Mark: Hi, it's Mark from TLR. I'm here with Mark Huggan, Phantom Couriers in Vancouver. Vancouver's best courier service, fastest growing. One of the a hundred fastest growing companies in British Columbia. We're going to talk about the difference between shipping and couriers. How are you doing Mark? 

Mark H: We're doing good today. How are you? 

Mark: Good. So what is the difference? 

Mark H: Well, it's a little bit of a difference. People think it's all the same. A courier, you would call them up and you could courier across Canada, but you have to pick it up at point A to get it to point B. It's just like shipping, except with shipping, there might be multiple, like stop checks along the way. For instance, we do last mile courier for a shipping company. So you might have to go to fulfillment warehouse, pick up a unit or units, and then consolidate them into one package and bring them somewhere else. And then have them taken out to a final mile. 

And with courier is basically direct Mark's house to Mark's house. It's a lot easier. But with the shipping, there's so many different steps and shipping is like multiples and large heavy items. And courier is most likely small packages and documents. 

So the other day, for instance, we're a courier company and we get a call and it's like, can you pick up 96 boxes of vitamins at a warehouse? And it's like, okay. So that's a shipping thing where we go in, we have to find the lot, you have to take the truck. It's slower. And it usually is window of like all day. So, you know, you have to make the arrangements for the pickup. You have to get a schedule and an appointment. And then on the drop-off you generally have to schedule an appointment because you need to lock off elevators, or it might be a curb side. It might take a swamper. You have to identify what kind of vehicle you'll need. Mainly like a five ton truck with a tailgate. Or is this on a pallet? It needs a forklift. 

And with courier, it's a lot easier. Just send a working vehicle to go in there, small package, pick it up and go. So with the shipping, we do a lot of it. And with the vitamin one, for instance, we had to coordinate with the security guard at the building and he had to coordinate with his supervisor. Then we had to coordinate the shipping elevator lock off. And then there was two guys in the truck, two guys in the street. Good thing it was a sunny day cause they don't have a proper loading and then it was just go.

So there's lots of hand bombing and tracking and getting it all in there and then final pre counts. Cause you know, you go in someplace and you're like, is that what we're picking up? And everybody just goes, yes. So you have to triple check it is the right thing. And then on drop off of course you have to make sure that truck was emptied and no box was left behind. Get her all in. And then, well, dropping off 96 boxes to an office in downtown Vancouver is a lot different than a warehouse, but like that was an extreme situation. It got done. It took a lot of work and you know, the guy was happy. So he's placing a bigger order with us next week I imagine. So it could be this week. 

And with the courier, it's a lot simpler. It's identifying what it is, where it is and where it's going. And then straight shot, basically get a signature and drop it off. But shipping got a lot more checkpoints. It gets to be dimensional weight, actual weight, the truck, the fuel. There's a lot more things to tick and it's not as simple. We try to make it simple, but we get the job done, but we have to educate the clients more that a shipping job is just not as easy as coming over. There's more steps. It takes a little bit longer because you know, most people are like, when will it be here? I'm like, well today, but you know, most shipping gets ordered like on a Monday delivered on a Tuesday as well, because all of the trucks are organized and routed.

So you definitely want to have that, you want your orders in so you can schedule the truck drivers the next day. So that there's not any hot shots and extra cost involved. Because trucks are more expensive than cars, even though freight generally is cheaper than courier because it's a bulk thing and they can fill a five ton truck up to work all day.

Meanwhile, courier packages are usually on a shorter timeline and they're more urgent. Period. There you go. One long sentence shipping courier. 

Mark: So if I can sum that up in a way from what I heard. You solve a lot of the little intricate details that people don't think of. Cause they haven't done a ton of it, of who to call, how to arrange it, what vehicle to use abub bubba. All that stuff is looked after by the courier on both ends of the delivery. 

