Chain of Custody: What Actually Happens to What You Hand Us

Chain of custody is a term borrowed from evidence handling, but it applies just as much to a sealed probate file, a settlement package, a signed original, or an encrypted hard drive changing hands between an office and a data center: being able to account for exactly who had it, and when, from the moment it left one location to the moment it arrived at another. Here's the actual system we use to do that — not general industry talk, but the specific controls in place on a real delivery today, whether the cargo is paper or a drive.

Tamper-Evident, Individually Numbered, Barcoded Seals

The actual bag used on every sealed delivery — individually numbered and barcoded, with a tear-off receipt for your own records.

Documents and data media that call for it — a settlement package, an encrypted drive, a piece of backup media — travel sealed in a numbered tamper-evident security bag: permanent VOID-pattern closure that can't be resealed or concealed once opened, with a tear-off receipt so you have your own record of the exact serial number at pickup. That same number is recorded against your trip's tracking code the moment your driver picks up — visible to you on your own tracking page, not just kept internally. At delivery the bag is scanned again and checked against the pickup record, so a mismatch can't slip through unnoticed — the entire point of the control.

Scanned at Pickup and Delivery, Never Typed by Hand

Every bag carries a printed barcode matching its serial number. At pickup, your driver scans that barcode with the driver app's camera, and the seal number goes straight onto your trip record from the bag itself. At delivery, the driver scans the same bag again before handing it over, and the app checks that scan against the pickup record. A match confirms it's the same sealed bag that left your hands; a mismatch is flagged on the spot, before the recipient signs.

Nobody reads a long serial off a bag and types it in at either end, so there's no transposed digit or missed character to create a false mismatch, or worse, hide a real one.

That matters because the seal number is the one detail the whole custody record hangs on. Scanning eliminates data-entry errors in tracking, so the number on your tracking page is exactly the number on your bag and on your tear-off receipt, verified at both ends of the trip.

Live GPS Tracking, Pickup to Signature

Your delivery is tracked live from the moment your driver takes possession until the recipient signs. Follow the route in real time on your own tracking page, straight from the link in your confirmation email, with no app to download and no account to create.

On top of the live route, each custody handoff is permanently stamped with GPS coordinates and the exact time: pickup, departure, and delivery. Each stamp is viewable on your tracking page as a direct link to the location. If a delivery is ever questioned, you have the full route and the verified handoff points, not just a claim that it arrived.

Signature Confirmation, Every Delivery

Every delivery closes with a recipient signature captured digitally at the moment of handoff, time-stamped and stored against your trip record — no exceptions, no shortcuts, whether what's being handed over is a document or a drive.

One Driver, Point-to-Point

Whatever you hand us travels directly from pickup to drop-off in one vehicle, with one driver — not routed through a regional sorting facility where it would change hands multiple times, or sit unaccounted for, before reaching its destination.

Founded by a Former USPS-Cleared Professional

The Baltimore Courier Company is founded and operated by a former USPS-cleared transportation professional, adhering to strict federal chain-of-custody and background screening standards.

Backed by Real Coverage

Every delivery is backed by commercial auto, general liability, and professional liability coverage — see our Insurance & Compliance page for current carriers and limits.

Questions Worth Asking Any Courier Before You Hire One

Does it travel point-to-point, or through a hub? Is there a signature at delivery, and is it time-stamped? Is sealed handling standard practice or an upcharge? Can you actually verify any of it yourself, or is it just a claim on a website? The answers tell you whether you're hiring a courier or a shipping network with a courier's branding.

See our Secure Business Delivery Service, our Financial Institution Courier Page, or our IT & Data Center Courier Page for how this applies to your specific work.