Same-day courier to Plymouth
Rapid Despatch delivers to Plymouth by dedicated vehicle, around one hundred and fifty miles from our nearest branch. There is no Plymouth 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.
The far end of the south west, reached by a road that is dual carriageway in parts and single in others. We quote it as it actually drives, not as the map suggests.
Rapid Despatch runs same-day courier jobs to Plymouth by dedicated vehicle, one hundred and fifty miles by road on the A303, the A30 and the A38.
The consignment stays with one driver the entire way, with no hub stop and no hand-off. The drive is around three hours on a clear run and considerably longer in summer, because parts of the A303 are still single carriageway. You get a fixed price before you commit. No clean air charge applies anywhere in Plymouth (the seven English zones, GOV.UK). Devonport Dockyard needs passes arranged before departure.
One hundred and fifty miles, and the season matters
A Plymouth job is usually allocated at our Basingstoke branch, and the controller confirms it on the day. Which vehicle actually runs depends on where the nearest available driver is when you ring.
This is the one route on our network where the time of year changes the planning. The A303 carries holiday traffic into the south west, and the single-carriageway sections do not absorb it. A three-hour drive in February can be four and a half on an August Friday.
A303, A30, A38, and the bit in the middle
Out of Basingstoke on the A303, past Stonehenge, onto the A30 and then the A38 Devon Expressway into Plymouth. Most of it is dual carriageway and moves well.
The exception is the stretch of the A303 in Wiltshire that remains single carriageway. It is the known constraint on every run to the far south west, it has no useful alternative for a van, and it is where this route loses its time.
Plymouth then divides simply. Estover and the northern estates come off the A38 without entering the city, and Langage at Plympton is off the A38 to the east.
Devonport Dockyard is a controlled Ministry of Defence site with passes, checks and its own procedures, so a delivery there is planned rather than driven to. Torpoint, on our list below, is across the Tamar and reached by chain ferry or by a long detour through Saltash.
What carries it, and how the price is built
Plymouth work is usually a small or medium van carrying something that genuinely cannot wait, because at one hundred and fifty miles the run has to be worth it. Larger vehicles and tail-lifts are there for loads that need them.
Vehicles
- Small van
- Transit-type van
- Sprinter-type van
- Luton
- Tail-lift
- Heavier freight on request
- See how distance and season feed into a price
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
These sit around Plymouth on both sides of the Tamar. Torpoint is reached by chain ferry or by the long way round through Saltash, so tell us at booking which you want paid for.
Saltash·Torpoint·Ivybridge·Tavistock
Plymouth courier questions
The drive does.
Yes, with the right notice. It is a controlled Ministry of Defence site with passes, identity checks and its own goods-in procedure, and a driver who arrives without pre-arranged access will not get on. Tell us at booking that the delivery is into the dockyard and give us the contact and any pass reference, and it is arranged before the vehicle leaves. To see how a quote is built, See how distance and season feed into a price.
Yes, on the same basis.
Yes, and it is quoted by the leg.
It depends on the distance, the vehicle, the timing and the access at both ends. To see how a quote is built, See how distance and season feed into a price.
Also on the western run:
Book a courier to Plymouth
Call 0345 8333 833 with the postcode and the deadline. If it is going into the dockyard or across the Tamar, say so on the first call.