When we think of express couriers or your usual standard courier service, what comes to mind is the simple process of delivering packages, letters, or goods to places that could range from a building several blocks away to thousands of miles across the oceans. Pretty straightforward, right?

We only come to think of the complexity of this operation when something happens to our deliveries along the way. There are incidents reported about parcels lost, delayed delivery, pilfered, or sent somewhere else other than your intended recipient’s address.

Express couriers and other types of courier services have their own procedures and paperwork that must be filled-up to make sure that your parcels and documents reach their intended destinations safely and on time. It is not something like you hand your package to the courier, the courier goes over to the receiver and there you have it. The process is more involved, where the courier service takes a lot of pain recording pertinent details: both the sender’s name and address (which will be printed out on the packaging of the item itself) are recorded in their office, together with the shipping number (which will also be printed on the package) for tracking purposes; the weight and size of your package, etc.

The part about the sender’s and receiver’s name and addresses is often taken for granted which becomes the usual cause of a delivery gone haywire. Nothing could be more frustrating than having your parcel delayed or sent to the wrong address.

There is also the matter of insurance. Mostly, packages and parcels are automatically insured up to a certain specified amount. You may also opt to increase the insurance if the parcel you are sending is worth more than what the standard insured amount is; this would mean you have to pay an extra charge that will be added to the shipping rate. Besides the weight and size factor, shipping rates also differ according to how fast you want your package to arrive to its destination. Express couriers would ship your packages or parcels overnight, or have it reach its destination by 10:00 am; 3:00 pm, or 5:00 pm the following day, or even on weekends-at a premium rate.

There is also the very convenient option of having your items (to be delivered) picked-up by a messenger from your express courier. This does not only saves you time and trouble, but it also keeps you or any of your staff from leaving the office thus leaving some tasks unattended.

The above steps are basically the main consideration when you have any of your neighborhood express couriers deliver a package for you. Once the above steps are completed, your package will be sent by either by plane, by truck, by the messenger, or any combination or all of the preceding means.