Differences between couriers and carriers

Many people in the UK confuse, carriers with couriers. So I will set out to outline the main differences.

A Carrier is generally a bulk transport company, shifting hundreds if not thousands of items per night. Most carrier companies use a central hubsortation system with local depots performing collections and delivery in local areas. Examples of these are [http://www.apc-overnight.com/ APC Overnight] [http://www.city-link.com/ CityLink] and [http://www.businesspost.com/index.html Business Post] . Carriers are generally used as the day to day transport system for most companies and charge per consignment based on weightvolume

A Courier (Often called a Same Day Courier)is used for delicate, urgent, extremely confidential deliveries. A courier will usually pick up just the one consignment and go directly from collection to delivery with no hub or depot system. Examples of these are [http://www.couriersoncall.co.uk Couriersoncall] [http://www.dragonfly-services.co.uk Dragonfly Services] [http://www.citysprint.co.uk City Sprint] The results of this is the consignment is only handled at the collection and delivery point, so there are less chances of damages, and missorts and lost freight are unheard of. Of course all this premium care comes at a price, couriers generally charge for the size of vehicle per mile.

Although a parcel carrier is often the cheap choice, for large bulky items going short distance it can be cheaper to use a courier and receive the premium service, at no extra cost.