A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are government or state agency employees (for example: a
diplomatic courier
A diplomatic courier is an official who transports diplomatic bags as sanctioned under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Couriers are granted diplomatic immunity and are thereby protected by the receiving state from arrest and ...
).
Duties and functions
Couriers are distinguished from ordinary
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for most everyday mail services. As a premium service, couriers are usually more expensive than standard mail services, and their use is normally limited to packages where one or more of these features are considered important enough to warrant the cost.
Courier services operate on all scales, from within specific towns or cities, to regional, national and global services. Large courier companies include
DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
,
DTDC
Desk to Desk Courier & Cargo (also known as DTDC or DTDC Express Limited) is an Indian courier delivery services company, headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka.
DTDC handles 12 million shipments every month.
History
In 2012, it acquired a 52 pe ...
,
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
,
EMS International
Express mail is an expedited mail delivery service for which the customer pays a premium for faster delivery. Express mail is a service for domestic and international mail, and is in most nations governed by the country's own postal administration ...
,
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
,
UPS
UPS or ups may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* United Parcel Service, an American shipping company
** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary
** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary
* Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
,
India Post
India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ha ...
,
J&T Express
PT Global Jet Express, t/a J&T Express is an Indonesian logistics and express delivery company. Founded in 2015 (as PT Global Jet Express), the company has 350,000 employees worldwide. Since its founding, J&T experienced rapid growth, expanding ...
and
Aramex
Aramex is an Emirati (Jordanian Origin) multinational logistics, courier and package delivery company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company was founded by Fadi Ghandour and Bill Kingson in 1982 in Amman, Jordan. It is the firs ...
. These offer services worldwide, typically via a
hub and spoke
A hub is the central part of a wheel that connects the axle to the wheel itself.
Hub, The Hub, or hubs may refer to:
Geography Pakistan
* Hub Tehsil, Balochistan, an administrative division
** Hub, Balochistan, capital city of the tehsil
* Hub ...
model.
Couriers services utilizing
courier software
A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...
provide electronic
proof of delivery
Proof of delivery (POD) is a method to establish the fact that a recipient received contents sent by a sender. When the sender sends multiple documents through the mail, there is a possibility of some not reaching the intended recipient. Generall ...
and electronic tracking details.
Before the industrial era
![A Ya-Yieh or Yamen Runner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/A_Ya-Yieh_or_Yamen_Runner.jpg)
In ancient history, messages were hand-delivered using a variety of methods, including
runners,
homing pigeon
The homing pigeon, also called the mail pigeon or messenger pigeon, is a variety of domestic pigeons (''Columba livia domestica'') derived from the wild rock dove, selective breeding, selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over e ...
s and riders on horseback. Before the introduction of mechanized courier services, foot messengers physically ran miles to their destinations.
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...
attributed the first use of couriers to the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
prince
Cyrus the Younger
Cyrus the Younger ( peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ''Kūruš''; grc-gre, Κῦρος ; died 401 BC) was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC i ...
.
Famously, the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
courier
Pheidippides
Pheidippides ( grc-gre, Φειδιππίδης, , ; "Son of Pheídippos") or Philippides (Φιλιππίδης) is the central figure in the story that inspired a modern sporting event, the marathon race. Pheidippides is said to have run from ...
is said to have run 26 miles from
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
to bring the news of the
Greek victory over the Persians in 490 BCE. The long-distance race known as a
marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
is named for this run.
Hezekiah
Judah's king, Hezekiah, dates between 200-400 BCE, where several couriers brought letters throughout the land of Judah and Israel (cf. 2 Chron 30 ESV).
Anabasiil
Starting at the time of
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
, the ancient Greeks and Romans made use of a class of horse and
chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
-mounted couriers called ''anabasii'' to quickly bring messages and commands long distances. The word ''anabasii'' comes from the Greek ''αναβασις'' (''adscensus'', "mounting"). They were contemporary with the Greek ''hemeredromi'', who carried their messages by foot.
In
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...
,
Rufinus made use of anabasii, as documented in
Saint Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...
's memoirs (''adv. Ruffinum'', l. 3. c. 1.): "Idcircone Cereales et Anabasii tui per diversas provincias cucurrerunt, ut laudes meas legerent?" ("Is it on that account that your Cereales and Anabasii circulated through many provinces, so that they might read my praises?")
Middle Ages
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, royal courts maintained their own messengers who were paid little more than common labourers.
