Couriers and Messengers

What the job really is

Pick up and deliver messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within an establishment or directly to other business concerns, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or public conveyance.

At a glance

• Sector: Office & Administrative
• O*NET-SOC code: 43-5021
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities.
• Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments.
• Record information, such as items received and delivered and recipients' responses to messages.
• Receive messages or materials to be delivered, and information on recipients, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and delivery instructions, communicated via telephone, two-way radio, or in person.
• Load vehicles with listed goods, ensuring goods are loaded correctly and taking precautions with hazardous goods.
• Walk, ride bicycles, drive vehicles, or use public conveyances to reach destinations to deliver messages or materials.
• Sort items to be delivered according to the delivery route.
• Deliver messages and items, such as newspapers, documents, and packages, between establishment departments and to other establishments and private homes.
• Unload and sort items collected along delivery routes.
• Plan and follow the most efficient routes for delivering goods.
• Check with home offices after completed deliveries to confirm deliveries and collections and to receive instructions for other deliveries.
• Perform routine maintenance on delivery vehicles, such as monitoring fluid levels and replenishing fuel.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Bank deposit bags, Bicycles, Computer data input scanners, Copy machines, Delivery trucks, Document shredders, Envelope sealers, Global positioning system GPS devices

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Postal Service Mail Carriers
• Light Truck Drivers
• Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
• Postal Service Clerks
• Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks
• Driver/Sales Workers
• Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
• Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

Browse the verified job sources directory, or explore more occupations.

Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Couriers and Messengers — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.