Back to news... 27 April 2011 Parcel Delivery Old To New

It is strange that even in days of years gone by the delivery of parcels and packets was a business that usually demanded speed of delivery. In the UK the delivery was by stagecoach and horse rider. In the USA by the scouts pony express who went up and down the East coast of America every day. Sometimes messages that went with the riders were so quick that it caused major problems.

In the days the American War of Independence was propagated if not started by the messages flying up the coast by the pony express. The Governor of Virginia demanded that all subjects go and swear allegiance to the British Flag. Unfortunately for many that meant they had to travel for a week across the State to get to the flag, hold it and swear allegiance to the crown and then ride a week back. If he did not do it then he was counted as a traitor, and his slaves were able to join the British army where they were given a gun.

The story went up the coast in 48 hours and the mayhem it caused was massive. Everybody knew somebody who had slaves, and even George Washington had 400 slaves. The terror was obvious and the post messages just inflamed the stories. The war started almost immediately.

The International trade was where parcels and messages went slowly, to get to the USA or the Far East from the powerhouse of Europe, which was still Britain, to its colonies took several weeks if not months. Consequently by the time most news reached these places it was out of date and people just had to deal with the consequences as they arose.

The development of the airplane changed that forever. From the start of the motor car to the development of major commercial aircraft took from around 1890 to 1940. From the 1930’s parcel post was getting a fully International high speed parcel service. In the early days it was dominated by a few of the major companies to a limited number of countries.

These days the best parcel delivery services are those that have built a fully International network, those who can promise to deliver anywhere in the world in the shortest time, and at the lowest cost. If you need a parcel delivery to the Far East by tomorrow you need a carrier with all the right connections. Often the lowest prices come with the amount delivered to that area as sending parcels in bulk still has its advantages. Paper messages are now more or less unnecessary as they go by internet instantly.