Mark H: Right, for instance, the vitamin company, they call us all day for courier, but they just thought, we'll just call the courier for this. It's gotta be just as simple. Meanwhile we're just like, yeah, we'll get it done. But we have a huge systems and procedures we have to follow. And even with all those checklists, we're like, oh, you know what? We have to first find out if that building has loading dock, because that one didn't, that's why we had to go to the security. So there's things to learn and with doing it, you know, you get to mastery a little bit. 

I remember when I was couriering, I could be like, oh, black building, excellent. Go meet the person. She usually has a red pen. So you get to remember all these little things because you do it so often. And was shipping now we know this building, you need 24 hour notice to lock out the elevators. And another shipping company might not know it. The guys might be just, I can't drop it off and they'll drive away and then product doesn't get dropped off. Then there's all that admin side and it just gets backed up as the truck is being scheduled for the next day delivery. New truck has to be added. More costs. The customers a little bit disappointed, and then they're angry about the extra costs and to look for another shipper.

And then that shipper doesn't know there's a loading zone. It just wash, rinse, repeat on a bad thing. So we're here to help straighten out, iron out the kinks. And the next time that happens, it's going to be like, yeah, we'll just go talk to the guys over there. They were awesome. So you know, kudos to the guys that run 355 Burrard. The security team was awesome. So they really helped us out and there was no sweat off their back. They knew exactly what they were doing and boom, the customer got their vitamins and we were happy. 

Mark: Simple story. If you want your package delivered on time, tracked, delivered, triple checked, made sure that everything happens the way it's supposed to happen. Phantom Couriers, you can reach them at (604) 899-5447. You can also book online at phantomcouriers.com. If you're outside of the lower mainland in British Columbia. +1 844-899-5447. They're there to help. Thanks mark. 

Mark H: That's right. Thank you. 

Mark: Hi, it's Mark from TLR. I'm here with Mark Huggan of Phantom Couriers in Vancouver. Vancouver's best courier service, multiple time fastest growing company in BC, expanding across the country, doing all kinds of amazing things, but mostly delivering your packages on time and when you need it. And today we're going to talk about weekend deliveries. How you doing Mark? 

Mark H: We're doing good today. How are you? 

Mark: Good. So weekends, I know most of your business is business to business type stuff, but weekends are for just playing around. Do people want stuff on the weekend? 

Mark H: For sure. Let's not go out and do errands when you don't have to. Use us to do them. So you can spend time with your family. And with the COVID lock down and like the more stringent rules, don't go outside and make yourself vulnerable. We have priority at most consumer pickup places. When a courier shows up, they're just like, Oh, what do you mind waiting a moment. The couriers here for this package, they called it in an hour ago. Bing bang, boom, done back to the house. 

So you don't have to go out find the parking, worry about the masks, wrangle the kids, sanitize your hands, send the courier because they prep all that stuff constantly. They're ready to rock. So it's really good for the weekends. Like even when people were moving this weekend, taking up their donations and stuff to the Value Village, we just drop it off at the back door. You didn't have to do it. 

So those kinds of things are something we should all be looking at. One courier can do like 15 things in a day. So that's 15 cars that don't have to leave their home. 15 families that don't have to go out and become, you know, susceptible to COVID. Don't have to feel guilty about traveling outside.

Let us do it for you. It's easy. You can call us all the time. You can use our online ordering system and just reach out to us. It could be a big or small job. We're here to negotiate. We're here to help. You can't do it alone. We're all in this together. So let's rock it out, use Phantom. And I think it's a good idea. I mean I do it too. I don't leave home. I'll call the courier who's out, running around. It's like, please come drop that off here or pick that up for me because I'm working from home. 

Mark: So what kind of items are people getting delivered on the weekends?  

Mark H: Lots of things. Groceries, number one, right? Liquor, wine, go pick that up. Don't do that. Pharmaceuticals. A lot of people send us to Finlandia to pick up holistic pharmaceutical stuff because that's like a specialized item. They don't want to leave. It's in the middle of Broadway. It's not easy to get to, you know, like the Value Village thing I mentioned.

Small items, like, you know, they can't leave the home. They don't want to, they just need batteries for their mouse. We can rip that thing up super fast and we'll find the closest one to go to it. We can even like pay for it on the spot and then I'll just e-transfer the courier. So it's seamless. It's really time-saving.

