A Day In The Life Of A Courier
Posted on: 6 November 2015
Couriers are an important part of business operations. They spend each day traveling from office to office, delivering everything from paperwork to packages. A courier can be a real life saver for companies who need to have something sent out quickly and get it delivered on time. So what it is like to be a courier at a company like A-Dash Messenger Service Ltd, and how does their daily schedule typically look? Read on to find out.
Starting Off the Day
Couriers work on strict deadlines, and they must deliver everything for the day in a timely manner before they can head home for the evening. Most couriers arrive to their distribution centers during the wee hours of the morning so they can have their vehicles loaded up and ready to go for the day's route. The sooner they can get going, the faster they can deliver the goods to customers. Most courier drivers are independent, so their car, truck, or van is their own personal vehicle. Each day they'll do a quick inspection to ensure that their delivery vehicle is in good condition and ready to go. Once they're loaded up, they can start their route and get everything dropped off to customers.
Running the Route
There's several ways a courier can plan their route each day. Some companies give the driver a pre-planned route so they know exactly where to go and in what order. Independent drivers may have to map out their route on their own, and have a list of all the addresses they need to deliver to. It also largely depends on the urgency of the packages. If a customer pays more for early delivery, the driver will make those drop offs a priority. Not all items need a signature, but for those that do, the driver has to personally deliver the item and ensure that someone signs for it. Routes can be complicated and time consuming depending on factors like traffic, parking, and how easy it is for the courier to get into a building or make customer contact.
Logistics
Thanks to new technology, routes can be plugged into a GPS system and packages can be scanned with a bar code. In the past, couriers relied on their own record keeping to get paid. Today, most modern courier companies can track the driver's whereabouts and keep a tally on how many items they've delivered. Most couriers get paid per delivery, so it's important that they get everything done on time each day. If a package doesn't get delivered, the driver will not be paid for it, so having a successful day with a good rate of delivery gives the driver incentive to get the package to the recipients on time and make sure everyone is happy.
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