Courier for Print Shops – Proofs and Print Runs Delivered Today
Whether it is a proof for sign-off, a run on a Euro pallet or a roll-up for the trade-fair stand: Maxmove drives print products as a direct drive from your production to the agency, customer or venue – with an instant price, live tracking and digital proof of delivery.
- Instant price before booking
- Live tracking on every drive
- Insured transports
Print logistics: fixed deadlines, heavy pallets, delicate sheets
In a print shop, a job does not end at the folding machine. Colour-accurate proofs shuttle between prepress, agency and client for sign-off, finished runs go out on pallets to customers, lettershops or branches, and posters, roll-ups and brochures have to be on the stand before the fair opens. Almost every one of these drives has a fixed deadline: the press is scheduled for the approved version, the AGM starts the next morning, stand build-up on the fairground closes the evening before.
Three things typically go wrong. First, weight: paper is dense, and a pallet of brochures easily weighs several hundred kilograms – book by volume and the vehicle that turns up at the dock is too small. Second, handling: parcel and groupage networks sort through depots, cartons get stacked and knocked, proof sheets crease and book corners get crushed. Third, access: fairgrounds, pedestrian zones and conference hotels have their own delivery rules that nobody can sort out at the gate.
Maxmove runs every shipment as a direct drive: one vehicle collects from you and drives straight to the recipient, with no depot and no reloading. You see the binding price before booking, and the handover is documented with signature, timestamp and photos. For pallets without a forklift at the destination, add a tail lift and pallet truck to the booking.
What print shops send with us
From a single proof to a palletised run – the shipments that travel between production, finishing and the recipient.
- Colour-accurate proofs and press proofs
- Brochures and catalogues on Euro pallets
- Flyers and mailings in cartons
- Annual reports and conference packs
- Posters, banners and roll-ups
- Books and short hardcover runs
- Packaging samples and folding cartons
- Labels on rolls
- Flexo plates from the repro house
- Spare parts for presses and folders
Three typical drives for print shops in NRW
What jobs for print shops and their clients look like between Düsseldorf, Cologne and Essen.
Proof sign-off between Reisholz and the Medienhafen
A print shop in Düsseldorf-Reisholz sends the colour-accurate proof of an exhibition catalogue to an agency in the Medienhafen. The sheet lies flat in a rigid folder with media wedge and test report; a car is enough. The agency signs it off and the driver takes the signed proof straight back – set up as a second stop on the same order. Approval is back in prepress the same day and the press can be set up with the approved version.
Trade-fair prints to Koelnmesse in Deutz
Roll-ups, floor graphics and 2,000 product brochures for an exhibitor go from a print shop in Cologne-Porz to Koelnmesse. During build-up and dismantling, the fairground only admits vehicles with a booked time slot. You enter hall, stand, contact person and the slot details on the order; a van with a 2.6-metre load area takes the cartons and roll-up displays. The exhibitor confirms quantity and condition at the stand by signature.
Annual reports for an AGM in Essen
For an annual general meeting at Messe Essen in Rüttenscheid, a print shop in Essen-Kray delivers 1,500 annual reports of around 100 pages each on 135 g paper the day before – just under 700 kg on two Euro pallets. That fits a Sprinter with 1,000 kg payload. As there is no forklift at the delivery point, a tail lift and pallet truck are booked as well. The recipient signs in the app, and the photos show the pallets with their wrap intact.
Local courier service:DüsseldorfKölnEssen
What to settle before print products leave the building
Weight, proofs, packaging, fairground access and address data: what you prepare and what the driver takes care of.
Calculate weight before volume
Paper is heavier than the cartons suggest. An A4 sheet at 80 g/m² weighs about 5 g, because A4 is one sixteenth of a square metre under the DIN/ISO series. 10,000 A4 brochures of 16 pages on 135 g paper therefore come to around 675 kg – before covers and cartons. So enter weight and pallet count when booking, not just volume: with paper, a van usually reaches its payload before the load space is full. The payload calculator helps with a quick estimate.
Hand over proofs flat and with their control strip
A contract proof to ISO 12647-7 serves as the colour reference between client and printer, verified via the printed media wedge. A creased or marked sheet can no longer do that job. Put proofs flat in a rigid folder with the test report, and note the job number and the person signing off. If the signed sheet has to come back to the print shop, add the return as a second stop – then the return is timestamped too.
