When most Brits think of courier businesses, they think of large trains, large trucks, vans, cargo ships and airplanes transporting goods from point A to B. However, this is only the modern image that is conjured up. Rewind back to centuries ago and the first example of materials being moved across large distances were for the building of the pyramids by the Ancient Egyptians.
Fast track to a different generation and we had human messengers getting important documents to their destinations. In fact, going back to the Ancient Egyptians; the first organised courier service can be dated back to 2400 BC where documents carved in stone would be couriered by runners from one location to another!
Most Britain citizens can also remember the pigeon named Commando used in service with the British armed forces as a courier during the Second World War to carry crucial intelligence.
Parcel Delivery Prior to Technology
One can imagine that prior to motor transportation; delivery was incredibly hard and very time consuming to say the least. Imagine having to run across from London to Glasgow to deliver a parcel? That’s a 32 hour distance by foot! When animals were introduced, that made it easier of course, but still not very efficient. The following are some of the animals used as couriers back in the day:
- Horses
- Camels
- Dogs
- Homing pigeons
Those were very interesting times indeed. Thankfully, times have changed and more efficient modes of transport have been introduced.
How Has Parcel Delivery Changed?
The first major messenger service was started when a friend borrowed a man by the name of Jim Cassey $100. That service became what we now know as UPS. Many more carriers and resellers have mushroomed from that time, using extensive world-wide networks that now span the globe. The courier industry has evolved significantly from the time of runners, pigeons and four legged animals. It used to take weeks or months to deliver parcels, and now they can be delivered same day. Depending on distance; cars, vans, trucks, trains and planes are the modern transporters of parcel delivery today.
Trends in technology have revolutionised the courier industry even more. International and local parcel delivery has been opened up and individual couriers have vastly improved on service. It truly is amazing how far we have come with technology. The courier industry in United Kingdom has benefited greatly by this. Today, courier industry services vast areas such as:
- Letter delivery
- Marketing mail delivery
- Business-to-business parcel delivery
- Business-to-consumer parcel delivery
- Consumer-to-consumer parcel delivery
- Consumer-to-business parcel delivery
- Other courier services
The Future is Courier Software
A specific example of modern technology in the courier industry is the use of courier software. Using a software within a courier business means greater efficiency and better customer service overall.
Why is this necessary? If you think about it, the heart of a courier business is the movement of parcels and packages from location to location, and providing greater customer service experience. With the advent of motor transportation, we have so much more capacity to transport higher volumes of packages. This increase in volume means increased risk of damage and loss. A system is crucial for parcel management, tracking and delivering.
An example of courier software is the Delivery Master Courier Software. Our system does a host of operational activities in a very efficient manner. This includes delivery notifications, status updates in real time, streamlined invoicing and delivery scheduling and more…
Another use of courier software technology is the use of mobile app by drivers. Mobile apps are great way for giving real time driver updates and capturing signatures from customers. All of this result in a fully integrated software package which positively impacts the daily operations as well as customer experience. It also gives the courier businesses a competitive edge in today’s UK market.
The use of software is a great example of taking advantage of technology for UK courier businesses. No delivery service wants to go back to the dark ages. The future is using a courier software, and that very future is already here!
We’re Here to Help
Delivery Master Courier Software delivers the technology that boosts efficiency, provides a better customer experience and drives performance. We are a leading provider of specialised courier, time-critical & logistics software. Simply contact us so that we can demonstrate the benefits of using your new courier software, call us 0333 30 55 250