The first Quick Messenger Service opened in Montreal during the Summer of ’69, a few weeks before Neil Armstrong made “Just one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Woodstock era startup soon expanded to locations in Toronto and Ottawa.

In the summer of 1985, Ken Bell, the owner of QMS Ottawa, opened Quick Messenger Service in downtown Washington. We started with ten drivers, but were soon doing two hundred orders per day. The following year, Mark Gross was elevated to General Manager from his position as a bicycle courier.

Like other Quick Messenger Service operations, QMS-DC was focused on businesses that need to have deliveries done in the downtown core. QMS-DC grew to be the premier on-demand courier company in Washington by hiring the best dispatchers available and then using them to recruit the best couriers. Word spread that QMS did a lot of deliveries, and there was the opportunity for couriers to earn high commissions. This allowed us to expand our client base outwards into northern Virginia as well as Montgomery and Prince Georges County, Maryland.

In 1996, QMS opened a sister office in downtown Baltimore. Jim Fendler was hired as Branch Manager, a position he holds to this day. QMS Baltimore is proud of its many clients who have used us continuously for almost thirty years, several since our inception.

In 2005, in addition to our Washington office, QMS opened another branch office and dispatch office in downtown Bethesda at Woodmont Memorial (Veteran’s) Triangle. This location now houses our corporate headquarters. Our D.C. office is located conveniently above Metro Center at 601 13th Street NW (Mailroom).

Today, QMS Washington services over 2000 active clients. QMS DC has completed over 6 million on demand deliveries. Together with Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, well over 18 million deliveries have been completed on time and at tremendous value. We’re proud of our accomplishments yet look forward to exceeding them in the years to come

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