For a company that is doing business in the Houston area, finding a Houston courier service to provide regularly scheduled courier service can be extremely beneficial. Nearly every business has courier needs. Companies that make products obviously have to find a way to get those products to their customers. Of course, there are also several companies that offer services, rather than products, that need to send documents to their various support services. In either situation, scheduled courier service will definitely have its pluses.
Scheduled courier service is just what it sounds like. This is an arrangement with a courier company where they will make pickups from your location on a regular basis. How often those pickups are made is going to be up to you and the needs of your business. For instance, you might have pickups made once a month, every week, every second day, or every single morning.
One of the great things about scheduled deliveries is that they are extremely reliable. This is often especially true when working with smaller courier companies. You see, with smaller couriers, there may be times when you can’t access a last minute courier service because the vehicles that the courier has at their disposal are all already committed to other deliveries. This can leave your products stranded. However, if you have scheduled service, the courier company will already have your business scheduled for a pickup. All you have to do is have the package(s) ready!
One of the biggest benefits of scheduled courier services is that you can actually save your business money in the long run. Many couriers offer discounted rates for scheduled service. Aside from that, if you have a scheduled courier service coming to a business, you make sure that everything is ready for pickup at your specified time. This is a benefit because many companies that don’t use scheduled services will call for a pickup, only to find out later that they have another package to ship. This results in the business paying for two separate pickups.
Finally, using this type of service can assist you in keeping your company organized. When you’re forced to always have products ready at the same time, you ensure that targets are met regularly in order to keep your customers’ supply chain flowing smoothly. This makes your company look like a smooth and efficient organization, increasing the customers’ satisfaction and overall outlook on your business.
We have had a mighty cold snap all across the country in recent weeks. Here in Houston where I run, Hot Shot Delivery, Inc, a Houston Courier Service, we are finally going to reach the 60 degree mark for the first time in a week. Now before all my friends up north start in on me about this, I must say, Houston, Texas has not seen sustained overnight temperatures below freezing like this in over ten years. Heck, I’m usually in flip flops at New Years!
So, what does this have to do with 24/7 365? The media has story after story with the local plumber reminding people to wrap their pipes and stay prepared. They have been getting calls at all hours of the night for broken pipes and busted sprinkler heads. Running jobs at all hours of the night is nothing new to most of us in the courier business, but it is important to stop and reflect on the importance of being prepared and having a proper strategy for any and all weather related events. Especially when driving at night in subfreezing weather. The roads are slick and deliveries still have to be made urgently, but, with extra caution.
Do you have a winter strategy in place? Have you spent time ensuring that those who work for you and represent you know what precautions they need to take when transporting freight or even themselves to and from the office?
Here are a few tips for winter driving conditions:
Use slower acceleration and slower speeds.
Avoid heavy steering and braking.
Allow extra time to reach your destination during inclement weather. It is not worth putting your own life or the lives of others in danger to save time.
Drive with your headlights on.
Don’t get overconfident with four-wheel drive. It won’t help you stop any faster.
Winter road conditions often result in longer stopping distances. Give yourself room. If you have anti-lock brakes, press the pedal down firmly and hold it. If you don’t have anti-lock brakes, gently pump the pedal.
Slow down when approaching intersections, off-ramps, bridges or shady spots. These all have potential to develop black ice.
Avoid abrupt actions while steering, braking or accelerating to lessen your chance of losing control.
Look farther ahead in traffic. Actions by other drivers will alert you to problems and give you extra reaction time.
Trucks take longer to stop. Don’t cut in front of them.
Avoid using cruise control or overdrive. Don’t let your car make a bad decision for you.
Happy New Year! Like many business owners, I am glad to have 2009 behind me. My focus right now is on setting my intentions for 2k10 and then following through on those intentions. I think resolutions are weak and often fizzle away after a brief time. Goals, once attained, leave little left over to continue to strive towards. Intentions however, are paths to fulfill our desires. For example, one of my intentions this year is to continue to reduce operating costs by introducing new technology while tweaking and improving upon what we are currently using. Then, we can sit back and allow the technology to handle the heavy lifting for us.
We have an incredible software system that has a feature that can automatically populate our order entry screens using our phone systems caller ID. However, in order for us to make this work, we have to make a change to our phone system. I have put this change off for way too long, mainly due to convincing myself that the pain of reassigning IP addresses etc far outweighed the benefit we would gain. Not to mention the fear that someone may mess up and we lose our phones for a period of time. However, while crafting my intentions for technological improvement and reducing operating costs, I soon realized that not only will this new phone system help increase our customer service (another intention), we will also be saving over $500 per month on our company phone bill and be getting better, more robust service.
The day to day reality of running a same day delivery business, like my Houston courier service, Hot Shot Delivery, Inc., or any business for that matter, is full of distractions and pressing issues. With the right intentions in place and the discipline to follow through, life and business will be easier. So, say goodbye to 2009 and the unresolved, unachieved, goals and resolutions of the past. Welcome 2010! I intend on this year being a banner year and I look forward to sharing it with each and every one of you. So don’t forget, Shop Hot Shot!
For more information on intentions, please visit my dear friend Brian Parsley at www.brianparsley.com or give me a call and we can share ideas.
