John said: "I would say with Courier Exchange we can get pretty much 99 per cent of jobs covered from anywhere to anywhere in the country.
"It's a huge improvement on how we used to have to do things. In the old days if we had a job we could not cover it was a case of ringing round nine or ten other firms to see if they had capacity and you wouldn't know if someone was already out on the road.
"With Courier Exchange you press a few buttons and you get firms coming straight back to you, it saves a lot of time and hassle.
"It's made the whole process of sharing capacity easier and more streamlined and we have an impressive network of contacts to call on."
Astral Couriers still delivers for John's first big customer, the aircraft spares maker, although the company has seen numerous changes.
With expensive and essential parts involved and speed and security a priority, this can mean picking up the package then hopping on a plane to deliver it hand to hand across Europe, or even north America.
Another large part of Astral's operation is for a drinks distributor where they specialise in delivery for customers who have missing orders or require extra goods.
While John says Astral doesn't take that many jobs off Courier Exchange, it has been particularly helpful in fulfilling jobs they may not be able to cover. |