Improving Your Automobile

What to Look For When Hiring a Courier or Local Delivery Service

1 October 2015

Addison Morris

A courier service usually specializes in last-minute or local delivery services; you may need something delivered across town or just a short distance, and find that standard delivery services or your local post office will take too long and charge too much for these types of quick runs. It's often good to have a courier or local delivery company on speed dial before you need their services, as you may not want to take the time to hunt around for a service when you have a package ready for delivery. Note a few things to look for in a courier service or local delivery company so you can choose the right one for you.

1. Stress safety of goods

Very often a courier or local delivery service will stress how quickly they can get your parcel delivered, but do they stress how safe your package will be and if it will arrive in one piece? It will do you no good to have your package arrive quickly but to suffer damage because of being hastily tossed into the back of a van or even the backseat of a taxi. When looking at courier services, take note of how often they stress the safety of your goods and if they can guarantee its safe arrival at its destination; ask how they deliver packages and consider carefully bicycle messengers versus those that use a vehicle.

2. Tracking options

Even if your package should only take a few hours or even less for delivery, you still want tracking options. Your courier should note when it was picked up and when it was delivered, and if it needs to be routed through any type of substation or hub. With many services using smartphones and other mobile devices, you should be able to see this tracking in real time on their website or even sign up for text message alerts.

3. Electronic signature

A good courier service should offer some type of electronic signature or other proof that your material was delivered. You may not always need to have someone sign for a package that is just going across town but if you do, it's good to have this system in place with a courier that you choose. It's often easy enough to have someone sign on a mobile device and then immediately upload this signature to a website or even email it to a set address. This allows you to have proof of delivery in your files as needed.

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