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| A. |
Local
Rush Courier Defined
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Local rush courier
service is a highly specialized and personalized service. The
definition and expectation of service varies greatly from customer to
customer and from industry to industry. Most people think of local
rush courier service as simply same day pick-up and delivery of
packages within the city limits. It can be this simple or it can be
more complex.
A law firm and a
florist will
have very different expectations of their courier
company although
they may (but shouldn’t) use the very
same courier
company.
Some courier
companies specialize
by industry, territory, delivery type, or by some
other element.
Some courier companies do only same-day pickup
and delivery
and some do local overnight deliveries as well. A
very few local
rush courier companies offer total courier
solutions with deliveries
to anywhere. These local rush companies will
partner with one
of the large overnight courier companies (e.g. UPS)
and subcontract all overnight deliveries outside of
normal city
limits. There are several advantages to using a
courier company
that offers total courier solutions (easy to
manage, personalized
service, single invoice, lower cost, and many
more).
Lex Courier specializes in
Law Firms. Lex Courier is teamed with UPS and
offers Total Courier
Solutions.
A good courier
company understands
its role in its client's business and will always seek ways
and means to increase value in terms of efficiency
and effectiveness
for the client.
| B. |
Three Dimensions of
Local Rush Courier
|
There are three main
dimensions to local rush courier. This is how thosedimensions look at
Lex Courier:
- Service -
People are professional, courteous,
knowledgeable, and helpful.
Drivers and bikers are neat, clean, and wear a uniform.
Deliveries are made to the right place on time. Proof of
delivery is documented on a neat manifest.
- System
-
Using the Internet anywhere, customers are empowered to
easily get quotes, place orders, track
shipments, and see
proof of delivery live. The system is easy to
use and has
many useful features.
- Cost
-
The service is priced fair and reasonable and
there is high
value for the money. If the system is efficient and easy
to use, that saves time and money. If the
service is effective
without mistakes, that saves time and money.
At Lex Courier you get the best
Service & System available. And, we guarantee your law
firm will save time and money when you use our
Total Courier
Solutions.
| C. |
Characteristics of
a Delivery
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There are typically three
important characteristics of a delivery that will affect your courier
company's ability to serve you properly:
- Dimensions of
Package(s)
- How
big is the
package you are sending, how much does the
package weigh,
how many packages are you sending? The
dimensions will
determine the vehicle required (truck, van,
car, bike,
walker) and the cost.
- Distance to
Delivery Destination
- How
far is the
package going? Is it going a couple of
blocks, staying
within city limits, going to the next town, or going to
a town 1,000 kilometers away? Distance
affects the vehicle
required and the cost.
- Required Delivery
Time
- How fast do you need the
package delivered? Can it be delivered overnight or
does it need to get there right now? Speed
affects the
vehicle required and the cost. It also
determines if a third
party carrier should/can be used (long
distance overnight
or even same day across the continent - next flight
out).
There are many
possibilities when it
comes to service types but here are ten Service
Types offered
by Lex Courier:
- Urgent
-
A driver is dispatched immediately and the
package is picked
up and delivered with no other stops
(within 30 minutes
in the core).
- Urgent
Return -
A driver is dispatched immediately and the
package is picked up and delivered with no other stops (within 30
minutes in the core), then the driver heads straight back to the
origin (i.e. with a receipt from a bank deposit)
- Direct
-
The package is picked up and delivered within 60 minutes
in the core and within 90 minutes in the city
limits (Return
Service Available).
- Rush
-
The package is picked up and delivered within 2
hours (Return
Service Available).
- Economy -
The package is picked up and delivered within
4 hours; if
the call is placed after 2 PM, the package may
be delivered
the next morning by noon.
- Early
AM -
The package is picked up by 5 PM and delivered
by 9 AM the
next morning.
- Express -
The package is picked up by 5 PM and delivered
by 10:30
AM the next morning.
- Standard -
The package is picked up by 5 PM and delivered the next
business day.
- Prescheduled -
This is a regularly scheduled pickup and
delivery (i.e.
internal mail from one office to another, mail
pick-up
from a Canada Post outlet, banking, etc.)
that happens
at the same time on a regularly
basis.
- Customer Defined
- There is
absolutely no doubt
about the fact that some courier companies are
better than
others. This is true of all business types; some are
always better than others. In the Messenger
business, this
usually boils down to issues related to one of the three
dimensions of courier (service, system,
cost).
| E. |
Factors That Affect
Delivery |
- Weather -
In stormy weather, time guarantees do not apply. If the
roads are wet and slippery, driving becomes
dangerous and
speeds are reduced. The courier will do
everything prudent
to ensure your packages are handled
properly.
- Traffic - During
rush hour and whenever there is an accident, speeds are
reduced and guarantees do not apply. Again, the courier
will do everything possible to hurry (Lex
Courier dispatcher
uses live traffic cameras on the internet to
guide the driver
to the best route).
- Incident -
From time to time, the police or fire
department will block a road or close off an area due to some
incident (e.g. fire, gas leak, crime scene, labor unrest,
dignitary route). This may affect the courier’s ability to
deliver into an area or may slow down a courier trying to go through
an area.
- Breakdown -
A courier may experience mechanical problems
with his vehicle or a courier may get into an accident. The
dispatcher immediately dispatches another courier to retrieve
packages and continue the deliveries.
- No
Answer -
Is a signature required as proof of delivery or
can the package be left if there is no answer at the door? If
there is no answer, the customer will be contacted and asked for
permission to leave the package.
- Wrong
Address -
The destination person or company name does not
match the street address given. The customer will be contacted and
asked for instructions.
- Refused -
If the intended recipient refuses to accept the package,
the customer is contacted and asked for
instructions.
The client must ensure
that the order
is placed properly with accurate information,
including proper
contact name, company name, street address, suite number,
city, and postal code.
To ensure that the right vehicle for the
job is dispatched,
the exact number of pieces must be indicated on the
order. Also,
the type of piece (envelope, box, tube, etc.) must be
properly indicated. If the shipper does not have a scale, the
weight should be estimated.
The shipper should indicate in the
comments section
of the order any special delivery or handling instructions
that apply.
Packages and boxes should always be
properly wrapped,
sealed, and labeled. Old labels should be properly removed
from used boxes to avoid any confusion.
If the shipment is other than documents
and is leaving
Canada, the shipper must prepare and attach to each piece
in the shipment a Pro Forma Commercial Invoice
(Customs
Declaration). This document must
include:
- Shipper’s
company name and address details.
- Consignee’s
company name and address details.
- Name and number
to contact regarding issues related to the
delivery
- Description
of contents and quantity.
- Weights and
dimensions.
- Value of shipment.
- Country of
manufacture.
- No
pornographic
material or dangerous goods
certification
- Reason for
export.
Whenever there are
special instructions
or unusual or changing circumstances regarding a delivery,
the shipper should call the Lex Courier office to
ensure that
the information is clearly understood and
properly communicated
to everyone involved.
If the Shipper
has entered
an order and that order has not yet been assigned
or dispatched,
the Shipper can easily make changes to or cancel the order
online. If the order is in progress and
something affecting
the order has changed, the Shipper should contact the Lex
Courier office immediately so that the Lex
Courier Dispatcher
can arrange the necessary changes.
The
Lex Courier Management
System is simple to use. Please see the Help section
for details.
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