Consider what your business does for a moment. Does it sell goods? Are you a service provider?
How often do you send letters or packages?
If the answer to that last question was “quite often,” you might find yourself needing courier services.
What is a courier service?
The courier service definition is a business that delivers packages or letters from one place to another for a fee. A third-party delivery service like this is essential to any business that needs to get materials from one place to another quickly. Some of these businesses work even better than the United States Postal Service.
But you need to be sure that the company your business trusts with deliveries is trustworthy. They need to understand that your deliveries are essential for your business.
This guide will walk you through all of the licenses and certifications that a courier service needs to legally operate so that you can be sure you’re working with a reliable service.
Commercial Courier Service Business License
Like all businesses in the United States, the first type of license commercial couriers need is a business license and will be subject to audits and taxes as mandated by the federal government and your state.
Each state has its own rules for acquiring a business license. In the state of Virginia, the State Corporation Commission handles this.
The government keeps track of these business licenses so that they can be held to specific standards. To keep their business license, each business must follow proper health and safety protocols. The government requires inspections of almost every business to ensure that these protocols are being followed.
A commercial courier service, for example, will be inspected to ensure that each vehicle is safe for public roads. Each driver must be sober and have a valid driver’s license on their person at all times. They must handle all packages given to them with care.
Courier businesses may have a chance to correct any issues found by an inspection. However, these businesses must follow these protocols, or they could lose their business license. Without it, they cannot operate legally.
Driver’s License
As stated earlier, courier services must ensure the safety of their employees and everyone else on the road. This is to ensure that packages not only get delivered quickly but safely as well.
To achieve that goal, each driver employed by courier services must have a valid driver’s license. This indicates that they have passed a driving test and understand the rules of the road. They should have it on them at all times while operating a vehicle.
Ideally, each driver should have a clean driving record as well. Any points on a person’s license can raise insurance rates significantly.
If they don’t have their driver’s license on them and they get pulled over, the employee might have to serve jail time. This becomes not only a legal issue for the company but also an insurance liability. This is why it’s so important to ensure that all drivers employed by courier services understand the rules of the road.
When they take their job driving for courier services, they also take a responsibility to drive safely for the sake of others around them. Incompetent drivers cannot be allowed to drive for couriers.
Healthcare License
For medical courier service companies to legally transport medical supplies and medications, their drivers must also be licensed medical professionals. This ensures that every person handling medications and equipment understands what it is for and how to transport it.
If a courier delivers the wrong medication, that can be more than just inconvenient to the patient. It could mean that life-saving medicine isn’t getting to them on time.
The same is true of medical equipment. If it’s the wrong machine, then this could be detrimental to the patient. If the machine is broken, then this is also a huge problem.
Medical couriers are also often expected to deliver lab samples. If things get mixed up and the lab is given the wrong sample, then this can definitely lead to major problems later. For example, it can lead to giving the wrong person diagnoses and treatment.
It’s vital to hire drivers who understand the importance of what they do. They need to appreciate that they could be saving someone’s life that day by making their delivery safely and on time, which is why training and certification in the medical field are so important for these drivers.
Other Requirements
Some states have further requirements for courier service companies.
In most states, they would need a license to handle and deliver alcohol, for example. Some states also require special certifications for delivering food and beverages. There are also states where a courier service would need a special courier certification on top of a regular business license.
These can be important to ensuring the safety of all products being transported by courier services. You should have proper means of keeping certain foods hot or cold when delivering food, for example. Otherwise, foodborne illnesses can spread more easily.
These certifications are put in place to ensure the safety of employees and the people receiving the delivery. They ensure that every person in this line of work is educated and understands the importance of what they do. Always ensure that your courier service is fully licensed and operating with safety in mind.
Set Up Courier Services Today
These are the licenses and certifications you should look for when you hire a courier service. It’s the easiest way to ensure that your goods get delivered quickly and safely.
If your courier has all the proper licenses, then you can be sure that you’re using a company you can trust.
That’s why you should be using GO₂ Delivery. All of our couriers are well trained and professional. We’re the best in the business for one-day and medical deliveries.
If your business needs courier services, get a quote to see how we can help you today.
