Franchise of the Day – Fastway Couriers

CONNECTING CUSTOMERS FOR 30 YEARS

In 1983, Fastway Couriers was established in New Zealand, providing a low cost courier service between Napier and Hastings. A year later, Fastway became the first ever transport company to enter the franchising arena.

Fastway Couriers has been operating in Australia since 1993, where their success was immediate with upwards growth continuing to this day.

Today there are 17 Regional Franchisees operating delivery hubs around New Zealand with over 250 Courier Franchisees. In Australia, there are 25 Regional Franchisees and over 700 Courier Franchisees moving in excess of twenty million parcels per year.

Fastway offer a cost effective, reliable, timetabled courier service with local, shorthaul and national courier distribution around New Zealand and Australia.  Backed up by the latest computer technology and online parcel track and trace facilities, Fastway is the ideal choice for small to medium sized businesses. Fastway’s prepaid courier label system enables their customers to enjoy savings on their usual freight costs, as well as providing a simple system free of any extra paperwork or add-on charges. For medium to high volume senders, they also have an electronic labelling system.

Fastway are also rolling out a new consumer service called Parcel Connect. This is a network of agents (Petrol stations / convenience stores) where customers can send or return a parcel, rather than queuing at the post office as well as collecting their parcels if they’re not at home when the courier calls.

Could you be a Fastway franchisee?

Fastway Courier Franchisees are motivated, self-employed business people who work under the recognised Fastway brand name.

With a Fastway franchises business, there’s no weekend work plus the opportunity to enjoy the freedom to working for yourself.

With low up-front investment and ongoing professional support, a Fastway courier franchise is an ideal entry-level business ownership opportunity. You’ll operate with an exclusive territory, collecting and delivering parcels and supporting local businesses by being their physical point of contact with their customers.

Courier Franchisees come from all walks of life and range from 18 to 80. Over the years, those that succeed are enthusiastic, energetic and have the desire to build a successful business within the guidelines of the Fastway franchise system.

Location, Location, Location

Fastway have 25 regions throughout Australia, covering 85 per cent of the population and 17 regions in New Zealand. Each region is serviced by Courier Franchisees, ranging from just five or six in the smaller regions to 80 in Auckland and over 200 in Sydney. Combined, there are almost 1,000 Courier Franchisees across both countries. For switched on business operators, there are a number of Regional Franchisee opportunities on Central North Island and Lower South Island of New Zealand along  with Courier Franchisee opportunities available in Australia and New Zealand.

For more information on available territories, please visit the Fastway website.

Why Fastway?

In recent years online retail has grown strongly and this is increasingly important for the courier industry which has traditionally been oriented more at delivering to businesses than consumers.

Much of the expected growth will come from both domestic and international e-commerce sites that rely on the industry to deliver goods within Australia and New Zealand.

As owner-operators, the franchise partners are dedicated to providing each and every customer with exceptional service; going the extra mile to ensure that parcels are delivered on time and with the utmost care. The Courier Franchisees are the foundation of the business.

Increasingly, customers are demanding a greater level of flexibility when receiving goods. Fastway is particularly well suited to provide the ‘last mile’ solution to retailers given the franchise territory structure of their network, lower cost facilities, owner operators and internet based technology factors.

Fastway know that their customers are time poor, and it doesn’t matter if they’re a startup home internet business running out of their garage or a large multinational in an impressive glass building, there is a freight solution to suit just about everyone.

The Fastway difference…

➢ No fuel levies – A common hidden cost amongst many freight providers
➢ Parcel coverage – Limited liability coverage included of up to $1,500 per parcel
➢ Online Track & Trace facilities – Online parcel tracking and signature proof of delivery within minutes
➢ No hidden charges – Account keeping and other hidden fees can spiral your freight costs
➢ No re-delivery fees – Particularly important when delivering to residential customers

Training and Support

Fastway believe that comprehensive and effective training is paramount to the success of their franchise partners. Within the Fastway organisation, a strong emphasis is placed on both the initial and ongoing education of franchisees.

For Courier Franchisees, introductory training takes place at the depot, and includes a combination of classroom, practical, and self-training modules. Topics covered in the classroom section include the full scope of operating a courier franchise.

The practical training takes place by accompanying an experienced and established Courier Franchisee and observing courier operations in first hand. This is backed up by self-training modules, which include DVD and multimedia presentations that Courier Franchisees can watch in the comfort of their home.

Access to the Fastway Courier Franchisee manuals are provided for initial training purposes and can be used as an ongoing reference guide. It includes a wide range of promotional materials and handy reference matter. Ongoing training is offered by  way of short training sessions, the franchise partner intranet and conferences along with the Regional Franchisee and Franchise Business Managers from the Franchise Support Office regularly accompanying the Courier Franchisees on van rides to  assist in improving their businesses operations and winning new business.

There’s also a Courier Franchisee intranet with provides a one stop shop overview of their business. Courier Franchisees can see their top customers, their earning, sales, number of parcels picked up and delivered with the click of a mouse. They can  also see their KPI, compared to other couriers in the region and throughout the network.

A comprehensive range of tools and programs are available for ongoing marketing and business promotion. Fastway operates several Saturation Marketing programs throughout the year which include flyers, parcel stickers and personalised emails as well as providing individual marketing solutions to both Regional and Courier Franchisees as required.

The process is backed up by a dedicated Sales Representative who follows up leads to make sales. Sales Representatives are required to work closely with Courier Franchisees to help build their business rapidly.

Access to a PR agency is also provided free of charge to all franchise partners to assist in gaining local media coverage.

Beyond operations and business growth support, full legal, IT, marketing and administration support is provided via the Franchise Support Office to assist Regional and Courier Franchisees to grow their business.

If you’re ready for a change, Fastway Couriers would love to hear from you:

Ph: (AUS ) 1300 FASTWAY
Web: www.fastway.com.au

Ph: (NZ) 0800 4 FASTWAY
Web: www.fastway.co.nz