I never truly understood the difference between a guaranteed and expedited, or what some carriers consider a time critical shipment. One would think that the words would speak for themselves. Guaranteed is the assurance that certain conditions shall be fulfilled relating to a service or product. Expedited is to speed up a certain action in progress. The fundamental difference, the speed of service. It is important and valuable to know how they differ from from one another and that your customers are aware of this as well.
When guaranteeing a shipment what you are paying before is a promised delivery within its transit time. For instance, let’s say from California to Texas is a 3 day point. Your shipment will deliver be delivered on that 3rd day as promised before the end of the business day. With carriers such as YRC, you have the option of a morning delivery (by noon) or end of the day (by 5PM). That essentially means you have no idea when it will get there. You just know that it will be there within a certain time window. That may be all that you need. Let’s take California to Texas one more time. Normal transit time is established as 3 days by the carrier, but you need it there in 2 days between 1-2PM. What do you do?
Well this is where a time critical shipment comes into play. With this service you have more control over the specifics of what you need. In this case, time. By informing your service provider that you need a shipment delivered at a certain day and time, they can arrange for the expedited services needed to accomplish this job. If that means putting it on a spaceship to get it there when it’s needed, you can expect to see your shipment on spaceship.
It’s important we, whether broker or customer, are aware of these options. Sometimes you have to pay a little more to get that Prada or Gucci service. Never forget that this is life and things do happen in this world, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc or to sum it up what they call an Act of God. If your product is one amongst thousands of delayed shipments, guess who’s will take precedence over the rest. It’s important to ask yourself how bad do I need whatever it is you may need. Guaranteed will get it there amongst normal transit days no fail. However will you get it within a time window suitable for you needs? Maybe, who knows. If you don’t want to take that chance go the expedited route and receive what you need within the specific time window of your choosing.

Here’s a link to one of many Guaranteed Services offered by our Carrier Network
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20pMc40fnN8