🛵 Courier

A courier is a worker who delivers messages, parcels and other items to an address: between businesses, to homes and elsewhere. In ISCO-08 this work falls under group 9621 (messengers and package deliverers). For dairy products, the courier is the last link on the way from the warehouse or store to the buyer's door.

ISCO tasks include delivering parcels and goods to businesses, stores and households, planning and keeping to the most efficient route, and sorting cargo by delivery route. BLS describes delivery drivers as people who pick up, transport and drop off packages and small shipments; a high school education is usually enough. Wikipedia notes that a courier service is set apart by speed, security, tracking and a signature on receipt.

Cold on the road is what matters most for milk. The FDA advises not leaving perishable food at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or more than an hour when the air temperature is above 32 °C (90 °F); the inside of a car, says the FDA, is usually hotter than a room. A fridge should hold 4 °C (40 °F) or below.

Couriers have been known since ancient times: before mechanized delivery, messages were carried by runners, riders and pigeons. According to legend, the Greek messenger Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens with news of the victory in 490 BCE; the marathon race is named in his honor.

Why it matters to you. After delivery, the FDA advises putting chilled food in the fridge as soon as possible: 2 hours is the general limit for perishable food, and in hot weather it is one hour.