Guides
Quoting a medical courier business job: template and real numbers
A medical courier quote template section by section, with the wording that prevents scope disputes and the figures you must never leave implied.
What to take away
- A quote is a scope document with a number at the end. Most disputes come from the scope half, not the number.
- Name every site. A quote that says a number of sites rather than which sites is an invitation to add more at the same price.
- State the exclusions explicitly. Anything not excluded will be read as included, and silence favors the buyer.
- Show the structure of the price, not just the total. A decomposed price survives a renewal conversation; a single figure does not.
The template below contains placeholders, not prices. Any figure you see quoted for this trade elsewhere reflects another market's labor cost and route shape, and using it will misprice your work.
The eleven sections
1. Header. Your business, the customer entity, the date, a quote reference, and a validity period. The validity period is not a formality: it is what protects you when fuel or labor moves between quoting and signing.
2. What is being collected. The material in the customer's own words, and the category they classify it as. If infectious substances are involved, note that classification, packaging and documentation questions sit with PHMSA guidance and the customer's protocol, and record who prepares consignments for transport.
3. The site list. Every site by name and address, with the collection window for each and the site's closing time. This is the single most important page in the document.
4. The route and schedule. Days of operation, sequence, and the time the last collection reaches its destination. Separate collection windows from delivery times explicitly, because confusing the two causes more arguments than any other line.
5. What is included. Number of scheduled collections, what happens to a site with nothing to collect, and any unscheduled pickups included per period.
6. What is excluded. Material not carried, hours not covered, sites not listed, additional runs, waiting beyond a stated period, and anything requiring equipment you do not hold.
7. Evidence provided. The custody record format, condition logging where it applies, how quickly a copy is available, and the retention period. Customers increasingly compare on this section rather than on price.
8. Cover arrangements. Who runs the route when the regular driver is absent, and how the customer is notified. Write it even if it is short.
9. Exceptions. What the driver does when a site is closed, the material is not ready, a package is damaged, or the vehicle fails, and who is contacted in each case.
10. Price. Decomposed, as below.
11. Terms. Payment terms, the review mechanism, notice periods, and how a site is added or removed.
Showing the price properly
Present it as a structure the customer can follow:
| Line | Basis | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled route, core sites | Per route, per operating day | Names the sites it covers |
| Additional listed sites | Per stop | Only for sites outside the core sequence |
| Unscheduled collections | Included quantity, then per collection | States the response window it applies to |
| Standby or after hours availability | Per period | Sold as availability, not as a discount on stops |
| Waiting beyond the stated period | Per unit of time | With the threshold stated in section six |
| Review mechanism | Annual, or on a defined trigger | The clause, not a number |
Two rules make this section durable. Every line must be traceable to a cost you can explain, and no line may be described in a way that could be read as unlimited.
The arithmetic that produces the figures for each row is in pricing a stop so it covers its own cost, and the reasoning about which structure to use for which risk is in the pricing and profit guide.
What the pricing examples should look like
Rather than quoting rates, show the customer how the number was reached, in their own terms:
- This route is a fixed sequence of the listed sites, five days a week, departing at a stated time.
- The price reflects a measured average of paid driver hours per day and measured route mileage, both taken during a survey week.
- The waiting threshold reflects observed handover times at your sites.
- The review mechanism applies annually and on the stated triggers.
A customer who can see the shape of the calculation argues about the inputs, which is a productive conversation. A customer shown only a total argues about the total, which is not.
The four lines that prevent disputes
- A named site list with closing times. No site is served unless it appears here.
- A waiting threshold. State the period included at each site and what applies beyond it. Without this, a slow site is free to the customer and expensive to you.
- A change mechanism. How a site is added, what notice applies, and that additions are priced rather than absorbed.
- A separation of collection window from delivery time. Two sentences, and it removes the most common misunderstanding in the trade.
Before you send it
- Check that every claim in the document is one you can support. Claims in a quote are advertising claims, and the FTC guide to advertising for small business requires a reasonable basis before they are made, with qualifications stated clearly rather than buried.
- Check that the equipment implied by section seven is equipment you actually hold, or is priced into the quote. The systems view is in the equipment and setup guide.
- Check that the price clears the break-even test on a bad day, not an average one. The three break-even calculations are in break-even arithmetic for a route.
- Check that the territory the site list implies is one you can actually serve, which is a market question covered in which local markets support a courier route.
Keep what you sent
File the quote with the survey week measurements that produced it. When the account is reviewed a year later, that pairing is the difference between a documented position and a recollection. The IRS guidance on records a business should keep covers the baseline for the financial records behind it, and the customer's own retention expectation may run longer.
Labor is the largest input behind every line above, so re-check the assumption when you re-quote. The BLS occupational employment and wage tables publish employment and wage estimates by occupation for national, state and metropolitan areas, which is the sober way to confirm the rate you built the quote on still reflects your market.
Common questions
Should the quote include a total or line items?
Both. A total the customer can approve, and line items they can question. Removing the line items removes your ability to change one element later without reopening everything.
How long should a quote be valid?
Long enough to be considered and short enough that your inputs have not moved. State the date rather than leaving it open, and re-issue rather than honoring a stale document.
What if the customer wants a single all inclusive figure?
Give one, and keep the schedule of inclusions and exclusions attached to it. All inclusive without a scope schedule is the phrase that produces the worst disputes in this trade.
Should a quote mention compliance?
It should state what you provide and who is responsible for what, without asserting what any rule requires. Point at the customer's protocol and at the relevant agency guidance rather than making a compliance claim of your own.
