On Demand Delivery

On demand delivery is a term courier services use to identify a delivery that is actioned immediately after a customer request.

We love being part of the Gosforth business community. The situation of our office allows quick access to Newcastle, via the Great North Road and easy access North, South and West to the rest of the country. This is a bonus for our on demand courier company. There are a number of independent eateries where we can enjoy a coffee or informal business meeting, and a variety of other businesses. The main concentration of business is along Gosforth High Street, a part of the Great North Road which has been a major highway and in continuous use (in some form or other) probably since the 1100’s.

Since the time of the Plantagenets, there was in all probability a road of some manner that joined London and Edinburgh. In 1481 the first postal arrangement came through Newcastle and probably Gosforth. This arrangement carried news using fleet horses stationed 20 miles apart. It was established by Edward IV to convey news of the wars in Scotland. This service was known as the “saddle horse post, ” and in essence, it was very similar to today’s on-demand courier services. It carried messages by the most direct means possible, using specially bred and trained horses.

In later years stage waggons carried letters but they ran at a much slower speed of 4 miles per hour. (A horse and rider was still the fastest way to convey urgent messages). These wagons were replaced by the stagecoach, and on November 27th, 1786 the first mail coach ran from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Gosforth. It ran for 61 years until 1847. Around 1840 on the corner of Church Road, Gosforth opened its first Post Office. It received the mail and distributed it locally. Post offices like this began a long tradition of mail delivery in the UK. The fairly recent privatisation of the post office changed the dynamic of the UK delivery system by creating favourable conditions for competition. Today there are a number of delivery methods to choose from

On Demand Delivery Is Still The Most Secure And Efficient Delivery Method

In today’s fast-paced world, the demand for faster and more efficient parcel delivery systems is increasing. The lines defining couriers and traditional parcel carriers have become blurred. Traditional parcel carriers have found it necessary to compete in the more personal and faster-paced courier sector as they try to respond to this increase in demand. Increased workloads and cheaper prices have strained profitability.

It remains to be seen how effective this competition will be. The traditional carrier’s 6 step working model of:

1. customer order processing
2. warehouse processing
3. transportation
4. depot processing
5. transportation
6. and finally delivery

may simply be too cumbersome to respond effectively and too complicated to respond efficiently. By comparison, the simple 3 step model of an on demand delivery courier,

1. collection
2. transportation
3. delivery

offers a consistently fresh and uncomplicated approach. As the old saying goes – simple ideas are always the best. This working model has roots that reach way back into our history. Similar to the fleet horse messengers, on demand delivery couriers offer a direct and secure means of delivery.

The Great North Road

Though the Great North Road remains at the heart of Gosforth’s business community it is no longer necessary to travel through Gosforth when making the London to Edinburgh journey. Long gone is the old stagecoach and thankfully the length of time it took to travel anywhere. A notice printed in the Newcastle Courant in 1712 which advertised the stagecoach London to Edinburgh service stated …

“which performs the whole journey in thirteen days without any stoppage (if God permit), having eighty able horses to perform the whole stage. … “

One really has to feel for the occupants of the coach and indeed wonder at the state of any packages it carried! Today we make this journey in a few hours all packages complete and in order.

Time Is A Constant Challenge For A Same Day Delivery Company

In 1829 when the coaching services began to use the General Post Office at St Martins-le-Grand, London, the preferred route from London to Edinburgh became what is now known as the A1. The A1, in essence, followed the original Great North Road. Although eventually, the route changed marginally as towns and villages were bypassed. The initial development of the M1 in 1959 made a significant reduction to travel time. Further development to the southern end in 1977 and the northern end in 1999 reduced travel times even further.

Timing is a constant challenge for any delivery company but particularly for on demand delivery. I was interested to note that one area, in particular, hampered our predecessors as much as it hampers our efforts on the roads today. That is the general conditions of the roads. In 1746 a representation was made to Parliament by the people of Northumberland. The representation declared that it had become dangerous to travel along the Great North Road because it had become “so deep and ruinous” due to heavy and increasing traffic. Words that could easily apply to many of our road surfaces today. On that occasion, Parliament listened and local turnpike trusts were set up to oversee the road conditions.

Every day we make it our main goal to provide a consistently reliable on demand delivery service for today’s local businesses and every day we rise to the challenge we share with our forebears, coping with today’s road conditions!

“The glory of the Great North Road was no doubt the posting”

“…no where could you drive up to an inn door with the certainty that as you drew up a rely of horses with mounted postboys would issue from the yard, and that one minute’s delay was all that was required to replace the steeds that brought you twelve miles within the hour by a fresh team to carry you forward at the same rate.”

John Hodgson Hinde Archaelogia Eliana

Connection Express offers an on demand delivery service. Our couriers collect and deliver all consignments on the same day.

Research. A History Of The Parish Of Gosforth Richard Welford. Monthly Chronicles 1888. An analysis of the parcels market and parcels’ carriers operations in the UK – University of Westminster