Cadence Courier Services

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about our services.

Do you work with individual senders?

No, Cadence is business-only. We serve e-commerce sellers, pharmacies, spare parts distributors, labs and B2B suppliers who ship repeat volume, and we need a valid trade licence to open an account. If you are sending a single one-off parcel, a retail counter operator will be cheaper and faster for you than we will.

What are your account rates?

On a credit account, intra-Abu Dhabi same-day is AED 22 per parcel up to 5kg, Abu Dhabi to Dubai next-day is AED 18, and nationwide next-day is AED 25. Above 500 shipments a month nationwide drops to AED 16. Ad-hoc prepaid bookings without an account are AED 35 intra-city and AED 45 inter-emirate.

What are the pickup cut-off times?

Same-day pickup must be requested by 11:00am and we collect by 1:00pm. Next-day requests close at 5:00pm. Contract clients get fixed daily pickup windows, either 9:00am to 11:00am or 3:00pm to 5:00pm, with a named driver who does not change week to week. Anything after cut-off rolls to the next working day automatically.

How does cash on delivery work?

We collect COD up to AED 5,000 per shipment in cash or by card on the driver's terminal. Handling is 2 percent of the collected value with a minimum of AED 5 per parcel. Remittance runs weekly, every Wednesday, by bank transfer with a reconciliation file listing every waybill, so your finance team can match it line by line.

What are your delivery SLAs?

Same-day shipments picked up before 1:00pm are delivered by 8:00pm with a 95 percent on-time target. Next-day shipments are delivered by 6:00pm the following working day. Performance against SLA is reported monthly per account, and if we drop below 92 percent in a month the affected shipments are credited on your next invoice.

What happens if a delivery fails?

The driver attempts contact, and a failed attempt triggers a free re-attempt the next working day. A third attempt is AED 8 per parcel. If the consignee still cannot be reached we return to origin at 50 percent of the outbound rate, or hold at the Mussafah hub free for seven days if you prefer to redirect.

Is my freight insured?

Every shipment carries free declared-value cover up to AED 1,000. Above that, additional cover is 1 percent of the declared value and must be declared at booking, not after the fact. Claims for loss or damage need to be filed within seven days of the delivery scan with photos and the commercial invoice.

How do I open an account and how are we invoiced?

Send your trade licence, VAT certificate and estimated monthly volume, and we run a 30-minute onboarding call to agree the rate card and pickup windows. Credit terms are available after three months of trading or against a security cheque. Invoicing is monthly in arrears with 30-day payment terms and a per-waybill statement attached.

Where do you cover and what do you handle at the hub?

All seven emirates, with our own fleet in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and partner coverage in the Northern Emirates and Al Ain. Our Mussafah hub does cross-docking, sorting and short-term storage, and we run a nightly line-haul to a Dubai Investments Park cross-dock. We do not carry temperature-controlled pharma, hazardous goods or anything over 30kg per piece.