subject: Logistics In The Courier Industry [print this page] There is no other industry that has to worry as much about logistics as the courier industry. That is because your average Los Angeles courier is going to spend all of their time trying to find ways to fulfill the logistical plans that have been laid by all their clients. This obligation means that in order for their own business to be successful, they are often trying to juggle logistics coming from dozens of different sources.
The logistical planning that goes into any courier operation is going to be magnified by the size of the company. Courier companies come in all shapes and sizes. They range from small bicycle based courier companies to larger organizations which might have every type of land vehicle somewhere in their fleet. The larger the company, the more complex the logistics planning will be that presents itself to them.
This is why courier companies often have employees whose only purpose is going to be handling all of the logistics that are involved in keeping the company running smoothly. These are the people that do the route planning, the dispatching, and which organize the scheduled and regular pickup runs. If the logistics operators in a courier company are strong, the entire company will be strong.
There are also courier companies which take their logistics expertise and use that unique ability to expand their own business. They do this by offering their logistics service to clients. Logistics consulting forms an important side business for many courier companies, and in return, can often greatly improve the efficiency of their clients.
Logistics coordinators are also needed to work between courier companies. Many couriers have partnerships with similar companies. This is especially true if they only work within a certain region but have clients that need to deliver further abroad. Having planners that work with those other companies is an important part of keeping the business of clients that might need to ship outside of the regular service area from time to time.
There are a number of ways to tell which courier company has the best logistics people working for their organization. If there is a company that is able to offer consistently lower rates on their shipments, and is able to make deliveries in less time than their competitors, then it is not a product of the special vehicles that they have in their fleet. Instead, it is a product of the hard work and planning of their logistics personnel.
