Is a Delivery Driver Job Right for You? An Honest Look Before You Change Careers
- MBL Team
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
The end of the year is a moment when many of us catch ourselves thinking the same thing:
“Do I really want to keep doing what I’m doing?”
If you work in a warehouse, on a production line, in hospitality or in an office, there is a good chance that you are more and more often looking at ads like:
“delivery driver job in the UK”, “van driver job”, “courier – high earnings, flexible hours”.
On one hand, it sounds tempting.
On the other hand – you don’t want to swap one disappointment for another.
This article is here so that before you fill in an application form, you can calmly say to yourself:
– “Yes, a delivery driver job could be something for me,”
or
– “Better keep looking, this isn’t my kind of work.”
No hype, no PR spin.
Why are so many people choosing to move “behind the wheel” today?
More and more often you hear from people around you:
– “I was done with sitting at a desk, I switched to a van.”
– “The factory was draining me, now I’m doing deliveries.”
The reasons are usually similar.
First – being tired of rigid systems.
A rota that changes every week. A manager who watches every minute of lateness. Meetings about things that could have been dealt with in a single email.
Second – lack of real influence on how much you earn.
Whether you try hard or not – your pay is almost the same. It’s difficult to stay motivated when nothing really changes.
Third – the need for movement and a change of environment.
Not everyone is made to spend eight hours a day at the same desk, at the same production line or in the same office. Some people can live with that. Others simply fade out in such conditions.
A delivery driver job often seems like an answer: you are on the road, you have a clear job to do, your day is moving and dynamic.
But that is only one side of the coin.
What does a delivery driver job really look like day to day?
There will be no fixed hours here, because every area, client and company is slightly different. But the general scheme of the day is similar.
At the beginning there is loading and starting the day.
You arrive at the depot, pick up your parcels, equipment and route. The better you organise yourself at this stage, the easier it will be later.
Here it’s not about “muscle strength”, but about having order in your head and in the van – so that you know what lies where and you don’t look for every parcel like a needle in a haystack.
Then the ritual of stops begins.
You park, take the parcel, go to the address, call or knock, hand over the parcel, scan, move on.
Sometimes it’s 30 seconds and a smile.
Sometimes a longer conversation. Sometimes explaining something. Sometimes… an empty flat and the question “what next?”.
In the background, there is always something going on that you don’t see in photos from job ads:
– systems that count times,
– traffic that doesn’t care that you are on a tight schedule,
– weather that does what it wants,
– and your own tiredness, which grows faster if you don’t find your rhythm.
At the end of the day there is a sense of closure – either satisfaction, or frustration.
For many drivers the biggest difference compared to previous jobs is that you very clearly see:
– there were X parcels,
– now there are 0,
– the job is done.
You don’t wait weeks for a project to be completed, you don’t produce “paper for the sake of paper”.
You simply deliver.
What can actually be genuinely satisfying in this job?
For some people the style of work in a delivery driver job turns out to be a perfect fit.
First – independence.
You have a route, a van, an app.
No one sits next to you and comments on your every move. You know what you have to do, you know roughly how much time you have – the rest is shaped by you.
For people who don’t like constant “micromanagement”, this is a huge relief.
Second – movement instead of a chair.
If after eight hours in an office your back hurts more than after a workout, and your only “activity” is a walk to the kitchen, then a van and getting in and out of the vehicle many times per day can, paradoxically, be… healthier.
It’s not fitness training, but it is definitely not sitting still.
Third – concrete, measurable results and money.
In many delivery models, your earnings are linked to the number of days you work, your performance, the way you handle your route. You don’t get paid for “being present”, but for actually getting the job done.
For someone who likes to see direct results of their effort, this can be very motivating.
To be clear: this does not mean that money “falls from the sky”.
But if you are organised, consistent and able to keep up a steady pace, you often earn more than in your previous job, where you “sat and waited for the end of the shift”.
Where are the difficult parts that people rarely mention in job ads?
Every profession has a darker side. A delivery driver job is no exception.
Physical tiredness – this is not a myth.
If you carry parcels all day, walk up and down stairs, get in and out of the van – you feel it in your legs, back and head. Especially in December, when there are more parcels and the weather is worse.
Time pressure – even if no one is shouting at you.
Even if no one literally stands over you, you know that every delay has consequences.
Late loading, a traffic jam, a customer you cannot reach – all of this can add up to a feeling that you’re “chasing” the whole day.
You have to learn to work quickly but not chaotically.
Contact with different people – sometimes great, sometimes hard.
One day you meet customers who say thank you and wish you a nice day.
On another day – people who unload their frustration on you, even though it’s not you who designed the system or set the policies.
You need at least some resilience and the ability not to take everything personally.
Lack of “perfect predictability”.
If you want a job where you finish at the same time every day and nothing ever changes – this probably isn’t it.
In logistics there will always be something that appears out of nowhere.
For whom does a delivery driver job make the most sense?
From conversations with drivers – including those working with MBL – a very similar pattern appears again and again.
People who do well in this work usually:
like combining driving with movement – spending the whole day in one place drains them,
can organise their own day – they don’t need someone to tell them every five minutes what to do,
can keep calm enough when something goes wrong – it’s not about being a robot, but about not falling apart after the first problem,
want to earn more but understand that this means more effort,
are not afraid of new technologies – using courier apps, a scanner, a phone with navigation is everyday reality, not an exception.
This is not a job for everyone – and that’s a good thing.
Thanks to this, people who really fit this work can find a place in it for longer, and not just “until something else comes along”.
How can you check whether this really could be your path?
Instead of jumping into the deep end, it’s worth taking a few simple steps.
First – talk to someone who already does this job.
If you have a driver in your circle, don’t only ask: “How much do you earn?”
Ask:
– “What does your day look like from start to finish?”
– “What tires you the most?”
– “What makes you stay in this job despite the hard days?”
This will give you more than ten ads.
Second – check the conditions and requirements.
In a job ad, the pay rate is not the only important thing. Pay attention to:
the scope of duties on the route and at the depot,
the real requirements (age, driving licence, points on your licence, how many days per week you’re expected to be available),
the support you get at the start (training, onboarding, help on your first routes),
the standards that are expected from you (punctuality, customer service, how you report issues).
Third – ask yourself an honest question about your character.
Are you able to:
get up when you need to, not only when you feel like it?
finish the job even when the day is not ideal?
not explode at the first difficult customer?
accept that not every shift will end at exactly the same time?
If most of your answers are “yes”, you have a solid base to give it a try.
Where does MBL Logistics appear in all this?
MBL Logistics is a company that works as a subcontractor for large courier operators in the United Kingdom.
We work with van drivers in cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Warrington, Derby, Rochdale, Sheffield, Hull and Stoke-on-Trent.
We will not promise you a perfect world. It is still logistics – real pace, real demands and real responsibility.
What we can do is:
tell you clearly on what terms we cooperate,
help you get started if you meet the formal requirements and you know, mentally, what you are getting into,
treat you as a partner who also has their own life and their own limits.
If after reading this text you feel that the style of a delivery driver job fits you better than your current job, you can take the next step and check current opportunities.
Current delivery driver job opportunities with MBL Logistics
If you are looking for a delivery driver job in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Warrington, Derby, Rochdale, Sheffield, Hull or Stoke-on-Trent, you can apply for one of our roles:
👉 Apply here: www.mbllogistics.co.uk/apply-today
Maybe 2026 will be the year when you swap a desk, a hall or a production line for a van – but you will do it with your eyes open, not just because of one nice-looking job advert.
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