subject: What Will My Courier Provide For Packing My Shipment? [print this page] Whenever you're getting something ready for a courier shipment, there are always a number of different types of supplies that you need in order to get your package packed and ready for transit. This might include boxes, tape, packing stuffing, wrapping for breakables, and more. That is why many people wonder which of these supplies their Grand Rapids courier service is going to provide for them. They assume that the provision of these supplies would be a natural extension of their business, but this is not the case. In most instances a courier company does not in fact provide any packing supplies.
There are a few good reasons for this, and of course there are also exceptions to the rule. One of the first reasons that courier companies don't provide packing supplies to their customers is because of the premium on space inside all courier vehicles. A courier company is always trying to get as many deliveries into each vehicle as they possibly can, and they base their charges on the amount of space in a vehicle that a given shipment consumes. If they were to be hauling packing supplies around in their truck they would essentially be limiting their own ability to profit off the space in that vehicle.
The other reason that many courier companies don't deal in this area of the business is because of the time it would take. Success in the courier industry is all about how fast you can complete your customers' deliveries, and delivering packing supplies to customer presents opportunities for many delays. First the company would have to drop off the supplies, but worse yet; they would in many cases end up waiting for customers that were waiting on supplies to finish packing their shipments. This would simply create unacceptable delays.
The exception is the few companies that choose to sell packing supplies as part of their business. By charging a good fee for any packing supplies, they can help to counteract the loss of money that they face by consuming space in their vehicles for their own use. However, be aware that even companies that do this will usually not tolerate delivering packing supplies to you that you are planning on using to pack a delivery for pickup that day. Courier drivers will not usually ever wait for you to finish packing a shipment, so be sure to order enough supplies that you're stocked well ahead.