Hello there
I'm not entirely new to the 'wam. One of my more maverick holograms called Vanity is also a member here. I think there is a place for me as a trader here on the 'wam, albeit in a different capacity to the others. I am a courier. My revised website (gtidistribution.co.uk) should be up and running some time next week so now seems a good time to start.
Nobody, apart from couriers themselves, seems to know what a courier is or does. I have heard parcel company drivers describe themselves as couriers. They most certainly are not, neither are the firms they work for. The dictionary defines courier as “a messenger, usually travelling in haste”; parcel drivers only suit the second half of that description.
A couriers price is calculated on his vehicle size and the jobs mileage: parcel companies charge on size, weight and quantity. Professional couriers hardly ever damage anything, in the unlikely event they do, they have Goods in Transit insurance, minimum cover £10,0000.
Basically I want to point out that if you are sending something big or heavy or more than 1 item over a relatively short distance then a courier could possibly do it as cheaply as a parcel company, certainly better. I don't know the statistics but I would guess that any genuine courier would also be be 100 -1000 times less likely to damage anything.
Advantages go beyond price and risk of damage. Heavy items that require a two-man lift are no problem, so long as there's someone at each end to give the driver a hand. A consignment can be collected from business premises in the afternoon and delivered to the consignee's home the same evening when he's finished work. If you're doing a swap, the courier's return journey would be a fraction of the lead price. If a couple of you got together you could consolidate your transportation and get a bespoke service possibly for little or no more than the combined costs of your individual parcels.
Courier delivery is a completely different ballgame to parcels delivery. It costs about the same to send a parcel either 50 or 250 miles by a parcel service, Courier delivery over 250 miles is about 3.5 times as much as 50 miles. Some parcel carriers charge 6 x as much to send half a dozen parcels to the same destination but it costs 1 x as much with a courier. You may want to take extra insurance with a parcel company, you shouldn't have to with a courier.
I would guess that a parcel service is still probably a better option for something like 90% - 95% of all transactions. Pharos Parcel is the parcel service of choice for many wammers - and deservedly so. I have nearly 10 years experience in nextday parcels and feel sufficiently qualified to to endorse Pharos for quite tangible reasons.
All I've got to do now is persuade you that GTI are your best choice if you want a courier, especially when we are in Cumbria and a typical job might be from one side of the M25 to the other.
I am here to promote my own courier company, not the others but, if you Google “courier” in your area you are almost certain to find at least one local courier and about half a dozen others with 0845 numbers pretending to be local (hopefully it will take a little while before they cotton on to the virtually local numbers now available). I encourage you to ring both but suggest you don't commit to either until you've spoken to us.
- - - Updated - - -
I am trying to sell my service now and that was a very long intro so I hope somebody with a box to send is still reading.
REASONS WHY WAMMERS SHOULD CONSIDER GTI AS THEIR COURIER
All courier companies sub-contract work out to owner drivers. Genuinely local couriers subbie out some of their work, 0800/0845 numbers most or all of it. For comparison, consider GTI Distribution to have elements of both.
I'm not entirely new to the 'wam. One of my more maverick holograms called Vanity is also a member here. I think there is a place for me as a trader here on the 'wam, albeit in a different capacity to the others. I am a courier. My revised website (gtidistribution.co.uk) should be up and running some time next week so now seems a good time to start.
Nobody, apart from couriers themselves, seems to know what a courier is or does. I have heard parcel company drivers describe themselves as couriers. They most certainly are not, neither are the firms they work for. The dictionary defines courier as “a messenger, usually travelling in haste”; parcel drivers only suit the second half of that description.
A couriers price is calculated on his vehicle size and the jobs mileage: parcel companies charge on size, weight and quantity. Professional couriers hardly ever damage anything, in the unlikely event they do, they have Goods in Transit insurance, minimum cover £10,0000.
Basically I want to point out that if you are sending something big or heavy or more than 1 item over a relatively short distance then a courier could possibly do it as cheaply as a parcel company, certainly better. I don't know the statistics but I would guess that any genuine courier would also be be 100 -1000 times less likely to damage anything.
Advantages go beyond price and risk of damage. Heavy items that require a two-man lift are no problem, so long as there's someone at each end to give the driver a hand. A consignment can be collected from business premises in the afternoon and delivered to the consignee's home the same evening when he's finished work. If you're doing a swap, the courier's return journey would be a fraction of the lead price. If a couple of you got together you could consolidate your transportation and get a bespoke service possibly for little or no more than the combined costs of your individual parcels.
Courier delivery is a completely different ballgame to parcels delivery. It costs about the same to send a parcel either 50 or 250 miles by a parcel service, Courier delivery over 250 miles is about 3.5 times as much as 50 miles. Some parcel carriers charge 6 x as much to send half a dozen parcels to the same destination but it costs 1 x as much with a courier. You may want to take extra insurance with a parcel company, you shouldn't have to with a courier.
I would guess that a parcel service is still probably a better option for something like 90% - 95% of all transactions. Pharos Parcel is the parcel service of choice for many wammers - and deservedly so. I have nearly 10 years experience in nextday parcels and feel sufficiently qualified to to endorse Pharos for quite tangible reasons.
All I've got to do now is persuade you that GTI are your best choice if you want a courier, especially when we are in Cumbria and a typical job might be from one side of the M25 to the other.
I am here to promote my own courier company, not the others but, if you Google “courier” in your area you are almost certain to find at least one local courier and about half a dozen others with 0845 numbers pretending to be local (hopefully it will take a little while before they cotton on to the virtually local numbers now available). I encourage you to ring both but suggest you don't commit to either until you've spoken to us.
- - - Updated - - -
I am trying to sell my service now and that was a very long intro so I hope somebody with a box to send is still reading.
REASONS WHY WAMMERS SHOULD CONSIDER GTI AS THEIR COURIER
All courier companies sub-contract work out to owner drivers. Genuinely local couriers subbie out some of their work, 0800/0845 numbers most or all of it. For comparison, consider GTI Distribution to have elements of both.
- All couriers companies sub-contract work, nearly all opt for the cheapest quote and pocket the difference. I am a member here, I have met some of you. I really really do not want to be ended on this site by using a plonker who does your job badly and embarrasses me. I will get you the best available.
- I realise most of you move your stuff as private individuals. Some owner/drivers are not VAT registered so, whenever it is cost effective and possible, I can choose one of those and get him to charge you directly.
- £. I am already a lot cheaper than big names and slightly cheaper than any of the immediate competitors that I've compared. My margins are already narrow and I can't always guarantee a wammer discount. Every enquiry from a wammer will get a spot price which will be below my usual rate whenever the job allows it.
- I talk in terms of small vans because that's what we use. If you need a bigger vehicle for a job (up to 7.5tonne) I'll get one for you, priced just as competitively.
- GTI are integrated with both of the the principal courier networks. Not quite unique but most of our competitors are only registered on one or the other, likewise the available couriers. We have more than two thousand accredited professional couriers across the UK to call upon.
- European collections and deliveries. About a third of the courier vans that cross the channel have empty space at least the size of a pallet. If you job is not urgent, I might be able to co-load your consignment on one of those vans. Prices fluctuate wildly and Pharos would always be able to send an average size parcel for a lot less.
- I kid you not: from Cumbria I really can organise a courier for you, wherever you are in the UK, as though I was in your home town. I operate in precisely the same way as other courier companies, I'm just straight about how the system works and where my base is.
For prompt replies please don't use this thread or PM me – I lot of my workday is spent driving. 07772231264 is best or lint@gtidistribution.co.uk second best.
