Every courier you've used prices by zone × weight. Porter doesn't care about your parcel's weight — it cares about the distance and the vehicle. The mental model shift matters because it changes what's cheap and what's expensive.
The trip-pricing model
A Porter booking is priced like a cab: pickup to drop, distance-based, vehicle-class fare. A 5 kg parcel and a 15 kg parcel cost the same on a two-wheeler — the constraint is the bike's carrier capacity (~20 kg), not the rate. On a per-kg basis this makes heavy small parcels absurdly cheap and light bulky ones vehicle-limited.
Vehicle class is the lever
Two-wheeler (~20 kg, cheapest), three-wheeler (~500 kg), mini-truck (~750 kg+) — the fare jumps with the vehicle. The pack-small advantage: orders that fit a bike price at the lowest class; cross into mini-truck territory and the fare triples.
The surge reality
Evening peak, rain, festival days — fares surge like cabs do. The counterplay: offer same-day within a window, book in the morning when demand is lower, and watch whether the surge premium still beats a courier.
When Porter loses
Long distances approach courier economics — a 45 km trip can exceed a national carrier's per-kg rate for a light parcel. The crossover is roughly where trip fare > courier rate + speed premium value. Per-order quoting decides it case by case.
Pakka Parcel runs the whole stack described here — one place for every carrier.
See how →The playbook
Price by trip, not weight
Forget slabs — distance and vehicle set the fare.
Pack to stay under 20 kg
Bike-class pricing is the sweet spot.
Watch peak-hour fares
Morning bookings dodge the evening surge.
Quote it against couriers
Long trips sometimes lose to a national carrier.
