Canada’s courier industry - 2005
Thursday, February 7th, 2008 - 3:53 pm
Statistics Canada has published its preliminary, 2005 snapshot of the country’s small package carriers, broken down according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) of two industry segments: courier companies, which provide national and international delivery services, and local messenger businesses, which provide delivery services within a smaller region, such as a city or a metropolitan area. Revised figures are also presented for 2004, for which preliminary numbers were released in May 2006.
Overall, the number of establishments decreased 1% from 2004, while total industry operating revenue was $7.2 billion, an increase of 6%. Operating expenses also rose about 6% and the operating ratio (operating expenses divided by operating revenues) remained at 0.92.
| Courier | Local Messenger | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table - Max Burley | |||
| Number of Establishments | 1,408 | 18,217 | 19,625 |
| Percent of Establishments | 7.2% | 92.8% | 100% |
| Percent of Operating Revenue | 80% | 20% | 100% |
| Operating Revenue | $5.8 billion | $1.4 billion | $7.2 billion |
| Average Operating Revenue per Establishment | $288,000 | $10,000 | n/a |
The country’s 521 Large- and medium-size establishments (i.e. firms with annual revenue greater than $1 million) control the industry as a whole. They delivered nearly 654 million packages, generating slightly more than $5.5 billion in delivery revenue in 2005.
The 19,104 small establishments, although they accounted for 97% of the total number of establishments, were only responsible for 18% of the total operating revenue. On average, this group, which is mainly composed of independent contractors, had an operating margin of $9,000 per establishment.
Other numbers for large- and medium-sized firms:
- 27,847 - the number of vehicles and pieces of equipment used by Canadian couriers and local messengers in 2005
- 48% - share of total delivery revenue generated in Ontario
- 78% - share of total delivery revenue generated by Canadian destinations
- 17% - share of total delivery revenue generated by USA destinations
- $8.52 - average revenue per delivery item (down from $8.79 in 2004)
- 654 million - total items delivered in 2005
- 89% - courier share of items delivered by large- and medium-sized firms
- 11% - local messenger share of items delivered by large- and medium-sized firms
Tables in the full report break down origin-destination and revenues by province. Also included are categorized revenue-expense tables, service level breakdowns, employment data, data reliability information and an opinion that electronic shopping is beginning to affect the industry.
Latest Price Trends
The Couriers and Messengers Services Price Index (CMSPI) increased 0.3% to 126.2 (2003=100) in December 2007. The courier portion advanced 0.3% on a monthly basis, while the local messengers component rose 0.3%. The next CMSPI release, around the end of February, should reflect price increases applied in Jan 2008 by the major couriers, such as FedEx. (Source: Statistics Canada, Surface and Marine Transport Bulletin 50-002-X, Annual survey of the couriers and local messengers industry [2005 preliminary] (730 KB, pdf), 2007-12-24)
