The business of logistics is something that goes hand in hand with the operation of any courier company. Companies from the smallest bike messenger company to the largest Atlanta courier service that deals with international partners and a full trucking division must all have some understanding of logistics and how to integrate that into their delivery and business practices. Other companies go further and also offer logistics services and logistics consultations for their clients to help facilitate another area of their client's operations. This sort of service is becoming more and more common as traditional delivery companies are further diversifying in order to stay relevant and competitive in today's market.
Logistics within any given courier company must of a necessity be a flexible matter. Planning the movements of their fleet, even for a small scale courier that only operates within a single city, is an intricate and complex business. For example, a company may have a dispatch planner that organizes all of the scheduled pickups in order to facilitate using the fewest vehicles on the most efficient routes, and then the same for their deliveries, including the possible transfer of packages between vehicles to facilitate this. However, orders change throughout the course of the day because of cancellations and the placement of new deliveries, so the courier companies need to be very skilled at re-routing and re-planning, which is why a very thorough knowledge of operational and practical logistics is useful for the operators of a courier company.
The company which has a true understanding of logistics and is able to implement that understanding in a practical fashion from a day to day basis is going to be the delivery, shipping, or courier company that you want to do business with. That understanding will do several things. They will have more efficient route running which in turn will lead to lower costs that can be passed onto the consumer. They will also be able to consistently guarantee faster delivery times, something that will both make your business run smoother and make you look better in the eyes of your clients.
You may also want to look into the kinds of logistics or dispatch software that your courier is running, as those with better computer programs and systems may be better equipped to run an efficient company at all times. It's important that you hold your support companies, like a courier, to the same high standards that you hold yourself, and that is why things like this are important to the clients of couriers as well as the couriers themselves.