Courier Service Contract

[sambuko]

Hallo,
i would need some help.
i started a courier service a couple weeks ago.
a lot of potential customers want not give me there packages because they have contracts with other couriers.
they wont show me the contracts either.
so, my question is:
does someone here have a contract what i can use as a example?
would be great because i have no idea ow i set up one.

Ed

[JacobBergeron]

My guess is since they have existing contracts that they can't ship with you even if they wanted to. I have no idea what a courier contract sample would look like, but as far as contracts go it is hard to get out of them and can be costly. So unless your service is tremendously less expensive and worth it monetarily to buy out of the existing contract I would venture to guess not to many companies would do it. I would focus my energy on customers who have no present contract with a service or whose contract is coming to an end. This approach may better help your interests. Best of luck.

-Jacob

[sambuko]

Thanks Jacob,
thats what i do. but i got 2 customers they want to have a contract with me ( and i with them ) because i can want to offer them a better pricing as with the regular pricing without contract.
the problem is, i need to know, how a contract in this business is written.
Ed

[JacobBergeron]

Oh I see. I have a promotional products business. Pens, pencils, magnets, whatever product businesses want with their logo on it. So I am not sure how a courier contract is written. Hopefully someone else on the forum with have an idea. I wish you luck!

Jacob

[huggytree]

i got ahold of a few competitors contracts and cut and pasted a bit out of each of them to say what i needed it to say..

1st think of all the things you NEED to say to cover your @ss....you need to cover what YOU think is important regardless of what the competitors contracts say.

go to your competitors and ship a few packages....wont you get a copy of the contract this way?

i see my competitors bids/contracts a few times a year when the customer is comparing bids...they hand me a copy with the prices blocked out....im always shocked how poorly many of them look and how little info they actually give...my contracts are very detailed...i make them detailed 1. to protect ME and 2. to make my customers feel more comfortable......the fewer grey area's the better...

i also have a sheet of 'who's responsible' to cover 25 grey area's....basically to define who is responsible from where the 'other' guys job end to where mine starts....example ' company X(me) work does not include the 1st valve into the house on the water main'.....i was finding the water/sewer company wasnt putting valves on the main to save them $50 per house...then the builder/homeowner expected ME to do it for free.....if you dont define things your screwed....limit grey area's

another place i can get a 'generic' contract for building is from my local builders association....it costs a few hundred and is around 10 pages long...its designed to legally protect me and the homeowner 100percent.....no plumbers use it though...some builders do....i cant imagine making the customer sign 10 pages to replace a waterheater....building a house yes though

do an internet search....if there's a need there's someone who will write it for you

[sambuko]

ok, got it.
thanks a lot.

[Russ in Vancouver]

A small business development center may have a sample.
Perhaps you could ask a lawyer to draft one?

as well, you could contact alot of the larger courier companies, ask if you can sub contract for them. when you make the delivery for them, alot of the receivers will not have an existing relationship with a courier company yet. Leave a stack of your waybills with them and hopefully they will call you next time they need a delivery or pickup.

[sambuko]

thats a good idea.

thank you

Ed

[mj1]

Hi My name is Mike and i am starting a courier service as well. And i need some samples of proposal,bids. Is it Possible for you send me those sample?

[lpetter]

Has there been any resolution to this question?