Businesses and even individual households rely on both haulage firms and courier companies to shift items from one location to another on their behalf. Although the same sort of delivery work is conducted by both sorts of company, they are very different from one another. If you know that you will need to have something delivered for you in the near future, then it is worth knowing what distinguishes these two types of logistical firm. Read on to find out the main points that make a haulier distinct from a courier.

Haulage Companies

Generally speaking, companies providing hauling services are larger than courier firms. Offering hauling services commonly means shifting heavier items than usual, such as industrial loads. Although some haulage companies deal with individuals — for example, when the entire contents of a home need to be sent from one side of the country to the other — they are mostly geared up for business-to-business operations. Hauliers tend to have the necessary know-how to handle large or bulky loads. They will often use pallets or skids to secure items onto the back of trailers and can also make use of so-called inter-modal delivery systems which, these days, essentially means shipping containers.

In addition to providing hauling services via road, which remains one of the most most popular means of delivering heavy and over-sized items in Australia, most hauliers will also be able to arrange for your delivery to be placed onto a train for cost-effective rail transportation. In some cases, they will also handle overseas deliveries for you, either via shipping ports or by securing the services of an air freight company. This can include arranging customs declarations to be made on your behalf, too.

Courier Companies

Although courier companies also make deliveries on your behalf, they tend to be smaller organisations than hauliers. Large trucks are not used by couriers very often. In the main, they operate within a limited geographical location using mid-sized vans for multiple deliveries rather than planning an optimal route for your delivery for conducting long-distance deliveries.

Courier firms work with both individuals and companies, but they tend to be better geared up for servicing people without trade accounts who may only require one delivery to be made for years on end. In many cases, they provide tracking services so that both the sender and the recipient of the delivery can keep tabs on its progress, usually by providing GPS information over the internet