Types
In cities, there are often
bicycle couriers or
motorcycle courier
A motorcycle courier, also known as a despatch rider or motorcycle messenger, is a courier using a motorcycle.
Motorcycle couriers are common in the major urban centres of Europe, South America (especially Brazil), Asia and North America.
...
s but for consignments requiring delivery over greater distance networks, this may often include
trucks
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
,
railroads
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
and
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
.
Many companies which operate under a
just-in-time or "JIT" inventory method often use on-board couriers (OBCs). On-board couriers are individuals who can travel at a moment's notice anywhere in the world, usually via commercial airlines. While this type of service is the second costliest—
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
charters are far more expensive—companies analyze the cost of service to engage an on-board courier versus the "cost" the company will realize should the product not arrive by a specified time (an assembly line stopping, untimely court filing, lost sales from product or components missing a delivery deadline, loss of life from a delayed organ transplant).
By country
Australia
The courier business in Australia is a very competitive industry and is mainly concentrated in the high population areas in and around the capital cities. With such a vast mass of land to cover the courier companies tend to transport either by air or by the main transport routes and national highways. The only large company that provides a country-wide service is Australia Post.
China
International courier services in China include
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
,
EMS International
Express mail is an expedited mail delivery service for which the customer pays a premium for faster delivery. Express mail is a service for domestic and international mail, and is in most nations governed by the country's own postal administration ...
,
DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
,
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
and
UPS
UPS or ups may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* United Parcel Service, an American shipping company
** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary
** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary
* Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
. These companies provide nominal worldwide service for both inbound and outbound shipments, connecting China to countries such as the US, Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand. Of the international courier services, the Dutch company TNT is considered to have the most capable local fluency and efficacy for third- and fourth- tiered cities. EMS International is a unit of China Post, and as such is not available for shipments originating outside of China.
Domestic courier services include
SF Express
SF Express (Group) Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational delivery services and logistics company based in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It is the second largest courier in China, and provides domestic and international express delivery. SF Express has a ...
, YTO Express (圆通), E-EMS (E邮宝) and many other operators of sometimes microscopic scales. E-EMS, is the special product of a co-operative arrangement between
China Post
China Post, legally the China Post Group Corporation ( zh, 中国邮政集团有限公司, Pinyin: ''Zhōngguó yóuzhèng jítuán yǒuxiàn gōngsī''), is the state-owned enterprise operating the official postal service of China, which provi ...
and
Alipay
Alipay () is a third-party mobile and online payment platform, established in Hangzhou, China in February 2004 by Alibaba Group and its founder Jack Ma. In 2015, Alipay moved its headquarters to Pudong, Shanghai, although its parent company An ...
, which is the online payment unit of
Alibaba Group. It is only available for the delivery of online purchases made using Alipay.
Within the Municipality of Beijing, TongCheng KuaiDi (同城快递), also a unit of China Post, provides intra-city service using
cargo bicycles
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...
.
India
International courier services in India include
DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
,
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
,
Blue Dart Express
Blue Dart Express is an Indian Blue Dart Courier Service Number 7890941713 logistics company that provides courier delivery services. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It has a subsidiary cargo airline, Blue Dart Aviation that operate ...
,
Ekart
Ekart logistics or Ekart courier is an Indian courier delivery services company, headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. A subsidiary of electronic commerce company Flipkart Pvt. Ltd., it is run by Instakart services Pvt. Ltd.
Ekart delivers ar ...
,
DTDC
Desk to Desk Courier & Cargo (also known as DTDC or DTDC Express Limited) is an Indian courier delivery services company, headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka.
DTDC handles 12 million shipments every month.
History
In 2012, it acquired a 52 pe ...
,
VRL Courier Services,
Delhivery
Delhivery is an Indian logistics and supply chain company, based in Gurugram. It was founded in 2011 by Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Bhavesh Manglani, Suraj Saharan, and Kapil Bharati. The company has over 85 fulfillment centers, 24 automated sor ...
,
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
,
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
,
OCS and
Gati Ltd
Gati Limited is an Indian logistics company, headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana. It offers surface and air express logistics, warehousing and supply chain, air freight and e-commerce services. Gati has offices in all major states of India. G ...
. Apart from these, several local couriers also operate across India. Almost all of these couriers can be tracked online.
India Post
India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ha ...
