Delivery Costs
Every time the Royal Mail increases the price of a stamp, there is a certain amount of annoyance at having to pay a few pence extra for sending a letter. Delivery costs are massively dependent on the size of the item, where it is going and how quickly it needs to get there.
A single page letter can reach another UK address the following day for as little as 64p, because this is a very lightweight item that simply gets added to the existing delivery network. The operating costs would be virtually the same for each leg of the potential delivery journey whether or not your letter is part of it. A mathematical equation results in the cost per unit being far cheaper than if you were to make the journey yourself each time. This is known as economies of scale.
Same Day Delivery Costs
The opposite end of the delivery costs scale is when you have a large consignment that needs to be delivered the same day. There is no central collection point for such a specialist delivery and in most cases the van and driver is dedicated to just your delivery. Instead of dividing up the operating costs by the amount of customers that are catered for with that journey, there is usually just one customer.
The standard 1-2 day delivery service involves each individual package going to a central depot and then going out on whichever bulk route is applicable. Economies of scale mean that the costs per unit are reduced. If every delivery vehicle is filled to capacity, the price is divided amongst several customers.
With urgent courier delivery that needs to be delivered the same day, the price is typically footed by just one customer. For example, if you have a large printer that needs to be delivered from Leicester to Nottingham, the pricing model of the courier company will need to cover the entire cost of business. This would ultimately incorporate the journey time, fuel costs and cost of the vehicle.
Customers can make savings when a courier company has a van returning to the operations office. The unused space in that vehicle can be optimised with very little extra cost to the courier, so it’s always worth calling the company if the delivery address for your consignment is near their operations office. For example, if you need something to be delivered the same day to Northampton, a company such as NX Courier would gladly offer substantial discounts if one of their vehicles is returning from near your collection address. Then you would be taking advantage of economies of scale.
For more information, please call the team on 01604 217855 or email us sales@thenxgroup.com