Pack the pallets, secure the load
Under section 411 of the German Commercial Code (HGB), the sender packs the goods so that they are protected against loss and damage. For print that means cartons flush on the Euro pallet, edge protectors on the corners, stretch wrap over the top layer. Paper absorbs moisture – in a closed panel van the run stays dry. In the vehicle, the driver secures the load with lashing straps against slipping and tipping, as section 22 of the German road traffic regulations (StVO) requires. No forklift at the destination? Add a tail lift and pallet truck.
Clear fairground access in advance
Fairgrounds set access rules per event in a traffic guide. At Koelnmesse, vehicles only get onto the grounds during build-up and dismantling with a pre-booked, chargeable time slot (eSlot) and a limited time on site. Agree with the exhibitor or stand builder who books the slot, and enter hall, stand, trip number and contact person on the order. More on drives around fairs and events: trade fair logistics.
Addressed mailings contain personal data
Personalised mailings, customer magazines with address labels or printed invoices carry personal data. Article 32 GDPR obliges controllers and processors – including print shops that process addresses – to take appropriate technical and organisational security measures. In shipping terms that means sealed, neutrally labelled cartons, as few hands as possible and a documented handover. A direct drive with no depot or transshipment, plus a signed proof of delivery, covers both.
Which vehicle suits which print job
Proof folders and single cartons fit a car with up to 100 kg payload. The compact van takes up to 400 kg and two Euro pallets – enough for flyer and mailing cartons. Palletised runs go in the van (up to 900 kg, three pallets) or the Sprinter with 1,000 kg and four pallets. Large catalogue and trade-fair jobs of up to 1,200 kg go in the 3.5-tonne box van. With paper, work out the weight first and the volume second.
| Vehicle | Greutate maximă | Euro paleți | Dimensiune maximă încărcătură | Price | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CarÎncap de ex. Moving boxes, small furniture, classifieds pickups | 100 kg | – | 100 × 70 × 50 cm | from €79.86Base fare €18.90 | Book |
| Small VanÎncap de ex. Washing machine, armchair, moving boxes | 400 kg | 1–2 | 160 × 120 × 120 cm | from €94.05Base fare €29.90 | Book |
| VanÎncap de ex. Sofa, 1–2 room move, moving boxes | 900 kg | 2–3 | 270 × 160 × 130 cm | from €112.95Base fare €44.90 | Book |
| Large VanÎncap de ex. Wardrobe, 2–3 room move, bulky furniture | 1000 kg | 3–4 | 330 × 180 × 170 cm | from €130.05Base fare €54.90 | Book |
| 3.5t Box LorryÎncap de ex. Retail goods, tail lift, large furniture | 1200 kg | 6–8 | 430 × 210 × 210 cm | from €211.24Base fare €129 | Book |
| 7.5t LorryÎncap de ex. Full house move, bulky retail goods, site material | 3000 kg | 12–15 | 610 × 245 × 240 cm | from €366.72Base fare €249 | Book |
Published examples for Köln → Düsseldorf, weekdays at 10:00 (Berlin time). The binding price for your addresses is shown before booking.
Bigger, open-bed or heavier than 3 t? On request as a special run
How a drive for your print shop works
- 01
Create the shipment
Enter pickup address, recipient, weight, pallet count and target date. You see the binding price and the earliest available pickup window straight away.
- 02
Collection at your dispatch dock
The driver takes over cartons or pallets at your dock, checks the quantity against the delivery note and secures the load in the vehicle.
- 03
Direct drive with live tracking
The vehicle drives to the recipient with no depot stop. You and your client see the arrival live – useful when someone has to be ready at the stand or in the agency.
- 04
Handover with proof
The recipient signs in the app and the driver photographs pallets or cartons. You can forward the timestamped digital proof of delivery straight to your client.
Why Maxmove for Print shops
A deadline, not a parcel transit time
A parcel service delivers within its transit time; your client needs the run by a specific moment. As a direct drive, the shipment bypasses depots and sorting centres; you see the earliest pickup window when booking and follow progress live on the map.
From proof folder to 3.5-tonne box van
A car for the proof folder, a compact van for mailing cartons, a Sprinter or 3.5-tonne box van for palletised runs: you choose the vehicle by weight and pallet count, and add a tail lift and pallet truck when needed.
Proof you can pass on
Signature, timestamp and photos of the goods show that the run arrived complete and undamaged. Regular drives to fixed recipients are set up as recurring orders and billed through your business account on a collective invoice.