In this episode of the Last2First Podcast, Jason sits down virtually with Steve Bonnici, founder of Urgent Couriers and co-founder of Deliver Different joining from **Auckland.
Steve breaks down the real origin story: how his family’s transportation roots shaped his path, how Urgent Couriers evolved from traditional messenger work into major medical + routed logistics, and why a decision in 1995 to build custom technology became the biggest “last to first” catalyst of his career.
You’ll also hear the behind-the-scenes story of scaling during COVID, building gig-driver infrastructure that actually performs, and how Deliver Different was born out of solving real operator problems not tech theory.
If you’re a courier operator, dispatcher, or logistics founder trying to scale profitably, this is a must-watch.
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⏱️ Chapters / Timestamps
02:00 – Intro (virtual episode + Steve joins from Auckland)
03:15 – Urgent Couriers today: scale, revenue, market size (New Zealand)
05:10 – Family roots in transportation (grandfather → coaches → ski field transport)
08:05 – Starting Urgent Couriers in 1989: “They’re doing it badly — I can do it better”
10:40 – The courier industry shift: documents → fax/email → new verticals
12:35 – Early adoption: online booking in 1995 (before people were ready)
15:05 – Why Steve built his own system (cost, necessity, scalability)
18:10 – Independent contractors vs employees: productivity difference
21:00 – Home delivery evolution: retailers resisted, then the market changed
24:10 – Urgent Tonight / evening home delivery + the Uber Eats disruption
27:25 – The operational spark: food box delivery + resource constraints
30:10 – Building gig-driver tools: routing, training, onboarding, compliance
34:30 – The performance surprise: new drivers + great tech beat “experienced” drivers
37:10 – Scaling during COVID: 10K → 30K deliveries/week and visibility dashboards
40:20 – Route building at scale: capacity, vehicle types, sequence optimization
43:10 – Error elimination: scanning + pallet validation (reducing missorts)
46:15 – Losing HelloFresh + the margin reality (why “cheaper” didn’t work)
49:10 – Where the industry is going: specialized, high-integrity, high-value delivery
52:10 – “Solve 10 apps on a phone”: the no-app portal for partner/agent deliveries
55:10 – Steve’s “Last to First” moment: the 1995 tech decision
57:00 – Wrap-up + conferences (Air Cargo, CLDA, ECA)
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🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hn/podcast/last2first-podcast/id1778491941
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📌 Shoutout to our Sponsors!
Dropoff Inc.
https://www.dropoff.com/
info@dropoff.com
+1 888-376-7633
GigSafe
https://www.gigsafe.com/
+1 407-496-9882
Deliver Different
https://deliverdifferent.com/
SCI
https://sciadmin.com/