Historically, every major technological advance, such as the telephone, fax machine, personal computer, and now smart phones, has been expected and predicted to result in the demise of messenger and courier jobs. Despite this, messenger jobs are still needed for a variety of reasons and a variety of businesses, including banks, real estate firms, hospitals, and law firms. Similarly, some private document delivery companies were initially thought to be an unnecessary duplication of services already provided the national postal service, but they have thrived providing faster, more reliable, or specialized services. Messenger jobs are still needed because they fill needs that aren’t being met traditional postal or package delivery services. Time-related services, shipment product services, and value-related services are all examples of different types of messenger jobs.
Both the general public and the business world are familiar with and employ time-related messenger jobs. The messenger service chosen for such jobs is usually determined the distance that the document or item must travel. To ensure delivery within the allotted time frame, overnight delivery that requires transportation over a long distance frequently necessitates the use of a national or international firm. Cars and vans are frequently used to deliver same-day deliveries, such as medical test samples to clinical laboratories. In urban areas, bike messengers are most commonly used banks and legal firms for same-day delivery.
Specialty product delivery frequently necessitates the use of messenger companies with special licenses, certifications, or approvals. Tissues, organs, laboratory samples, and other potentially biohazardous items are delivered these types of messengers. As previously stated, most health systems transport medical samples to local laboratories car or van. To deliver oversized drafting plans or building models, some architectural firms use same-city car messengers. When signed or original documents are required for legal purposes, law firms and financial institutions frequently use bike messengers to deliver them.
Jobs as a messenger can also include special shipments of valuable items or any other type of delivery that requires documentation. One of the most valuable selling points of national postal services, as well as national and international delivery services, is delivery documentation and content insurance. To ensure security, messenger jobs for particularly valuable items or information may be kept in-house. Trusted messengers are used some urban jewel merchants to discreetly pick up and deliver valuables as needed. Most of these messenger jobs require employers to be bonded and insured due to the inherent risk of delivering valuable items.