 You name it, if we need it, we'll go get it. You know, all sorts of things. You know when you're at home and you're just like, Oh, I need, you know, you just have that, I forgot. So we all have our to-do lists and we're always just wandering down the hall. When we suddenly realized we forgot to do something. Go use the courier because it's outsourcing your time to us and we'll do it for you.

Saves time, saves energy, same stress, and you know, that's a big deal what's going on right now. It's totally wacky times. Flatten the curve by not going outside. Just enjoy yourself at home. Get some groovy stuff for a dinner on the deck. Who knows? I don't know. We're here to make it fun and it's fun too because it's like a courier's coming? So it's different. It's fun. It's affordable. And it's safe. 

Mark: If you're deep in that Marvel superhero marathon on the weekend or The Expanse or whatever your drug of choice is on the weekend. Give Phantom Couriers a call. They can deliver your groceries, your pharmacy items, your wine and other liquor items. They can deliver your USB cord or HTMI or whatever you need to make your life a little bit easier because you don't want to get out of your pajamas and go out there. Or you just are too darn busy. The party's happening and you need candles and you don't have candles, whatever it is. Give Phantom Couriers a call (604) 899-5447. Or check out the website, phantomcouriers.com. You can book right online there. Thanks Mark. 

 Mark H: We're here to help for sure.

Mark: Hi, it's Mark from TLR. I'm here with Mark Huggan of Phantom Couriers in Vancouver, one of BC's hundred fastest growing companies. Booming, rocking courier company. One of the best places to get your stuff delivered in the lower mainland. And we're going to talk about common problems that a lot of people have with courier companies and how they solve it. How're you doing Mark? 

Mark H: Doing excellent today? Good morning. 

Mark: So some of the list of things that we've heard from customers, some of the other companies drivers don't have phones, dispatch and drivers don't even talk to each other. How do you guys solve for these kinds of issues? 

Mark H: Well, we have a pretty robust communication system here. So our dispatch software allows for communication between drivers with notes. And then we also use a texting app, which we talk all day and communicate both ways like through photographs and texts and phone calls. We're in constant communication with the drivers. I mean, one delivery we'll probably get like six calls. There's always something needs to be resolved. Always. So our job, right? We're a communicator, that's all we do. 

Mark: What would be some of the common issues that drivers run into when they're trying to deliver a package? 

Mark H: Well, first thing would be incorrect address. Or unable to contact the receiver. Or just all sorts of weird stuff. Like it's constant. Like you can't even begin, like there's so much, it's funny. Like, I can't say, Oh, I can't think of one because it's a forest for the trees. Like it's just constant everything. So we're always in touch with the drivers, finding out addresses, confirming phone numbers, texting people. A lot of times people won't answer their buzzer.

They don't know who it is. So we'll text up. It's like, Hey, courier at the door, we have your delivery from the pharmacy, Oh yeah, it was that you. Yeah, it was us. So we need to take those extra sort of steps. Because people don't know, like, you know, if you're in an apartment and your buzzer goes and you're not expecting somebody, you just think it's somebody downstairs, buzzing all the buzzers. So we're always throwing out text messages or making phone calls. 

So there's some studies that say, if you do a phone call, you can expect a return call within 72 hours. If you text, it would be within six seconds because they'll read it. So we're constantly texting customers because we have the ability to do it. So it's just straight from the desktop to texts. The couriers with their phones is difficult. So we just copy paste, send the canned message. Get in touch with them. Solve problem. 

Address corrections are big time, or tracking down the concierge, big time. So the couriers don't have time to do it so they can go to another close by delivery. We'll text the customer and say, Hey, are you close to home, are you within five minutes? And if they don't reply within five or go somewhere else, and then we sort of tag it as like follow up and then if they get back to us, then we reroute the package to the customer. So we're always doing those kinds of proactive things constantly. 

