Express & same-day

Today means today.
Tomorrow means morning.

Express jumps the queue on the evening line-haul and goes out first on the delivery run. Same-day is Valley-only — and we will tell you that before you book, not after.

  • 11 am same-day cut-off
  • Overnight corridor
  • 1.6× standard rate
  • Premium refunded if late
A clock showing the delivery promise window being metOn time

The promise

What express actually buys you

Speed is the product. These are the numbers it is measured against.

Same-day cut-off
11 amSame-day cut-offKathmandu Valley
Express multiplier
1.6×Express multiplierOn freight only
Overnight cities
6Overnight citiesOn the corridor
On-time target
96.4%On-time targetAgainst the express window

Same-day

Booked by eleven, delivered by six

A dedicated afternoon run across the Valley. It works because the delivery grid is dense enough that a rider can make twenty stops without leaving Ring Road — which is exactly why it does not work in Surkhet.

Collected by noon
A rider is dispatched to you the moment the booking lands, not on the next scheduled round.
Straight to the delivery run
Same-day parcels skip the hub sort entirely. Fewer touches, fewer hours.
Delivered by close of business
By 6 pm, with the recipient called before the rider sets off.
A radar sweep covering delivery points across a service area

Overnight express

On the evening line-haul, at the door by morning

Sealed vehicles leave each hub every evening. An express parcel booked in Kathmandu on Sunday afternoon is on a Pokhara rider's route before nine on Monday morning.

Sorted first at the hub
Express is pulled off the belt ahead of standard, so it never misses a departure by minutes.
Loaded last, off first
Position in the vehicle is decided by service level, not by arrival order.
First on the morning route
The destination branch sequences express to the front of the rider’s list.
A line-haul truck driving between regional hubs at night

Delivery times

How long it actually takes

From Kathmandu, for a parcel collected before the afternoon cut-off. Promise dates already account for Saturday being Nepal's weekend.

Delivery times by destination and service level
 StandardExpressSame-day
Kathmandu ValleyNext dayNext day, morningSame day, by 6 pm
Pokhara / Chitwan1–2 daysNext morningNot offered
Butwal / Birgunj2–3 daysNext morningNot offered
Biratnagar / Dharan2–3 daysNext morningNot offered
Hill districts3–4 days2–3 daysNot offered
Far west / Karnali4–9 days3–6 daysNot offered

On the day

What happens between eleven and six

Same-day is not a different network. It is the same network with the slow parts removed.

  1. 1

    11:00 — booking closes

    The same-day manifest is cut and riders are dispatched to collect.

  2. 2

    12:30 — collected

    Pickup scan. Tracking goes live and the recipient gets an SMS with the window.

  3. 3

    14:00 — routed

    Parcels are sequenced by area, not by arrival, so the run is one loop rather than three.

  4. 4

    18:00 — delivered

    Proof of delivery captured, COD reconciled, ledger credited.

Why it holds

Speed is an operating discipline, not a promise on a website

Anyone can advertise same-day. Holding it on a wet Tuesday in August is a function of six unglamorous things.

  • A hard cut-off

    We say no at 11:01 rather than accept a booking we will miss. A missed promise costs more than a lost order.

  • Route sequencing

    Stops are ordered geographically before the rider leaves, not decided at each doorstep.

  • Express-first sorting

    Service level decides position on the belt and in the vehicle.

  • Spare capacity held back

    A percentage of daily rider capacity is reserved for express rather than sold out in advance.

  • Live exception handling

    A parcel that stalls raises a flag on the ops board the same hour, not the next morning.

  • Realistic zone promises

    We would rather quote nine days to Humla and hit it than quote three and go quiet.

The guarantee

Late express? We refund the premium.

If an express parcel misses its window, tell us within seven days and we refund the difference between express and standard for that parcel. Automatically, on the next settlement.

The premium, not the whole charge
The parcel still moved and still arrived. Refunding the entire delivery would be theatre.
Seven days to claim
Long enough to notice, short enough that we can still investigate what happened.
Credited to your ledger
It appears as a line on the next settlement rather than a separate transfer nobody can reconcile.
A clock showing the delivery promise window being metOn time

Tracking

A tighter window, told earlier

On an express delivery the recipient being at home actually matters, so the SMS goes out at dispatch rather than on the way — giving them hours of notice instead of minutes.

SMS at dispatch
Sent when the parcel leaves the branch, with the expected window.
A two-hour window, not a day
Express deliveries carry a narrower promise because the route is planned tighter.
Live status, no login
The recipient can check without creating an account for a parcel they did not order from us.
A phone showing a parcel's live tracking timelineUDN26H4K2M9QPArriving today, by 6 pmPicked upAt Kathmandu hubIn transitOut for delivery

Scanning

Four scans, even at speed

The temptation on an express run is to skip a scan to save ninety seconds. We do not, because the scan is the only reason anyone can answer “where is it” without making a phone call.

Pickup, hub, branch, door
The same four points as standard. Speed comes from the gaps between them being shorter.
Offline-capable
A scan in a basement with no signal is stored on the phone and syncs when it can. Nothing is lost.
Mis-sorts caught at the hub
The belt scanner flags a wrong-destination parcel before it travels three hundred kilometres.
A handheld scanner reading a parcel barcodeUDAN EXPRESSUDN26H4K2M9QP

Pickup

Express starts at your counter

The fastest line-haul in Nepal is useless if the parcel sat on your packing table until four in the afternoon. Express bookings dispatch a rider to you immediately.

