Choosing a courier in Pakistan: eleven questions to ask first

Comparing couriers on headline rate is how sellers end up surprised. Two carriers quoting the same first-kilo figure can differ by a third on the parcel you actually ship, because the rate is only one of about eleven things that decide what you pay and what you get back.

These are the eleven questions, in the order that most changes the answer. Ask them before the first parcel moves, because afterwards you are negotiating from inside a relationship.

1. What divisor do you use for dimensional weight, and is there a threshold?

Length by width by height divided by a number. The convention in the courier trade is 5000, but it varies, and a smaller divisor means a higher charge for the same box.

Then ask whether dimensional weight applies at every weight or only below a threshold. At QCS it applies when the scale weight is 5 kg or less; above that the scale weight is used. A carrier with no threshold charges the box rule on a 20 kg parcel too. Chargeable weight versus actual weight works it through.

2. How do you round?

Up to the next half kilo, up to the next kilo, or to the nearest. The difference on a 1.1 kg parcel is a full step.

QCS rounds up to the next half kilo, always up. An exact multiple does not round up, so 2.000 kg is 2.0 kg, but 2.001 kg is 2.5 kg.

3. Is the zone surcharge flat per parcel or per unit?

The single most under-asked question, and on heavy parcels it dominates. A flat surcharge is added once. A per-unit surcharge compounds with weight.

The Lahore extended area at QCS is a flat PKR 50 per parcel, on standard and express alike. Lahore delivery zones explained covers how an address is assigned to a zone.

4. Is an undelivered parcel charged?

Ask it exactly that way, and then ask about the return leg separately. Some carriers do not charge the failed delivery but do charge the return.

At QCS neither is charged. Charges apply only to successfully delivered parcels, and the published tariff states the two narrow evidenced exceptions rather than leaving them to discretion.

5. Which optional fees are active?

There is a standard list across the trade: a COD collection fee, declared-value insurance, a fuel adjustment, a weekend surcharge, a reattempt fee. Ask which are switched on, at what rate, and whether the quoted rate includes tax.

All five are inactive in the QCS tariff today, and the published rates are inclusive of sales tax and the fuel adjustment, so nothing is added at invoice. How courier pricing works covers what each one does.

6. Is the price frozen at booking, or computed at invoice?

A rate that can move after the work is done is an estimate, not a rate. Ask whether rate cards are versioned and dated, and whether a new card can reprice a parcel booked before it took effect.

At QCS the version is frozen into each parcel at booking and a re-rate resolves the card that was in force on that date, so a tariff change cannot reach backwards. Merchants are told before a change takes effect.

7. Is collection scan-driven?

Ask whether a parcel becomes collected because it was scanned or because a rider counted. Then ask what happens to a parcel on the list that was not handed over.

No scan, no collection, and a parcel not received bounces back to your booked list with a reason code and a history entry. Labels and load sheets covers making the handover countable on your side.

8. Can a parcel be marked delivered with no proof attached?

Everyone says they capture proof of delivery. The test is whether the system permits a delivery without it. If it does, then on a busy day it will produce some, and those will be the ones you most need.

At QCS it is refused at the data layer. Proof of delivery explained covers what counts and who can see it.

9. When is my balance credited, and when is it paid?

Two questions, not one. Crediting is accounting; paying is a bank transfer. The gap between them is where your cash sits.

At QCS the balance moves the moment a parcel is delivered, in the same transaction that posts the ledger. The payout is a separate step against a funded account with transfer evidence attached. The remittance cycle sets out why they are deliberately separate.

10. How many delivery attempts, and who decides the last one?

Ask the number and then ask whether the final attempt is automatic. An automatic fifth van trip on a customer who refused twice is a cost nobody chose.

Three by default at QCS, five at most, and at the threshold a human decides between cancelling and authorising one more. Attempts, holds and refusals covers the fork.

11. Can I reconcile a charge myself, per parcel?

The question behind the other ten. Ask whether you can see, for a single parcel, the recorded weight, the recorded dimensions, the zone applied and the rate card version that priced it.

If you can, every charge dispute is arithmetic. If you cannot, every charge dispute is a conversation, and conversations are won by whoever has more staff.

What we are not

For completeness, because a comparison article that only lists our strengths is advertising. QCS runs in Lahore today, with nationwide expansion on the roadmap rather than in operation. We are new, so we have no multi-year track record for you to check. If you need a single carrier for nationwide or international parcels this week, that is not us yet.

If Lahore is your market, our service options set out what we run, the coverage map shows where, and the pricing calculator prices your actual parcel. The merchant signup form starts a conversation rather than issuing credentials automatically.