Users of the Federal Express (FEDEX) service in Guyana are now benefiting from a significantly improved quality of service as a result of a collaborative effort involving two Guyanese companies.
Managing Director of Camex Ltd. Terrence Campbell told Stabroek Business earlier this week that his company, the licensee for Fedex operations in Guyana, was now partnering with Roraima Airways to move parcels to Port-of-Spain for onward transmission to destinations in North America and Europe.
The new service which is provided five days per week allows Fedex to circumvent the routine passenger airline service used to move parcels out of Guyana up to earlier this year. Campbell told Stabroek Business that the new service now puts Fedex in a an enhanced position to provide parcel delivery services to North America and Europe within 24 hours and 48 hours, respectively. “Fedex is now unquestionably the fastest courier service out of Guyana,” Campbell told Stabroek Business.
According to Campbell the new charter service provided by Roraima has not only removed the uncertainties associated with using routine passenger flights but has also reduced the risks associated with what he described as ‘problem packages,” that is, packages that might contain illegal substances. He said that the incidence of such packages being encountered by the Fedex service was approximately 1 in every 4,000 packages.
Fedex packages leaving Guyana are placed on outbound “feeder” aircraft that arrive in Port-of-Spain via San Juan in Puerto Rico for transmission to North America and Europe.
Campbell told Stabroek Business that while the new charter service out of Guyana amounted to a significant investment for Fedex, the company had taken a decision that speed of communication would result in a more cost-effective operation. “In this service speed of communication saves both time and money,” Campbell said.
And according to Campbell an efficient courier service also has positive implications for the local business community and the economy as a whole. He said that where the courier service could provide assurances of fast and reliable service, businesses requiring spares for machinery and equipment at short notice would no longer be required to commit cash and storage space to acquiring spares in advance of having to put them into use.
Fedex also handles the movement of tissue samples and other medical material used in disease-related research and according to Campbell the perishable nature of such packages renders the ability to move them quickly even more important.
Fedex has been operating in Guyana since 1993.