, an undertaking by the Indian government, is the largest courier service with around 155 thousand branches (comprising 139 thousand (90%) in rural areas and 16 thousand (10%) in urban areas). All couriers uses the PIN code or postal index number introduced by India Post to locate delivery address.
Malaysia
International courier services in Malaysia include
DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
,
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
,
Pgeon,
Skynet Express
Skynet may refer to:
Airlines
* Sky Net Airline, a charter airline from Armenia
* Skynet (airline), a Russian regional airline based at the Krasnoyarsk Airport
* Skynet Airlines, a defunct Irish airline that operated in 2001–2004
* Skynet, a do ...
,
ABX Express,
GDex,
Pos Laju
POS, Pos or PoS may refer to:
Linguistics
* Part of speech, the role that a word or phrase plays in a sentence
* Poverty of the stimulus, a linguistic term used in language acquisition and development
* Sayula Popoluca (ISO 639-3), an indigenous l ...
,
J&T Express
PT Global Jet Express, t/a J&T Express is an Indonesian logistics and express delivery company. Founded in 2015 (as PT Global Jet Express), the company has 350,000 employees worldwide. Since its founding, J&T experienced rapid growth, expanding ...
, and
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
. Apart from these, several local couriers also operate across Malaysia. Almost all of these couriers can be tracked online.
Malaysia Post an undertaking by the Malaysia Government is the largest courier service with around 155 thousand branches (comprising 139 thousand (90%) in rural areas and 16 thousand (10%) in urban areas). All couriers uses the PIN code or postal index number introduced by India Post to locate delivery address.
Ireland
The main courier services available in Ireland as alternatives to the national
An Post
(; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provided include letter post, p ...
system are
Parcel Direct Ireland
Parcel Direct Ireland is a courier service provider used by the general public in small and medium businesses within Ireland. Parcel Direct Ireland has formed shipping partnerships with logistics providers including FedEx, UPS, TNT, DHL, DPD, and ...
, SnapParcel (No longer in operation),
DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
, UPS,
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
,
DPD and FedEx.
Singapore
There are several international courier companies in Singapore including TNT, DHL and FedEx. Despite being a small country, demand is high for courier services. Many local courier companies have sprung up to meet this demand. Most courier companies in Singapore focus on local deliveries instead of international freight.
United Kingdom
The genus of the UK same-day courier market stems from the London Taxi companies but soon expanded into dedicated motorcycle despatch riders with the taxi companies setting up separate arms to their companies to cover the courier work. During the late 1970s small provincial and regional companies were popping up throughout the country. Today, there are many large companies offering next-day courier services, including
Speedy Freight
Speedy refers to something or someone moving at high speed.
Speedy may refer to:
Ships
* HMS ''Speedy'', nine ships of the Royal Navy
* ''Speedy''-class brig, a class of naval ship
* ''Speedy'' (1779), a whaler and convict ship despatched ...
,
DX Group
DX (Group) plc (trading as DX and DX Freight) is a British mail, courier and logistics company, with operations throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland based in Datchet, England.
With operational hubs and head offices in Ditton Park (Head ...
,
UKMail
UK Mail, a trading name of DHL Parcel UK Limited (formerly Business Post), is a postal service company operating in the United Kingdom, which has competed with Royal Mail in collection and distribution of mail, since the deregulation of the posta ...
and UK divisions of worldwide couriers such as FedEx, DHL,
Hermes Group
Hermes Europe GmbH is a German delivery company headquartered in Hamburg, owned by the retail company Otto GmbH.
History
The company was founded in 1972 in West Germany and entered the market in East Germany in 1990. It expanded to France in ...
, Global Express Courier, UPS and TNT City Sprint.
There are many 'specialist' couriers usually for the transportation of items such as freight/pallets, sensitive documents and liquids.
The 'Man & Van'/Freelance courier business model, is highly popular in the United Kingdom, with thousands upon thousands of independent couriers and localised companies, offering next-day and same day services. This is likely to be so popular because of the low business requirements (a vehicle) and the lucrative number of items sent within the UK every day. In fact, from 1988 to 2016, UK couriers were considered universally self employed, though the number of salaried couriers employed by firms has grown substantially since then. However, since the dawn of the electronic age the way in which businesses use couriers has changed dramatically. Prior to email and the ability to create PDFs, documents represented a significant proportion of the business. However, over the past five years, documentation revenues have decreased by 50 percent. Customers are also demanding more from their courier partners. Therefore, more organisations prefer to use the services of larger organisations who are able to provide more flexibility and levels of service, which has led to another level of courier company, regional couriers. This is usually a local company which has expanded to more than one office to cover an area.