The big thing is address corrections. You think you tell everybody when you move, you just throw it up into Canada Post, that doesn't go to a distributor, an employer, the pharmacy, everything. So a lot of people just forget, Oh, that I forgot. So we're constantly doing it for people. And then we have to update our address book. And hopefully that problem is nipped in the bud, it doesn't happen again. And people are grateful for it. 

You know, like we had a contact lens thing. We couldn't reach them on Friday. So they scheduled it for Monday, between nine and 11. It's like, yep we can do that. We just changed all the times. Manage it and off it goes to that person, now knows we're coming and they've marked their calendar and they're expecting us. And then it's seamless from that point forward. But at first time it's always a little clunky, nobody's prepared. And a lot of people don't tell people something's on its way.

 Mark: You mentioned something about you have cameras. Like what, why would you need a camera? 

Mark H: Well, you'd be surprised. So, first thing, for instance, a, I was sent over to your place to pick up computer monitor or something and you have two computer monitors going out. So we have to confirm we picked up the right one.

So we take a picture, because we ask you, hi, I'm here to pick up the computer monitor, going to 1234 Main Street to Joe Smith. And you're like, it's right there. And you just point, there's two. So we have to go over there and make sure, so we take the picture and confirm, then it's on our app.

So the customer can log in and see it. We can save it. We can text an image to it. We can email the image to the person, making sure we've got the right one. I mean, everybody makes mistakes. We do. You do. Everybody does. So if you put the wrong label on it, it's easy to track it. It's like somebody can call us up and say, do you have this item? And it's like, yes, we do. And we can look at it and see what it actually is. Just in case it's not the 8.5 by 11 manila envelope. It's 8.5 by 11 brown envelope. Just those kinds of things. And it's easier to fix with visuals. You know, it's a visual world. 

And we also do that with delivery. So you can see that we picked it up. And if, as a waybill on it, it's got the right way bill number by photograph. And then when we deliver it, we've got in front of the door as a timestamp, we had the permission, you can track it and then, you know, you can say my neighbour picked it up. Okay, fine. They found it.

Or whatever it is, it's at the concierge, and a concierge table may be full of things. We can just tell him exactly what it is because a lot of people are like, well, what did they send? Oh, it was a Microsoft keyboard and mouse set for you. And it might just have like the name Mike on it. And it just could be 20 Mike's in a building.

Then we can tell them it's a keyboard set, go downstairs and get it. And they say to the concierge, bing done. It really just streamlines things because everybody's really busy. So the pictures are really, they're a lifesaver. And it's new to us. We've only been running it probably for four months.

 Mark: But that's the value of experience of having done this for how long now? 

Mark H: 26 years. 

Mark: 26 years of making sure that packages get delivered. If you want experienced, if you want people who actually care that your package gets there, when you want it, Phantom Couriers. You can reach them at (604) 899-5447. Or you can book online at phantomcouriers.com. If you're outside of the lower mainland +1 844-899-5447. 

Mark: Hi, it's Mark from TLR. I'm here with Mark Huggan, Phantom Couriers in Vancouver, and we're continuing our series or we're starting a series on problems that couriers will solve for you today. And how are you doing Mark? 

Mark H: Doing good, thank you. 

Mark: So this is a pet peeve of mine because it's happened a lot. Certain delivery service of ours in this country will show up at the door, hang a thing on the sign saying, Hey, we tried. We work from home. We're here all day. They never rang nothing. And now suddenly we got to go somewhere else to find our package. So how do you solve that? The driver not actually delivering the package, but leaving a note. 

Mark H: Yeah, well, it's all part of the onboarding and then on the job training. When our drivers show up, for instance, say they came to your office and you live in a tower and you have a concierge and an intercom and a phone number and email and all this stuff.

We have enough contact information, and you know, the guys who are proactive and looking like, Oh, no phone number. We need that these days. You really need it. So say for instance, the courier showed up. And the door's locked and you don't answer your phone. Of course, you're not gonna answer your phone. Nobody ever does, but they'll, you know, there's studies that show it'll take up to like six days for somebody to return a phone call. But like 30 seconds they'll return a text because the text pops on their phone and they're like, Oh, courier downstairs. Oh, I thought it was not for me. 

