Express Couriers and the Blockbuster Movie Castaway
Most major express couriers are serving clients internationally and they simply have the locals from each country to complete the delivery of packages to their intended destination. However, there is a type of a courier service that hire one or two staff who are designated to travel with the shipment and personally hand packages to their intended recipients. This type of messenger is called an “international courier.” You are right, it could be a very exciting job as you get to travel around the world, practically wherever a certain packages leads you.
It would take some time before one reaches the status of an international courier but employees of express couriers do find this job rewarding. While it is not always that these international couriers need to personally delivery parcels or documents to the recipients, instructions to board a plane at a moment’s notice to fulfill a required delivery within a very narrow time frame.
This reminds us of Tom Hanks as he plays the unforgettable character of Chuck Noland in the blockbuster movie “Castaway.” Although Tom Hank’s character did not actually deliver packages, his job being the system engineer for Federal Express also resembles that of an international courier. On the opening scenes of the movie, he was in Russia showing the employees there how FedEx does its business. He was then called for another assignment somewhere in Asia where their cargo plan crashed where the drama of his being castaway in a remote island started.
Just like any other line of work, while being with the business of express couriers could be exciting and fulfilling as you meet different people, it also has its own perils (as illustrated by what happened to Tom Hank’s character in the movie). You don’t even have to board a plane to crash. There are several instances when bicycle messengers, or even those riding or driving the delivery truck encounter road mishaps.
If life on the road is not for you, there are plenty of other departments in the business of express couriers that you could work in. You could work behind the counter for the shipping and receiving department. This task involves making sure that the shipments are received, recorded, and handled properly using the prescribed protocol. You can also work on the logistics end of the operation where you make sure that programs and procedures are working at all times, taking care of the internet services, managing communications between shippers and deliverers, e.g., tracking procedures.
What is important is you must always remember that your part in the express couriers business means being an important link that could sometimes mean the success and failure of your client’s business. Sometimes, all it takes for a business (your client’s) to fail is one botched delivery. This could also mean the failure of your express courier business.
