How Can I Find a Good Courier Service?

I need to sign up with a courier service -- one that I can trust with local delivery of important documents. Are there questions I should ask before choosing one? Many of them seem fly-by-night.

Packages you send by courier service are usually a big deal -- a contract that clinches the deal, photos for your local newspaper's deadline or a product that should have been there yesterday for an important client. Not only do you need immediate response from a courier, you need dependable service. The courier business, however, requires little capital or experience. As a result, urban areas are flooded with look-alike bike messengers.

Look in your local yellow pages, or ask for referrals from friends and colleagues and narrow down the list to three names you recognize. Ask for references, and speak to current clients that have comparable needs. Does the courier provide a consistent level of timely service? Is there a high turnover among employees? Ideally, you want to develop a relationship with only one courier service, which will make it easier to track lost packages and identify problem couriers.

Ask each service about their exact delivery guarantees. Does standard delivery mean the package will be picked up in four hours or delivered within four hours? The pickup/delivery distinction is more crucial with express and rush orders. You want the guarantee to hinge upon how quickly the package is delivered. Some services are not clear about the difference between pick up from your office and delivery at the designated location.

Find out how many modes of transport they use. If you expect to courier a TV or VCR to a training session or sales presentation, a courier that only offers bike and foot service isn't going to work for you.