Methods for coordinating the delivery of parcels by travelers

A method for assisting parcel transport, comprising:

• providing a shipment data server storing one or more parcel records, each parcel record associated with a potential sender desiring to ship a parcel and including:
• a desired destination entry including desired destination data associated with a destination to which the sender desires to send the parcel;
• and
• a sender contact entry including sender contact data, the sender contact data providing an address at which a potential traveler may contact the sender;
• receiving from the potential traveler a parcel query including an arrival location entry, the arrival location entry including arrival location data associated with an arrival location to which the potential traveler intends to travel;
• selecting, with a processor executing computer executable instructions, parcel records including desired destination data consistent with the arrival location data to define a set of suitable parcels;
• and
• providing to the potential traveler, in response to the parcel query, the sender contact data associated with the parcels in the set of suitable parcels.

A method for assisting parcel transport, comprising:

• receiving a parcel from a sender;
• receiving from the sender a desired destination location to which the sender desires to send the parcel;
• receiving from the sender a payment for delivery of the parcel;
• providing the parcel to a traveler;
• and
• providing to the traveler at least a portion of the payment for delivering the parcel upon receiving confirmation that the parcel was satisfactorily delivered.