So the guys from the office here will get in touch with all the parties, right? They're in touch with the driver, they're in charge of the sender and they try to make contact with the receiver because really we don't want that package. Because that driver perhaps is not going to be back in that area tomorrow. You could be in an other area for sure, a hundred percent or they might call back and he's 60 kilometres away and they really want it.

So of course, that's the objective, they pay us to deliver. So we need to deliver. So we're proactive and making sure that our drivers actually did have an attempt. So we're like get us a picture. Give us some documentation. We'll put it into the notes on our trip. This is first attempt at 12 o'clock.

They talked to Mark at Phantom. Mark texted the customer, waiting for a reply. Then we can just copy that and text it over to the customer. If they're ever like, Oh, what's the deal. And we get her going. 

You know, I was up for a meeting last Monday. And that's exactly why we just got a new account. Is courier showed up one day. Concierge saw the courier. Courier didn't get entry, walked away. The same courier came back the next day, concierge walks to the door and the courier turns back and walked away because he's getting those second attempt. Third attempt deliveries. And we're working on that. So we just want to make sure we're nipping it in the bud, making it happen for our customers.

They get the delivery and the customers aren't upset because when they're working from home, who knows what's going on, they could be on the phone. They don't have a switchboard, they don't have reception. They don't have everything. Their phone could be on silent. It's a million things. So we're just trying to make those connections go because customers ultimately become more happy.

And it's bad with all these, like you hear in the news, all these packages being returned to depots, and then they get lost in the muck. Like there's just packages going out, packages coming in, secondary packages coming in. And then there's this big pile that doesn't get addressed. And, you know, we felt it here. 

It's hard to catch up once you pass a certain amount of time on like non-deliverable packages. You're waiting and the follow-up is crucial. It's really difficult. And so people got to do it and it's no fun, but you must do it. It's the customer's package. 

Mark: So, if you want your package delivered or you want to receive the package, the guys to use in Vancouver and in BC are Phantom Couriers. You can reach them at (604) 899-5447. Or call their 800 number 1 844-899-5447. Serving Vancouver Island, outer reaches of BC, even into Alberta. Phantom Couriers. Any package anywhere. 

Mark H: Phantom Couriers gets it there, Mark. 

Mark: Hi, it's Mark from TLR. I'm here with Mark Huggan, the Phantom himself, Phantom Couriers in Vancouver. Vancouver's favourite courier company. We're going to talk about some of the problems over the next few broadcasts that couriers solve for you. And one of the big ones is porch pirates or package theft. Mark, how do you guys solve this for people? 

Mark H: Well, we're highly aware of it. There's, like we mentioned before, the broadcast started, there's people out there, that's their job to cruise around in suburban neighbourhoods and look for unattended packages and they will be there, like that and steal it. 

And whatever they're stealing, it could be something valuable or it's a nothing. But it's always an inconvenience and it's illegal. And it's really disappointing to a person who's had a notification that your package arrived and then it's not there. And then that is the first domino that falls into a huge administrative like search for the package.

So we've got a proactive step to prevent this kind of thing, because we do get permission to leave with unattended packages, with no signature required and no contact delivery. And that's the opportunity that we have to thwart for the thieves. So we usually make good contact with the receiver and we're like, so we have your package, the courier's there, there's nobody answering the door. What would you like us to do? And so we'll like, you know, we'll come back. It's an extra cost. If the people want us to come back. It's a second attempt to delivery. It's no big deal. We can just route it out. 

Or we'll ask them, is there a safe place to leave it? And if people say, Oh, by the front porch and we confirm with the courier, can you see it from the street? It's like yes or no. And if they can see it from the street, well, hold on a second. We confer with the receiver. Look, you could see this package from the street. Are you sure you want it to be left in plain view? And then they might say, Oh, you know what? There is a blue box in the backyard that we keep our lawn tools and go put that there. Bingo done. 

