The desk does not staff Davis, it lists it. Nobody here is on a rota. When something has to leave California today the list is read in order of who can reach OAK, and a courier 1 hour 35 minutes out sits near the top of it.
Open · United States desk · Davis
On Board Courier, Davis
Hand carry assignments for couriers in Davis. The road to OAK runs 124 km, the flight is the desk’s expense, and nothing is charged to you at any point.
OnBoard Courier is a United Arab Emirates company, contracted by ICSL FZE and run from Dubai. A city named on this site is a place we cover and route through, not a separate company in that city. Assignments are contracted under UAE law, and the terms are published in full under legal and policies.
Based inDavis, California
Nearest gateOAK · Oakland
Drive to the aircraft124 km · 1 hour 35 minutes
Nonstop from OAK89 airports
EngagementFreelance · per assignment
Fee per assignmentAED 900 to 2,600
Apply for this position
Applying is free. Freelance · self-employed ·
posted 7 September 2026 · open until 7 March 2027
What the work pays
The fee for an assignment is agreed with you in writing before you accept it. These are the figures the site publishes, and what the desk covers on top of them.
Top published feeAED 2,000The highest fee the site shows for a single assignment: sealed medical samples in a cooled case, Dubai to Singapore.
Published band, per assignmentAED 900 to 2,600A document pouch to London is AED 1,200, an aircraft part to Frankfurt AED 1,500, an escorted watch on the Berlin lane AED 1,800.
What the flight costs youAED 0The desk books and pays the ticket, the transfers and, where the routing needs it, the hotel. A courier never fronts the fare.
The one payment you makeAED 199, returnedThe Academy, paid once. It comes back in full on top of the fee for your first completed assignment. Applying itself is free.
Fees vary with the lane, the notice, the waiting time and whether the return is immediate, so the desk quotes each assignment individually rather than pretending one number fits every trip. You are self-employed and there is no minimum: accept or decline whatever you like, and declining costs you nothing. Earnings are paid per delivery by bank transfer, they appear in your courier portal, and you can request a payout once the balance reaches AED 200. Apply and see the flight board.
You fly as a passengerOne consignment in the cabin, one handover against signature. No warehouse, no van, no round.
The desk books and pays the ticketFlight, transfers and, where the routing needs it, a hotel are booked before you leave for the airport.
Paid per assignmentA fee agreed in writing before you accept, paid to your bank account after the signature. Applying is free.
How to start, in four steps
1
Apply once
One application covers every country desk. Tell us which passports you hold and where you can travel.
2
Verification and the Academy
Identity and background check, then a short course on customs, handovers and chain of custody.
3
Your first offer
The desk sends the routing, the dates and the fee in writing. You accept or decline, nothing is automatic.
4
Fly, hand over, get paid
Collect, board, clear customs in person, hand over against signature, and the fee is paid to your account.
The assignment
The order of events out of Davis does not change. An offer in writing, an acceptance in writing, collection of the sealed consignment, 1 hour 35 minutes of road to OAK, check in as a passenger, and a handover against signature at the far end. Where the routing runs through the Emirates it goes by way of SEA, on one ticket, with the connection booked long enough to be real.
Getting to the aircraft from Davis
The table below is ordered by drive time from Davis rather than by the size of the airport. OAK leads at 1 hour 35 minutes and 124 km, and anything else a courier here can reach by car follows it.
1 hour 35 minutes on the road is treated as part of the assignment and priced as part of it. Where the flight out of OAK is early, you sleep near the terminal at our cost. When the routing works better from SFO than from OAK, the desk uses SFO. San Francisco is 1 hour 46 minutes from Davis and serves 189 nonstop destinations.
| IATA | Airport | By road | Driving time | Nonstop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK | Oakland Metropolitan | 124 km | 1 hour 35 minutes | 89 |
| SFO | San Francisco | 136 km | 1 hour 46 minutes | 189 |
| SJC | San Jose Norman Y. Mineta | 166 km | 2 hours 4 minutes | 122 |
Davis is a city of 68,000 people in California, and the clock there runs 11 hours behind the Emirates in summer and 12 in winter. Road distances are measured driving routes rather than straight lines, and nonstop counts come from the scheduled route data this site publishes. Only airports this site publishes a scheduled nonstop board for are listed, so a smaller field nearer Davis may exist and still not appear in the table above.
What OAK reaches without a change
What follows is the OAK board as the data has it rather than as a brochure would have it: 89 nonstop destinations, 6 countries, and average daily flights on the heaviest routes.
| IATA | City | Airport | Frequency | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAS | Las Vegas | Las Vegas McCarran | about 15 departures a day | 4 operators: Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines |
| SAN | San Diego | San Diego | about 14 departures a day | 2 operators: Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines |
| BUR | Burbank | Burbank Bob Hope | about 13 departures a day | 3 operators: Southwest Airlines |
| SEA | Seattle | Seattle Tacoma | about 8 departures a day | 2 operators: Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines |
| SNA | Santa Ana | Santa Ana John Wayne -Orange County | about 8 departures a day | 1 operator: Southwest Airlines |
| PDX | Portland | Portland | about 8 departures a day | 3 operators: Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines |
| LAX | Los Angeles | Los Angeles | about 7 departures a day | 2 operators: Southwest Airlines |
| PHX | Phoenix | Phoenix Sky Harbor | about 6 departures a day | 1 operator: Southwest Airlines |
| SLC | Salt Lake City | Salt Lake City | about 6 departures a day | 3 operators: Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines |
| DEN | Denver | Denver | about 5 departures a day | 1 operator: Southwest Airlines |
Counting every airport a courier in Davis can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 259 airports. Frequencies are average daily flights and change with the season, so the desk checks the live schedule before it offers you anything.
