Canada’s courier and local messengers industry
Friday, May 5th, 2006 - 11:46 am
Statistics Canada has published its preliminary, 2004 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.
Overall, the number of establishments increased 1% from 2003, operating revenue increased 7%, operating expense rose 6% and the industry operating margin increased by 27%. The sector’s 2004 operating margin was $463 million, or just under 7%.
| Courier | Local Messenger | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table - Max Burley | |||
| Number of Establishments | 2,887 | 17,736 | 20,623 |
| Percent of Establishments | 14% | 86% | 100% |
| Percent of Operating Revenue | 79% | 21% | 100% |
| Operating Revenue | $4.9 billion | $1.3 billion | $6.2 billion |
| Average Operating Revenue per Establishment | $130,000 | $5,000 | n/a |
Other numbers:
- 23,600 - the number of vehicles and pieces of equipment used by Canadian couriers and local messengers in 2004
- 47% - share of total delivery revenue generated in Ontario
- 77% - share of total delivery revenue generated by Canadian destinations
- 19% - share of total delivery revenue generated by USA destinations
- $8.79 - average revenue per delivery item
- 707 million - total items delivered in 2004
- 525 million - items delivered by large- and medium-sized couriers and messengers (i.e. firms with annual revenue greater than $1 million), or 74% of the total deliveries
- 88% - courier share of items delivered by large- and medium-sized firms (462 million deliveries)
- 12% - local messenger share of items delivered by large- and medium-sized firms (63 million deliveries)
Latest Price Trends
- The Couriers and Messengers Services Price Index (CMSPI) increased 0.8% to 118.1 in February (2003=100), due to higher fuel prices. The courier portion rose by 0.9% while the local messengers component was unchanged.
- The index rose 0.2% in to 118.3 in March, with the courier portion increasing by 0.3% and the local messengers component remaining unchanged.
The CMSPI is a monthly price index measuring the change over time in prices for courier and messenger services provided by long and short distance delivery companies to Canadian-based business clients. (Source: Statistics Canada)
