What is on board courier?

Onboard courier service is another type of courier service that businesses prefer as a cost-effective logistics option. Although this courier service is best for small cargo delivery, companies of various scales ranging from importers to mass producers to individual traders, everyone can take advantage of it. 

The onboard courier, better understood as hand-carry service too, is a service under time-critical deliveries. While many logistics companies around the world offer time-critical services, the onboard courier might not be. Under this time-sensitive courier service, cargo transportation has to be delivered to its destinations within a prescribed time limit. That is why hand-carry services are pretty much accomplished through flight transport. As such, the cargo receives significant safety and security and has a super fast delivery. 

In layman’s words, OBC or an on board courier handles the cargo personally from its pickup to its transportation till its delivery to the destined person. Even though many customers try and suggest onboard couriers for fast shipment, the service delivers only valuable emergency cargos, medical technology, essential documents, or consignments, to name a few. 

Assuming that you are a business person and want to deliver your cargo to a destination halfway across the globe, the onboard courier service would be the best option for you. Now, if you ask me for a reason for this suggestion, I have good consideration factors for you right below. 

Advantage of onboard courier or hand-carry service

• Real-time status update

Every logistics and shipping company out there provides their customers and clients with status updates of their shipments. They offer tracking ids on all of their courier services. This status update starts from when the shipment is sorted till its delivery to the final recipient of the cargo. The same is the case with the onboard courier. Here, onboard courier status updates can be obtained through a request to the shipper.  

• Personal attendance of the cargo

Businesses who opt for on-board courier services often contain shipments of high monetary value. While such shipments can be insured, if any mishap is to occur, it will cost both time and money. For instance, if a very confidential package is to be lost in transit and fall into the wrong hands, the consequences would not be suitable for all the parties involved. That is one of the reasons why hand carry services came into demand by masses of customers. 

The onboard courier handles the shipment personally throughout the transportation journey. This way, the service provider successfully completes the delivery service without any risk involved. The customers also can relax concerning the shipments’ security. 

Since the onboard courier carries the courier package along on the plane, such shipments tend to be small in size. Large-sized cargo presumably takes more time during check-in at the airport. There may also be extra charges for the excess weight of the cargo.

• Faster custom clearance

As stated in the earlier part of the article, onboard couriers are primarily delivered through air transportation. As such, check-in of the baggage (shipment) at the airport becomes quicker when it is within the baggage limit. And so is the inspection. Customers choose on-board couriers primarily for international shipping. Hence, the paperwork related to the shipment has to go through customs inspection. 

For standard courier services, customs inspection is a time-consuming procedure. That is why standard deliveries take longer shipping times. But with an on-board courier present during the inspection by the customs, the overall process is streamlined. The courier present can respond to all the queries and paperwork of the custom agents related to the cargo. Hence, the shipping time is not delayed at most times. 

• Safety and security of the shipment

The onboard courier ensures total safety and security of the shipment throughout the transportation. This is because, in this courier service, the responsibility of the shipment lies entirely on the service provider. So, you can rest worry-free after choosing a reliable hand carry service. 

That being said, before you finalize on a logistics service provider that offers on-board courier service, make sure to go through their reviews and reputation concerning the reliability of their service. All in all, booking an onboard courier service is not a hassle.

On-board courier benefits both the shipper and the customer in many ways.