What moves out of Davis
The industrial file for the OAK catchment does not exist on this site. That does not make Davis quiet, it makes the description honest: documents, components, samples and small high value goods.
Why a courier in Davis is useful to the desk
A desk in Dubai cannot cover California from Dubai. It covers California by knowing who lives 1 hour 35 minutes from OAK and can be at the counter tonight, which is the only reason Davis is written up here.
From Davis the Gulf is a connecting itinerary, booked end to end by the desk. From Davis the best single change is Seattle (SEA), and SEA to DXB is flown by Emirates, about one departure a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 17h 57m gate to gate, so an assignment between Davis and the Emirates is planned as a connecting itinerary and the desk books the whole thing on one ticket.
The nearest other cities on the United States list
Show the 12 closest, and how far each is from Davis
Sacramento22 km away, OAK in 1 hour 52 minutesElk Grove36 km away, OAK in 2 hours 4 minutesFairfield42 km away, OAK in 1 hour 5 minutesRoseville46 km away, OAK in 2 hours 13 minutesNapa55 km away, OAK in 1 hour 8 minutesVallejo67 km away, OAK in 48 minutesConcord68 km away, OAK in 43 minutesBrentwood, California68 km away, OAK in 1 hour 8 minutesStockton76 km away, OAK in 1 hour 21 minutesPetaluma85 km away, OAK in 1 hour 9 minutesSanta Rosa86 km away, OAK in 1 hour 26 minutesSan Ramon88 km away, OAK in 32 minutes
All 370 United States cities are listed on the United States courier desk, which stays the general application for the country.
The engagement, and who we are looking for
The engagement
- Type: freelance, self-employed. You are an independent courier accepting individual assignments, not an employee, and you decide which ones you take.
- Where it runs: assignments are flown out of OAK and the other airports listed above, between the United States and wherever the consignment is going, with the return leg agreed per mission.
- Hours: variable. An assignment is a single trip, not a shift or a roster.
- How you are paid: a fee per completed assignment, agreed in writing before you accept it. The fees published on this site run from AED 1,200 for a document pouch to AED 2,000 for a cooled medical consignment, and the figure for your assignment reflects the lane, the notice, the waiting time and whether the return is immediate.
- What the desk pays: the flight, the transfers and, where the routing needs it, the hotel. A courier never pays for the ticket and never fronts the fare.
- Applying is free. No payment is required to apply, to be screened or to be placed on the courier list. The Academy costs AED 199, paid once, and is returned in full on top of the fee for your first completed assignment. It is the only payment a courier ever makes to us.
What we look for
- A passport with comfortable remaining validity and free pages, and the right to enter the country on the routing. The desk checks the visa position for your specific passport before any assignment is offered.
- A clean background check and a willingness to be verified. Couriers carry other people’s property.
- Availability at short notice, and a realistic view of the 1 hour 35 minutes drive to OAK. Most assignments are confirmed hours, not days, before departure.
- Presentable, calm and articulate at a customs counter. The consignment is only as smooth as the person carrying it.
- A working phone, reachable on the number you gave us, for the whole assignment.
What we provide
- The ticket. Always. A courier never pays for the flight and never fronts the fare.
- The paperwork, prepared before you reach OAK, and a named contact at the desk on both ends.
- A briefing on the consignment, the consignee and what the customs position at the far end looks like.
- A fee per completed assignment, agreed with you in advance and paid by bank transfer after the handover.
Questions about the Davis list
01How far is Davis from OAK?
1 hour 35 minutes by car and 124 km on the road. The desk treats the drive to OAK as the first leg of the assignment and builds the timings around it.
02What can I reach from Davis without a change of aircraft?
OAK serves 89 airports nonstop across 6 countries with 12 operating carriers, and counting every gate a courier in Davis can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 259 airports. That is the practical range of a single assignment from here before anybody has to connect.
03Getting from Davis to the Emirates: nonstop or not?
From Davis the best single change is Seattle (SEA), and SEA to DXB is flown by Emirates, about one departure a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 17h 57m gate to gate, so an assignment between Davis and the Emirates is planned as a connecting itinerary and the desk books the whole thing on one ticket.
04Do I have to live in the UAE to be on this list?
No. The desk is in Dubai and most lanes touch the Emirates, but the list is worldwide and Davis is a working part of it.
05Does it cost anything to apply?
No. A courier in Davis makes exactly one payment to us, AED 199 for the Academy, and receives it back in full with the fee for their first completed assignment.
06How is my fee agreed?
There is no hourly rate on the Davis list and no expenses claim to file. One agreed fee per completed assignment, and the flight out of OAK, the transfers and any hotel are our cost.
Apply to fly out of OAK
Put your name on the Davis list. A form, a screening call and the Academy, and the desk knows who to ring when a consignment has to leave California.
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