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A Courier is a
person or
company employed to deliver
messages,
packages and
mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary
mail services by features such as speed, security,
tracking, signature, specialization and individualization
of services, and committed delivery times, which are
optional for most everyday mail services. As a premium
service, couriers are usually more expensive than usual
mail services, and their use is typically restricted to
packages where one or more of these features are
considered important enough to warrant the cost.
Different courier services operate on all scales, from
within specific towns or cities, to regional, national and
global services. The world's largest courier companies are
Aramex,
DHL,
FedEx,
TNT N.V., and
UPS. These offer services worldwide, typically via a
hub and spoke model.
Couriers
prior to the industrial era
In ancient times
runners and
homing pigeons were used to deliver timely messages.
When the
horse became domesticated its use was rapidly adopted
by couriers. Before there were mechanized courier services
foot messengers physically ran miles to their
destinations. To this day there are
marathons directly related to actual historical
messenger routes.
Development
of the modern courier industry
Types of
courier
In
cities, there are often
bicycle couriers or
motorcycle couriers but for consignments requiring
delivery over greater distance networks, which may often
include
trucks,
railways and
aircraft, are used.
Many companies who operate under a
Just-In-Time or "JIT" inventory method often utilize
on-board couriers. On-board couriers are individuals who
can travel at a moments notice anywhere in the world,
usually via commercial airlines. While this type of
service is the second costliest -
general aviation charters are far more expensive -
companies analyze the cost of service to engage an
on-board courier versus the "cost" the company will
realize should the product not arrive by a specified time
(i.e. an assembly line stopping, untimely court filing,
lost sales from product or components missing a delivery
deadline, organ transplants).
Representative Couriers
Over time, demand for a new type of representative
courier has emerged. With the increase in fuel prices and
productivity goals monitored closely by companies, this
new type of all-in-one courier has developed to "take care
of business". Workers in companies have more work and less
time to be out of the office. Operating largely using
independent contractors that have gone through a screening
process and background checks have found a niche in the
courier industry. Research, intransit pet care, complex
paperwork filing, and a host of other services are now
offered in this new category of courier service.
Courier
industry by country
UK
The genus of the UK sameday courier market stems from
the London Taxi companies but soon expanded into dedicated
motorcycle despatch riders with the taxi companies setting
up separate arms to their companies to cover the courier
work. During the late 1970s small provincial and regional
companies were popping up throuout the country. Today,
there are many large companies offering next-day courier
services, including
Interlink Express,
Citylink,
Amtrak, and UK divisions of worldwide couriers such as
FedEx,
DHL
and
UPS.
There are many 'specialist' couriers (eg.
The DX,
Bybox) usually for the transportation of items such as
freight/palletes, sensitive documents and liquids.
The 'Man & Van'/Freelance courier business model is
highly popular in the United Kingdom, with thousands upon
thousands of independent couriers and localised companies,
offering next-day and sameday services. This is likely to
be so popular because of the low business requirements (a
vehicle) and the lucrative number of items sent within the
UK every day.
Motorbike couriers still exist, but mainly in and
around London (and other large cities), where there is
often congestion, as they are much cheaper to run in heavy
traffic.
Large companies such as Interlink Express, Citylink and
FedEx all now provide P.O.Ds online. Lots of the smaller
companies and freelance 'Man & Vans' are unable to provide
this, but this is changing with forever lowering costs of
technology.
Royal Mail was up until recently a reasonable
competitor of most of the large couriers; offering next
day and special delivery services. This has however
changed, with higher costs, strike action and a lowering
public perception of the company. With companies like
Royal Mail &
The DX (who offer a private courier 'box network'), it
can be difficult to draw a clear-cut line between postal
services and couriers.
Some UK couriers offer next-day services to other
European countries. FedEx and Interlink Express both offer
next-day air delivery to many EU countries. Cheaper
'By-Road' options are also available, varying from 2 days
delivery time (eg. France), to up to a week (eg. Former
USSR countries).
Large couriers often require an account to be held (and
this can include daily scheduled collections). Senders are
therefore primarily in the commercial/industrial sector
(and not the general public); some couriers such as DHL do
however allow public sending (at higher cost than regular
senders).
USA
The courier industry has long held an important place
in United States commerce and been involved in pivotal
moments in the nation's history such as westward migration
and the
gold rush.
Wells Fargo was founded in 1852 and rapidly became the
preeminent package delivery company. The company
specialized in shipping gold, packages and newspapers
throughout the West, making a Wells Fargo office in every
camp and settlement a necessity for commerce and
connections to home. Shortly afterward, the
Pony Express was established to move packages more
quickly than the traditional method, which followed the
stagecoach routes. It also illustrated the demand for
timely deliveries across the nation, a concept that
continued to evolve with the
railroads, automobiles and interstate highways and
which has emerged into today’s courier industry.