Immediate dispatch
An express booking creates a pickup job straight away rather than joining the next scheduled round.
Or walk it in
Any of twelve branches, until the branch cut-off, which is later than the pickup cut-off.
Daily slot for volume
At 20+ parcels a day you get a fixed morning collection, which makes same-day far easier to hit.
Booking a pickup slot on a calendar14:00 – 16:00

Air freight

When the road is not an option

Monsoon landslides close hill roads for days at a time. On priority consignments to the far west we can move to air freight into the regional airport and road the last leg.

Turns nine days into two
For genuinely urgent consignments where the road route has closed.
Priced per consignment
Not a published rate — air capacity in Nepal fluctuates and quoting a fixed price would be dishonest.
Arranged through sales
Talk to us rather than booking it online, so we can confirm capacity before you commit to a customer.
A cargo aircraft carrying parcels over the mountains

Pricing

The multiplier applies to freight, not to everything

Express is 1.6× and same-day 2.4× — but only on base and weight. Surcharges, insurance, COD handling and VAT are calculated exactly as they are on a standard parcel.

Base + weight × multiplier
A Rs 90 Valley base becomes Rs 144 on express. That is the whole change.
Surcharges unchanged
Fuel, remote and fragile are applied to the freight subtotal at the same rates.
VAT last, after discount
Your contract discount comes off before VAT, on express exactly as on standard.
A parcel on a weighing scale beside its calculated price2.40 kgZone 2रु 175

The network

Six hubs is what makes overnight possible

Express is a network property, not a vehicle property. Overnight to Biratnagar works because there is a sorting hub in Biratnagar, not because a van drove faster.

Hub to hub overnight
Kathmandu, Pokhara, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi, every evening.
Spokes off each hub
Twelve branches feeding local delivery, so the last leg is short.
Partner transport beyond
Same tracking, longer promise, and we say which is which.
A hub and spoke network linking regional sorting centres

For riders

An express route is planned, not improvised

The rider app sequences the day's stops before the rider leaves the branch, so nobody is deciding the next destination at a junction with a phone in one hand.

Sequenced stop list
Ordered geographically, with express pinned to the front.
One-tap call ahead
The recipient’s number is on the stop card. Calling first is the biggest lever on success rate.
Works with no signal
Scans and confirmations queue and replay. A dead zone never loses a delivery.
The Udan Express mobile app used by riders and merchantsMY ROUTE14 stops remainingWorks offline

Inside the hub

Express is a lane, not a sticker

At the hub, express parcels physically move through a different part of the sort — because a priority label that everyone ignores at two in the morning is worth nothing.

Separate belt position
Express is diverted at the scanner rather than picked out by eye.
Cut-off enforced by system
The manifest closes automatically. Nobody has to make the unpopular call at the door.
Exceptions escalated same shift
An express parcel that misses a departure raises a flag before the branch opens.
Parcels moving along a sorting conveyor inside a hub

Last mile

The final two hundred metres decide the whole thing

You can win six hours on the line-haul and lose them all outside a locked gate. Express delivery discipline is mostly about what the rider does at the address.

Call before arrival
Every time. Most failed express deliveries are a call that never happened.
Wait, within reason
A rider on a route wage can afford three minutes. One on pure piece rate cannot.
Reschedule same day if possible
A missed express delivery gets a second attempt that evening rather than tomorrow.
A delivery rider carrying a parcel box on a scooter

Questions

Express questions

What merchants ask before moving urgent volume.

What is the cut-off for same-day delivery?
11:00 am, inside Kathmandu Valley only. A parcel booked and collected before that goes out on the afternoon delivery run and is delivered by close of business. After 11 am it becomes a next-morning express delivery instead, and we will tell you that at booking rather than after.
Is same-day available outside the Valley?
No, and we would rather say so than take the booking. Same-day depends on a dense delivery grid and short drive times. Outside the Valley the honest answer is overnight express — which for Pokhara, Chitwan, Butwal, Birgunj and Biratnagar means delivery the next morning.
How much more does express cost?
Express is 1.6× the standard freight rate and same-day is 2.4×. The multiplier applies to base and weight only — surcharges, insurance and VAT are calculated the same way as standard, so the increase is on the freight component rather than the whole invoice.
What happens if you miss the express promise?
Tell us within seven days and we refund the express premium — the difference between what you paid and the standard rate for the same parcel. We do not refund the whole delivery charge, because the parcel still moved and still arrived.
Can express parcels be cash on delivery?
Yes. Every service level supports COD, with the same 1.5% handling and the same weekly settlement cycle. Express changes the speed, not the money.
Do express parcels get a different tracking experience?
Same tracking page, but the promise window on it is tighter and the SMS to the recipient goes out earlier in the day — because on an express delivery the recipient being available actually matters.

Need it there today?

Book before 11 am for same-day inside the Valley, or any time today for overnight express on the corridor. Open an account and the cut-off is the only thing you have to remember.