Courier

A courier is a person who delivers messages, packages, and mail.

Duties and functions

Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for most everyday mail services. As a premium service, couriers are usually more expensive than standard mail services, and their use is normally limited to packages where one or more of these features are considered important enough to warrant the cost.

Courier services operate on all scales, from within specific towns or cities, to regional, national and global services. Large courier companies include DHL, OCS, FedEx, DTDC, EMS International, TNT, UPS, and Aramex. These offer services worldwide, typically via a hub and spoke model.

Before the industrial era

In ancient history, runners and homing pigeons and riders on horseback were used to deliver timely messages. Before there were mechanized courier services, foot messengers physically ran miles to their destinations. To this day, there are marathons directly related to actual historical messenger routes. In the Middle Ages, royal courts maintained their own messengers who were paid little more than common labourers.

Lincoln Courier

The Lincoln Courier is the only local daily newspaper for Lincoln, Illinois, and its surrounding circulation area, which centers on Logan County. The newspaper is owned by Fairport, New York-based GateHouse Media.

Founded as the Lincoln Daily Courier in 1889, the newspaper through the years absorbed several other dailies based in Lincoln, such as the Daily Star (founded c. 1911 as The Lincoln Morning Star) and The Daily News-Herald, which itself dated back to The Daily News (October 20, 1890 (1890-10-20)} and The Lincoln Weekly Herald (c. 1855).

References

Courier (comics)

Courier is the alias of Jacob Gavin Jr., a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a sometime ally of the X-Men member known as Gambit. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Joe Madureira, he first appeared Deadpool: The Circle Chase (1993).

Fictional character biography

Courier was a foot soldier and employee of the New Son, to whom Gambit was indebted after New Son saved him from perishing in the Antarctic where the X-Men left him after his 'trial' exposed Gambit's connection to Mister Sinister, the Marauders, and the Mutant Massacre. Courier would deliver assignments to Gambit on the behalf of New Son, who had not yet deemed the mutant thief worthy of a face-to-face encounter.

It has been stated, by Wolverine and other sources, that Courier is part of a business that has performed such tasks for many years, and that Courier's father is an important business figure in the Marvel Universe, having bought stock in AT&T when he was only ten years old. He has the mutant ability to control every cell in his body.