Other aspects
Sameday
couriers
Sameday couriers deliver in less than 24 hours and is
an integral part of any modern economy. There are roughly
seven thousand courier companies in the
United States that make up this multi-billion dollar
sector. The business model for the courier industry is
particularly dependent on independent contractors - In
fact, it is estimated that 50-65% of U.S. courier
companies use independent contractors to make deliveries
in addition to their own dedicated employee resources.[citation
needed] The nature of the industry,
with its on-demand, often unscheduled delivery model,
requires a varying number of courier drivers on any given
day and time of day to complete a set service. Experts in
this method of network delivery maintain hundreds of
standby couriers in a "ready to move" status as devised by
Mark Kent, professor of
Logistics at the
University of Ghent. However, this business model is
under threat from
IRS Reclassification where IC's are being
recategorized as W-2 employees. This reclassification
typically results in fines being imposed on the offending
courier company.
In December
2007, the Internal Revenue Service of the US
'tentatively decided' that FedEx Ground Division might be
facing a tax liability of $319 million for 2002, due to
misclassification of its operatives as independent
contractors. Reversing a 1994 decision which allowed FedEx
to classify its operatives that own their own vehicles,
the IRS is auditing the years 2003 to 2006, with a view to
assessing whether similar misclassification of operatives
has taken place. FedEx denies that any irregularities in
classification have taken place, but is facing legal
action from operatives claiming benefits that would have
accrued had they been classified as employees.[1]
Many expedited courier companies are regional, small
businesses, which can also provide additional services
such as logistics management, archive warehousing,
messenger centers, outsourced mailroom services and
coordinated airfreight forwarding delivery services.
In the UK, most of the couriers or despatch
riders were motorcyclists when the sameday delivery
business started to show up in London. These tended to
evolved from taxi companies but soon regional courier
companies were popping up throughout the country. Starting
in the mid 1980s,
bicycle couriers, who were more economical for shorter
distance deliveries,[2]
began to supplant motorcycle couriers in the larger
cities. Rising costs, including insurance premiums and
petrol, made motorcycle couriers less competitive.[citation
needed] Except for the metropolitan
areas most of the sameday couriers throughout the country
now use small vans to do deliveries
Customers
These couriers specialize in delivering important or
sensitive packages that need to be received in the local
area; and/or because of time and temperature concerns,
such as
organs for
transplant or key equipment or parts that are
necessary for day to day operations. While most companies
use courier services certain industries depend on couriers
on a daily basis. Biomedical labs need samples for testing
and evaluation, manufacturing industry require parts to
keep their plants operating smoothly, financial
institutions transfer multiple documents every day between
branches and processing centers,
law firms must deliver confidential signatured
documents on very strict deadlines for court filings and
pharmaceutical distributors use couriers to transport
medications to hospitals and
nursing homes.
Even two-day delivery services use courier firms. Items
that are mis-sorted, forgotten or just not picked up on a
larger couriers route. When a mistake has been discovered,
courier firms fill in the gap and ensure packages are
delivered on time.
Competition
Courier firms specializing in same-day delivery provide
an invaluable service because the "big five" (Aramex,
DHL,
FedEx,
TNT N.V., and
UPS) in the delivery business simply do not provide
same-day delivery services uniquely designed to meet
specific individual customer needs. Expedited delivery
firms also prevent the big five from having a complete
monopoly on deliveries that must be completed in a short
period of time. This competition, both among couriers and
with the big five, has greatly increased the quality and
professionalism of the industry, while also ensuring
reasonable rates for customers. These 7,000 plus small
businesses also help to keep the pricing competitive and
the big five honest. Additionally, the courier industry
consists almost entirely of small, locally owned and
operated businesses, ensuring that revenue is retained
within the community served, rather than siphoned off by a
multi-national corporation.
Working conditions of
couriers
The conditions of employment of couriers vary from
country to country, city to city and even company to
company. Contracts governing the relationship between
individual courier and company are subject as much to
customary practice, as local ordinance. In some places
couriers are
independent contractors paid on
commission and do not receive benefits such as health
insurance. In other places they will be regular
employees of the courier company enjoying all the
benefits thereof.
In the US, the Obama-Durbin Independent Contractor
Proper Classification Act of 2007 was introduced to deal
with the problem of workers 'misclassified' as independent
contractors.[3]
It is not clear what effect this legislation, if enacted,
will have on the U.S. courier market. But if, as is the
Act's intention, courier companies are forced to treat
those workers that they previously declared independent
contractors, as employees, with all the benefits thereof,
then there is no doubt that costs will rise.
The employment status of the couriers of one of the
UK's biggest sameday courier services, CitySprint, was
challenged by the GMB
trade union in December 2007. The challenge arises
from the firm deciding to terminate the contract of one of
its operatives. The GMB seeks to establish that more than
1500 CitySprint operatives currently classified as
self-employed sub-contractors should be re-classified as
employees.[4]
See also
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