Couriers, Weights, Zones, and You

You’re a busy person. You need to be out there working every hour of the day to get money coming in to keep your business running. The last thing you want to do is take time out of your day to pick up some business cards. It could also be the case that you work the normal 9 to 5 so can’t come in to Copy Express while it’s open.  You might not even live in the same city, so travelling to Petone, Lower Hutt might be too long of a trip to get your manuals. So that’s why we offer shipping directly to you. You might be wondering how we work out the prices when we ship that box of business cards the same charge as a dozen 100 page manuals, so this article will answer that burning question

Unless we are sending a sample, everything gets shipped by couriers. We use them for both the speed of shipping and that we get codes allowing us (and you) to track your order throughout the shipping process. Couriers also provide insurance should something go arry and your order gets lost. (It very rarely happens, but it’s worth the cover when it’s your hard earned money we are talking about.)

What are the Zones

All courier companies have delivery zones which define the cost and time frame relative to the nearest depo that does the collection of the package. Copy Express is based in Petone , Lower Hutt, so everything is calculated from the Naronga Gorge. If the package only has to be sorted in one depo before it’s delivered then it’s a Local delivery. If it has to go to another depo within a couple of hours drive, then it becomes Regional. Traveling further than a couple of hours makes it Within Island. If it has to cross the Cooks Straight, then it’s Inter Island which is the most expensive. The rule of thumb is the further the package has to travel, the small the weight limit is, the longer it takes, and the more expensive it is. Also if the courier has to travel outside the urban area (that boundary distance changes from community to community) that will add a Rural Delivery charge to cover the extra fuel and time used to deliver the item. If you are interested to know the zone you live in and what it would cost to ship to you, just give Copy Express a call or email and we will be happy to confirm it.

Weight and volume

Like it or not, printing is heavy. That pack of copy paper you take home to run on your printer, weighs 2.5kgs before you print on it. As such we printing companies tend to hit the shipping weight limits long before we hit their volume limits.  As such we calculate the shipping costs based on the weight being shipped to that zone. If the weight is greater than the zone limit, it gets split in to as many packages as needed with a shipping charge for each one.  As a general rule of thumb limits are for Copy Express

• 3kg (1 pack of copy paper) – Nationwide small package flat rate
  
• 6kg (2.5 packs of copy paper) – Upper North Island, South Island
  
• 15kg (6 packs of copy paper) – Lower North Island / Regional (as far north as Wanganui, Levin, Palmerston North & Dannevirke)
  
• 25kg (2 boxes of copy paper) –  Outer Area and Metro (as far as Otaki, Kapiti, Masterton, Paraparaumu & Martinborough)
  

The pack of paper is also a good rule of thumb for package size. The largest standard box we ship in is roughly the size of two boxes of copy paper side by side and filled with paper weighs about 25kgs. For items shipped in postal ‘tubes’, like posters, as long as the tube is under a metre long then it can be generally covered under the normal shipping rates

Signing for delivery

By default, unless you give us instructions otherwise, the couriers will always require someone to sign for any package being delivered. This reduces the risk of theft, as once it leaves their hands, they handing over the responsibility for it to the signer. If you do want it left unattended, it’s at your own risk so make sure you spell out where it’s to be left in detail.  Also remember sometimes it’s easier for both you and the courier to deliver it where you work instead of home as there will someone to sign for it.

Common Shipping Questions.

Why can it take a more than a day to go from Petone to Island Bay even though it’s less than an hour’s drive between the two drive between the two?
Every courier has a fixed area of the map they service, so the two areas listed above will require two drivers handling the job. Even if the pickup and drop off is in the same area, the courier has to take it back to the depo to be sorted so it goes to the right destination. So any delivery will be collected one cycle, processed the next, and delivered the third.

Why do you always send by courier. Wouldn’t sending by post be cheaper?
Yes it would be but then it’s a longer delivery time frame, more importantly it can’t be tracked, and there is a very low insurance limit on the item being shipped. By the time you add on the additional charges for the same tracking, insurance, and faster shipping times, the price is comparable.

What happens if you say you’ve shipped it but it’s not arrived when you’ve said?
Once it leaves our store, it’s out of hands so we have no control over what happens. That’s why we send you the tracking number. It might be there is an event(s) blocking the flow of goods, like fog closing airports or snow closing the Desert Road. All courier companies will put notifications on their websites if there are shipping issues, and you can use their online forms to get an update on your package using your tracking code. It could also be a case that there was no one to receive it, or the address was incorrect or confusing for the driver. Make sure you have the correct details, with guides to find the location if it’s not on the street frontage, and that if no one can receive it where the driver should place it.

What happens if I get my printing but it’s damaged?
We make sure that all goods are wrapped or boxed and weather resistant. If you get something that shows damage on the packaging, take photos before you open it and then more photos of  the goods. Send us copies of these photos and we will lodge a insurance claim with the couriers and then get replacements produced and shipped to you as soon as we can. If you want your printing to be left somewhere without signing and there is damage, then that’s harder to claim. Couriers work with a ‘chain of custody’, that someone is always in charge of the package. Leaving it unsigned  means the chain is broken and things can happen without anyone being aware of it, making damage by the couriers harder to prove; so always get to be delivered somewhere it can be signed for if you can.

Why can’t you ship to a post office box?
It has to do with the chain of custody again. Couriers prefer to hand the goods over to a person at the destination who can sign for it. Also most of what we ship wouldn’t fit in to your standard post box anyway. 

I need it next business day guaranteed, can you do that?
We can ship goods by Overnight Courier bags but we don’t use them as standard. You do have to pay more for the privilege for it to be rushed and the volume limits are a lot smaller than normal courier sizes. Also if you live within the regional zone for Copy Express, which reaches out from Wanganui to Dannevirke then you’ll still get your order next business day under the normal freight rates.

That’s a quick rundown of our shipment system. If you have questions about how we can ship items to you or you have special requirements, then don’t hesitate to contact us.