance
Deductions in writing
Damage, loss and late parcels
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. It is not a job advert and it does not describe an open position.
The two arrangements behind most delivery jobs with your own vehicle
The term “owner driver” covers at least three different arrangements, and they are not variations on the same thing. The contract tells you which one you are being offered, not the job title and not the advert.
Per-parcel subcontracting
Paid per delivery or per drop
- You use your own vehicle and pay for your own fuel.
- Work arrives parcel by parcel, so volume varies by day and by week.
- The rate card is usually per drop, sometimes per kilometre.
A dedicated route or contract run
A fixed lane or area with a service commitment
- You cover a set area or lane on a set schedule.
- Pay is normally a fixed rate or a per-drop rate tied to that run.
- You commit to collection and delivery windows, and to the paperwork that proves them.
A third arrangement exists but it is not a job. Depot or cluster ownership means taking on premises, vehicles and staff under a courier brand. It is a business purchase with your own capital at risk.
What the contract has to state before you sign
Six questions cover most of the risk. If any of them cannot be answered in writing, that answer is the answer.
Check 1
Is the rate card in writing?
Ask whether you are paid per drop or per kilometre, and get the actual figure on paper with the conditions attached to it.
Check 2
Who pays fuel, tolls, servicing, tyres and insurance?
Establish that list up front, and check whether the vehicle has to meet a specification before it can be used on the account.
Check 3
What happens when a parcel is damaged, lost or late?
Find out whether deductions are made against you, how they are calculated, and whether you have any say before money is taken.
Check 4
May you carry other work?
Look for exclusivity and non-solicit clauses, because they decide whether you can add a second company later.
Check 5
How and when do you get paid?
Confirm the payment cycle, what documentation has to be submitted, and what happens when a customer pays late.
Check 6
Is there a disclosure document and a cooling-off period?
For anything that looks like a franchise or territory purchase, insist on a dated disclosure document in advance and ask whether the cooling-off period under the Consumer Protection Act applies.
Have an attorney read anything before you sign it, including the schedule of rates. This page is general guidance, not legal advice.
Employee or subcontractor? Why the label matters
Employment contract
In an employment contract the courier company usually supplies the vehicle and covers its running costs. You are paid as an employee and the company carries the vehicle risk.
Per-parcel subcontract
In a per-parcel subcontract you are running a small business, even if it feels like a job. You carry fuel, maintenance, tyres and insurance, and you need to keep records of what the work actually costs you before you decide whether the rate is worth taking.
The same job title is used for both arrangements, so read the contract rather than the advert.
What your vehicle generally needs
Before you sign anything, ask the company what vehicle standard the account requires. In practice a delivery arrangement is usually built around a roadworthy, licensed vehicle that can carry the parcel sizes and volumes on that route, whether that is a car, a bakkie or a motorcycle.
Do not buy or finance a vehicle for a contract you have not read, and do not accept a verbal assurance that your current vehicle will qualify.
Get the requirement in writing, including any branding, load-space or age conditions the company applies.
How UrgentGo works with drivers
UrgentGo runs its own operation in Gauteng and works through vetted carrier partners everywhere else. Drivers on the network are either part of that own team or attached to a partner carrier.
The UrgentGo Hub Partner programme is not a job. It is the depot ownership route, for operators buying into a territory, and UrgentGo does not take driver or fleet job applications through that programme.
Own operation in Gauteng
UrgentGo Courier (Pty) Ltd runs its own operation in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni, with its own dispatch and its own drivers.
Carrier partners elsewhere
Outside Gauteng, coverage across all nine provinces runs through vetted carrier partners rather than UrgentGo vehicles.
More than 200 vetted drivers
Network driver capacity sits at more than 200 vetted drivers across its own team and partner carriers.
One platform end to end
Drivers work on one platform for real-time booking, dispatch, tracking and proof of delivery, with API and Shopify or WooCommerce integrations.
If you want to ask what driver or subcontractor arrangements are currently available, contact the team on 010 023 4832, on WhatsApp at +27 63 040 2848, or at support@urgentgocourier.co.za during office hours, Monday to Friday 07:00 to 19:00 and Saturday 08:00 to 14:00.
Red flags in delivery job adverts
Any one of these on its own is worth a question. Two or more together is a reason to stop.
You are asked to pay a fee before you can start earning.
There is no written rate card, or the rate changes once you have committed.
Deductions for damage, losses or late deliveries are described vaguely or not at all.
You are asked to sign an exclusivity clause without any guaranteed volume.
You are pushed to sign before seeing a dated disclosure document.
You are asked to buy or finance a vehicle as a condition of getting the work.
If you want to own a depot instead of driving
If you already run vehicles and want a territory rather than a route, the Hub Partner programme is the ownership route. UrgentGo operates Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni directly, so no Gauteng cluster is licensed under the programme. Parts of the programme involve a licence fee and a defined revenue share, and it is a business with capital at risk rather than a job. Read the full partner prospectus or see how the three owner-driver arrangements compare.
Questions drivers ask
The questions that come up most often, answered without the sales language.
It depends on the arrangement. In a per-parcel subcontract you normally supply the vehicle, the fuel and the maintenance. In an employment contract the company supplies the vehicle and covers its running costs.
If you are weighing up a delivery arrangement, read the contract first. Then call the team on 010 023 4832 or use the contact page to ask what is currently available.