Blog: Express and postal mail, who and what makes the difference?

For many people it’s not immediately clear what exactly is the difference between Express and Mail. In this blog I try to explain you what makes the difference between Mail and Express. The confusion starts when sending a parcel. Many people are accustomed to the post office and royal mail. Fewer are however unfamiliar with a courier service called Express, despite the many benefits Express has to offer when sending a document or package.

Let’s start. what way are you able to send a shipment?

This can be done several ways:

• by postal service: you go to the post office and hand over your shipment (the most common way of sending) 
• courier (the lesser-known manner, but also the fastest way of sending a parcel)
• per freight container (the most economical and also slowest way of shipping bulk goods, widely used for large shipments like pallets) 
• by air freight (the most economical way of shipping bulk goods on pallets by plane)

Let’s start explaining postal services: Post Office

The most regular way shipping by royal mail. You deliver your package at a post office and that’s it. The parcel will be delivered within a few days to weeks, depending on the destination.
For example, if you send a parcel to America by royal mail, it may take as long as 14-21 days before your package will be delivered. You might choose the tracking option to be able to know where your parcel is. However certain countries do not support the tracking codes your post office put on the parcel, since each country has its own royal mail services.

Why are royal mail / postal services less traceable than courier services?

A postal network oftenly a nationwide network. As a rule your package most of the time will be deliverd within 1 or 2 days. The reason is that your parcel remains in the same postal service network and will be handled by the same mail company.

Suppose you want to send your parcel from the United Kingdom to America. You drop it off at the post office and from that moment on your package is on its way to America. Once your package is sent abroad, the local national postal network sends your shipment to another postal network of either the destination country or a country in which your shipment is transferred. A bit similar when you as a passenger transfer from one plane to another.

You have to realize that the domestic postal network ends if the shipment leaves the country. The domestic network does not extend abroad: the royal mail will not deliver in another country using its own postal network. They always use the postal services of that particular country.

Ok, let’s see what will happen to your parcel after the UK Royal Mail’s network ends. Your package with destination America will now be transferred to the domestic postal network in America and be put in large postal bags. Your tracking number will be adjusted from UK Royal mail to US Postal Service. USPS will eventually deliver your parcel in America.

This shows that your package has to deal with multiple postal networks and mail systems. This affects the traceability of your shipment. Therefore it’s not always certain when your parcel will finally be delivered.

What exactly is Express?

Express is a synonym for fast delivery by courier services. For example, shipping companies like DHL, FedEx and UPS use their own logistic network. This means these couriers will collect your shipment with destination Amerika and will handle your parcel using their own network within a few days.
They have their own customs department to ensure fast delivery. They use their own vehicles (vans, trucks), private planes and their own people. If you send a document to the USA for example, this will de deliverd within 24 hours. This also applies to an import shipment from Hong Kong: guarantee delivery within 24 hours.

Summarized: the differences between Mail and Express

Differences:

• Royal mail uses different postal networks / Express services use their own network
• Postal packages you drop off at the post office or some kind of delivery point / Express is collected from your home or company
• Royal mail means long delivery times / Express courier companies offer speed and short delivery times 
• Royal mail has poor traceability since they use different postal networks / Express courier services always use their own unique tracking numbers within their own network

As you can see, to choose Royal Mail or Express, fully depends on your needs.

If your want to send a parcel to America, China or any other global destination and you need:

• 24/7 traceability
• don’t want to wait at a post office
• have your shipment delivered in a few days

Your choice would be to send your parcel by express courier service.

We can help you sending your packages and we’ll happy to give you advice whenever we can. Using ParcelParcel.com you can save on your shipping rates and send your parcel using our low cost courier services.

Want to know more about ParcelParcel.com and how you can also benefit from cheap online parcel delivery? Just use our Live Chat below or send us a message.