Some UK couriers offer next-day services to other European countries. FedEx offers next-day air delivery to many EU countries. Cheaper 'by-road' options are also available, varying from two days' delivery time (such as France), to up to a week (former USSR countries).
Large couriers often require an account to be held (and this can include daily scheduled collections). Senders are therefore primarily in the commercial/industrial sector (and not the general public); some couriers such as DHL do however allow public sending (at higher cost than regular senders).
In recent years, the increased popularity of Black Friday in the UK has placed some firms under operational stress.
![Food delivery driver in car](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Food_delivery_driver_in_car.jpg)
The process of booking a courier has changed, it is no longer a lengthy task of making numerous calls to different courier companies to request a quote. Booking a courier is predominantly carried out online. The courier industry has been quick to adapt to our ever-changing digital landscape, meeting the needs of mobile and desktop consumers as well as e-commerce and online retailers. Offering end users access to instant online payments, parcel tracking, delivery notifications, and the convenience of door to door collection and delivery to almost any destination in the world.
United States
The courier industry has long held an important place in
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
commerce and has been involved in pivotal moments in the nation's history such as westward migration and the
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
was founded in 1852 and rapidly became the preeminent package delivery company. The company specialised in shipping gold, packages and newspapers throughout the West, making a Wells Fargo office in every camp and settlement a necessity for commerce and connections to home. Shortly afterward, the
Pony Express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...
was established to move packages more quickly than the traditional
stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
. It illustrated the demand for timely deliveries across the nation, a concept that continued to evolve with the
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s, automobiles and interstate highways and which has emerged into today's courier industry.
The courier industry in United States is a $59 billion industry, with 90% of the business shared by DHL, FedEx, UPS and USA Couriers. On the other hand, regional and/or local courier and delivery services were highly diversified and tended to be smaller operations; the top 50 firms accounted for just a third of the sector's revenues.
USPS
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...
is mail or packages delivered by the government and are the only ones who can legally ship to mailboxes.
In a 2019 quarterly earnings call, the CEO of FedEx named
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
as a direct competitor,
cementing the e-
commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
company's growth into the field of logistics.
See also
*
Casual courier
A casual courier is an everyday traveler who informally delivers packages for shippers. The term describes an alternative delivery practice of sending items from one place to another via independent traveler.
Casual couriers usually have existing ...
*
Common carrier
A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier'') is a person or compan ...
vs.
private carrier A private carrier is a company that transports only its own goods.Longman Business English Dictionary The carrier's primary business is not transportation.
Private carriers may refuse to sell their services at their own discretion, but common carri ...
*
Diplomatic courier
A diplomatic courier is an official who transports diplomatic bags as sanctioned under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Couriers are granted diplomatic immunity and are thereby protected by the receiving state from arrest and ...
*
Express mail
Express mail is an expedited mail delivery service for which the customer pays a premium for faster delivery. Express mail is a service for domestic and international mail, and is in most nations governed by the country's own postal administration ...
*
Mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
*
Mail service provider
A mailbox provider, mail service provider or, somewhat improperly, email service provider is a provider of email hosting. It implements email servers to send, receive, accept, and store email for other organizations or end users, on their behalf. ...
*
Mail services center
A mail services center or mail service center (MSC) is a central hub for all mail and package shipping and receiving for a large campus (such as that of a university or government facility). The staff at the MSC will sort and take incoming mail ...
*
Motorcycle courier
A motorcycle courier, also known as a despatch rider or motorcycle messenger, is a courier using a motorcycle.
Motorcycle couriers are common in the major urban centres of Europe, South America (especially Brazil), Asia and North America.
...
*
Mule (smuggling)
A mule or courier is someone who personally smuggles contraband across a border (as opposed to sending by mail, etc.) for a smuggling organization. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught themselves. Methods of smuggling ...
*
Package delivery
Package delivery or parcel delivery is the delivery of shipping containers, parcels, or high value mail as single shipments. The service is provided by most postal systems, express mail, private courier companies, and less than truckload shippi ...
*
Post riders
Post riders or postriders describes a horse and rider postal delivery system that existed at various times and various places throughout history. The term is usually reserved for instances where a network of regularly scheduled service was provid ...
*
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Transport occupations
Postal services
Distribution (marketing)