Some of the nation's largest overnight delivery companies have secrets behind their success.

Hidden in a small northwest Fresno warehouse not much larger than a storage space with an office, Right Now Couriers is one of those secrets. Around the Valley, company owner Michael Richards and his drivers make sure the big delivery firms stay on time.

On almost any day in the bustling little warehouse, Richards and his employees can be observed stacking his Right Now Couriers vehicles with packages from Federal Express or Airborne. "If they have a driver sick or injured, they call us. If they have a late plane they need us, too," said Richards, 26, of Fresno.

The large delivery companies don't advertise their use of smaller, independent contractors.

Darlene Faquin, a Virginia-based spokeswoman for Federal Express, said her company does not frequently employ courier contractors, but concedes sometimes it's necessary.

"In cases of weather or mechanical difficulty on a plane, we do have to employ these measures to make sure the packages get there on time," she said.

But the contractors are required to meet stringent measures such as clearly labeled vehicles, insurance requirements and uniformed employees. "Our expectation is that we would go to companies that would be respectful of the professionalism and image that Fed Ex has and so we recently formalized criteria these vendors need to meet to be one of our expediters," Faquin said.

Fed Ex is the kind of delivery company Richards aspires to become. He observes and absorbs the Federal Express culture and envisions a day when a small Right Now Couriers plane will deliver packages between the Silicon Valley and Southern California.

In the beginning, Right Now Couriers started in an odd niche. The courier service delivered small items that people forgot to bring with them or were unable to deliver themselves. Richards started with travel agency tickets and other odds and ends.

"He was pretty excited when we came in," said Mark Lewis, owner of Mark Lewis Travel, Richards' first large account.

Lewis has not regretted the decision.

"The courier business from our standpoint is pretty basic -- you get your document ready and that person promises to deliver it in a certain amount of time," Lewis said. "From our side, we just gave it to them and it was done."

But around Fresno, Richards is willing to deliver anything.

"If you forgot your golf club and you are at the course and need us to go to your house and bring it to you, we will," Richards said.

Within five hours of a call, delivery cost is $7; within 90 minutes, the price is $20.

"We started with real low prices and tried to do it in volume but we found the customers wanted good quality service and were willing to pay a little extra for us," Richards said. "The plan began as a courier service and we have been able to do things others couldn't."

Eventually, Richards solicited larger companies and now has contracts with Graybar Electric, Netafim Irrigation Inc., Kaiser's pharmacy and dozens of others.

"Anything out of the Fresno area, they are our only call," said Derek Duiser, senior operations coordinator with Con-Way Now, a Michigan-based trucking firm. "Every time I have called them they have something available."

Right Now Couriers assists Con-Way Now by delivering packages to Fresno Yosemite International Airport or other Valley destinations, Duiser said. "In certain areas, we have problems with agents not able to make a flight time, but we have no problems with them."

Expansion has come quickly for Right Now Couriers. Four years ago, Richards worked from his home with one vehicle and reported $30,000 in annual revenue. This year, the company has more than 10 vehicles and will exceed $500,000 in receipts.

Growth is also forcing Richards out of his tiny northwest Fresno warehouse. He is buying property near Valley Children's Hospital and plans to build two 10,000-square-foot warehouses. He also is adding an office and warehouse in Modesto.

"Within 30 days we will have a complete facility built in Modesto," he said. "This is our first little goal ... Modesto puts us that much closer to Silicon Valley, which puts me that much closer to my ultimate dream."

THE FRESNO BEE Published Friday, September 1, 2000 Section: BUSINESS Page C1