Video – What Is an Overnight or Next Day Delivery?

Learn how overnight and next-day delivery networks operate, why they are often more cost-effective than same-day courier services, and how Diamond selects and tracks shipments across multiple carriers.

Transcript

One of the big questions is that people talk about overnight, international and same-day courier services, but what is really the difference between them?

With an overnight service, shipments are consolidated. They pass through a trunking system and a sortation hub, which is usually somewhere in the West Midlands, before being distributed onwards to the local delivery site and placed onto a delivery vehicle.

The shipment therefore passes through several hands, but customers benefit from the economies of scale created by large volumes of parcels travelling through the same network. This makes overnight delivery a cost-effective service.

Customers using Diamond’s overnight and international services can access multiple carriers. Although the delivery spend may be split between different carriers, it is consolidated through Diamond.

We collect shipments from the customer’s site, allowing them to become familiar with their local driver. The shipments are then entered into the network through the local service centre and monitored through Despatchlab.

Technology is crucial to the service. The system uses client-specific algorithms to ensure that each shipment is routed through the most suitable carrier. It also pulls tracking information into one place, helping to keep customers informed.

In less technical logistics language, this means parcels can be sent through the most appropriate carrier depending on where they are going and what they contain.