What a courier delivery in Los Angeles actually costs
Courier cost looks opaque because most courier companies do not publish their rates. It is not complicated. Every quote is built from three parts:
- A base rate for the vehicle, which also covers the first stretch of miles.
- Mileage beyond that stretch.
- Extras for anything that takes more time, more people or odd hours.
On the Alvy Logistics 2026 rate card, a car delivery starts at $45, a cargo van at $80 and a 20 to 26 ft box truck at $200. Each covers the first 20 miles between pickup and delivery. After that, mileage can start as low as $1.20 a mile, depending on the vehicle and the route, and it is set on your written quote.
These are the rates behind our courier service in Los Angeles and every other service area.
How much does a courier cost by vehicle?
The vehicle is the biggest price driver, so the cheapest delivery is the one in the smallest vehicle that fits.
- Car. Documents, small parcels, lab specimens, keys, parts that fit on a seat. From $45.
- Cargo van. Cartons, multi-piece orders, light freight up to what two people can load by hand. From $80.
- Box truck (20 to 26 ft). Pallets, furniture, fixtures and anything that needs a liftgate or a pallet jack. From $200.
If a load is borderline, send the weight and dimensions. Sending a van when a car would do is the most common way businesses overpay for courier work.
Which Los Angeles courier runs stay inside the base rate?
A run of 20 miles or less costs the vehicle’s base rate and nothing more: $45 by car, $80 by cargo van or $200 by box truck, before extras. Plenty of everyday Los Angeles work fits inside that. Past 20 miles, only the miles beyond the twentieth are added. Distances are typical driving miles; your quote uses the actual route.
| Route | About | What you pay for |
|---|---|---|
| Burbank to Glendale | 6 miles | Base rate only |
| Santa Monica to Culver City | 7 miles | Base rate only |
| Valencia to Newhall | 9 miles | Base rate only |
| Carson to downtown Long Beach | 9 miles | Base rate only |
| Burbank to Santa Monica | 24 miles | Base rate plus 4 miles of mileage |
| Valencia to downtown Los Angeles | 40 miles | Base rate plus 20 miles of mileage |
| Downtown Los Angeles to Irvine | 40 miles | Base rate plus 20 miles of mileage |
| LAX to Valencia | 45 miles | Base rate plus 25 miles of mileage |
Our drivers are based across the region, so the miles start where your shipment is picked up. A run between two Westside or two Valley addresses is priced on its own trip, not from Valencia.
What extras change a courier quote?
The base rate and mileage are most of the price on a routine run. Extras only apply when the job needs them. They are quoted for your job, not added by default, and each one is listed on your written quote before a driver is dispatched. These are the ones that come up:
- Wait time. A short wait at pickup and delivery is included. A long wait at a dock or a front desk is added when it happens.
- Extra stops. A run with more than one pickup or delivery is priced for the added stops.
- Attempted delivery. If the receiver is closed or turns the load away, the return or the second attempt is quoted.
- Pickup and hold. Freight picked up now and delivered later, or held for a delivery appointment, sits at the Valencia warehouse until it goes out.
- Heavy loads. Weight over 1,000 lbs is quoted on the job.
- A second person. Items too heavy or awkward for one driver to carry safely.
- Equipment. A liftgate or a pallet jack on box truck runs.
- Timing. After-hours (8pm to 8am), weekend and holiday deliveries.
Three things are not extras in the usual sense. Tolls are passed through at cost when a route uses a toll road or an express lane. A fuel surcharge may apply when fuel prices are high, and it shows on the quote if it does. And there is no charge to bring a driver to you: drivers are based in each area we serve, so a pickup in the San Fernando Valley, Orange County or San Diego is priced from the pickup, not from Valencia.
Do long courier runs cost more per mile?
No. There is no separate long-distance band. A car run from Los Angeles to San Diego is the $45 base for the first 20 miles plus mileage for the rest of the trip, priced the same way as a run across town. If a run is long enough that a box truck or a dedicated driver for the day is the better buy, the coordinator will say so on the call.
Is a scheduled route cheaper than on-demand courier?
Usually, yes. On-demand courier pricing assumes a driver is dispatched for one job. A recurring route, such as daily lab pickups or weekly store replenishment, lets the stops share one driver and one vehicle, so it is priced per stop or per route instead of per delivery. If you book the same run more than a couple of times a week, ask for a route price. See same-day courier service and final mile delivery for how each works.
What does final mile delivery cost?
The cost of last mile delivery depends on how the deliveries are grouped. A single on-demand final mile drop is priced like any courier run: the vehicle base rate plus mileage. A batch of deliveries for a retailer or brand on one route is priced per stop, which brings the cost per delivery down as the route fills up. White glove final mile, where the crew carries the item in, places it and removes the packaging, is priced as its own service: from $160 by cargo van and from $325 by box truck for a local delivery, with distance, crew size and access setting the rest of the quote. See white glove delivery for what that includes, and the white glove delivery cost guide for what changes the price.
How courier costs compare with other options
App-based delivery platforms can be cheaper for a single small parcel, but they rarely handle pallets, liftgates, scheduled routes or invoicing to a business account. In-house drivers make sense once you have enough steady volume to keep a driver and vehicle busy all day. A business courier sits between the two: priced per job, with the vehicle matched to the load and one account for every delivery.
How to get an exact courier quote
Send the pickup and delivery addresses, what is going and how much it weighs, the time window, and any access details such as a loading dock, stairs or a gate code. A coordinator can quote most courier work on the call, and the written quote lists the base rate, mileage and any extras before the driver is dispatched. You can request a quote or call during business hours.
