You might not realize it but while all courier businesses are similar on a superficial level, if you look into the services they offer you will encounter some significant differences.
Courier companies often need to focus on a specialism to attract clients from specific industries. To help you pick which courier to use as part of your operations, here is a look at the main types of services you will encounter.
International reach
If you need items shipped around the globe, a courier that offers international delivery will be needed. Thanks to the latest route dispatch software, even complex delivery routes involving cross-border travel and multiple modes of transport can be handled efficiently, meaning that modern international courier services are swifter and more affordable.
Of course, not every courier company is set up to meet the needs of clients who have overseas shipping in mind. Likewise, it makes sense to work with a company that has expertise in this area, because there are lots of hoops to jump through when sending packages to other parts of the globe.
Immediacy
In recent years there has been a steep rise in the number of courier services that offer same-day express delivery. Usually, this will be limited to a specific geographic area, such as a large city, since it is much harder to guarantee such speedy shipping over greater distances.
While for consumers the emergence of same-day delivery has focused on food and grocery items, for businesses this kind of service can be incredibly useful if you need to get important documents to their intended destination in a hurry.
Bulk delivery
For companies that have larger volumes of goods that they need to get from A to B, working with a courier service that provides pallet-based transport options is sensible.
Palletized goods are vital across a range of industries, including retail and manufacturing. If you do not have the infrastructure available in-house to take care of this kind of logistical challenge, the right courier firm will make things much simpler.
Overnight operations
Same day courier services may be all the rage, but overnight shipping is the next best thing and can be used to transport goods and documents over much greater distances.
In many cases you can specify express overnight delivery, with the guarantee that your package will get where it needs to go before a specific time within the coming 24 hours. Such specificity can be integral to the effectiveness of your organisation and keep customers satisfied.
Storage & distribution combined
Depending on your needs, it may make sense to partner with a courier company which not only ships goods for you, but also takes care of the warehousing requirements you may have.
With storage and distribution costs rising annually, offloading this responsibility to a third party rather than handling it yourself can lead to big savings.
With all of these variations in mind, you should now be well equipped to choose a courier service in this competitive marketplace.
