How to deal with ODA/OPA locations?

The logistics industry has seen tremendous growth for over a decade. It could be the adoption of technology to make the transportation better or the quality service which has increased the productivity of the supply chain. The advancement of the logistics industry has turned into a boon for the e-commerce businesses which wholly depend on logistic companies to deliver their products and services to the customers.

Even though the logistics industry has heeded a drastic improvement in its services, yet it has a lot of loopholes in the system. The dominant ones being the Out Of Pickup and Delivery Area. So let’s understand more on this in detail:

Remote Area for Pick up - Also known as Out of pickup area. Here, the courier service provider doesn’t render the convenience of door pick up of the parcel to its customer. Therefore the shipper has to drop off the parcel to the nearest courier office in order to further connect the parcel and get it delivered.

Remote Area for Delivery – Also known as Out of delivery area. Here, the courier company does not render the convenience of parcel delivery service to certain Pincodes. In such cases, most of the courier companies arrange for a third party agent who can deliver the product to your doorstep. Thus, an additional shipping cost will be charged apart from the regular shipping fees for ODA locations. Occasionally, a few of the courier companies do not provide services to ODA locations through a third party agent. In such cases, the parcel will not be dispatched to the doorstep of the consignee. However, the consignee has to collect the parcel on their own from the nearest courier office.

A Pincode is considered as an ODA/OPA location if it coincides with any of the below criteria:

1. If the Pincode you want to ship the parcel is a remote area.

2. If the location is challenging to reach and the courier company has to put extra effort to make the delivery.

3. If there is not much shipping volume in that area.

4. There might not be any hub or warehouse in the location due to lesser shipping activity.

Due to the above reasons, even if your package is shipped through a 3rd party agent, there could be a lag in the delivery of the product. Hence, sending a parcel to ODA Pincode not only involves higher shipping cost, but also involves longer transit time. The term ODA and OPA may vary with courier companies you opt, but the meaning of the term remains the same.

A situation may arise, especially if you're situated in an OPA location, where you have to drop off the parcel at the courier office. Hence, it is important to understand what exactly is a parcel drop off?

We sometimes may want to ship a parcel to a destination, but would not be available to surrender the parcel to the pickup person when they arrive for the pickup due to busy schedule or any other reasons. As the pickup of the parcel can be attempted at any point between the specified time span of the courier company, you may not be available when the pickup person comes to your doorstep.

In such cases, you can drop off the parcel at the nearest courier office instead of waiting for the entire day. If you are situated in a location where the courier company does not provide their service, then you may have no other option other than dropping off your parcel to the courier office.

All you need to do is to properly pack the parcel and affix the shipping label which was generated while booking the courier online onto the parcel. Once your parcel is ready, go to your nearest courier drop off location and hand over the package along with the shipping documents.

Dropping off the courier has its own pros and cons and some of them are:

1. You need not have to wait for the pickup person to collect your parcel.

2. Drop off the parcel whenever it is convenient for you, as the office will be open for a flexible timing depending on the courier company you choose.

3. Only a few courier companies provide drop off option.

4. Drop off is not as simple as door pickup as you need to stand in the queue and wait until an employee attends you if you drop off the parcel.

5. You must wrap the parcel properly with packaging material and stick the shipping label onto it else the parcel will be rejected and you will have to repack the parcel.

In order to avoid the additional shipping charges and heavy fees of delivery for ODA locations, it is advisable to check with your courier partner on the ODA/OPA list so that you are aware of the shipping fee which you will be paying.