subject: What Happens When My Freight Isn't Ready At The Scheduled Pickup Time? [print this page] Sometimes things don't go according to plan in the courier world. Usually, things are scheduled carefully enough that your freight will always be ready for pickup just when you told the courier that it would be. However, any experienced courier PA based knows that this isn't always going to be the case. Their policies in this situation may differ between companies. There are some guidelines to help you navigate this situation successfully however.
First of all, care should always be taken to avoid this situation as much as possible. One way to do this is to schedule your deliveries as far in advance as it is possible for you to do so. What this does is provide you with ample warning to all of your departments that are part of the process of getting a shipment ready to have their work done by the required time. If you're always just slightly ahead of your distribution pipeline, you give yourself enough room to accommodate the odd mistake or misjudgment.
The most important thing that you need to remember is that you should always contact your courier as soon as possible. The longer you wait to let them know that the delivery isn't going to be ready, the more problems it is going to cause for them. That in turn, can quite often lead to more increased costs for you.
You should expect to have to pay a fee or a surcharge to your courier company if you aren't ready with your shipment by the time that they agreed to pick up your shipment. Courier companies very carefully schedule their pickup runs, and they generally have everything planned to maximize the use of their time. A late delivery disrupts their entire day's work, and so they will usually charge you a fee for that.
One thing that can make a difference in how much you are charged for this situation is how much time you give the courier in terms of notice. As mentioned earlier, the more notice the better. Some couriers base their fees for an unprepared pickup on a flat fee, or a percentage of the value of your bill. However, some also have incentives that reduce that fee or percentage based on the amount of notice that you can give them. This isn't always the case, but more notice can at least help build goodwill with your courier company, always valuable in its own way.
