Couriers' Guild
Active across Middle America, the regions of Old Canada, and beyond, the Couriers' Guild is an international mail, parcel, and passenger service notable for being one of the few organizations which utilize aviation on a large scale.
Since its inception, the Couriers' Guild has slowly expanded its network and joined with other similar organizations to form the household name it is today. It enjoys a quasi-sovereign international status, able to dictate terms of service to locations wishing to be added to its network, such as runway construction, fuel availability, and grants of monopoly, and simply operate with impunity over the objections of smaller governments. This has given it something of an above-the-law status which many criticize as stifling competition. Its rules also forbid the arresting of Guild members by governments without approval from the local Postmaster or other Guild official. Despite this, it has built a reputation for relability and honesty with an above-the-fray stance which makes it trusted for transporting diplomatic mail and business letters.
In the New World, long-distance travel was arduous in the absence of oil-powered transportation technologies, and often dangerous on account of brigands and the numerous petty nations which now feuded over the remains of Ancient America. The Guild's answer was the sky—fleets of courier sailplanes built for ultra-efficient long-range flight, which would connect settlements across the vast stretches of waste and wilderness where roads and telegraph lines could not reach. At first it was a luxury of the rich, but as the Canadian and Middle American technology bases improved, Courier aircraft became cheaper and more reliable. In the present day, an average worker with finances secure enough for drinking money can afford to send a letter via Courier every now and then.
Operations
To most people, the Guild is known through its offices in many larger towns and cities, bearing the words "Courier Post" in white letters on a blue background, and the white fiberglass sailplanes which can occasionally be seen soaring along high overhead. Most of its cargo is letters and smaller packages, things which either cannot be sent via telegraph or destined for places no wires yet reach, whether due to distance, hostile territory, or some other reason. Passengers are occasionally carried, often in rear cargo holds hastily refitted with lightweight seats. Mail and packages are picked up in one location by a Courier plane and then delivered to another, possibly with intermediate stops along the way, where it is then made available for pickup or farmed out to local delivery services.Since its inception, the Couriers' Guild has slowly expanded its network and joined with other similar organizations to form the household name it is today. It enjoys a quasi-sovereign international status, able to dictate terms of service to locations wishing to be added to its network, such as runway construction, fuel availability, and grants of monopoly, and simply operate with impunity over the objections of smaller governments. This has given it something of an above-the-law status which many criticize as stifling competition. Its rules also forbid the arresting of Guild members by governments without approval from the local Postmaster or other Guild official. Despite this, it has built a reputation for relability and honesty with an above-the-fray stance which makes it trusted for transporting diplomatic mail and business letters.
Structure
The Couriers' Guild is headed by a Postmaster-General, an elected position currently headquartered in Calgary. Answering to him or her are regional Postmasters in various locations in North America, typically large cities. These Postmasters oversee the operation of offices in their jurisdiction and recruit new members into the service.History
Tracing its organization back to earlier mail services in Canada and other parts of North America which escaped the worst ravages of the Collapse, the modern Couriers' Guild emerged about a century ago during a restoration period as populations rebounded, cities rebuilt, and Old World knowledge made its way out of the libraries where it had been squirreled away for safekeeping.In the New World, long-distance travel was arduous in the absence of oil-powered transportation technologies, and often dangerous on account of brigands and the numerous petty nations which now feuded over the remains of Ancient America. The Guild's answer was the sky—fleets of courier sailplanes built for ultra-efficient long-range flight, which would connect settlements across the vast stretches of waste and wilderness where roads and telegraph lines could not reach. At first it was a luxury of the rich, but as the Canadian and Middle American technology bases improved, Courier aircraft became cheaper and more reliable. In the present day, an average worker with finances secure enough for drinking money can afford to send a letter via Courier every now and then.
Founding Date
~100 years before present
Middle America
Laska
Comments