Only a couple of years ago international courier companies were still asking clients to complete manual paperwork for their despatches.
As more technology has been developed this process has moved online helping both senders and carriers.
The requirement for senders of parcels to complete manual paperwork has gone. Now international courier firms such as DHL and FedEx insist that the information is entered online:-
Clients are Asked to Enter:-
- Each parcels size and weight.
- The collection address
- The complete delivery address.
- The receivers ‘contact details.
- Details of the contents and their value.
Using the Information Entered the Carriers can give:-
- Instant transit times.
- Offer a range of timed service options that are available for the delivery address.
- Validate the delivery address so that there are no unexpected delays.
- Using API they can create and provide for printing a bar coded airway bill.
- They provide information on the included liability cover and the cost of raising it.
- They can create any additional paperwork needed such as declarations of invoices.
- They can offer smaller collection windows and accept orders online. Clients no longer need to use the telephone to schedule their collections.
- They can offer set up automated notifications on each shipments progress.
Senders collection details are saved online as are their delivery destinations once entered. This enables senders to quickly access a previous used address when they need to send a courier to Australia again.
The result is that senders not only get instant information such as price and service options. But the booking and entering of despatch details is much quicker and more accurate than previous offline methods. From the carriers perspective they have saved time and money by not having to re-enter the details written on manual paperwork when the parcels arrive at their depots
Once a shipment has been despatched, senders have instant online access to the scans relating to each movement of their shipment while it is in transit. If you track a parcel to Hong Kong, you can see it move through depots, airports and to the delivery driver in real time. The final delivery scan is usually an image of the signature that signed for the delivery.
These examples show some of the ways in which technology has improved the service levels and information provided to users of modern international courier services. What is unusual is how the technology has helped reduce paperwork and calls into the carriers by making the information available to sender. This has resulted in the new technology helping not only the senders, but also being of great benefit to the carrier’s operational costs.
