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5 Tips When Choosing The Best Courier For High Value Items in UK 

scheduled delivery

For many businesses, whether involved in the manufacture or simply supply of goods and materials, the volume of deliveries does not necessitate or financially justify having your own in-house delivery team. This scenario is often the case where highly valuable individual items are concerned. So, where do you turn when you want something more professional, more ‘careful’ and a company that understands that ‘precious’ means just that? You look for a white glove courier service. 

So what is a white glove courier? The answer, surprisingly, isn’t a courier that specialises in the delivery of white gloves. No. The term ‘white glove’ refers more to the item of apparel that the couriers would wear when handling highly precious, delicate and valuable items. Okay, maybe they don’t all wear white gloves, but hopefully you get the picture. So, if you have never come across the term white glove courier before, how do you know which one to choose? Hopefully the following will be helpful. 

1.Insurance for a high-value items courier 

It is important for the transport of high-value items that your chosen courier has comprehensive insurance, not just for the item(s) being transported, but also public liability insurance. Now, before you wonder why Distribusha has a very comprehensive insurance policy, it is not because your highly trained couriers have a habit of dropping and breaking things, no. In fact they work in such a professional manner that we have never had to make a high-value claim against our insurers. 

However, while we will take every precaution to ensure the safe transport of your item(s), not everyone else out there will be so scrupulous in their approach. There are many reckless drivers who use the roads today, and these drivers are often uninsured. So, what happens if our vehicle is in collision with one of these drivers, the accident is their fault, your goods are damaged but the driver in the other vehicle isn’t insured? Do we just tell you that the rei nothing we can do to help you and you lose out financially? No, that is unprofessional. You have to know that in consigning your items to us, you will never be financially out of pocket as a consequence.   

2. Highly trained and experienced high-value item courier staff 

Providing white glove courier services means that even before we have put your item(s) in our vehicle, we will first inspect it for two reasons. First, we will want to make sure it is packaged correctly so as to minimise any risk of damage during transportation. Second, usually where complex machinery such as medical equipment is concerned and we are being requested to install it as well as deliver it, we would want to be shown how to correctly install the item on delivery. If the item is heavy and is not on a pallet, we would look to see if that could be ‘fixed’ as lifting of heavy items poses a risk if done manually, both to the item in question, but also our staff. 

technical couriers

3. The right vehicle for the task for the optimum high-value courier service 

Here at Distribusha we firmly believe that to achieve the best results where the transportation of high-value goods is to ensure that the vehicle being used is ‘fit for purpose’. High-value items often tend to be quite heavy, again especially where medical equipment is concerned. Consequently, you can just ‘manhandle it’ into the back of a Ford Transit van. To explain, in an optimum situation, the item you want to have delivered to a client/customer would be on a pallet, or two pallets if it was heavy and large (we can handle twin pallets through the use of two individually operated pallet trucks and two couriers). We would then transport the pallet using a pallet truck to our vehicle which would have a pneumatic tail lift. This is a steel platform that can be raised or lowered, from ground level up to being level with the floor of the lorry. This means it is easy to guide the pallet onto the tail lift, and then easy to roll it off the tail lift and into the back of the van once it has been raised up. Beyond that, to ensure the item does not move during transportation, it would be secured by straps that would be anchored to appropriate anchor points inside the van, anchor points specifically installed in our vehicles. 

4. Adaptability and flexibility ar key attributes when choosing the best courier for high value items  

Here at Distribusha we don’t adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach to our work and instead have a very clear philosophy that we will do everything it takes to meet the individual and unique needs of our clients and customers. In truth, it is the only philosophy you can have if you want to provide a white glove courier service as no two deliveries are likely to be the same. In simple terms, it is our responsibility to adapt to your needs, not expect you to adapt to a rigid set of rules and regulations we could present you with. More than anything, we want you to feel 100% confident that when you consign your item(s) to us, you have made the right decision.  

5. Costs for high-value item courier services shouldn’t be exorbitant  

Just because the value of an item being transported is high, that doesn’t mean that the cost of the courier service should be appreciably higher than normal. Yes, the costs will be slightly higher, but that would simple be a reflection of the extra time and effort put into ensuring your highly valuable item arrives safely at its destination and if it was medical machinery, that it is installed and up and running before the couriers pack up all the packaging and leave. 

Got any questions? Call us: 01923 828460 – it costs nothing to talk – or   

Email us: info@distribusha.co.uk and we’ll get straight back to you.  

Need a quick quote? Use our Quote Form for a rapid response. 

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