In any major city, such as Boston, courier services are going to be required by local businesses. With the economy being what it is, more and more businesses are going to be smaller from businesses that have downsized to your standard sole proprietorships. Because they are smaller they will not need to have business locations that are downtown in commercial properties, paying rents that make the prices to the customers even higher. Instead such businesses will be run from home offices in residential areas.
While the trend to go smaller is ongoing, courier and shipping organizations are still designed to service the larger businesses. At this time, they do not have standard runs going down every residential street in your area. This means that, if your business is run from an area that is predominately residential, getting professional shipping and courier services is not going to be as easy.
Your good Boston courier services are going to have an option to assist you with pickup and delivery of your goods and documents regardless of your location. You can expect the better courier services to charge a needed fee to service you if you are in a residential area. They have to go out of their way to reach you, and that costs them money, they will have no choice but to pass that added expense on to you their customer. As you are running a smaller business, the reduction in other expenses are likely to allow you to remain quite competitive with larger organizations regardless due to your lower expenses in general.
To try and limit the extra expenses from your courier company, the best thing you can do is shop around for the best one in your area. Sometimes you can find one that is based near you. That will work to your advantage. If you get a courier that is your neighbor, you are going to net reduced expenses. Once you find a good company, get an account with them and use them frequently. A reduction in net costs for frequent flyers of any service is to be expected. In today's economy you might find that the 'standard rates' are not so standard if you try and haggle for a better price for your needs. If you find your business is an infrequent user of courier services you will most likely always have to pay a surcharge for your courier needs.