Same-day courier to Luton
Rapid Despatch delivers to Luton by dedicated vehicle, around fifty-five miles from our nearest branch. There is no Luton depot. We are an independent courier company trading since 2001, with four branches in Hampshire and Berkshire, covering Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey, and around 50 drivers.
Fifty-five miles, most of it motorway, into a town whose most urgent freight is going onto an aircraft. That kind of deadline is set by somebody else, and we plan backwards from it.
Rapid Despatch runs same-day courier jobs to Luton by dedicated vehicle, fifty-five miles by road on the M4, M25 and M1.
One driver and one vehicle handle it from collection to delivery, with no depot in the middle. The drive is around an hour and a quarter when the M25 is behaving, which is the single biggest variable on this route. You get a fixed price for the whole job before you commit to it. There is no emissions charging zone in Luton (the seven English zones, GOV.UK). Airport freight runs to a handling agent's cut-off rather than a delivery window, so give us the cut-off and the run is planned backwards from it.
Fifty-five miles, and a cut-off somebody else set
A Luton job is usually allocated at our Reading branch, and the controller confirms it on the day. Which vehicle actually runs depends on where the nearest available driver is when you ring.
A lot of Luton work is air freight, and air freight runs on a cut-off rather than a delivery window. Miss the handling agent's deadline by ten minutes and the consignment goes tomorrow, whatever it says on the paperwork.
The M25 decides it
Reading east on the M4 to Junction 15, anticlockwise round the M25 to Junction 21, then north on the M1 to Junction 10 or 11. Fifty-five miles, and almost all of the uncertainty is in the middle third.
The M25 between the M4 and the M1 is one of the busiest stretches of road in the country and it does not fail gracefully. On a clear run this is an hour and a quarter; in the afternoon peak it can be double, and no route planner will tell you which you are getting.
Luton itself is straightforward once you arrive. Capability Green sits right at M1 Junction 10 next to the airport. Butterfield and the northern estates come off Junction 11. The airport's cargo area has its own access and its own security procedure, and the town centre is the only awkward part.
What carries it, and how the price is built
Most Luton work is a small van or a Transit. Air freight consignments are frequently small and extremely time-sensitive, which is exactly what a dedicated van is for. Larger vehicles and tail-lift are available for palletised freight.
Vehicles
- Small van
- Transit-type van
- Sprinter-type van
- Luton
- Tail-lift
- Heavier freight on request
- See how an out-of-hours airport job is priced
What the cover is
Goods in transit insurance is provided. Account holders are covered to £25,000 on a dedicated vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes, and on other services liability is limited to £1,000 per tonne. Higher cover can be arranged before collection, so declare the value when you book. Read the full conditions of carriage
Covered on the same run
Bedfordshire and the top of Hertfordshire sit close together either side of the M1, so a vehicle already running to Luton reaches all of these without a real detour.
Dunstable·Harpenden·Leighton Buzzard·Flitwick
Luton courier questions
Yes, and it is a significant part of what this route carries. Airport cargo areas have controlled access and their own security procedures, and handling agents work to hard cut-offs rather than delivery windows.
Yes, on the same basis. We can collect anywhere in the UK, normally within 90 minutes, so a Luton collection is quoted the same way as a delivery into the town.
No. The airport is a large site with separate cargo, handling and tenant addresses, and a driver needs the specific unit, the operator and a contact.
Yes.
It depends on the distance, the vehicle, the timing and the access at both ends. To see how a quote is built, See how an out-of-hours airport job is priced.
Also on this run:
Book a courier to Luton
Ring 0345 8333 833. If the consignment is going onto an aircraft, give the controller the cut-off time first; everything else on the job is planned from it.