A courier service may seem very similar to a delivery service, but there are some major differences between the two. Here are five ways you can tell them apart.
1) Courier Companies Require Physical Address
One of the major differences between courier services and delivery services is that most courier companies require a physical address where the package can be delivered to, such as an office building or residential location. With a delivery service, it may be possible to receive your package at an alternate location like a park or drop-off location close to you depending on what’s allowed by your delivery company. When signing up for couriers, it is important to make sure that they will have appropriate staff available to deliver packages during office hours.
2) Time Frames Can Vary Greatly
The time between request and fulfillment of a service can vary greatly depending on the type of service you are looking for, the geographic location in which you are searching, and what is requested. Courier services tend to be much faster with fulfillment times less than 24 hours. Delivery services, on the other hand, will typically take two days or more depending on delivery location and how far away it is from where your order is coming from.
3) Tracking Numbers Are Not Always Provided
While the goal of both courier services and delivery services is to provide a timely delivery, there are differences in what they offer. With a courier service, recipients have their own tracking number so they can monitor the progress of their delivery from its inception. In contrast, delivery services provide a single tracking number for the entire package that may include multiple destinations or points of origin – each with their own corresponding tracking numbers for items being delivered to various recipients on one package.
4) Large Objects Can Be Delivered as Packages
The most common example of courier services are large package deliveries that cannot be delivered by regular mail. Smaller packages, on the other hand, can be delivered via a delivery service and would use the postal service in lieu of a larger company like UPS or FedEx to deliver the package.
5) Additional Costs May Apply (Premium)
Another major difference between courier services and delivery services is the cost; one is less expensive than the other. Courier services are generally less expensive because they make stops at multiple locations on their way to its destination so that it can deliver them to different locations for a single price, which can save you up to 50% of what a package might cost in shipping. The tradeoff, though, is that this service only applies to packages over 50 lbs., but no bigger than 150 inches in length and girth combined.