You know, so we always try to go that little bit extra. It's really easy just to run up and say, okay, it's on your porch, goodbye. But it only takes a second for somebody in a car to spot a courier uniform, walking to the door and take that package. And it's a big problem. We get permission to go into backyards. In fact, one of our drivers was, the police arrived quickly because it's such a thing. The neighbours are on the watch for this. So even though our courier was wearing a uniform, thieves dress like couriers too. 

So we're, you know, it's a constant battle. We've been very successful at not having things stolen because it's in the news all the time. It's on YouTube all the time, and it's very disappointing and you don't want to be part of that. 

Well, the insurance process, you have to go with them on their insurance. It could be anything. And as a receiver of a package, you get pretty disappointed if it's been stolen. And then of course, first thing you do is doubt that it was over there. So we want to make everybody comfortable. It's a big deal. 

Mark: It's a big deal. And it's something that I noticed that the other delivery, perhaps larger ones, I won't name names, they just dump them off and leave. 

Mark H: Yeah well, their volume is very high. The volume is high. They couldn't possibly you know, wait, larger companies can do 12 million deliveries a day. So imagine like the technological side of contacting and back and forth, it's almost impossible. So we're lucky we're a little bit more nimble and we're more bespoke, niche market that we can do it. We've got a team here that will listen and we're able to follow up, we have really good tracking and we also take a picture when we pick it up to make sure we have the right item. And then when we deliver it, we have a picture too. 

So say there was just a slight miscommunication. Oh, go to the backyard, take the stairs door on the left. Oh, I meant the right. Ahh, you know, it could be 20 feet, it's dark, they come home, it's gone. And then there's a picture, it's like, Oh, that's Mike's floor mat I understand. Bingo. Done. 

So, you know, it's always trying to smooth out those little wrinkles and that's something we do all the time, because really we just communicate with customers constantly. That's our job. Couriers are communicators. Our office is a dispatch. And the whole thing is just communication. So we keep that pretty crystal clear, keeping it simple, right? It makes people more confident and happy in the end. And most of the time the package is right there anyways. But when it's not, let's find it. 

Mark: So what's some advice perhaps that you could give people who don't have access to Phantom Couriers, maybe they're in the States, maybe they're in another country who happened to watch this, how can they protect themselves in a little bit better way from this kind of fairly rampant thing of people stealing stuff off your porch?

Mark H: Yeah. Well, traditionally in the past, if you weren't home, say for a large carrier, you'd have to leave a note that said you may leave it, but now that COVID laws are in and no contact, it's just assumed that you're saying leave it. So just print up a little note for the delivery people, put it down at the right-hand corner of your door, where it's noticeable and not from the street where you'd have to see when you walk up, be like what's that. And it could have specific instructions like, Hey, I know you're dropping off a package today, why don't you just walk it around the backyard and put it by the swing set. 

Or if it's an apartment well, it's a lot more trouble, like maybe make arrangements with your neighbours, be more community minded and just say, I have deliveries come in today. Just poke your head out the door. If it's there, just grab it for me I'll be home at five. Because people will steal prepared meals. And how would you like it if you're sending prepared meals to your grandmother and somebody steals them? How frustrating and like, you know, just make those communication notes. We're all in this together. And you know, we're here, you're there, let's team up.

And because it's a delivery economy. I think it's great, which know your neighbour. Well, you don't have to know them, but you know, teamwork, just those little notes, little communication, and it'll solve it a lot faster because once the person gets into a building, they'll just elevator down from the top to the bottom and they will leave with a shopping cart of your stuff. And we've seen them on the streets, you know, it's bad news. 

Mark: So if you're in Vancouver or BC, because they deliver right across British Columbia, into Alberta, into Ontario, Phantom Couriers. You can reach them to get your packages delivered securely (604) 899-5447. Or if you're outside of the lower mainland one eight four four eight nine nine five four, four, seven. Any package, anywhere Phantom Couriers 

Mark H: Gets it, or keeps it safe or brings it back or we'll bring it back another time. 

Mark: Thanks, Mark. 

Mark H: Right on.