Types of Transport for Courier, Express and Parcel Services

When commissioning a parcel service or forwarder, it is important to balance speed and price. The faster a delivery arrives at the destination, the more expensive can the logistics service provider pay for his work. This has to do with the different transport routes and means of transport, which are used depending on the “speed level”. In this article, we will explain the most common types of transport and the associated means of transport.

Standard Shipping / Next Day

In Europe, and especially in Germany, the traffic routes are so well developed that parcels are usually delivered the next day after their delivery to the recipient. One speaks here of a Next-Day dispatch, even if the delivery cannot be guaranteed on the following day and if necessary parcels are delivered after 2-3 days.

The Next Day mode of transport predominantly uses road transport, ie the consignments are packed in roll containers and loaded onto trucks that handle the exchange of goods between the regionally distributed parcel centers. Some parcel services such as DPD also use rail transport on high-volume lines. However, this only pays off if the consignment volumes remain consistently high and there is daily utilization of the freight wagons. With the cheapest way to send parcel to USA now the opportunities are there.

Express delivery / Over Night

The term “overnight shipping” may sound a little misleading at first, because as a rule all parcels, regardless of the mode of transport, are transported overnight. Reason: By day, the roads are heavily used by private transport, so nocturnal transports are simply faster. In logistics, with Overnightthe express delivery called. So these are urgent shipments that are guaranteed to be delivered the next day.

Parcel services use separate check-in routes within the parcel centers or even logistics completely separate from the next-day parcel business, as can be seen, for example, with DHL and DHL Express. Because overnight shipments cannot be delayed in transportation and they are preferred, the price is at least twice as high as standard shipping. The means of transport used are usually identical to Next Day shipping, i.e. road transport and rail. However, as described above, the transport is usually separated from standard packages with its own truck, which on the one hand increases the delivery speed, on the other hand, the higher price conditional. For the International Courier this is important.

Delivery at night / innight

A special type of express shipping is the night transport. This refers to the delivery of a shipment within the night. This is a niche market of logistics, which usually serves the supply of service technicians with urgent spare parts. While overnight parcels are not sorted and picked for delivery until the next morning, Innight transportation places greater logistical demands on the parcel service.