When shippers evaluate small-package delivery services, their first priority is ontime pickup and delivery, whether the service is ground or international. But air shippers rank value for the price paid slightly ahead of that in their criteria.

The factors that determine shipper satisfaction with their small-package carriers vary based on the type of service under consideration, according to the results of J.D. Power and Associates' 2002 Small-Package Delivery Service Business Customer Satisfaction Study. Though international shippers ranked "value for the service received"second among the factors contributing to their satisfaction, ground shippers put it far lower on their list. Air shippers ranked shipping and delivery reliability only slightly behind value. Among ground shippers, accurate invoicing was cited second most often.

The study, conducted among more than 900 shippers and other business professionals who spend at least $10,000 a year on small-package shipping, also looked at how shippers ranked individual carriers. In the 2002 study, FedEx ranked highest in business customer satisfaction in all three categories (ground, air and international service), followed by United Parcel Service. (The J.D. Power announcement says the study includes Airborne, FedEx,UPS and the U.S. Postal Service, but Airborne and USPS did not have a large enough sample to be included in the international service rankings and Airborne did not have enough to be included in the ground service ranking.)