The frequent sending and receiving of items is a key part of modern-day personal and professional interactions across the globe.

Do you need to send a parcel or an urgent document, locally or abroad? Discover all the courier companies that can help you in Malta and Gozo on Yellow.

What Is a Courier Service?

A courier is a private company that delivers correspondence and items between two parties for short and long distances in a rapid, trackable, secure manner. This makes courier services particularly useful for scenarios that are time-sensitive.

Public postal operations also provide local and international delivery services, nonetheless, these are traditionally not as individualised or specialised as a courier. Typically, public postal services operate through very standardised channels. Indeed, customers are required to take the item that they wish to send to their local post office or post it in a public collection box, particularly in the case of letters. Conversely, a courier will pick-up the letter or parcel directly from the client's location.

Items sent through postal services will have an indicative arrival date, however, it is not possible to ascertain this definitively or to confirm an exact time of the day when the item will be delivered. However, it is important to note that the options offered by postal services are nowadays broader and it is possible to go for speedier, more convenient and secure solutions, when required.

It is also to be noted that traditional postal services tend to be a more cost-effective option that is used regularly by millions of people around the world, especially in instances when time is not a highly critical factor.

Courier Services Available in Malta

Whether you require a speedy delivery in Malta and Gozo, an international delivery or a consignment to a popular destination such as the UK and Europe; it is possible to find a variety of courier delivery options to suit your needs. English is spoken regularly but Italian speaking couriers are also available.

Express and same day deliveries are very often preferred options for local transfers, which are doubtlessly facilitated by the shorter distances. However, expedited deliveries are also available for items that need to be sent abroad and it is usually possible to ask for next business day delivery for destinations that are in close proximity to Malta or to which direct flights are available. In view of the potentially urgent nature of some deliveries, some service providers are open on Saturday, Sunday or even 24/7.

The prices vary according to the dimensions of the item that requires transportation - service providers will typically have standard rates for different objects and sizes. However, it is always possible to ask for a free quote prior to confirming the service, particularly if you require a courier service for large or heavy items.

Courier Services Facts

• We may believe that couriers are a contemporary service, however, different forms of couriers have been in existence since the dawn of civilisation. Ancient Egyptians had the first form of documented courier services with messengers known for running long distances to deliver messages that would have been carved in stone.
• The ancient courier Pheidippides ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens so as to deliver the news of a Greek military victory. In fact, the popular long-distance races known as marathons have been named after this historical run.
• It is believed that in 400BC, the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger used runners, messengers on horseback and homing pigeons to deliver messages within Persia and further afield.
• Being a courier was deemed to be a vocation during the Middle Ages and couriers were actually among the first professionals to receive wages from royal courts for their services.
• Curiously, camels were a principal mode of mail and parcel transportation in Australia up to 1929, when the railway system was implemented.
• In Australia as well, but also in Canada and Alaska, dog sledges were commonly used to transport heavy loads well into the 1960s.
• The well-known American courier company United Parcel Service (UPS) was established by James Casey and Claude Ryan in Settle while they were still teenagers. It is estimated that the courier company delivered an approximate total of 20.7 million documents and packages daily around the world in 2018.