An American financial portal has recently released an article advising drivers and messengers on how best to protect their self-employed courier jobs.

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/24/2013 -- A prominent US online portal specializing in finance has recently released an article containing tips on how American citizens could protect their self-employed courier jobs and other self-employed initiatives. The increasing number of self-employed workers, both in the United States and abroad, lends the piece a great deal of relevance, justifying its publication in the well-known portal.

Unsurprisingly, a good portion of the article is devoted to workers' compensation and insurance. Self-employed workers in all fields, and not just self-employed courier jobs, are advised to ensure that they are suitably covered, both in terms of downtime pay and in what pertains to health benefits. While the means for obtaining these perks vary from one American state to the next, they are generally obtainable by sole providers, usually from a pre-appointed state fund.

Alternatively, self-employed workers may purchase supplemental accident insurance, which provides protection and coverage at a flat, often affordable rate. This is meant, however, to be viewed as a supplemental or complementary insurance, which serves as a sort of 'back-up policy', rather than a worker's main form of coverage.

As far as health benefits go, workers are advised to consider policies carefully before purchasing, as they may not need the additional services that a seemingly good deal has on offer. It is often best to contract more sensible insurance policies, focusing on what one actually needs for their line of work, as doing so will prevent workers from paying for a bundle deal that they will, ultimately, have very little use for. Similarly, while most people will opt for a short-term disability policy (which offers more immediate benefits for a lower price), considering a long-term disability contract may also be worthwhile, especially for older workers or those in riskier, more accident prone fields, such as in self-employed courier jobs .

The number of self-employed Americans in 2010 was 22.1 million, a considerable 14.4% of the total civilian workforce.

About Courier Exchange
Having helped people for a number of years organise self employed courier jobs, Courier Exchange is the best of the best in the UK in helping customers fill their loads. To learn how to make the most of the miles visit them at http://courierexchange.co.uk/ .

Contact information:
Transport Exchange Group Ltd
BV2
The Perfume Factory
140 Wales Farm Road
London
W3 6UG
United Kingdom
+44(0)208 993 7100
Website : http://courierexchange.co.uk/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

American drivers and couriers are being made to comply with a new set of rules for owner-driver jobs that have been designed for added safety.

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/24/2013 -- Owner-driver jobs in the United States of America have, for the past year and a half, been functioning under a new, stricter set of guidelines, designed to make sure the profession's working environment is as safe as possible.

The new guidelines were first drawn up in the latter part of 2011 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is an arm of the American Department of Transportation. Their initial goal was to restrict driving hours, to prevent fatigue and overworking in drivers; as a result, many professionals in the field saw their average working week cut down from eighty-two hours to only seventy, by way of a restructuring of the 'resetting' system.

The way this new system works is by limiting reset periods to once a week, as opposed to before, when drivers could reset their working weeks whenever they took at least thirty-four hours off. In addition, drivers are now asked to take two consecutive periods off between 1am and 5am, and to take a thirty-minute break after each eight-hour period of driving. The maximum number of daily driving hours that each individual is allowed remains, as before, at eleven.

Hotly contested as these new rules have been, the US Department of Transportation has stated that they will help prevent an average of one thousand four hundred truck crashes, five hundred and fifty injuries and nineteen deaths per year, whilst affecting only fifteen per cent of drivers.

Many drivers have since voiced their dissent, claiming corporate and owner-driver jobs alike will be affected, and on a much larger scale than the American Department of Transportation's statements suggest. At the same time, other voices claim the American Department of Transportation did not go far enough, and that even stricter rules should have been put in place. These parties mostly suggest a return to the pre-2003 limits of ten hours of driving per day and no weekly resets, claiming any other configuration tends to put profit ahead of safety. The American Department of Transportation, however, stands firm in its upholding of the new code, claiming financial and health benefits have surfaced in their latest analyses.

About Courier Exchange
Having helped people for a number of years organise self employed courier jobs, Courier Exchange is the best of the best in the UK in helping customers fill their loads. To learn how to make the most of the miles visit them at http://courierexchange.co.uk/ .

For Contact Media
Transport Exchange Group Ltd.
BV2
The Perfume Factory
140 Wales Farm Road
London
W3 6UG
United Kingdom
+44(0)208 993 7100
Website : http://courierexchange.co.uk/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm